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It's easy to marathon through these Being Human episodes, but the show still isn't quite as good (or as fun) as it should be....
E1 / 572 Minutes / 2012 / Unrated / Street Date: January 1, 2013
Every new television series deserves a even-keel, open-minded first assessment, but when it comes to American remakes of legitimate British TV fare, it's hard not to have a teeny-weeny chip on one's shoulder. Being Human as a UK export isn't exactly the crown jewel of international boob tube fare, but its young-adults-as-werewolves-and-vampires Twilight-melodrama kitsch is, if anything, dumbly diverting.
This Complete Second Season of the American incarnation of the show carries with it a lot of the British incarnations - it definitely amplifies the 'vampire as social outcast' metaphors and the opportunities for brooding that come with them - but it continues to miss the mark in terms of making a convincing argument as to why it exists at all (other than to pad the pockets of TV executives). Being Human showcases pretty people and well-dressed loveplay scenarios with its marginal interest in the supernatural, but the show's creators never truly mine any good campy TV fun out of things.
Basically, Being Human is what Three's Company would look like if Stephenie Meyer wrote it without room for laugh tracks or Mr. Roper. Aidan (Sam Witwer) is a vampire, Josh (Sam Huntington) is a werewolf, and Sally (Meaghan Rath) is a ghost, and they all live in a nice house together. Each has baggage galore, of course, and interacting with the outside world is exceptionally difficult for each of them (in their own ways), but together they attempt to find a normalcy in their monstrous ways, attempting to align their idiosyncrasies (can you call vampirism an idiosyncrasy?) with a degree of human sentiment they all so desperately want.
I suppose the main difference between this version and the UK edition is that I knew the UK version was silly and throwaway when I was watching it, but I had fun doing so. There was an armchair escapism to its undead Days of Our Lives surreality. In this American revamp, the elements are all there, but we get no spark, no kitschy thrill. One wishes Edward and Bella would stop by these guys' house for a while, mope about their immortal love for one another and get the Being Human crowd in the mood....