Being Human, S4 Ep01 — Eve of the War

London 2037. The vampires are in the process of taking over a world that resembles very strongly Joss Whedon’s vision of an apocalyptic future.  A young woman who looks like she has the weight of that world on her shoulders seems to be leading what’s left of the resistance. As word of New York falling comes across the wire, we learn that what’s left doesn’t seem to be very much at all.

Just when I start to wonder if a complete time jump is what we’re in for, we’re back to present day. Tom the Pouty Werewolf (Michael Soca) has been working at a diner while trying to get on with his life. He’s there in his cute little apron when in through the door comes a motor-mouthed young vampire named Dewi (Darren Evans). The “stake me” sign stuck on Dewi’s back tells you all you need to know about his relationship with his new peers. After he leaves, none the wiser to who just served him his tea, Tom chases him and his two vampire companions down. After staking the two older vamps, Dewi gives up the goods: information on the whereabouts of the new vampire boss-man and police constable Griffin (Alex Jennings), who was behind the recent murder of Tom’s friend, Nina.

Yeah. You read that right. Sigh.

Russell Tovey deserves all the awards.

We learn that George is near catatonic with fear and grief while holed up in the attic room of Honolulu Heights, guarding his still unnamed daughter with stake in hand. About the only thing recognizable here is the fact that Annie has gone absolutely mental over it all, frantically tap dancing around the room while she tries to coax George back to his senses. Oh, and it appears that Mitchell’s truly dead, for anyone who was living in denial (I know, but I read some theories, okay?).

Also, the vamps have relocated. Now their business front is Stoker Imports & Exports, and there’s a lot of new faces around. A blonde, rather innocent looking fellow heads in to collect Arthur Weas– er, a scruffy-looking vampire named Regus (Mark Williams) — and bring him to a sort of War Room (that reminds me of that famous scene in Downfall). This is Cutler (Andrew Gower), and he wants to know the significance of the baby . . . most importantly, why the vampire collective in Barry have their panties all in a twist over her. Griffin explains his plan to offer up the first known natural born werewolf child as a sacrifice to the Old Ones, to gain favor as they prepare to enact their plan to take over the world. Cutler is sharp. Very sharp. He thinks that the whole way that the Old Ones want to go about taking over the world would have worked about a century ago, but not so much now. “Before you reach your first major city, they’ll have raised an army. On Twitter,” he deadpans, before suggesting an alternate plan to provide the world with a much worse monster to fear. Not to cross fandoms, but: Penny in the air . . .

Meanwhile, Tom pops his head in at Honolulu Heights, and tries to convince George to go a-vampire-hunting with him, which George eventually takes him up on. Annie is left to take care of Splodge (“Daft, isn’t it? It’s almost as if she hasn’t been given a proper name…“). I spend the next few minutes yelling uselessly “It is a trap!” at my screen, and guess what? It’s a freakin’ trap. Tom and George get locked into a building for the duration of their change, as it just happens to be a full moon. This allows time for Griffin’s henchman Fergus (Anthony Flanagan) to visit Honolulu Heights. Annie’s attempts to hide little Splodge are unsuccessful, and when Fergus threatens the baby’s life she has no choice but to let him leave with her.

This sequence is interspersed with the introduction of some more new people. There’s a barber whose name is Leo (Louis Mahoney), and a pale looking fellow in old-fashioned clothing. Their conversation clues us in to the fact that there seems to be another trio in town whose composition matches Mitchell, George, and Annie’s — vampire (Hal [Damien Molony], the pale one, naturally), werewolf (the barber Leo, an older man who likely won’t survive another transformation), and ghost (Pearl [Tamla Kari], whose fate is tied to Leo, her anchor and what is keeping her around). There’s a few more scenes with them throughout the rest of the show featuring them worrying about what they’ll do when Leo inevitably passes, but I’ll just get it out here: they don’t actually meet up with Annie, Tom, or George at any point. Their storyline is kept completely separate, and is only an introduction to the characters. We’ll see more of them next week. Hal especially, since — spoiler alert! — he’ll wind up as the new Mitchell.