My Review of Being Human's 4x01: "Eve Of The War"

Written by Toby Whithouse
Directed by Philip John

George: “Annie, it’s okay. It’s just the end of my story. I have to be with my Nina.”

And what an end to the story of George Sands this episode turned out to be. I mean, it was beyond obvious that George wasn’t going to make it out of this episode alive but I do like that before he died, he got to save his child and pass the torch off to Tom at the same time while giving his daughter the most obvious of names, considering her future role.

Russell Tovey has definitely flourished with this show and he was on fine form with his last episode here. George had become a broken shell of a man following the deaths of both Mitchell and Nina and for most of this episode, he was both catatonic and unable to think clearly at crucial points, leading to Griffin tricking him and Fergus managing to snare Eve from Annie halfway through the episode.

Both Annie and Tom tried their best to snap George out of his depression and it was fair that only Eve (yes, that’s what she’s called) could be the one to do it. I know, it ain’t subtle playing the father’s love card but who cares? From a narrative perspective, it was a satisfying way of getting George to take a stand against Griffin and he certainly did that.

George had to be the one to end Griffin’s existence, given that the vampire was the one who saw that Nina died in a violent manner – a manner that made me glad we didn’t actually have to see it played out on screen. As a big fan of Nina, I definitely don’t think I could’ve handled seeing her being battered to death by visor wearing vampires but it was enough incentive to make sure that George would be just in his eventual defeat of Griffin.

As a villain, Griffin might not have been as memorable as Herrick or potentially Wyndham would’ve been but he was an adequate enough villain. I actually did think for a moment that he was going to best George until the latter fed him his blood and caused him to die. I’m not sure why now it was needed to point out that werewolf blood was toxic to vampires but it did serve for a good way of getting rid of the character though.

Unfortunately by doing this and by the fact that George only partially transformed, his body wasn’t strong enough to cope and he ended up giving himself live, kidney and heart failure. George knew he was going to die but he made sure the vampire responsible for Nina’s death died first and he made sure that both Annie and Tom were placed as guardians for Eve.

I’m not gonna lie – I will miss George and Nina more than I miss Mitchell as a character and while I have a strong suspicion that regardless of quality that this series could easily be the show’s last (BBC3 have been on an axing spree of late), I’m still confident that as a writer, Whithouse certainly has plenty of material in him to give off an exciting series.

First off all, let’s talk about Eve – she’s a baby bred of two werewolves but human and able to see Annie. We also know thanks to strips of human parchment that she will bring about the end of vampires, so the Old Ones have even more incentive to get rid of her than ever but we also know that twenty five years in the future she’ll get a soldier to kill her so that a ghostly version of herself will go back to undo her existence. Well, that last bit is actually left for discussion because the woman in 2037 isn’t confirmed as Eve, though it’s very likely that’s who she’s supposed to be, character wise. I know some fans aren’t keen on this Terminator style plot and I have my own reservations but I’ll give it a chance before completely writing it off.

Then there’s also the arrival of Hal, whose storyline is independent of the main antics of this episode. Here he’s already living the unholy vampire/werewolf/ghost trinity with Leo and Pearl, both of whom I suspect aren’t long for this show when Hal takes up residency with Annie and Tom. It’s a shame because older Leo’s werewolf antics showed another aspect of the changes and I quite like Pearl, even if she is a bit too similar to Annie though.

As for the vampires of the story – apart from Hal, Dewi (he who betrayed/helped Tom) and Regus (the recorder fella who chose to protect Eve), they’re still a rotten bunch. Fergus had a nastiness to him that was a bit unsettling and Cutler seems to be quite a calculating individual as well. I suppose with Griffin out of the way, both of them will be fighting for supremacy before the Old Ones arrive in Barry.

Also in “Eve Of The War”

There’s a prequel for the Old Ones with Mark Gatiss on the BBC site (and YouTube) that’s a bit of a spoiler future episode. Also, apart from the prequels for Hal and Tom, there will be ones released every week per episode.

Annie (re Eve): “This isn’t good for her, for either of you.”
George: “I’m protecting her.”
Annie: “She needs a father, George, not a bodyguard.”

Since we saw him last, Tom’s been working in a cafe and he wasn’t particularly subtle about trying to live in Honolulu Heights either.

Griffin (re Eve): “Werewolves have only ever been made, not born.”

Tom: “Will you just stop hitting me?”
Annie: “Oh, for God sake’s Tom, I can’t lose anyone else. I’ve said goodbye to too many people, I can’t even process it.”

Annie had an interesting nickname for Eve – Splodge. Not quite Stormaggedon but it’s an amusing one nonetheless. Less amusing was seeing the baby in a pet carrier and on that sand filled bed of skulls.

Hal (re Superman): “Maybe he had special scissors.”
Leo: “Special scissors, that’s ridiculous.”

Pearl: “If you want anything, I’ll be sat outside with my Marie Claire.”
Leo: “Pearl, say goodbye, just in case.”
Pearl: “In case what? You’re not going anywhere. You’re strapped to a bed.”

Okay, can we please have some continuity with Annie’s abilities as a ghost because her confrontation with Fergus definitely should’ve played out differently?

George: “Tom, I am not your fucking father.”
Tom: “You ain’t nobody’s father.”

Fergus (to Annie): “Do you really call it Rentaghost? That’s just stupid.”

Apart from Pearl and Eve/Woman, the only one thing that does worry me for this series is the lack of female characters. I think at least one female vampire would be nice. I miss Lauren and Daisy.

Griffin (re Nina): “She begged, George. She screamed, she wept. I just want you to know that.”

Tom: “She needs a name, George.”
George: “Eve. She’s called Eve.”

I noticed that the building/company owned by the vampires in this one was called Stoker Exports And Imports.

Woman: “I’m going to save the world.”
George (to Annie/Tom, re Eve): “She’s going to save the world.”
Woman: “I’m gonna kill that baby.”

Chronology: I think it’s safe to assume this has taken months from where “The Wolf Shaped Bullet” left off.

Well, this was certainly an impressive episode. It’s hard to know what the future holds for this show but even with the major cast upheavals, “Eve Of The War” certainly shows there’s still some life in the series yet, though now that Annie is our most familiar character, the writers really need to make her a more formidable threat against the vampires. Don’t just leave it all to Tom and Hal.

Rating: 9 out of 10