Thursday, June 30, 2016

Being Human (U.S.) Season Three Review

Warning: Spoilers below!

Before I saw season three, I remember wondering how our main characters could possibly get themselves out of the predicaments set up from season 2.  Sally went to limbo, Aidan was buried alive, and Josh and Nora were last seen fighting Ray.  The writing does an excellent job at solving these problems.

Right away, it's easy to tell this show is headed in a fresh direction.  Josh and Nora look and act more mature because of all they've been through.  It's nice to see their relationship thriving again.  They've been trying to find Sally and Aidan for the past eighteen months.  Interestingly, Josh, Aidan, and Sally have all defeated their makers.  Aidan killed Bishop at the end of season one, Sally shredded Danny in season two, and now we learn Josh has lifted his curse by killing Ray to protect Nora.

As a last resort, Josh and Nora get involved with a witch named Donna.  She's not very likable at first, but she helps bring Sally back. Not just her spirit, Sally comes back from the dead!  I was thrilled by this because I was really concerned about how her story could progress any further as a ghost.  I think she changes the most because just when you think there's nothing left, we get majorly surprised with where her character goes.

It turns out, Aidan was buried at the best possible time because the vampires are on the verge of extinction.  A flu broke out among humans and when vampires drink the blood of someone who had it, they get sick and slowly die.  Mother and most of the other vampires are dead, except for Henry.  When Aidan is finally reunited with Josh and Sally, it takes him a minute to realize Sally is alive and this scene is one of my favorites.

They go all out with Sally's different hair, makeup, and fashion choices and it's so much fun finally getting to see her live for real.  But as we know, magic always comes with a price.  At first, she seems totally normal.  Then we start to notice her eating...a lot.  It seems innocent and we're even led to believe it would make sense since she did come back from the dead.  But it gets to the point where she eats constantly and nothing satisfies her hunger.  After cleaning out the fridge one night, she munches on some raw meat, confirming something is really wrong.

Connor and Brynn's father, Liam, stirs up trouble throughout this season.  We find out Nora killed Brynn in self defense and Aidan takes the blame.  Josh is scratched again, this time by Liam, but he's not as emotionally affected by this as we would expect.  Liam uses another werewolf, named Erin, to try to kill Aidan and I didn't care for her story line.  However, it did contribute to the discovery that werewolf blood is a cure for the vampire virus.  When Aidan gets sick, we get flashbacks as he remembers his long dead wife.  When he recovers, they remember he drank from Josh and when Erin tried to poison him with her blood, it gave him a boost, causing him to beat the virus.

Sally's condition worsens and she learns the only way she's temporarily satisfied is to eat something living.  She eats a mouse and decides she doesn't want to go down the zombie path.  She gives up and gradually starts to decompose.

Aidan loses Henry to the virus before he knows about the cure and then he meets Kenny.  Kenny is called the bubble boy because he has an autoimmune disease and has to live in the hospital where  Aidan works.  Aidan is able to sneak Kenny's blood because he knows it's clean.  The bits where Kenny is trying to prove Aidan is a vampire are pretty funny.  After a lot of begging, Kenny convinces Aidan to turn him so he doesn't have to live in a bubble the rest of his life.  Aidan has been mourning Henry and feels like he can start over with Kenny and raise a "son" the right way.

Josh and Nora get engaged and we see them planning their future together amidst all the turmoil around them.  In episode 12, they quickly plan a wedding at the house because they want Sally to be there, but it's too late.  She's fading fast, but doesn't die before Nora helps her pick out a killer outfit for her second afterlife.

After Sally dies again, she goes through the door Donna has prepared for her.  Donna tricked everyone so she could eat Sally's soul to preserve her youth, but Sally is able to defeat her with the help of Aidan and Josh.  Sally attends the wedding in spirit and of course she gives some hilarious commentary that Josh is unable to hear since he hasn't turned yet.  Aidan marries Josh and Nora and I'll admit I cried a little during their ceremony.  They've gone through so much to get to that moment and it's obvious they're meant to be together.

Of course, there are consequences to the vampire virus cure and when Aidan turns Kenny, he becomes a werewolf-vampire hybrid.  In the season finale, Liam tries to kill Aidan and we get an awesome scene where the group unites to survive his attack.  Josh and Nora can't even enjoy their honeymoon without some sort of dark drama interrupting.  In the end, Sally is able to save them and we get hints that she's a different kind of ghost now.  We also see Aidan's wife step out of a cab in present day Boston, setting up her role for season four.

Towards the end of the finale, Donna shows up as a ghost and pulls Sally down a hole that appears in the spot where she died.  Josh and Nora turn together again but Nora wakes up to find Josh is still a wolf the next morning.

With all of this being said, season three is my second favorite.  I love the choices they made because our characters were able to go through intense growth and development.  My favorite part was seeing Sally alive, even if it was only temporary.  What's up with her new ghostly power and where did Donna take her?  What will Josh and Nora's married life be like, especially now that Josh is a wolf indefinitely?  And how is Aidan's wife alive?  These are all the cliffhangers we are left with leading to my favorite season of all.

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