My Review of Being Human's 4x07: "Making History"

Written by Toby Whithouse
Directed by Daniel O’Hara

Hal (to Cutler): “Do you understand what I’ve done? I’ve set you free but I don’t want you to thank me.”

Er, yeah, cos what every squeamish newly made vampire wants is his maker to kill his wife and then trick him into drinking said wife’s blood as well. I’d dread to think what Hal at his worst does when it comes to Christmas and birthday presents if the sadistic death of poor Rachel Cutler is anything to go by.

Of course it’d take him around 60 years but Cutler managed to pay back in kind with the same damn trick, only this time substituting Rachel for Alex but even that grisly piece of business aside, there would be an interesting outcome to behold.

I mentioned on a forum a few days ago that if Annie doesn’t make it into the next series (which is increasingly looking that way) that perhaps either the adult version of Eve or Alex would take on the ghost mantle for the show and low and behold, it looks like it’s going to be the latter. Considering that I like Alex, this works well for at least me.

I think the way Alex actually handled being brutally murdered when she wasn’t being creeped out by a blood drinking Hal was rather remarkable. She rightly gave Hal a piece of her mind but aided him when he needed her help, managed to stay out of Cutler’s way and even put her family’s grief above her own.

The scene where she realised that she was definitely dead was a nice turning point for Kate Bracken and the fact that Alex is tonally different to Annie means that yet again, Whithouse is deftly skilled at adapting his show without diluting it. Surely when this show does end, there will be another one that can do with his services?

As for the reveal of Hal being Cutler’s maker – was anyone genuinely surprised? It seemed pretty obvious for a while now and it was interesting to see how the roles between them have reversed. Hal destroyed Cutler’s life and humanity in many ways and Cutler attempted to do the same with Hal as well.

For all the foreshadowing that Hal was going to be the one true danger to Eve, it’s amazing how Eve changing Hal’s destiny (as well as her own) has lessened that threat. Even with his erratic behaviour and cruel streak towards Tom, Hal managed to at least try his damndest to be a hero in this episode.

Cutler’s plan for having Tom to transform into a wolf and attack people so vampires would seem like the more pleasing alternative was clever but both Hal and Alex actually managed to put a stop to it. Despite the cliff hanger moment, I don’t actually believe that Tom in wolf form will kill Hal. How Hal will survive I’m not sure but I’m certainly interested in finding out.

Meanwhile the Annie and Eve plots of the week certainly forwarded a lot of stuff we needed to know. Eve was the nemesis all along and in her world, both Tom and Hal’s destinies were far different to what we’ve been watching for the last few weeks. Even the reveal about Annie being the knife that takes out the war child is far darker than anything Hal could’ve done if he had been the nemesis.

In terms of the actual scenes between Lenora Crichlow and Gina Bramhill, some really lovely acting there. I liked how Eve referred to Annie with both exasperation and love, which is very much the sort of feelings most of us have with Annie. I also have a feeling that when Annie does complete her mission, she will have to cross over.

Last but not least, the arrival of the Old Ones seemed rather incidental compared to the rest of the episode. I will say that Mark Gatiss looks delightfully creepy as figure head Mr Snow and I certainly can’t wait to see what chaos Snow and the rest of the Old Ones bring now that they’re finally here.

Also in “Making History”

Gina Bramhill is finally credited as Eve for this episode and while Mark Gatiss’s character is not named on screen, he is playing Mr Snow.

Cutler: “My God.”
Hal: “It’s you?”

Hal’s full name is Henry Yorke and Cutler’s first name is Nick. Cutler was made because Hal wanted new legal representation. We saw more of Hal and Cutler in this week’s prequel.

Annie: “Just tell me so I can go.”
Eve: “I have to show you.”
Annie: “Show me what?”
Eve: “My present, your future.”

Hal (to Cutler): “You’re becoming the drunk who never buys a round. All we require is everything.”

Damien Molony’s popularity on this show is definitely rising because the Live Q&A nearly broke the BBC site.

Annie: “Do people here have jet packs?”
Eve: “No, mostly everyone is dead.”

Cutler (to Hal): “You marooned me in a different world. Talk about burning my bridges.”

I loved seeing Tom using Allison’s flash card technique in this episode. I do hope Allison returns if this show gets a fifth run.

Hal: “I like your mouth.”
Alex: “Oh, thanks sugar. I’m sure that sounded less creepy in your head.”

Eve (to Annie): “We’re done now. I’m talking you home and I’ll you what you need to do.”

There was a lot of character mentions in this episode – Mitchell, George, Nina, McNair, Herrick, Lia, Allison and Gilbert, mainly through Eve.

Hal (to Tom): “We can raid the dressing box and pretend to be human but ultimately, what’s the point? Sooner or later, we all go back to being the monsters we truly are.”

Eve (to Annie): “Remember, there will come a moment when you have to choose between letting me live and letting me die. If you want to stop this happening, you have to let me die.”

Eve had an ‘H’ mark due to Hal’s regime in her version of events as well as the nemesis burn.

Alex (to Hal): “You know for someone who works in the service industry, you have terrible people skills.”

Mr Snow: “Well then, who’s hungry?”

Chronology: A few days from where “Puppy Love” left off I guess.

As a penultimate episode, “Making History” certainly delivered a lot, didn’t it? We’ve got a new ghost in Alex, a horrible destiny for Annie and Eve, Tom wanting to better himself and the much needed back story on Cutler and Hal’s relationship. Mr Snow and company are really gonna have to deliver in the finale now.

Rating: 9 out of 10