This Monday night, Syfy’s Being Human returns for its fourth season. We took a look at the first two episodes of the supernatural drama and had no trouble coming up with five great reasons why fans should be excited by the drama’s return.
Based on Toby Whithouse’s U.K. series, Being Human centers on a group of supernatural beings — Aidan (Sam Witwer): Vampire, Sally (Meaghan Rath): Ghost, Josh (Sam Huntington): Werewolf, and Nora (Kristen Hager): Also a werewolf (and Josh’s wife). They live together in a house in Boston and are continuously trying to maintain some semblance of human normalcy while dealing with their supernatural urges. The series started out good and only continues to get better, which is all the more reason why you should be excited for Season 4. But to break it down with a bit more detail (but no major spoilers), here are five solid reasons to cheer for Being Human’s return:
5. There Will Be Blood
Let’s face it, if you had an issue with blood, you wouldn’t be watching a series that involves vampires. Blood drinking isn’t the only thing on the menu for the start of Season 4, though there is some of that, including one seriously disturbing blood binge. Expect lots of blood. Swirling blood. Splattering blood. And blood that’s… well, way too gross (and kind of disturbingly funny) to specify, even if I was trying to be more liberal with spoilers. So much blood.
4. Everyone Gets Naked
Pretty much everyone. Relaxed naked. Post-wolf waking-up-on-the-ground naked. Sexy naked. Lingerie almost-naked. The variety of naked is truly impressive. Of course, we’re dealing with basic cable here, so don’t expect to see a whole lot, but pretty much everyone is showing some skin in these first couple of episodes for one reason or another. We could stop here and simply celebrate the prettiness of the cast, but if we dug a bit deeper, we might suggest that nudity emphasizes human vulnerability, and that's something all of these characters have to deal with on some level or another.
3. Oh Suzanna
Remember at the end of Season 3 when Aidan’s wife Suzanna (Katharine Isabelle) mysteriously popped up in the present? As far as we knew up until that point, she was drowned in a river by a bunch of colonists when they believed she was a witch, due to her connection with Aidan. So, how’s she alive in the present? Well, I won’t tell you the answer to that question but I will tell you that you’ll find out the answer to that and more in the first two episodes. There are some surprising and disturbing reveals about Suzanna that we see through flashbacks in the first two episodes. It'll be interesting to see how her presence factors into the story going forward.
2. Changes
Does anything ever stay the same on Being Human? Of course not. People change. So do vampires, ghosts and werewolves. For Aidan, the change we see in the first couple of episodes is on a more emotional level. Transformation for Josh is obviously happening on a more literal level. Season 3 left off with him stuck as a werewolf. Season 4 picks up with Nora and Aidan desperately trying to contain wolf-Josh and figure out what’s going on. Rest assured though, as the above screenshot from one of the trailers indicates, we do see human Josh at some point. But it’s evident that things in his life, as a wolf and a human, are drastically altered. The second episode offers a really great cliffhanger in that respect.
And then there’s Sally, who was last seen being pulled through a hole in the landing of the stairs by Donna (Amy Aquino). Donna has some interesting things to say to Sally at the start of the fourth season, as the two of them are quarantined in some kind of spa-like limbo. Later, Sally’s situation moves to completely new territory. Territory that could really make a mess of things. That’s it. That’s all I’m saying about that.
1. Being Human is back!
That's really reason enough to be excited, isn't it? Being Human is now at the point of its existence where it can and does benefit from fans' familiarity with the characters and the relationships they’ve formed with one another. With each season, Aidan, Josh, Sally and Nora feel more like family, not only to each other but to the viewers. There’s one particular flashback scene that reminds us of just how far Josh, Aidan and Sally have come since they first moved in together. Their friendship seems so much more solidified than it once was and we almost don’t remember to notice the unconventional nature of it. Despite their differences, they’re family.
Season 4 seems intent on pushing these characters to the next stage of their existence as supernatural beings. Repercussions for ones choices have always played heavy in this series as we see the lead characters continuously fighting their natural urges, or in some cases, succumbing to them until things spiral out of control. The fourth season already seems poised to test new limits for each of these characters. The past is never all that far behind, even for someone like Aidan, whose past runs much deeper than the average human’s. And the choices these characters make could have terrible consequences if they’re not careful. But that takes us back to the last point, which is that these characters are family and they’re better together. The support they provide for one another is crucial. They’re also incredibly likable, together or individually, which makes it easy to care about their predicaments, even when they aren’t always making the best decisions.
Being Human’s fourth season doesn’t take long to dig into the story, setting the course for new and continued challenges while also settling into its natural groove, merging drama, horror and a little bit of humor in a way that should feel familiar to fans without feeling stale. Season 4 could prove to be the series' best yet, supporting the opinion that this is one of Syfy's best original series. At the very least, from what we've seen so far, the show seems fully prepared to embrace change, offering gallons of blood, a sprinkling of naked, some familiar faces, a few twists and turns and plenty of drama, which is where Being Human truly shines.
Want more spoilers about what’s ahead? Check out the set visit report we shared last fall! And tune in for Being Human’s Season 4 premiere on Monday, January 13 at 9:00 p.m. ET on Syfy.
