Mitchell, George and Annie are now Aidan (notably, the first name of the actor who plays Mitchell), Josh, and Sally, and there are other differences, some large, some small, which affect this series. Right from the start,
Aidan is poetic and narrates, a job done by Annie in the UK version. The UK's Mitchell is gorgeous but not, strictly speaking, poetic. Josh is OCD. George probably is as well, but also seems a bit… naïve? Definitely different. Annie was sweet and bubbly but also wrecked and devastated. Sally is sweet but less bubbly, and her fear is spelled out specifically - she's afraid she'll disappear permanently if she leaves the house. Herrick is now Bishop, played in a very different yet equally sinister way by LOST alum Mark Pellegrino. Less formal, more chummy, but still chilling.
The first episode really takes a lot of its source material from the opening narration and montage of the UK opening. We actually see Aidan and Josh deciding to look for an apartment, which gave Josh a nice opportunity to outline what his life has been like as a werewolf and supports the theme of their need to lean on each other for support. Aidan's killing of the nurse happened at that time, not more than 3 months earlier, and the investigation into her disappearance is the reason for us to see the interaction between him and Bishop.
Josh's discomfort with Sally is well done, and underscores how uncomfortable he is with his life on the dark side. Aidan, on the other hand, has been a vampire for twice as long as Mitchell - Bishop referenced knowing each other for 200 years - though vampire blood lust as drug addiction remains as it is in the original.
Sally "can't even move dust," a wonderful line, so she may have a harder row to hoe than Annie, who at the beginning of the series was making endless cups of tea just because she could. It will be interesting to see how they develop the character of her former fiance Danny, and whether or not he'll have the same… well never mind, no spoilers for you who've not seen the UK series.
The one thing that made me slightly uncomfortable was the way we weren't told that Jackie is Josh's sister until we'd seen her three times. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to think that she was his former girlfriend. But Jackie is an entirely new character, and therefore the basis for an exceptionally good cliffhanger - and no one knows what's going to happen! If Josh kills his sister… or if he even scratches her… or if she even sees him start to transform, which is likely… I for one am so interested to see what they're going to do with this!
I love the original Being Human series for the character interaction, the great storylines and great scripts, the wonderful acting talent, and the visceral but not overwhelming supernatural themes. Although it's definitely an American vibe, it is equally good, with enough differences between the original and this reworking to keep fans of the UK version interested, entertained, and coming back for more. Thank you SyFy for respecting an excellent show and adapting it so gracefully.
My favorite line was when Josh spied an intruder: (Josh) Should we call 911? (Aidan) You're a WEREWOLF.
First published 1/17/11 by Good To Be A Geek
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