My Review of Being Human's 3x08: "The Wolf Shaped Bullet"

Written by Toby Whithouse
Directed by Daniel O’Hara

Mitchell (to George/Nina/Annie): “Thank you, all of you. You made me human.”

Wow, just bloody wow – they actually did it. They actually went and killed Mitchell and if you’ve read Toby Whithouse’s statement on the BBC blogs you’ll know that this show is coming back for a fourth year and it will be one without Mitchell. Can the show survive without him? We’ll find out in 2012.

I’m going to commend both Toby Whithouse and Aidan Turner. The former, because he’s actually did something genuinely ballsy by killing off a man character that will probably never return and the latter because it was him who suggested that Whithouse did it. Aidan Turner was a huge asset to this series and Mitchell was such a big character but for me, the character’s death made so much sense.

Given the whole atrocity of the Box Tunnel Massacre, Mitchell was on borrowed time anyways and even though Lia’s prophecy actually turned out to be a mind fuck from her, it made total sense that Mitchell would die at the hands of George but not out of revenge – out of love instead.

George had been ready to kill Mitchell when he thought Nina was a goner and when Mitchell begged George to end him, it did take a lot of convincing for George to go through it with. Even the interruption from Edgar and a new arc being put in place couldn’t deter the unavoidable – Mitchell was going to die and George was the one who staked him.

I’ve had my issues with Mitchell throughout the third season but even I cried at his death here but as upset as I am by it, there is no way in hell I’m giving this show up. This season alone has been the series at it’s best and most innovative and I am so looking forward to where it goes from here with George, Annie and Nina against Edgar and the old ones as well. Looks like a fantastic arc has been set in place.

The old ones – maybe it’s not the most innovative of names for a high vampire order but with Edgar Wyndham, they’ve got a charismatic and lethal head honcho at the top. Lee Ingleby is pretty fine casting and it’s going to be incredibly interesting to see how our trio from Honolulu Heights are going to be able to take on that lot with the limited resources and allies they have. George’s fighting words at the end were great but our trio are definitely at a disadvantage right about now.

At least with Herrick, he was just one vampire and something tells me that Edgar is not going to be as easily vanquished as Harrick was in this one. Which leads to a slight disappointment as well with this finale. I was totally expecting Herrick to die and I was definitely expecting Mitchell to do it but Herrick’s death second time round didn’t have the same punch to it than when George was ripping him to shreds.

Plus, I guess I was little miffed that Herrick didn’t get to live long enough to create even more chaos. Instead he went about trying to salvage some of Mitchell’s mess before kidnapping his progeny and George in a bid to get them to kill each other. And even then, he failed but I guess that was largely down to Tom’s welcomed interruption.

The only bits of evil that Herrick did manage to express in this episode were his utter delight in telling George about killing Nina and lamenting about having the world at his feet before Mitchell staked him good and proper. Now, much as I love Herrick, I think after this finale, it’s time to lay the character to rest like Mitchell.

As for the other plot points in this episode – am I the only one who watched this episode and didn’t care how Nina survived? I know fans like to argue about plot holes and logic gaps and so do I but I was so grateful that Nina and the baby survived, I really didn’t care because losing her and the baby on top of Mitchell would’ve been too much for me as a viewer.

Similarly I have little issue with Lia being forced into admitting that she made the whole prophecy about Mitchell up either. The girl had every right to want to get even and even her turnaround about revenge sucking made narrative sense following her conversations with Annie in this one. If it hadn’t been Lia, it would’ve been someone else that Mitchell killed.

Last but not least, Tom. I’m glad he survived this episode too and while I liked the fact that McNair left him a letter telling him to move on with his life, I really do hope that he’s a returnee for the next series. Okay, we might need another vampire for the gang (or not) but I definitely wouldn’t object to seeing more of Tom next year.

Also in “The Wolf Shaped Bullet”

Bad news male viewers, Nancy actually died in this one. I was hoping we’d see her ghost but Edgar more or less confirmed the news when he was firing all the police staff in Barry.

Annie: “Oh, Mitchell, I don’t know how to make this any clearer to you – I don’t want you to get out.”

The old ones have infiltrated the police – that makes sense but it does feel similar to Herrick’s methods as well.

Policeman: “That was me? What was I saying?”
Annie: “I don’t know.”
Policeman: “No!”
Annie: “It’s your door. It’s what happens next. I’ll come with you.”

Mitchell: “Yeah, wouldn’t expect you to understand. Your character’s always been pretty consistent.”
Herrick: “I think that was a dig.”

I’m surprised Annie wasn’t pursued by the men with sticks and ropes when she went to purgatory again. This time we saw Lia’s bedroom in it. Very girly.

Herrick: “You’ll be the villain now?”
Mitchell: “Christ, I always was.”
Herrick: “There’ll come a day when one of us will kill the other.”
Mitchell: “But it won’t be today.”

Tom (re Herrick): “He killed McNair.”
Mitchell (re George): “He’s one of your own, Tom, don’t let it happen.”

Both Lia and Edgar used rhyming to draw attention to themselves – Lia through a corpse and Edgar through a police speaker. Lia’s was more effective.

George (to Mitchell): “You don’t say my name now. You don’t even look at me now. You are not my friend. You better go, your boss is waiting.”

Annie: “I was the weapon?”
Lia: “Now she gets it.”

McNair’s name was Anthony Michael McNair and Annie mentioned Gilbert when recommending a friend to Lia. Jason Healy was also blamed for the Box 20 thanks to Edgar.

Annie: “What the hell? I was going to spend eternity in a prison cell with Mitchell, I might as well spend it with you. Besides when Nina gets here, I want her to see a friendly face.”
Lia: “Yeah, I think we’ll be great friends us three.”

Lia: “If you go then I won’t know anyone here.”
Annie: “This is not the way to make friends and influence people, trust me.”

The spin-off series, Becoming Human will air as a 50 minute special next Sunday at 9pm on BBC3.

Herrick: “Look at this world. How does it make you feel knowing that soon this will be ours?”
Mitchell: “Don’t you understand? It always was.”

George: “What you’re asking me to do -”
Mitchell: “Is heroic. George Sands saves the world.”
George: “Yeah, that was never one of my ambitions.”

The show has been officially renewed for a fourth season of eight episodes that will air in early 2012.

Mitchell: “This has to end.”
Edgar: “Sorry, you’re going to dance for me. You’re going to kill and rampage. You’re going to be my attack dog.”

George: “I’m doing this because I love you.”
Mitchell: “I know.”

Standout music: Pretty much the score music in the last ten minutes this one.

Niggles aside, I loved “The Wolf Shaped Bullet”. This season set the bar high and for me, it delivered wonderfully and while there are some who might not want to watch a fourth year without Mitchell, I however will definitely be watching.

Rating: 10 out of 10.