Being Human Episode 1: There Goes the Neighborhood Part 1

This past Monday was the anticipated premiere episode of Syfy's new show, Being Human (it also plays on Space in Canada). It's based off of the BBC show of the same name.  It has a seemingly simple and intriguing premise: two young men, one a vampire and one a werewolf, move into a house that's occupied by a recent ghost. It's about their daily lives while they deal with trying to be human.

After watching Monday's episode I was really excited about this new show that I decided to do a post about each episode. I will review it and also recap what has happened. Feel free to offer any input of your own!

Episode 1: There Goes the Neighborhood Part 1
Rating: B

This post contains all major plot points of the episode, so don't read if you really don't want to know what's going on. However, if you're not sure about watching the show yet, I would read this just to see if it's something you would like.

We're first introduced to the the vampire and werewolf of the story: Aiden, the centuries old vampire who can't quite help himself to fresh, warm human blood of a fellow coworker. He's a nurse in a Boston hospital, where our werewolf, Josh works as an orderly. He too, cannot help giving into his inhuman needs, hunting and killing a deer.

Aiden calls some shady people for help to take care of the now lifeless body of his coworker he has drained, which will come back to bite him (no pun intended) later in the episode.

Although Aiden and Josh are new to us, they definitely already know each other at the time this episode takes place. They often talk about their nonhuman problems on the job. Eventually, Josh suggests to Aiden they move in together in a nice new house he's found. They get it for a great deal, since the seller's fiance recently passed away in the house and he is in a rush to get rid of it.

To their surprise they come to find that the house is haunted by Sally, the dead fiance. She has no memory of how she died, all she knows is that she's unable to leave the house.

The episode really captured my interest with the simplicity of the premise and also the humor. I found it hilarious how Aiden, Josh and Sally interact with each other. Aiden is a typical vampire: brooding, calm, quiet but that doesn't stop him from having some great moments with Josh. Sally is energetic, loud and sympathetic because she's dependent on the guys for companionship due to her imprisonment. Josh, I think my favorite right now, is an unlikely werewolf suffering from nervousness and OCD. He's also the most funny and I found myself laughing at him many times.

Not only do we witness the setup of the three character's lives, we also find out about underlying issues for all of them. Aiden is being pursued by an elder vampire, Bishop, who wants him to return to his fresh bloodsucking ways (and he has a hard time breaking his 'addiction' to fresh blood). Josh has family issues after leaving his sister and parents suddenly after becoming a werewolf, without even telling them where he was going. Sally, even though she's dead already, has a mystery to solve: how did she die?

We're left at the end of the episode with Aiden succumbing to his urge to drink human blood after being offered it by Bishop and Josh, being found by his sister. He is confronted by her while he is in the process of locking himself up during his night of change and she closes the door which can only be opened from the outside. Josh tries to contact Aiden but he is unavailable and so calls Sally, pleading her to try to leave the house to come to his aid before he changes and most likely kills his sister. I'm definitely dying to know what happens next!

Overall Thoughts: I think this was a great first episode. I think there is still a lot to be done to reveal the personalities of the characters and for them to find their groove. Next week we will see the resolution to the huge cliffhanger and I'm definitely going to watch again. B