'Being Human' can be described as being very similar to HBO's True Blood, but not as graphic and definitely not as cool. This TV show, now in its fourth season, airs on the one and only SyFy network. The same network that brought you 'Sharknado'. This special little tv series is based off an English show of the same name on BBC, and has done well enough to separate itself from the English version, but has become riddled with to many characters and numerous sub-plots, that the writers and creators have seem to have forgotten where the show is going, or they just don't know where to push the story anymore.
It's unfortunate, because it has a decent premise, no matter how outlandish it tends to be. If you are unfamiliar with this show, I'll do my best to give you an overall fell for what to expect without giving away any real spoilers. But if you haven't seen the series before, I suggest starting with season one. For the most part, this is a show about roommates living together and how their different lives affect one another and the people around them. Seems like a sitcom story line that you've seen a million times, right?
Well here's where the 'True Blood' scenario kicks in. These roommates happen to be a werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost. I know it's difficult not to laugh, but that's what you're getting into here. These people are just trying to get by in their lives without alerting the public to their secret, and all try to live together. Josh (Sam Huntington) is the werewolf, Aiden (Sam Witwer) is the vampire, and Sally (Meaghan Rath) is the ghost.
This is one of those shows that prides themselves on cliffhangers. There is a cliffhanger in every episode, much like how there was one just about every five minutes on '24'. And when a season finale comes up, the cliffhanger is epic. So, this season three starts out quite a while after the events of the end of season two, where we saw our main characters in a not-so-good position, presumably about to meet their demise. This is odd because, one is supposed to be immortal, and one is already dead. So go figure.
It takes a couple of episodes into the third season to answer most of the questions of what happened at the end of season 2, and then things get mildly going. The main problem with season three is that we are introduced to several new characters that go off on long tangents that don't really pertain to the main story at hand. It really is as if the writers couldn't come up with enough material for thirteen episodes, so they just added in filler. This was not a problem with the first two seasons.
There is also a romance angle to the show, with the werewolf and a girl named Nora (Kristen Hager), where we have seen their relationship hit some rough patches in past seasons, but with this set of episodes, things are amped up to eleven for no particular reason. You'd think this would have been through the ringer and back, but I guess not. What's good about 'Being Human' as that it never takes itself to seriously at any given moment. It knows its place and is happy about it. There are some witty and laugh our loud moments throughout with some light dramatic situations. It's not an excellent series, but it isn't terrible either. Besides, monsters are the new fad these days.
'Being Human' season three comes with a decent 1080p HD transfer presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The show itself looks very sharp and crisp. However, in this season, they decided to use a bit more CG, so the image gets a bit softer in these segments, and of course it's on the SyFy channel, so the visual effects aren't top notch. That being said, there are some well-defined closeups of the actor's faces that show some individual hairs and scars pretty nicely.
The colors don't always pop off-screen and the directors seem to have set the contrast at a lower level, making things a bit more pale than normal, so that the bright red blood can shine bright. The black levels seem to be fairly deep and inky with skin tones looking natural from time to time, considering if the character is undead or not. There is some minor banding in a couple of scenes, but it's nothing to write home about. For a little SyFy show, this video presentation is solid.
This release comes with a nice lossless DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix. The surrounds get a decent workout with this show during the heavier action scenes such as when somebody transforms into a monster or the many sound effects that are constantly happening. The dialogue is always crystal clear and easy to understand.
There are no pops, cracks, or hissing to speak of. The ambient noises sound very good and clear through the rear speakers. The dynamic range is wide and the LFE is excellent. There are some great moments when the bass kicks into high gear as well. Great audio presentation here.
'Being Human' has a great set up for a story. It never takes itself too seriously, which is good, and has some genuinely fun moments. However, there are better shows out there that have werewolves, vampires, and ghosts in them. Don't expect this third season to terrify you or even thrill you in any way. It's more of a mindless type of fun. The video and audio presentations are good with some average extras. My advice is to rent this title before purchasing.
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