Monday, February 07, 2011

My Review of Being Human's 3x03: "Type 4"

Written by Jamie Mathieson
Directed by Philip John

Sasha: “Thank you for being my friend, Annie.”
Annie: “It’s easy.”

Aww, wasn’t this a lovely episode with extra gore on top? Seriously, I have wondered if and when the show was ever going to stray into zombie territory and after this episode, I was more than satisfied with the results to be honest.

Okay, I probably could’ve done without the fact that zombies actually do experience serious agony when being burned but the character of Sash was definitely an eye opener for the rest of the gang this week, especially Annie. Annie might have started the story wanting Sasha out of her hair but her mind definitely changed before the halfway point of this episode.

As a guest character, Sasha is another success. Brassy and similar obnoxious to the way Adam was in the last episode but also rather likeable and fun as well. For a girl whose stench was ungodly and whose face was coming apart, she certainly had no problem in one scene pointing out that Annie didn’t look like someone who groomed herself very well. The cheek of her! Annie always scrubs up well.

Playing on the trope of Sasha not actually realising that she was one of the walking dead could’ve been a source for tedium but really it made a lot of sense, Sasha didn’t seem like the deeply self-aware type while she was living and obliviousness to her walking dead condition was actually rather amusing, more so because it wasn’t overextended.

She might not have instantly believed that her new mates comprised of a ghost, a vampire and two werewolves but being rejected by her idiot boyfriend, Gethin was definitely the wake up call that she needed to accept the fact that she was no longer technically alive. Plus prop points to her bravery when briefly embarking on a night out with Annie and Nina as well for equal measure too.

I wasn’t surprised that Sasha didn’t make it out of this episode alive. Her body had been decaying for a start and it had been getting worse as the episode progressed but I definitely did feel sad for her as she passed on. Her words of advice to Annie and Nina might have been laying it on a little thick given their current predicaments but I’m still glad that Sasha went there nonetheless to be honest.

With Sasha finally getting her door to the afterlife, it was up to Annie to actually pursue something with Mitchell. For a woman not remotely famed for subtlety, I’m actually surprised that it took Annie as long as it did to kiss Mitchell. She’s wanted to do it for ages but the sad thing is that despite her insistence that Mitchell’s a good man, it’s slightly hard to ship their relationship when there’s a big massive thing hanging in the air.

Three episodes in and I do think that Mitchell is at the point where he’s going to have to tell Annie, George and Nina about his part in the box tunnel massacre because he’s running out of options. We’ve already had both Lia and Richard wave that nugget at Mitchell and now it was Graham’s turn this week.

The only difference with Graham is that he went out of his way to befriend George and Annie and even came close to telling the latter about Mitchell’s misdeed. If Sasha turned out be a good presence for Annie, then Graham definitely had the opposite effect for Mitchell this week.

Dressed like him, Graham was the type of ‘fan’ to take things too far. Mitchell kept rejecting him and Graham tried to do his own train massacre as a result. Except that Graham managed to get killed by Mitchell before even being able taste a drop out of any of them. Bye Graham, it was a pleasure seeing you off my screen. However now that Mitchell knows that Cara is free, he really should start worrying and start opening up to the rest of the gang.

Speaking of opening up, this episode had the unexpected surprise of revealing that Nina used to be abused by her mother. Sinead Keenan and Russell Tovey continue to pull in some excellent performances in this series and this week was another highlight in the George and Nina dynamic.

I totally expected Nina to fall pregnant and while I can understand why she would consider having an abortion, I’m also really glad that she didn’t. The reveal about her mother and Nina’s own fears of becoming a parent just show how well this series can these types of storylines. I think it’s also safe to assume that with George and Nina’s decision to keep the baby that there’s another purpose for McNair and Tom next week as well.

Also in “Type 4”

Sasha was the hand that we saw at the end of the previous episode. This episode opened with a ‘two weeks ago’ cap.

Mitchell: “Can I have a word?”
George: “Can it wait until the morning or at least until after I’ve peed?”

Poor George, all he wanted to do was to take a leak but with Mitchell/Annie, Sasha and Nina’s pregnancy, he kept getting distracted.

George (to Mitchell, re Annie): “No, she hasn’t told me she fancies you. She doesn’t need to. Her body language is deafening.”

Mitchell (re Sasha): “There’s a car slowing down. I think people can see her.”
Annie: “Well of course people can see her, she’s got a body.”

I actually think it’s brilliant that Mitchell was unaware of zombies himself more or less. 117 years and even Mitchell gets to see something new along with George, Annie and Nina.

Annie (re Sasha): “She has got to go.”
George: “Wow that was easy.”
Mitchell: “Yeah, we thought we’d have to persuade you what with you both being dead and all.”

Annie: “Okay, well I’m a ghost, Mitchell’s a vampire and George and Nina are both werewolves.”
Sasha: “Fuck off. Werewolves.”

If we’re going to deal with the consequences of the Box Tunnel Massacre completely, shouldn’t that also mean that Daisy is dealt with as well?

Annie: “Well, there are worse things than being dead.”
Sasha: “Just look at me.”
Annie: “You can be seen and heard by others. I can’t.”

Nina (to George): “This thing inside me, whatever it is, it’s a baby and I will become a mother and that terrifies me more than any werewolf bullshit.”

I had to laugh Annie’s attempts of trying to fix up Sasha for their night out. It felt like a scene from Death Becomes Her.

George: “Mitchell, shall we get pissed?”
Mitchell: “You are a genius, George.”

Graham: “Tell people that you liked me.”
Mitchell: “I will.”

Standout music: Um, Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” during the scene where Annie’s doing her work on Sasha.

Nina: “George, would you like to have a little hairy baby with me?”
George: “Yes I would.”

Chronology: Two weeks since “Adam’s Family”.

“Type 4” was definitely one of the grossest episodes we’ve had thanks to Sasha’s zombie form rotting up the place but it was also a rather touching episode too. I love that this season not only has found its groove but also how focused it’s become as well.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

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