My Review of Being Human's 1x04: "Another Fine Mess"

Written by Brian Dooley
Directed by Alex Pillai

Mitchell (to himself): “You can piss your whole life away trying out who you might be. It’s when you’ve worked out who you are that can really start to live.”

In terms of dark episodes, I think it’s safe to say that this is the darkest one yet. Mitchell and George have been trying so far to blend in with their neighbours and all it took was one DVD to completely balls that up.

The episode made a point of having Mitchell talking about belonging. After all, he’s pulled of a successful act in getting the neighbours to like him and this week, he saved young Bernie from a few bratty bullies. That act in of itself endeared him to Bernie and the young’s lad mum Fleur.

In fact Mitchell then went one better by taking the boy bowling and while Lauren proved a minor distraction, Mitchell kept trying to prove how he could fit with humans. Come on, even that little party with Bernie, George and an unseen Annie was as routine as you could get.

So, what on Earth could’ve possibly gone wrong? How about Mitchell recommending a DVD of Laurel And Hardy for Bernie to watch. Now I like Laurel And Hardy as much as the next person but unfortunately what Bernie found in that DVD was the snuff film that Lauren made.

Although I’m not a parent myself, I do have nieces and I’d be a little freaked if I caught them watching something like that. Fleur’s reaction, while hysterical was believable and it would make sense that she would automatically assume the worst of Mitchell and George because of the DVD.

The problem was however is that she didn’t get the full story straight and ended up causing a lot of trouble. Being branded a paedophile and getting ostracised by your neighbours was definitely one thing both Mitchell and George didn’t need and not just because they’re supernatural beings.

Although I hated the mob mentality the neighbours went to, it’s understandable under the circumstances. It also gave George another thing to freak out and it also played a part in his relationship with Nina.

As for Bernie, the poor lad felt guilty over what happened with Mitchell and George and tried to make things right. Because of a stupid crowd, the lad ended up getting knocked down. Because of Mitchell he ended up becoming a vampire. Needless to say, both outcomes were bad.

Without sounding like a callous person, Mitchell should’ve let Bernie die. He knows himself that being a vampire can be a curse and given that Bernie will forever be stuck in the body of a 12 year old boy, Mitchell has damned him big time. Even Fleur should’ve had the sense to reject Mitchell’s offer, an offer that Mitchell should not have made in the first place.

Mitchell couldn’t even look at Bernie in the face and it’s obvious that he’s certainly going to be haunted by this. What he did here was way worse than what he did to Lauren. By the way, did anyone believe that she was genuinely okay and that she was going to leave Mitchell alone because I certainly didn’t?

Herrick played with Mitchell’s emotions wonderfully this week. First he smacked Mitchell down over his treatment of Lauren and then he got Mitchell to admit that the old days were enjoyable. It’s no surprise that by the end of the episode, Mitchell ended up going back into the fold.

George meanwhile had relationship problems with Nina. Although he enjoyed getting wild with her, he did fear that she was going to only want the wolf and not him. Then Nina made the wise decision to take things slow. When the neighbours started revolting, George tried to end things with her.

I’m glad that Nina didn’t believe that George was a paedophile for obvious reasons. I’m also glad that George decided to keep seeing her and hinted that he might tell her about being a werewolf. As for Nina’s scars, it’ll be interesting to see where the writers go with that story.

Annie also had romantic woes on her plates. Finding out that your fiancé’s a jealous prick who killed you would certainly be enough to shake up. Annie took it to the extremes by getting a little poltergeist happy in this episode. Coffee jars and light bulbs weren’t safe.

Owen himself also showed his true colours. First with his horrid treatment of Mitchell and George and then by the way he was behaving with Janey. That being said, Janey was massively irritating in this episode. I also got the impression that Owen could feel Annie’s presence around the house.

One moment that I did find really touching in this episode was Annie was telling Mitchell and George that she didn’t want to lose them. She better act fast though before Owen and his orange girlfriend get their mitts back into the house.

Also in “Another Fine Mess”

We had a shorter reprise sequence for this episode, which is fine with me.

Mitchell (re Lauren): “She was the one who came to me.”
Herrick: “Where else was she gonna go? She couldn’t exactly call Childline, could she?”

I noticed in this episode that Lauren’s hair was darker. It’s hard to figure whether Herrick actually care for her as well.

George: “I had the wolf in me.”
Mitchell: “So did Nina.”

Fleur (to Mitchell): “I say this as a mother but children are foul.”
Bernie: “Thanks.”

Apparently Bernie has two gay uncles and thanks to that DVD, Owen thinks Mitchell and George are gay.

Mitchell: “I’m not coming back.”
Lauren: “I know. We get it. Jesus. I am saying this out loud, aren’t I?”

George: “This is just what we didn’t need Mitchell. To draw attention to ourselves.”
Mitchell: “It was just a stupid mistake.”
Annie: “Well put it right.”

There was a good moment at the start of this episode with Mitchell slipping into various guises.

George (to Mitchell): “We’ve been deluding ourselves in thinking that we could ever be accepted here by proper human beings. We are monsters, Mitchell. We deserve to be cast out.”

Owen: “They said it was a fella with his tackle out.”
Mitchell: “I have eclectic tastes.”
Owen: “What you get up to is your own affair.”
George: “I have a girlfriend.”

Annie was seen by one of the neighbours in this episode when Bernie was knocked down.

George: “Nina, do I look like a paedo?”
Nina: “If paedos looked like paedos, they’d never do any paedoing.”

Annie (to Mitchell/George): “Owen has taken everything he’s ever gonna take from me. He’s not taking you two or this house. I’ve never felt more alive.”

Standout music: Aqua’s “Barbie Girl”. It’s not that bad.

Nina: “People can be bastards. It’s all you need to know. If I talk about it, I’ll have to remember.”
George: “I never want anything like that to happen to you again.”

Chronology: A few days since “Episode 3”.

Yet another superb episode. This one might have been collectively darker than previous ones but the series is certainly on fire at the moment. Can’t wait to see what the last two episodes offer us.

Rating: 10 out of 10.