Being Human: What are the rules?
Now that the first series has finished on BBC America, I thought I'd indulge in one of my favorite hobbies... nitpicking the world building rules and see if they'd really "work" or are at least internally consistent.
This is actually rather mild nitpicking, just trying to see what the rules are in the first place. Please add in your own two cents freely if I've missed anything or you think there's other interpretations.
I'll break them down by category:
Vampire
The only hard and fast rule seems to be vampires need blood fresh from the human source. None of that Forever Knight nuking cow's blood from a microwave stuff. They can also eat and drink like a normal human, and while it's unclear if they actually "need" to eat regular food or if it's a human habit or a way of blending in.
Trying to quit drinking blood has the rather unpleasant side effect of "feeling" more human and hating all the terrible things they've done, with a vicious cycle of wanting to drink to forget. They're like an alcoholic who's fallen off the wagon, and it was a very hard fall.
Sunlight is mentioned as nothing but an annoyance, with vampires of any age able to walk freely in the sun without burning. George mentions he and Mitchell got their jobs because they could go hours without exposure to sunlight, but so far there's been nothing harmful explicitly shown. Perhaps sunglasses help with light sensitivity, or perhaps they just want to look cool. *g*
Objects of faith do work against them, but do not work against those considered an ally and can be weakened if the object bearer is outnumbered.
They cast no reflection in a mirror and can't be captured on film. Which is when my Rodney McKay voice pipes up with "You broke science!" *g*
Staking is shown as a way to kill vampires, but it seems it's more about bleeding them out and keeping them from refilling the tank that kills them. Though I wonder if there's an act of will involved in whether they dust, as Lauren went that route, after begging Mitchell do do it before she killed someone else. It's the vampire equivalent of choosing to go through the Ghost Door.
Vampiric abilities available 24/7, including a heightened sense of smell which allows them to identify werewolves.
Summary: Mitchell is a paranormal version of a sex addict, because it's obvious the whole sex/life essence thing is important for vampires to get what they need. Not all that different from Stoker's interpretation, just not as subtexty and complicated in the rules department.
Werewolf
It's said it's a curse, but there's not much detail about it, other than it's passed on by a scratch from someone who's wolfed out. In some lore, killing the wolf who infected you is a cure, or perhaps solving the reasons behind the original curse if it's a family thing, but there's no mention of a cure here. Since George has only met one other wolf, it's possible that may come up in the future.
Based on the flashback scene to when he met Mitchell, I'd hazard a guess that werewolves are relatively rare, or at least pretty good at hiding from vampires who can kick their ass when it's not fuzzy.
I'm a bit unclear about whether or not George has access to any of his superhuman powers beyond shortly before and during his transformation. Annie makes mention of his senses being more acute at one point, but I'm not sure if that's 24/7 or only during his time of the month.
He's still new to wolfing out and until now has desperately wanted to keep the wolf segregated out of his "normal" life. It's very possible he could do a lot more than he has, but he's never tried because he didn't want to know.
Summary: George is a paranormal version of a gay man so deep in the closet he's finding Christmas presents.
Ghost
Annie's sort of all over the place with her powers, but I think they covered it pretty well by using the excuse of her powers changing as she learned more about what happened to her. Not to mention her attachment to Mitchell and George helped to cement her in the world of the living just as she helped cement them in the "human" world.
The question now is since it seems like she's some sort of überghost, with anyone able to see her, how will they explain away her wearing the same clothes every single day? Will she still continue to live a ghostly life in seclusion, only interacting with a few people? Maybe she can pop over to the facility Owen's in and say "Boo!" every once in a while to keep him batshit crazy, yet totally telling the truth about what he's seen?
There was a lot of subtext indicating Annie was vulnerable to Owen's brand of manipulation before he entered her life. He just took advantage of something that was already there. Her pre-death history is still rather vague, so they could go anywhere with it, if they wanted.
Summary: Very obviously a battered woman, but with verbal and mental abuse apparently going back further than physical abuse. And that was before anything paranormal happened.
What's the future hold? The man talking to Owen at the end has me a bit worried we might be heading towards Cliché Land. His later phone call of "Professor Jerrit (sp?), we found them." could mean we're going to be dealing with some old school group of Watchers (you can go with Highlander or Buffy-style, I think) who will be the Big Bad next season. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt. No, really, I've got a t-shirt.
I do have to wonder if he was specifically referring to "them" as in some combination of Mitchell, George and Annie, or if it's a more generic "We found some monsters that need killin' and/or experimenting on." Would probably seem logical to them, as even Mitchell's said vampires are arseholes and not many have ever tried to give up the blood lust, plus werewolves are contagious. Maybe they've been tracking Mitchell and George after spotting one or both before their move, or they have people in place to pass on information from psych wards when people come in talking about supernatural critters.
Though his reassurance to Owen that he's perfectly safe, no one can get in is rather laughable as, you know, Annie's a ghost. Seriously, she needs to pop in and say "Boo!" every so often. *g*
This is actually rather mild nitpicking, just trying to see what the rules are in the first place. Please add in your own two cents freely if I've missed anything or you think there's other interpretations.
I'll break them down by category:
Vampire
The only hard and fast rule seems to be vampires need blood fresh from the human source. None of that Forever Knight nuking cow's blood from a microwave stuff. They can also eat and drink like a normal human, and while it's unclear if they actually "need" to eat regular food or if it's a human habit or a way of blending in.
Trying to quit drinking blood has the rather unpleasant side effect of "feeling" more human and hating all the terrible things they've done, with a vicious cycle of wanting to drink to forget. They're like an alcoholic who's fallen off the wagon, and it was a very hard fall.
Sunlight is mentioned as nothing but an annoyance, with vampires of any age able to walk freely in the sun without burning. George mentions he and Mitchell got their jobs because they could go hours without exposure to sunlight, but so far there's been nothing harmful explicitly shown. Perhaps sunglasses help with light sensitivity, or perhaps they just want to look cool. *g*
Objects of faith do work against them, but do not work against those considered an ally and can be weakened if the object bearer is outnumbered.
They cast no reflection in a mirror and can't be captured on film. Which is when my Rodney McKay voice pipes up with "You broke science!" *g*
Staking is shown as a way to kill vampires, but it seems it's more about bleeding them out and keeping them from refilling the tank that kills them. Though I wonder if there's an act of will involved in whether they dust, as Lauren went that route, after begging Mitchell do do it before she killed someone else. It's the vampire equivalent of choosing to go through the Ghost Door.
Vampiric abilities available 24/7, including a heightened sense of smell which allows them to identify werewolves.
Summary: Mitchell is a paranormal version of a sex addict, because it's obvious the whole sex/life essence thing is important for vampires to get what they need. Not all that different from Stoker's interpretation, just not as subtexty and complicated in the rules department.
Werewolf
It's said it's a curse, but there's not much detail about it, other than it's passed on by a scratch from someone who's wolfed out. In some lore, killing the wolf who infected you is a cure, or perhaps solving the reasons behind the original curse if it's a family thing, but there's no mention of a cure here. Since George has only met one other wolf, it's possible that may come up in the future.
Based on the flashback scene to when he met Mitchell, I'd hazard a guess that werewolves are relatively rare, or at least pretty good at hiding from vampires who can kick their ass when it's not fuzzy.
I'm a bit unclear about whether or not George has access to any of his superhuman powers beyond shortly before and during his transformation. Annie makes mention of his senses being more acute at one point, but I'm not sure if that's 24/7 or only during his time of the month.
He's still new to wolfing out and until now has desperately wanted to keep the wolf segregated out of his "normal" life. It's very possible he could do a lot more than he has, but he's never tried because he didn't want to know.
Summary: George is a paranormal version of a gay man so deep in the closet he's finding Christmas presents.
Ghost
Annie's sort of all over the place with her powers, but I think they covered it pretty well by using the excuse of her powers changing as she learned more about what happened to her. Not to mention her attachment to Mitchell and George helped to cement her in the world of the living just as she helped cement them in the "human" world.
The question now is since it seems like she's some sort of überghost, with anyone able to see her, how will they explain away her wearing the same clothes every single day? Will she still continue to live a ghostly life in seclusion, only interacting with a few people? Maybe she can pop over to the facility Owen's in and say "Boo!" every once in a while to keep him batshit crazy, yet totally telling the truth about what he's seen?
There was a lot of subtext indicating Annie was vulnerable to Owen's brand of manipulation before he entered her life. He just took advantage of something that was already there. Her pre-death history is still rather vague, so they could go anywhere with it, if they wanted.
Summary: Very obviously a battered woman, but with verbal and mental abuse apparently going back further than physical abuse. And that was before anything paranormal happened.
What's the future hold? The man talking to Owen at the end has me a bit worried we might be heading towards Cliché Land. His later phone call of "Professor Jerrit (sp?), we found them." could mean we're going to be dealing with some old school group of Watchers (you can go with Highlander or Buffy-style, I think) who will be the Big Bad next season. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt. No, really, I've got a t-shirt.
I do have to wonder if he was specifically referring to "them" as in some combination of Mitchell, George and Annie, or if it's a more generic "We found some monsters that need killin' and/or experimenting on." Would probably seem logical to them, as even Mitchell's said vampires are arseholes and not many have ever tried to give up the blood lust, plus werewolves are contagious. Maybe they've been tracking Mitchell and George after spotting one or both before their move, or they have people in place to pass on information from psych wards when people come in talking about supernatural critters.
Though his reassurance to Owen that he's perfectly safe, no one can get in is rather laughable as, you know, Annie's a ghost. Seriously, she needs to pop in and say "Boo!" every so often. *g*