Knowing in advance that SyFy’s new “original” series, ‘Being Human’, was based upon a popular British drama helped persuade me to give it a go. This is rare. My default stance with SyFy these days is to avoid most original productions so I don’t have to suffer through Atomic Tornado or Croctopus 3: Giraffasaurus Rex.
But if the Brits enjoyed the premise of a vampire, werewolf, and ghost living together as roommates, then who was I to question this.
Truthfully, I was a little wary about the concept, but I had a hunch that, if handled properly, this could be the next ‘True Blood’ or such–something this network desperately needs, respect. And ‘Being Human’ delivers with likable characters and plots that are darker and more complex than one might expect from such an offbeat setup.
The broodingly handsome vampire is something of a trope for drug addiction, as he is trying to “go straight”. But he stumbles and must wrestle with the consequences (literally) on his road to ‘being human’. Our werewolf is something of an odd duck, a quirky geek that keeps people at arms length–lest he feast upon them. But he yearns for connections, a dichotomy that causes him endless angst. Our trio is rounded out by the ghost of a young woman once betrothed to the boys’ landlord. She’s grateful to have people who can see her finally, but she’s as insubstantial as mist in a breeze. She’s torn between moving forward and clinging to her past.
If you get a chance to watch it, I say give it a try. It’s funny, dark, and interesting. I don’t think we can ask for much more from a network that loves to give us wrestling and reruns of ‘Joan of Arcadia’.
