My Review of Being Human's 3x04: "The Pack"

Written by John Jackson
Directed by Colin Teague

McNair: “Vampires and their vanity.”
Mitchell: “I’ve done nothing to you.”
McNair: “You’ve spilt my boy’s blood so I’m gonna spill yours.”

Now those are fighting words if I’ve ever heard ones. Maybe I should’ve been annoyed with the anti-vampire rhetoric spewing from McNair’s mouth every time he shared a scene with Mitchell this week but I wasn’t because right now, I’m seeing a side to Mitchell that’s very worrying all of a sudden.

He might be able to laugh and joke with George and Nina and be stoked about them becoming parents but if his relationship with Annie can’t go an episode without a dark incident happening, then it’s not very promising, now is it? I want to ship Mitchell and Annie as a couple but episodes like this are making me approach them with caution.

It would make sense that Annie would try to get around the sex obstacle by getting Mitchell to seduce a girl and for Annie to feel it through her but it was also an incredibly reckless thing for her to do. Mitchell himself should’ve flat out refused to do it as well. He might have only scared Sadie when they were at it but it could’ve been so much worse than that.

Mitchell talked about using sex as a weapon and we’ve already seen enough times that often he kills those whom he’s slept with as well. Perhaps McNair’s pithy comment about Annie being dead wasn’t so unfair after all. If Mitchell’s going to lose it like this for the next few weeks, it might not be a werewolf that finishes him off after all.

After four episodes, the one thing that I wish would happen is for Mitchell to fess to George, Nina and Annie about the box tunnel murders and Lia’s prophecy of a wolf shaped bullet. He’s doing no-one (including himself) any favours by keeping that information to himself and surprisingly enough, he actually gave a lot of power over to McNair as well.

McNair is now aware of Mitchell’s paranoia with werewolves coming after him and he certainly took a fair amount of glee in letting Mitchell know that he’ll die soon. I suppose with all that posturing, it could be an indicator that maybe McNair won’t be the one to end Mitchell’s existence. After all, there’s still George, Nina and Tom.

What can I say about Tom as a character? Keeping it simple, I think he’s actually a very sweet if somewhat naive young man. His complete cluelessness in relation towards women and his moral obligation to want to help George and Nina actually endeared him a lot to me in this episode.

I have to admit to laughing at his bumbling attempts with Nina. He misinterpreted her kindness for lust and when both of them along with George ended up being thrown into werewolf fighting; he even offered to ensure that Nina survived the longest as well. He might be a little odd but he’s definitely a gentleman nonetheless and I found his attempts of trying to form a pack really endearing as well.

I also found it refreshing that George and Nina took the initiative to actively seek out Tom and McNair for advice on their baby. It’s almost a shame that Tom was made a werewolf instead of born as one but I did like how the reveal of McNair not being Tom’s real father was handled. It also explained the way McNair was with him and I guess we’re going to have to wait a little to find out how Nina will cope with a baby growing inside her.

One thing I wasn’t overly keen on in this episode was the return of the werewolf fight club run by vampires. I also wasn’t keen on the idea of Richard and Emma running it either but thanks to Mitchell’s flippancy, Nina, George and Tom were nearly killed. It’s a good job that McNair did put his differences with Mitchell aside to help rescue them all but it was a bloody exit for Richard though.

I was kind of happy to see the back of Richard finally. Both him and Emma’s regards towards werewolves was much nastier in this episode and they certainly deserved their comeuppance in this one. Emma might have escaped being ripped to pieces but I say it won’t be long before she gets a house call of her own.

Also if this episode wasn’t eventful enough, the writers managed to slip in Herrick’s return as well. Granted it’s only a small little scene but judging from the trailer for next week, it’s one that’s definitely going to have the gang in a tizzy. Welcome back, Herrick.

Also in “The Pack”

There was a Buffy episode in the first season of that show that had an episode with the same title as this.

Annie: “Maybe your jeans are too tight.”
Mitchell: “No, no, the jeans are fine. Just, just go with the flow.”
Annie: “But who leads the flow?”

Lenora Crichlow’s flair for comedy certainly hit a new note when Annie was trying out dirty talk for Mitchell. Pity it didn’t seem to get the reaction Annie was looking for.

Tom (re Nina): “She was pretty though, wasn’t she?”
McNair: “We do not judge women by their looks.”

Annie: “Why would I keep it a secret?”
Mitchell: “I don’t know. I’m not exactly boyfriend material, am I?”

Interesting that Tom was leaving totem statues for George and Nina but it was also a sweet gesture as well. Tom’s from Cornwall originally.

George: “Look, I know you’re nervous but why can’t you believe that everything is going to be alright?”
Nina: “Because it’s inside me. I need to be sure, that’s why I brought him here.”

McNair (re Annie): “Lovely girl.”
Mitchell: “You don’t talk to her. You don’t even look at her.”
McNair: “Well, lucky she’s dead already. Saves you the trouble of killing her one day.”

Was it Lia who somehow managed to write ‘wolf shaped bullet’ on that dollhouse in the attic of the B’n’B? We didn’t need the extra hint but hey, it still managed to be effective.

George: “Just because we’re not normal doesn’t mean we can’t be normal. Really, you of all people.”
Nina: “That’s not what I’m saying. You’re taking it completely out of context.”

McNair: “I’ve always tried to do my best for you.”
Tom: “What about the pack?”
McNair: “It’s just me and you.”

Nina voiced some disapproval over Mitchell and Annie being a couple. I have to admit, like George; even I was a little taken aback by it.

Tom (to George/Nina): “If you want, I can kill you and Nina can kill me before we change. I won’t fight back.”

McNair: “Ladies and gentlemen, there’s been a change to tonight’s billing. In three minutes, I’m gonna kill everybody in this room.”

Standout music: I’d say the score music during the scenes at the boxing club this week were the strongest and most effective.

McNair (to Mitchell): “We may be square but you’ll get yours someday soon. Somebody’s gonna get you. Bang!”

Chronology: Not much time since “Type 4”.

Without a doubt, “The Pack” is the strongest episode this season. The brilliant character moments, the last scene, to be honest there was very little about the episode that wasn’t worth paying attention to. This season is definitely hitting it’s stride.

Rating: 10 out of 10.