TV Review: Being Human 4.6, "Puppy Love"

By Chris Suffield / March 12, 2012

rating: 4

Being Human has always been laced with humour, some has been darkly funny but there's never been an episode played almost entirely for laughs before. So the tone and series 4 continues its lighter touch with Puppy Love. Hal is working on his new routine, this is made all the more difficult by the arrival of a attractive young woman named Alex who takes a shine to him. Tom gets a geeky girlfriend and Annie accidently kills a grumpy old man. Fellow werewolf Allison is a fully fledged geek and Tom finds her simply endearing. Allison was a fantastic addition to the episode and she was perfectly played by Ellie Hendrick. Hal goes against his better judgment and goes on a date with Alex, the temptation does feel somewhat obvious and an old one like Hal should know better. Meanwhile Annie attempts to solve her victim€™s unfinished business, and full credit to writer John Jackson for being responsible for one of Annie€™s best sub story-lines. Cutler has become a firm favourite and I€™m secretly hoping he survives this series to continue stealing every scene he€™s in. His carefully laid out plain starts to unravel with the arrival Golda. This added even more comedy value as one of her subjects has a taste for spewing out action movie dialogue and he€™s gloriously over the top. I don€™t think there has ever been a vampire with a fondness for Jason Statham movies before. Fearing he would turn somebody he has come to love into a killer, Tom breaks his own heart and ends his relationship with Allison. A big part of Being Human€™s success is in just how human it is, and both Ellie and Michael played the scene tenderly to heartbreaking effect. The prophecy is starting to weigh down on Hal, he has become convinced that he is the burned vampire that will harm Eve. It€™s concerning that he has not told the others about this, but Hal is putting his trust in controlling his condition. As temptation faces Hal at every corner, a lapse seems inevitable and the teaser for next€™s weeks episode appears to confirm that. Puppy Love was a clever little piece of misdirection, we settle into the comfortable laughs and new characters only to get an injection of series story arc in the closing minutes of the episode. Ghost Eve from the future arrives and asks Annie to come with her and prevent a war. Dark times lay ahead for our heroes. There are still 2 episodes before the end of the series, Being Human may now feel a little closer to a spin off than the same show it was but it's just as engrossing as the Mitchell/George era. Being Human Continues Sunday at 9pm on BBC Three