"We're more Ceefax people."
So once again we get to the point where there's only the final two-parter of Being Human left, and it all seems to have rushed past very quickly. Before then, "Puppy Love" by John Jackson, directed by Daniel O'Hara.
- I didn't know what to expect from this episode going on last week's trailer as there seemed to be all sorts going on and it looked a bit muddled. I was a bit more confident at the title "Puppy Love" since it looked like the Tom/Allison story would be the focus, and as it turned out the episode actually juggled its various strands well, and was another strong one.
- The best moments of the episode are in fact, as is becoming the trend, in the relationship between Tom and Hal. Of course we see them actually acknowledging that Tom is taking on Leo's role, something that's been apparent from the start. And how well he's suited for the job is clear in one of the best moments, when he calms Hal down by giving him a pre-prepared, imperfectly sorted box of matches.
- And of course the Tom/Hal relationship working is crucial if there's to be a Series 5 because the whole storyline with Emrys (I kept thinking we'd stumbled into Merlin) was full of sledgehammer-subtle clues that Annie will be going through her door at the end of the series. And the whole point of the story being that her unfinished business may be a bad thing (like killing the baby.) Of course, this unfinished business malarkey is as big a retcon and therefore makes as much sense as the whole "werewolf blood hurts vampires" thing. We know Annie's unfinished business. She finished it. It involved confronting Owen and as a result she got, and turned down, her door. It formed pretty much the whole basis of Series 2 and 3. Oh well, another thing to chalk up along with The Men With Sticks And Rope in the "oh dear this bit of backstory has got a bit too troublesome to acknowledge any more" list.
- Cutler's sub-plot, not to mention Hal/Alex, could have been too much in the mix but they were integrated too well into the Tom/Allison story to make the episode a muddle.
- Besides, the Golda story did provide us with Kane; it wasn't so much his attempt to live his life as an action movie that was comic gold, as everyone else's reactions to it.
- Oh, Alex is doomed isn't she? I don't just mean 'cause of the trailer for next week, I mean because of the mention of her dad who we'll probably be seeing seeking revenge in the final episode.
- And as usual I leave the main plotline to last, but Tom/Allison was great, a well thought-out little story arc that the two played excellently. I loved what I assume was a little visual nod to Romeo + Juliet, except instead of flirting through a fishtank it was full of money skulls. (And of course Ellie Kendrick played Juliet at The Globe a few years ago; one of the few Juliets ever to actually look the same age as the character is meant to be. Oh and of course Adetomiwa Edun was her Romeo, so a slightly more oblique Merlin link there.)
- And I loved the moment when Allison said she was planning to be a barrister and Tom suddenly got that much more interested in her, a good callback to last week. Actually even if some of the bigger continuity points have been niggling at me, the show's got some good gags out of continuity as well. Like the fleeting reference to Kia-Ora. I know there's bound to be a spoil-sport element online somewhere who pester Toby Whithouse for an explanation of the Kia-Ora story so can I just put my name down as hoping we never get it explained. It's a lot funnier if it stays as something spoken of in hushed tones like the worst drug conceivable. Oh, and was the line about Emrys' unfinished business possibly being to watch Titanic a callback as well? It felt like it rang a bell.
- I didn't know what to expect from this episode going on last week's trailer as there seemed to be all sorts going on and it looked a bit muddled. I was a bit more confident at the title "Puppy Love" since it looked like the Tom/Allison story would be the focus, and as it turned out the episode actually juggled its various strands well, and was another strong one.
- The best moments of the episode are in fact, as is becoming the trend, in the relationship between Tom and Hal. Of course we see them actually acknowledging that Tom is taking on Leo's role, something that's been apparent from the start. And how well he's suited for the job is clear in one of the best moments, when he calms Hal down by giving him a pre-prepared, imperfectly sorted box of matches.
- And of course the Tom/Hal relationship working is crucial if there's to be a Series 5 because the whole storyline with Emrys (I kept thinking we'd stumbled into Merlin) was full of sledgehammer-subtle clues that Annie will be going through her door at the end of the series. And the whole point of the story being that her unfinished business may be a bad thing (like killing the baby.) Of course, this unfinished business malarkey is as big a retcon and therefore makes as much sense as the whole "werewolf blood hurts vampires" thing. We know Annie's unfinished business. She finished it. It involved confronting Owen and as a result she got, and turned down, her door. It formed pretty much the whole basis of Series 2 and 3. Oh well, another thing to chalk up along with The Men With Sticks And Rope in the "oh dear this bit of backstory has got a bit too troublesome to acknowledge any more" list.
- Cutler's sub-plot, not to mention Hal/Alex, could have been too much in the mix but they were integrated too well into the Tom/Allison story to make the episode a muddle.
- Besides, the Golda story did provide us with Kane; it wasn't so much his attempt to live his life as an action movie that was comic gold, as everyone else's reactions to it.
- Oh, Alex is doomed isn't she? I don't just mean 'cause of the trailer for next week, I mean because of the mention of her dad who we'll probably be seeing seeking revenge in the final episode.
- And as usual I leave the main plotline to last, but Tom/Allison was great, a well thought-out little story arc that the two played excellently. I loved what I assume was a little visual nod to Romeo + Juliet, except instead of flirting through a fishtank it was full of money skulls. (And of course Ellie Kendrick played Juliet at The Globe a few years ago; one of the few Juliets ever to actually look the same age as the character is meant to be. Oh and of course Adetomiwa Edun was her Romeo, so a slightly more oblique Merlin link there.)
- And I loved the moment when Allison said she was planning to be a barrister and Tom suddenly got that much more interested in her, a good callback to last week. Actually even if some of the bigger continuity points have been niggling at me, the show's got some good gags out of continuity as well. Like the fleeting reference to Kia-Ora. I know there's bound to be a spoil-sport element online somewhere who pester Toby Whithouse for an explanation of the Kia-Ora story so can I just put my name down as hoping we never get it explained. It's a lot funnier if it stays as something spoken of in hushed tones like the worst drug conceivable. Oh, and was the line about Emrys' unfinished business possibly being to watch Titanic a callback as well? It felt like it rang a bell.