skieswideopen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
skieswideopen) wrote2013-06-09 10:56 pm
skieswideopen) wrote2013-06-09 10:56 pm
Being Human UK Pilot, 3.06, 3.07
Pilot
Seeing the pilot did help clarify a few things, like how vampires are made. So that was good.
The differences between this and the US version were interesting. First, I don't really understand why people thought Mitchell, George, and Annie were so much closer than Aidan, Josh, and Sally at the beginning of the series. As far as I could see, Mitchell was just as snarky with George and George just as impatient with Annie in the pilot as their counterparts in the US version. I actually found the overall dynamic quite similar.
Second, Julia! Very different story there. Just having her in the pilot was different, of course, and so was the way she was rescued and her early discovery of the truth about George, and the abusive new guy, and deciding she can't handle the supernatural stuff, and George's apparent insecurity in the relationship. I'm not sure the other Julia would have walked away so quickly; she seemed...tougher?
As far as the cast differences go, I prefer Lenora Crichlow as Annie and I don't really have a preference for Mitchell.
3.06 + 3.07
Mitchell's guilt continues apace. I still wish they hadn't gone with this storyline. It's depressing and occasionally heartbreaking, and it's leaving me wanting to yell at the characters again. Mostly Nina and Annie this time, rather than Mitchell and George. I get wanting to see Mitchell punished. I think it's an admirable impulse. But before blowing open the whole secret of vampires and werewolves, don't they think it might be a good idea to sit down and talk it over with the other people who might be affected by this? People they care about? Because if Mitchell is arrested and found out, there's no way there won't be an investigation into the roommates who accompanied him from Bristol. And they aren't vampires and they aren't guilty, so maybe their secret will be safe, but shouldn't they talk about the risk they're taking? Of course, Nina pays for it, and then some. And is punished for her compassion toward Herrick at the same time.
Even if the secret of werewolves does stay safe, I feel like there's a fic to be written where Annie spends a tearful century watching Mitchell undergo painful experiments by scientists after his arrest, or maybe one where the vampires rise up and take over the world when their secret is revealed, because that's the only way they can survive. I realize there aren't a lot of good alternatives for either Nina or Annie here, but I still think they need to spend a little more time thinking through the consequences of their choices. At the very least, Annie could have given George and Nina a warning not to come home.
This storyline has also meant that everything basically revolves around Mitchell. There are no independent story arcs for Annie, George, or Nina the way there were on the US version. (Well, there's the pregnancy storyline, but that's been pretty minor so far.) On the bright side, this means that apart from the odd episodic story (e.g., George's father's "death"), the cast spends a lot of time together.
Other random thoughts:
- Nancy Reed probably should have spent a little more time thinking about her attack and how her attacker died, instead of apparently dismissing it all as...what? A hallucination? What does she think happened in that evidence room?
- It's kind of interesting seeing similar stories popping up on both shows (e.g., the death of a parent), and the very different ways they play out.
- Finally some family background on George! There is where he comes from. And it does seem to support my theory that George and Mitchell both came from lower socioeconomic statuses than Josh and Aidan.
- The bit about the "old ones" being selective about who they recruit and the selection of heirs reminds me a little of the US version. I also liked the discussion of how a lot vampires just flame out and die quickly versus a few who live on. I suspect that's true on the US version too--lots of redshirt thugs--but our focus is more on the older vampires.
Seeing the pilot did help clarify a few things, like how vampires are made. So that was good.
The differences between this and the US version were interesting. First, I don't really understand why people thought Mitchell, George, and Annie were so much closer than Aidan, Josh, and Sally at the beginning of the series. As far as I could see, Mitchell was just as snarky with George and George just as impatient with Annie in the pilot as their counterparts in the US version. I actually found the overall dynamic quite similar.
Second, Julia! Very different story there. Just having her in the pilot was different, of course, and so was the way she was rescued and her early discovery of the truth about George, and the abusive new guy, and deciding she can't handle the supernatural stuff, and George's apparent insecurity in the relationship. I'm not sure the other Julia would have walked away so quickly; she seemed...tougher?
As far as the cast differences go, I prefer Lenora Crichlow as Annie and I don't really have a preference for Mitchell.
3.06 + 3.07
Mitchell's guilt continues apace. I still wish they hadn't gone with this storyline. It's depressing and occasionally heartbreaking, and it's leaving me wanting to yell at the characters again. Mostly Nina and Annie this time, rather than Mitchell and George. I get wanting to see Mitchell punished. I think it's an admirable impulse. But before blowing open the whole secret of vampires and werewolves, don't they think it might be a good idea to sit down and talk it over with the other people who might be affected by this? People they care about? Because if Mitchell is arrested and found out, there's no way there won't be an investigation into the roommates who accompanied him from Bristol. And they aren't vampires and they aren't guilty, so maybe their secret will be safe, but shouldn't they talk about the risk they're taking? Of course, Nina pays for it, and then some. And is punished for her compassion toward Herrick at the same time.
Even if the secret of werewolves does stay safe, I feel like there's a fic to be written where Annie spends a tearful century watching Mitchell undergo painful experiments by scientists after his arrest, or maybe one where the vampires rise up and take over the world when their secret is revealed, because that's the only way they can survive. I realize there aren't a lot of good alternatives for either Nina or Annie here, but I still think they need to spend a little more time thinking through the consequences of their choices. At the very least, Annie could have given George and Nina a warning not to come home.
This storyline has also meant that everything basically revolves around Mitchell. There are no independent story arcs for Annie, George, or Nina the way there were on the US version. (Well, there's the pregnancy storyline, but that's been pretty minor so far.) On the bright side, this means that apart from the odd episodic story (e.g., George's father's "death"), the cast spends a lot of time together.
Other random thoughts:
- Nancy Reed probably should have spent a little more time thinking about her attack and how her attacker died, instead of apparently dismissing it all as...what? A hallucination? What does she think happened in that evidence room?
- It's kind of interesting seeing similar stories popping up on both shows (e.g., the death of a parent), and the very different ways they play out.
- Finally some family background on George! There is where he comes from. And it does seem to support my theory that George and Mitchell both came from lower socioeconomic statuses than Josh and Aidan.
- The bit about the "old ones" being selective about who they recruit and the selection of heirs reminds me a little of the US version. I also liked the discussion of how a lot vampires just flame out and die quickly versus a few who live on. I suspect that's true on the US version too--lots of redshirt thugs--but our focus is more on the older vampires.