Being Human: The Failings of Hal Yorke [meta on Hal's passive outlook]

[istne_pieklo]

It’s always hard to lose faith in someone. The way I see it, it’s twice harder when you’re losing faith in a fictional character because they are supposed to be infallible. Not in the sense of being perfect or logical (that would be boring, wouldn’t it?), but because with enough dedication you can excuse their mistakes with poor writing, you can

Comments

[zoicite]

This is an excellent post and I don't think that there is a single thing that I disagree with in it (except for the part where he's "rewarded" with humanity because I don't understand how anyone can choose to see the end of the show that way, but clearly some people are choosing to do so, so whatever. Also, I really wish someone other than Hal had realized that the 'reward' was a lie. Argh, DVD extra). There are a lot of things here that I hadn't really thought about, but found myself nodding as I read. Anyway, I'm tight on time, but I'm looking forward to coming back and responding to this in depth a bit later!

[istne_pieklo]

Thank you. :))) Writing this was supposed to calm me down, but I'm raging even more now, argh.
Well, I meant "rewarded" from his POV mostly because he does see it as a a good thing, but of course there are people who also believe the end of the show was real, etc.
Also, I really wish someone other than Hal had realized that the 'reward' was a lie. Well, he's apparently a hero. XDDDD

[zoicite]

Ah, yeah. The parenthetical bit confused me and I thought you were primarily talking from the audience POV there.

The fact that he actually believed he deserved that 'reward' is pretty hilarious, really, when you consider the entire picture.

Okay, I'm in danger of actually responding to other parts of this now and I have work that I really really really need to be doing. Will be back later!

[istne_pieklo]

Ow, sorry. >_< I did say I'd try to make myself clear, but I was actually just raging XDDD
GOOD LUCK WITH WORK. <3

[harlequinn823]

Love this, especially dystopian leadership headcanon and the contrast between Annie and everyone else. I'll always consider Hal weak for never taking responsibility or facing real consequences for his actions -- and while I do not think the trinity had a happy ending (the trio did, IMO), I think it got silly with the HAL GOOD epilogue. The DVD extra scene ending with Hal in a superhero save-the-world stance was such a grave and jarring departure from what the whole show was about.

[istne_pieklo]

Thank you! :)) Imho the entire 5x06 was a departure from what the show was about (I find it especially irritating that they even had Hal state that humanity was something more than being physically human, but then they had to become physically human on top of that - it nullifies everything that George said in 1x06 about humanity).

[harlequinn823]

That speech seemed like it was supposed to be a major revelation, but really I think it was just to drop the names of the dead original characters. It wasn't true that to want it was to have it. The original trio and plenty of minor characters (Carl especially) proved that to be false.

[istne_pieklo]

Looks like it, but that's precisely what I hate. Series 1 established that anyone can be human, that humanity was more than the absence of fangs. But then they started sliding down to the point that no, only physical humanity matters, and it culminated in Hal not even having to face his sins committed as a vampire when he became human. YMMV of course, but I find it terrible.

[non_canonical]

Just a quick comment, because I'm short of time ...

Thank you so much for writing this! <3 I started writing a very similar rant shortly after series 5 aired, which was a follow-up to an earlier post about series 4 Hal's bullshit excuses and blame-shifting. I ran out of steam before I was halfway through. (I think there was just too much to rant about, and all I ever posted were the sub-rants that came out of the main thing. LOL)

The only thing I'd possibly slightly disagree with is about Hal being passive. I see a few hints that there is something more active about his behaviour, although the motivation is possibly subconscious. It seems clearest in his "grooming" of people who are potential future helpers (or victims?), a notable example from series 5 being Patsy. Hal might well be planning ahead there and lining up his next little helper. It's not clear-cut -- he might just be arse-kissing for the sake of the attention the household finances. LOL

[istne_pieklo]

I do miss the time when you were online more frequently and did your awesome meta and fics. <333 So yes, please share whatever you have. :))
It seems clearest in his "grooming" of people who are potential future helpers (or victims?), a notable example from series 5 being Patsy. Hal might well be planning ahead there and lining up his next little helper. I'm not sure he does that but yes, it seems plausible. I mostly meant that he was passive in the sense that he needed all these helpers in the first place and he couldn't get through this by sheer strength of will. Mitchell was like this too (I'm upset about it b/c in series 4 they seemed different but ended up being largely the same in the way that they both need people to use as crutches). I guess I overestimate BH's capacity to deliver "different" vampires.
Writing this meta made me realize that I miss Annie. XDDDDD

[non_canonical]

P.S. the stuff about Annie, and how she's different from Alex (and Tom), was awesome! <3

[istne_pieklo]

I'm determined after "Sleep of Reason" is finished to put BH behind me once and for all. We need a new fandom asap. XD You're too great a conversation partner to lose. XD
Hal is five times older than Mitchell, so it's even more disappointing that the writers couldn't do more (or anything?) to show us why that should matter. Apparently with the vampires greater age equals more entitlement. They all acts like babies. Even Mr Snow imho XD
Tbh I'm shocked by the number of reblogs on Tumblr. I was sure everyone loved Hal. XDDDD
And yay for essay-length comments. ;) You know I love them!