Being Human: Puppy Love

Emrys: “When your time comes, remember: it might not be a good thing you have to do.”

Now there’s a tantalising piece of dialogue. Whether we’re supposed to interpret it as a piece of general advice, or as a portent of things to come, I’m not altogether sure. Annie offing Kirby two weeks ago does seem to have changed her attitude towards killing. But didn’t Annie get rid of her unfinished business when she solved her own death back in season one? I was under the impression her continued existence on earth was more to do with free choice than it was her being stuck here. I hope this isn't a hint Annie will be leaving the show at the end of the season.

A theme this season has been the addictive nature of killing. On the one hand we’ve got Annie and Allison: both relative newcomers to killing, and both seemingly taken by its intoxicating highs; on the other we’ve got Tom, who’s killed dozens of vampires and considers it a necessary evil. Then there’s Hal. Hal’s a cautionary tale for all. He’s what happens when the remorseless killing eventually takes its toll on your conscience. One minute it's all fine wines, hot women, and frilly ruffs... the next it's dominoes, polishing teaspoons, and obsessive matchstick sorting. With Hal, the urge to kill is so all consuming, his only way of combating it is to shield himself from humanity. Which is making his attempted reintegration into society all the more fascinating. Who knows what he'll do?

It didn’t take Allison long to embrace her dark side. She's at that age where any new and dangerous thing is total amazeballs. (Cheers Perez.) Which is why Tom had to let her go. She was slowly turning into him. I thought Ellie Hendrick was brilliant as lovable geek, Allison. She was the perfect girl for Tom. But how can anyone live in Tom's world and retain any sense of gentleness or innocence? It seems a shame they couldn't have come to some sort of compromise. Allison undoubtedly needs the stability of her parents, but she also needs someone like Tom. Someone who understand what she is. Someone she can ask questions of and share her experiences with. A Littlest Hobo to her Lassie.

How long before Tom reaches Hal’s level of OCD, falsetto singing and mopery? Hopefully, never. He probably won't live long enough. But, with Cutler trying to promote the idea that not all vampires are bad, along with Tom’s first hand experience of living with Hal, how long before Tom has his own crisis of conscience? Now Cutler's introduced some grey into the equation, how long before he starts second guessing himself? Hal offering Tom Leo's old job was a lovely moment, but Tom needs to take his new role as 'mundane task setter' more seriously. Leaving Hal alone with Alex wasn't cool at all. Especially when Hal’s so visibly weak around humans. Every week feels like a fresh cry for help, yet no one seems to be listening. Hal's put a heavy burden on Tom. I just hope Tom's mature enough to understand what's been asked of him.

Hal reminds me of a superhero. Cafe employee Hal is mild mannered, socially awkward, easily agitated, and a failure with the ladies, whereas Old One Hal is confident, dangerous, and a prodigious ravisher of women. It’s like being in full-on vampire mode infuses him with this whole other personality. Seeing him in his full Old One glory again feels more like a matter of when than if. Without his rituals, Hal’s as mentally weak as a kitten attempting to ignore a catnip mouse. Annie keeps trying to reassure him that he's actually stronger than he thinks: but is that true? How would Annie know? Hal's an unknown quantity, who may or may not be a danger to them all. The will's certainly there. But is the ability?

I'm finding it difficult to work out Cutler’s endgame. I get that he plans to expose werewolves, but to what end? Allison made a good point: outing werewolves is all well and good, but won't it lead to the eventual outing of all supernaturals? I can't see the Old Ones being overly chuffed with that. That's if Cutler's plan even works. It appears the internet community was largely unimpressed with his werewolf video. Which makes you wonder what exactly would pass as proof of the existence of supernaturals in this modern age? Is anything one hundred percent tamper proof? Even personal experience isn't absolute.

But I am warming to Cutler. In fact, I really liked all the characters tonight. Alex was a little underdeveloped, but I like that they're exploring the boys' love lives. Them exploring Annie's love life was perhaps a little more awkward. Kudos to Emrys for trying his luck, though. Annie probably had the weakest story to contend with, but her adventures with Emrys were at times laugh-out-loud funny. I particularly enjoyed the cupboard gag, and the haunting of Emrys' ex-wife. But their story was more a prelude to Eve's rather predictable appearance. Judging by the teaser, next week's episode looks set to be a corker.

Bits and Pieces:

-- What is it with Hal and falsetto? Try a more masculine tone, you fool.

-- @lycurios actually exists as a Twitter account. You can find it here.

-- Laxatives in the Guinness? Sacrilege!

-- Kane I probably shouldn’t have liked. He’s was a character verging too precariously on the edge of comedy overkill. But I did chuckle at his OTT “Noooo!”

-- Hal doesn’t know the offside rule!?

Quotes:

Allison: “You can’t just go around killing people. Don’t you see? That’s not what normal people do.”
Tom: “Well, we're not normal people, are we? We’re werewolves.”

Hal: “No drugs. No Kia-Ora. Just old fashioned work and routine.”

Tom: "We're both werewolves!"
Hal: "How depressingly predictable."

Alex: “Okay, you want the big guns then? Pull my finger.”

Allison: “You know we trended last full moon... on Twitter? There’s a Facebook group trying to hunt us down.”
Tom: “Facebook?”
Allison: “Don’t tell me you’re still on MySpace.”
Hal: “We’re more Ceefax people.”

Hal: “I don’t really follow the rugby.”

Tom: “Hal, I’ve found these matches and some of them are the wrong way around.”
Hal: “We’ll soon see about that.”

Allison: “If people find out about the existence of vampires, werewolves and ghosts, there’ll be riots. There’ll be lynchings. It’ll be like the tuition riots all over again.”

Tom: "FX fail?"
Allison: "As in 'special effects'. Thankfully, most people think it's a fake."
Hal: “Hairy balls, LOL?”

Hal: “First, write her a poem, then speak to her father.”
Tom: “Annie said I should just get drunk and try and snog her.”
Hal: “It’s all so brutish these days. I preferred the dowry system.”

Cain: “Something about heartburn... heartbreak? No, that doesn’t work does it? Shit!”

Allison: “Fuck the badge!”
Tom: “Allison! You had to build Tracy Island for that.”

Annie: “Wax on, wax off.”

Annie: “That’s what happens, Tom. Killing changes you. Look where I ended up.”
Emrys: “Hacking down seniors in the twilight of their lives.”

Emrys: “Thanks, Annie. I’m sorry we didn’t get to smooch.”
Annie: “Me too.”
Emrys: “Fancy one for the road?”
Annie: “Piss off!”