My Review of Being Human's 2x03: "Long Live The King"

Written by Lucy Catherine
Directed by Colin Teague

Nina (to George): “You need to stop using the curse not to live your life. You’re a wonderful man.”

There comes a point in every TV season where something has to happen to cause a massive shift in things. This season’s hardly been lightweight so far with the darker tone that it’s taken but here, two big things happened and at least one of them was truly welcomed.

For everyone out there who couldn’t warm to Lucy as a character and had little to no interest in her and Mitchell, you probably saw the last moment coming a mile off. I didn’t but in retrospect, it was obvious and certainly explained the way she’s been with him so far this year.

We needed a face to Professor Jaggart and Lucy was the face we got. An absolutely delightful what the fuck moment was that one. Lucy’s the Big Bad of the season and worse, she’s got Nina right where she wants her too. Naturally I’m very worried about Nina’s safety seeing as Jaggart/Lucy is a supernatural-phobe.

Nina only appeared in the last two minutes of the episode but her appearance practically overshadowed everything. She does love George and tried to encourage him to do something better with his life. Can you blame her? Nina’s under the belief that trusting Kemp and Lucy will cure her of her own curse.

For our sakes, let’s actually hope that they’re successful because if not, then Nina’s going to be another supernatural casualty on their hands. Not that Lucy seemed to especially care about that one. Now that we know she’s Jaggart, I assume that we’re not going to have to wait too long to find out what her game plan really is.

There’s no doubt she’s aware of Mitchell’s nature and it certainly explains why one minute she’s kept him at arm’s length and the next, she’s going overboard to actually get him to open. Mitchell adopted the classic male thing of being as evasive as he possibly could when Lucy probed him about his private life.

That really should’ve been the thing to alert viewers that she was more than she was letting on. Plus she did seem to be generally angered when she realised that one of her patients was falsely publicised as to committing suicide when he actually a threat to exposing the vampire world. It’ll probably turn out that something supernatural ruined Lucy’s life in some shape or form. Not that I’m justifying her actions or anything.

The funny part is that I don’t understand why Lucy and Kemp are playing the waiting game with Mitchell, Annie and George. They had the perfect opportunity in the opening episode to snare all three of them instead of bugging the household. What is it that Lucy actually expects them to reveal because there’s certainly something other than their integration into society that intrigues her.

Speaking of intrigue, this was another one of those episodes that spouted off about exposure of the supernatural kind and mass persecution as a result. But once again, we had a supernatural incident on the verge of exposure with an intervention. This time it was from Quinn being forced to co-operate and the Constable fellow making sure that Marcus ended up permanently dead as a result.

Then there’s the issue of Mitchell trying to restore order with the vampires of Bristol. He might have had the balls to smash Cara’s teeth in with a brick and trap her underground but if he thinks that’s going to keep the rest of them in line, then he’s in for a disappointment. Especially when you consider the fact that Daisy and Ivan are around to undermine him at every turn.

It was Daisy’s turn this week and she certainly delighted in reminding Mitchell that vampires can’t help themselves. I know there’s a fair chunk of viewers who don’t seem to connect with her but I actually do like Daisy and her and Ivan might not be Herrick levels of threats but they’re an improvement on Seth at least. Plus that bloodbath that Mitchell is trying to avoid – can’t see him pulling that one off to be honest, especially when the supernatural world become aware of Lucy and Kemp.

It also didn’t help Mitchell that reopening the funeral home sparked disapproval from George. I think George had every right to call Mitchell out on it because let’s face it, Mitchell’s solutions don’t seem like ones that are going to stick anyways and Mitchell’s also been a bit of a bad friend of late.

He barely acknowledged Annie’s ordeal with Seth and he wasn’t overly sympathetic with George and Nina’s split either. There was a supremely funny moment where he lost the rag over a TV scheduling and donned some Marigolds but overall, Mitchell has become a little disconnected from George and Annie in the last two episodes. I appreciate seperate storylines but I do want to see more interaction between the housemates as well.

On the plus side while Mitchell wasn’t a great friend, Annie certainly had her moments. She was genuinely sorry for George losing Nina but she also found a great way of using his pain by getting him to help her reunite Hugh with his former girlfriend, Kirsty. As subplot goes, it was definitely a good mix for the overall dark tone of this episode.

George coming up with various ways to repulse Kirsty so she’d go back to Hugh were hilarious but I did like that his own anguish got him to be honest with her and that alone was what made the girl give Hugh a second chance. But I’m also wondering if that means that Hugh is no longer going to be a factor for the rest of the season. If that’s the case, then Annie’s bad luck with men really has gathered apace then. Seriously, she couldn’t at least have had a bit of a relationship with either Saul or Hugh?

Also in “Long Live The King”

The opening scene was weird – Bristol 1665 flashbacks where a vampire got the same treatment Mitchell doled out to Cara.

Mitchell (re Marcus): “So you don’t think he’s gonna make it then?”
Lucy: “Actually I do.”

Lucy was seen given a religious medal to Marcus in this episode while both her and Kemp used God when talking to Nina at the end of the episode.

George: “I’m glad my misery’s proving useful.”
Annie: “Well, you know; every cloud.”

Daisy (to Mitchell): “You can’t change them into something they’re not. A shark can only be a shark.”

Maybe it’s unlikely but does anyone else think that Lloyd might possibly end up switching teams at some point in the season? I laughed when George cleaned the bug off his glasses down the sink.

Annie (re Hugh’s pub): “I remember this place so well.”
George: “Yeah, you were only here last week.”

Quinn (re Herrick): “I misjudged you. You are scum, like he was.”
Mitchell: “I can’t abandon my kind just to sleep better.”

George and Hugh made me laugh when they were talking about washing up and the use of coasters. And this was before Mitchell going nuts on The Real Hustle being changed from the BBC3 schedules.

Lucy (to Mitchell): “Okay, you’re either the dullest person who’s ever lived or you’re hiding something from me.”

George: “What about us?”
Mitchell: “Us?”
George: “I really could do with my best friend back.”

Standout music: Aqualung’s “Strange And Beautiful” is a goodie from this one.

Mitchell: “That’s what mates are for.”
George: “To be insensitive?”
Mitchell: “No, to tell each other the truth.”

George: “What are you going to do?”
Nina: “Something wonderful. Goodbye George.”

Chronology: Over a week since the end of the previous episode.

Definitely the highlight episode of the season so far. We finally know who Jaggart is, we know that Mitchell’s losing control of the vampire world and poor Nina’s in danger. It’s certainly keeping me on my toes for sure.

Rating: 9 out of 10.