Being Human is Made of Win

Contrary to the title of this post, we're - even as of this moment - unsure why we love this show so much. It could be because we have watched the entirety of season 1 and what has aired of season 2 within the past twenty-four hours, but we really can't put our finger on what it is about this show that we love.

Well, yes we can:

That. That right there would keep us watching this show even if it turned into a Heroes-scale trainwreck.

But even without factoring in Aidan Turner's amazing good looks, we adore this show. Here's the lowdown: a vampire (sort of by choice) and a werewolf (by accident) just happen to move into a house haunted by a ghost (by murder). The show focuses on their lives and their attempt at ... well, at being human.

Mitchell, the vampire, has decided he's had enough of killing people for blood, so now all the other vamps refer to him as being "on the wagon." He's had a bit of a bloodthirsty past (understandably), and so he spends a lot of time trying to atone for all the murder. We like that Mitchell tries so hard to be good and to do the right thing now, rather than brooding about having made the wrong choice then. Also, he's really good-looking (see above).

George, the werewolf, is played by Russell Tovey, who is our favorite. In addition to our involvement in sci-fi geekery, we also dabble in historical knowledge attainment. Russell Tovey first caught our attention in a little film known as The History Boys, as our favorite character, Rudge. We admire Tovey's ability to bring depth to characters that could easily be one-dimensional - Rudge is a "dumb jock" who's really not so dumb; George is a shy, unassuming janitor trying to come to terms with that whole werewolf bit. It would be so easy for him to sink into the shadows due to his insecurities, but Russell Tovey brings out every inch of George's personality and shoves it in our faces.

We arrive, finally, at Annie, the ghost, played by Lenora Crichlow. Annie has two habits that really irritate us: one, she spends a lot of time pining for the fiance she lost when she died ... well, for a few episodes, and then she wises up. Two, if a man so much as winks at her, she gets all giggly, and then that man thinks she's flirting and she ends up getting assaulted. And when we say giggly, we mean, BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL, WOMAN, SHUT UP OR I WILL THROW SOMETHING AT MY TV. That giggly. However, we also admire Annie. She cares so much about Mitchell and George that, when her unfinished business finally resolves itself and the mythical door into the next world appears, she turns it down because Mitchell is hurt and she wants to make sure he survives. When she's not giggling, she can be kind of badass.

We suppose, then, that we love this show for the same reason we love Torchwood: the character development. The cast of Being Human agrees with us.  Sci-fi geeks that we are, y'all know we love a good supernatural showdown; however, we think it has more meaning when we know enough about the characters to want to support them.

The second season of Being Human airs in the U.S. on BBC America Saturdays at 9pm/8 Central.

Photo from here.