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Wednesday 27 February 2013

"You had me at hotel and leisure management."

Being Human's getting pretty dark again as we're a couple of weeks away from the conclusion, but it's still keeping its lighter moments.

"The Greater Good" by John Jackson, directed by Daniel O'Hara. Spoilers under the cut.

- First of all, that scene they used for the episode's main publicity photo, with Tom and Hal nodding off on each other's shoulders. Clearly everyone involved with Being Human feels the same as I do about how great their relationship is (as does Alex, from the look she gave them.)
- Michael Socha also gets another interesting relationship to play this week, with Ricky Grover doing what he does best as the man-child werewolf Bobby. Interesting that he, like Tom, is someone whose development was arrested somewhere in childhood, and this is reflected in the way Tom - who's now finding his way into adulthood himself - initially takes against Bobby as he sees the version of himself he's trying to leave behind, before taking him under his wing. It also helps make it really hit home when Hatch kills off Bobby.
- The running gag about Bobby burning his legs, and Tom's reaction to it, is priceless.
- Darker stuff over in Hal's storyline, where I feel like after last year Toby Whithouse and the other writers got more confident in Damien Molony's acting abilities and have given him more to play. Hal's history of 50-year good/bad cycles was established early on when he joined the show, but I don't think we knew until this episode that it actually presented itself as two entirely separate personalities. It's a bit Angel/Angelus (but better acted) but Whithouse does claim he's never watched Buffy.
- The climax of Crumb's storyline turns out to be as a catalyst for bringing the bad version of Hal back. It feels like he left the story a bit early, but perhaps that's what helps it be more effective, it's unexpected at this stage.
- The not-exactly-subtle dig at government policy as this year's Big Bad continues with a reference to the Big Society.
- Is Rook even posher and more clipped than usual this week?

Favourite lines:
- "We went fishing. I caught a condom this big!"
- "There's Hal with the body of a Greek god. Then there's you, with the body of a Greek waiter."
- "One minute you're knee-deep in virgins, the next you're having a letter read out on You and Yours."
- "I might have exaggerated a bit about some of the things I've done. I weren't engaged to Vanessa-Mae. And I ain't got a Commonwealth medal in the discus."

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