My Review of Being Human's 2x02: "Serve God, Love Me And Mend"

Written by Toby Whithouse
Directed by Colin Teague

Kemp (to Lloyd): “Beasts should be put in cages.”

That’s funny because I think crazed fanatics such as Kemp should be kept as far away from society as humanly possibly but until we actually see Professor Jaggart, he’s the main villain we have to deal and not once has he interacted with the gang – until now.

Last week was a good indicator that Nina couldn’t accept the supernatural world. It should get to a point where you want to scream at her to stop whining but to be fair, it’s still easy to see where all of Nina’s anger is stemming from. She feels that George has stolen her humanity by infecting her and she’s barely able to conceal it.

She even mentioned it during his little breakfast in bed gesture and she wasn’t exactly shy in noting how much of a disappointment being a werewolf was. Also like George, she took issue with Mitchell providing sanctuary for another vampire as well. She even had an exchange of words that vampire in particular.

But the thing that really seemed to send her over the edge was Mitchell and George working together to get Carl out of the country with a little hospital mixing up and the unexpected help of Ivan into the mix. Even she had been fully aware of Carl’s situation, would Nina have been any more sympathetic or even sympathetic at all?

She wrote George a letter telling him that she was leaving him and even when Mitchell castigated her for it, she didn’t back down. Nina’s embarking on the cruel to be kind. Then there’s her comment about Mitchell, George and Annie going native. You don’t have to a pedant to know that Nina’s struggling with her own humanity here but lashing out at their behaviour didn’t help either, even if she had a point.

Then there’s the cliché of Nina leaving what she felt was a dangerous situation and then being placed into another. Kemp needed another Type 3 and Nina unwittingly came into contact with the dangerous old man. George better start looking for her pretty damn soon because Kemp adds another supernatural murder to his CV.

On the topic of murder – Gay Vampire Man? Nowhere near as funny as George’s gay ninja joke from the last series but it was an interesting way to sum up poor Dan. That being said, do hospital staff really give their DOA’s obscure names or has Toby Whithouse been watching too many US hospital shows?

I liked that they didn’t tease out Mitchell’s connection to Dan and I also liked that Carl wasn’t another potentially toxic vampire that Mitchell needed to stay from. The fact that Carl and Dan were responsible for Mitchell going clean was a neat twist. It made me warm to Carl pretty fast.

I don’t advocate what Carl did to Dan – feeding off him because he couldn’t hold on anymore but it’s definitely in this show’s line of grey area with vampires. Carl’s probably the nicest vampire we’ve seen on this show apart from Mitchell and their connection certainly felt real. I didn’t need to be told why Mitchell felt the urge to help him.

What surprised me however was Ivan’s involvement in proceedings. Last week, it seemed like Ivan was setting out to become a potential adversary for the gang and this episode, he was a grudging accomplice in helping to get Carl out of the country. Without Daisy around this week, there were some good moments for Ivan.

Apart from the obvious clap-trap about how humans would persecute supernatural creatures if their existence was made public (how very True Blood), there was also his exchange with George in the room where Herrick died. It’s hard to gauge what Ivan really feels about George. He wasn’t happy when he learnt what exactly it was that made Daisy start to feel again but if Ivan actually does plan to harm George, he’s certainly biding his time, isn’t he?

Then there’s the Annie segment of the story. Saul went from being a little smug to be overly irritating and dangerous in this episode. Having the TV set out instructions wasn’t exactly unseen on British TV before but the fact that he was put in Annie’s proximity wasn’t concealed for very long either.

So far this season, the theme of consequences has been sticking out like a sore thumb – Nina’s curse, Herrick’s death, uprising in the supernatural world and now the fact that Annie evaded crossing over. I loved that we got our little references to the men with sticks and ropes once again and the fact that Saul was a ploy to bring Annie over was a neat idea.

Saul did seem pretty dead set on forcing Annie to go through that door in some pretty hard to watch scene as well might I add. If it had been later in the season, I would’ve been more convinced that Annie would’ve made it into that door but there was no way they could’ve done it this early, right?

Still, Saul might have crossed over instead of her but I don’t doubt that there will be further attempts to get Annie over to the other side. Also it’s rather convenient that as soon as she was making progress with Hugh, he can no longer see her. Even I’ve lasted longer in a job than Annie has. And just when she was nearly solid and all.

All the main relationships in this episode took a major hit this week, except for Mitchell and Lucy. She started the episode by maintaining that she wasn’t ready for anything but even after citing him as weird, she decided to ask him out for a drink. I know I said last week that Lucy was similar to Nina but she’s slightly less snarky in this episode so maybe that comparison was jumping the gun a little. Only let’s leave it for a while before she realises that her weird new fella is a vampire.

Also in “Serve God, Love Me And Mend”

Opening scene was Mitchell tied to a chair while Carl and Dan tried to keep him clean. The setting was Vienna 1999, presumably New Year’s Eve/Day.

Lucy: “That was weird.”
Mitchell: “I don’t know how to talk to you.”

I’ve read that the show’s been renewed for a third season and that producers from Supernatural are going to be working on the American version of the show.

Saul: “Annie?”
Terry Wogan: “She’s a cracker, isn’t she? I think you and her make a great couple.”

Annie: “For years I wanted to talk about it. What on earth made you tell me?”
Saul: “It just felt right. Intuition.”

The talking television moments were definitely a welcomed nod to Life On Mars, even if Saul is no Sam Tyler.

Nina: “Is that my shepherd’s pie?”
Carl: “Mmm, possibly.”

Hugh: “I’ve got my eyes on you.”
Saul (re Annie): “You’re not the only one.”

Hugh didn’t seem to comment on the fact that Annie was cold when they kissed. I assume that he’s also going to start looking for her as well.

Ivan: “Fair enough. I don’t give a shit about Herrick.”
George: “Then tell me what’s this all about?”

Annie (re Saul): “Thank you for not saying I told you so.”
George: “As if I would.”

Lucy’s a fan of The West Wing. I’m more of a Six Feet Under type of guy myself.

Annie (to Hugh): “I wanted to be normal. A normal girl kissing a normal boy.”

Ivan (to Mitchell): “You think this ends tonight? It’s only just the beginning.”

Standout music: Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” (doesn’t Ivan know that most gay men like her?) and Fatboy Slim’s “Right Here, Right Now”.

Mitchell: “What have you said to George?”
Nina: “I’ve written him a letter.”
Mitchell: “Jesus, a letter?”
Nina: “He gets a letter.”

Chronology: It’s been a week since the first episode of the new series.

Things have certainly taken a darker turn in this season and it’s only the second episode. As long as there’s some laughs along the way, I can accept the atmosphere not being as fun filled and I do like Mitchell’s burgeoning relationship with Lucy.

Rating: 8 out of 10.