So much hits the fan this week! The Reaper comes for Sally. As if that’s not enough, a ghost from her past is after her, too! And Josh’s lie about the twins being the ones to kill Hegeman sets off a chain reaction that will reverberate for both the werewolves and the vampires for a long time to come.
The following contains spoilers for season 2, episode 7 of Syfy’s Being Human. You have been warned.
The episode opens with Aidan running for his life through the woods with werewolves chasing him. He meets one of the Dutch, who promptly runs off to save his own skin. Aidan takes up a defensive position with a big knife as the wolves come on him and he recognizes Nora. Flash to the next morning and Nora is back in human form with a healing gash in her shoulder. Josh sits up behind her and ask what they did the night before.
Twenty-four hours earlier: Josh is taking a shower, steps out and finds “WHORE” written in the steam on the mirror. Aidan’s reading the paper in the kitchen, only to turn around and find all the chairs stacked higgledy-piggledy on the table. Lights in the rest of the house are blinking. Both guys look to Sally, who insists it’s not her doing. She turns the blame back on Aidan, who says his people can’t come in uninvited and Josh reminds her she’s the one who’s been taking stray teenage ghosts. She says they’re her friends, except for the guy who tried to rape her and he’s dead now. “Holla!” The guys leave after telling her to find a way to make it stop.
At the hospital, one of the Dutch, Adley, the one who was to ride home with Hegeman before he disappeared, confronts Aidan in the hallway. Aidan suggests they meet at the hotel, because hospital hallways were not meant for discussing vampire business, but Adley admonishes Aidan for his lack of manners and his evasive attitude. Those outside Boston seem to think Aidan is involved with Hegeman’s disappearance. Adley insists whoever is responsible for Hegeman’s death will pay and he won’t leave Boston until he has answers.
Nora’s back and sitting deep in thought in the cafeteria when Josh finds her. He didn’t know she was back and it doesn’t sound like she’s back willingly. After 16 days of sick leave, HR starts threatening termination, she says. Josh asks if the twins set up her accommodation but Nora denies being in contact with them while she was away. She says she got his messages, she thanks him for his taking care of the investigation, but she didn’t want him judging her. He’s angry with her for not understanding the consequences and what she put him through and she says she wants to make it right.
In the locker room, Josh asks about taking an EEG machine and Aidan says there are sexier ways to go about getting fired, like stealing high-grade pharmaceuticals. Josh wants to hurry up his study of the change to help Nora. Aidan tells Josh he can’t keep punishing himself about what he did to Nora. He also asks about the murder investigation and Josh initially denies talking to Cecelia, even when Aidan says Cecelia is missing. Josh finally intimates he tipped Cecelia off about the twins and gave her Hegeman’s rifle. Aidan accuses Josh of hypocrisy and tells Josh his actions have only made things worse for the both of them.
At home, Sally is dealing with the poltergeist. It’s sticking knives in the walls, stacking the living room furniture and tearing a path up the stairs toward her. And using Danny’s voice to taunt her! She reaches out to Aidan and tells him either Danny sent a Reaper to kill her or the Reaper is channeling Danny’s voice to scare her. Aidan looks up on the Internet and finds out Danny was killed by his cellmate, so it’s actually Danny’s ghost! Aidan tries to build her confidence by telling her she’s been a ghost way longer so she knows more tricks. Plus, there’s an iron poker and an iron skillet in the house, both of which will disperse supernatural manifestations. “It’s like a taser,” he says. His pep talk works and she’s ready to go home and take Danny on. As she disappears, Aidan has a seriously worried expression on his face.
The twins find Nora walking outside the hospital. They’re happy she’s back and want to take her out for acai drinks to celebrate before they turn tonight. They also trash talk Josh, saying she can do better. After all, he hangs around with a vampire. Nora says she knows they lied to Josh and they’re trying to drive them apart. Brynn admits they lied, then tells Nora how Josh and Aidan made the murder investigation go away. Nora confronts Josh in the storage unit. The twins told her that Aidan sent Cecelia to murder the twins. When she finds out Josh knew, she is angry. Josh tries to defend “Aidan’s” actions. Nora doesn’t see her killing Will as her fault, it was all instinct. Josh says, by that rationale, vampires are just killing on instinct too. She insists that’s different but Josh asks her where the line is or if she just makes it up as she goes. He says the twins have really messed her up and she storms out, saying she’ll be changing tonight with her friends.
Aidan calls Cecelia’s cell phone and Connor answers. When Cecelia came after them, they captured her, beat her and held her captive. Connor tells Aidan they will meet in the woods tonight during the full moon or they will kill Cecelia.
For a police lieutenant-turned-vampire, Cecelia is in WAY over her head. Credit: Syfy.com
Sally is back at the house to confront Danny. She has the poker in her hand and turns around to see him there in his prison jumpsuit. She promises a beatdown, but Danny whisks the poker from her hand into his. Since he died in prison, he’s learned a lot about being a ghost in a short time. He drops the poker to strangle her, his hands getting that green glow Stevie’s did right before he killed Dylan for good. She manages to throw him off and before he can attack her again, he is attacked from behind and dissipates. It’s the Reaper, who congeals from smoke monster to a man in black.
At the Halloway Hotel, Aidan meets Adley and tells him the twin wolves who murdered Hegeman are running loose in Boston and the two of them can take the two of them tonight in the woods. Adley has a plan and tells Aidan to draw them to him, then they will finish them together. Aidan rolls his eyes and takes off to the meeting place.
In that meeting place, Josh arrives and tells Nora he doesn’t want to fight, he wants to be with her. Aidan shows up right after him and the twins were, of course, expecting him. Josh admits he was the one who sent Cecelia. Nora is appalled but the twins, especially Connor, are impressed. Josh and Nora are already painfully starting their change, but the twins are so far unaffected. They take their time stripping off their clothes, removing watches and earrings, all the while explaining how this vampire hunt will work. Aidan has to find Cecelia and the rifle somewhere out in the woods. If he’s lucky, he’ll find Cecelia first. If they’re even luckier, Aidan might kill Josh or Josh might kill Aidan. Josh tells Aidan he needs to go and Aidan takes off running as the wolves finish their transformation and pursue. Aidan bolts through the trees until he reaches Adley. When he tells Adley there are four wolves, Adley turns tail and runs, saying he’d rather return to Pennsylvania a coward than dead. Aidan continues running, brandishing the knife Josh gave him when they moved in together as a “nuclear option” to take him down if necessary. He hears Cecelia calling his name and sees her strung up by her wrists. She’s in bad shape, with cuts and welts all over her body and her left eye swollen shut. As he reaches her, he finds Nora and Josh are already there. Nora jumps and Aidan uses the knife to wound her rather than kill. This distracts Josh enough so Aidan can cut Cecelia down. He wants to get her out of there, but they’re surrounded by all four wolves now. He goes to use the rifle on the twins, but she tells him the bullets are in the shed. He tries to carry her, but she knows she has no hope and she’ll only slow him down. She tells him it’s okay to leave her and run and, with hesitation, he does. He races off as the wolves tear her apart.
The Reaper is taking his time with Sally, actually explaining why he’s there. When people do bad things in their lives, there are consequences. When Sally didn’t take her Door, she “emerged as a person of interest.” The Reaper says there is an order and he comes to those who create an imbalance in that order and get rid of them. He normally disposes of people more “problematic” than Sally, but she presents a bit of a conundrum. He says she’s special. He doesn’t normally converse with his victims, but he seems to be taking an awfully long time talking to her and he’s got a daily quota to meet. Danny balanced the scales for today, but there’s always tomorrow. Sally closes her eyes, steeling herself for the inevitable, but he disappears.
She meets him later as she’s waiting at her grave. He knew she would come to him. She tells the Reaper she’s not special, she’s miserable. She’s watching everyone in her life moving on without her, even her roommates. She asks what it’s like to be reaped and where you go. He answers, “You don’t go, it just ends.” It’s almost dawn and a new day means a new quota to fill. He admits it’s been nice interacting with her but tells her someone must be taken and she must make her arrangements, then he walks away.
In the morning, we see Nora and Josh covered in dirt and gore and cuddled up together in the long grass. Nora sits up and sees her shoulder wound. She has a very stern, impassive face as Josh asks what they did. Nora remembers enough to know it wasn’t Aidan and that Josh tried to save her. Josh says that’s all he ever wanted to do. Nora tells him she feels horrible in the morning after a change and Josh answers it will get easier, but that’s not what she meant. She feels horrible because she’s no longer a wolf. And she didn’t feel any remorse at killing Will. She’s beyond angry with Josh for trying to kill his pack but she’s also slightly proud at the same time because he gave in to the wolf. She’s given over to her animal instincts because that’s her reality. Josh insists it doesn’t have to be that way. She tells him they began their relationship because he wanted to be human and that’s the difference between them. “You want to be human…and I don’t think I do.” He turns to leave her but she begs him to stay. He says he’s going back to get his clothes, leave the woods and forget this night ever happened.
The twins come back to the shed just as Josh is ready to leave. They’re still on an endorphin rush from the “game” last night and Connor is impressed that they’re still standing. Josh has really surprised him as a scrapper. Aidan arrives and Connor, still pumped, begins singing Aidan’s praises as the vampire levels the rifle and shoots Connor in the chest with a silver bullet. As he dies, he changes back into the wolf and Brynn tries to attack Aidan but Nora holds her back. Aidan assures her he has one bullet left and warns her to leave Boston as Brynn collapses to the ground wailing. Nora tries to comfort her while glowering at Aidan and Josh. Aidan throws Josh the rifle and picks up Connor’s body. He takes the corpse, wrapped in canvas and drops it at Adley’s feet in a Boston alleyway. Aidan tells him he doesn’t care what story he makes up about how he’s a hero for killing the wolf who killed Hegeman, but Adley’s business in Boston is done. Aidan slams the trunk of his car, gets back in and drives off, leaving Adley in an alley with the canvas-wrapped corpse.
"Leave now and never come back!" {/Gollum voice} Credit: Syfy.com
Sally’s in the kitchen rehearsing her goodbyes to the guys when Aidan walks in and realizes she had to deal with Danny herself. He asks if she’s okay she asks the same of him. Josh enters and, without saying a word, walks upstairs, followed silently by Aidan. Sally realizes her big goodbye moment is lost, so she curls up on the landing where she died and quietly says “Goodbye. I’m ready.”
I was really glad for the minimal vampire story tonight. And we might actually get some future plot movement from it! Hegeman’s killer has been “found and dealt with” but if you believe that’ll be the end of it, you’re kidding yourself. But this should bring the Dutch back in, and maybe Mother, since things in Boston are spiraling out of control and Boston is obviously overrun with werewolves.
Speaking of werewolves in Boston, how many werewolves do you think Brynn will bring back with her when she goes back to Mama Wolf and Daddy Wolf and tells them their bright baby boy is a trophy in some vampire social club? And after feeling sorry for Josh for so long with his curse and wanting to be normal, I’m finding it hard to adjust to rooting for Nora’s joy at embracing her wolf. I think it may be because it seems like she doing it for the wrong reasons. The twins have got her so twisted around, I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot more distance between the lovers before they reconcile, if ever. it seems like Nora’s always been pretty straight-laced, probably why she and Josh got along so well to begin with, but now she’s ODing on the wolf and her repressed inner wild child is coming out. And I fear it will have disastrous consequences. That said, I really appreciate that Nora has diverged so much from Nina in such a short time. I’m looking forward to more explorations of the many sides of werewolfdom and, with the inevitable McLean werewolf war on the vampires, it will be interesting to see where Nora’s loyalties lie.
What kind of jerkwad is Danny for needing to haunt the ghost of the woman he killed? It takes a serious asshat to go after her to kill her twice. His appearance and powers raised an intriguing issue though – a prison’s got to have a LOT of ghosts. And it only makes sense that a place where criminals teach other criminals how to be better criminals would have a fast track for teaching ghosts as well. Then there’s the Reaper. Not only is the Reaper (is there only one?) responsible for meting out punishment for sins, but he’s also responsible for maintaining order. And Sally passing up her door for whatever reason unbalanced that order. Those seem like pretty disparate functions, if you ask me. On the one hand, good and evil, on the other, seemingly an arbitrary numbers game with quotas. Is it “one in, one out”? If they don’t reap a certain number of souls per day, with the Reaper be reaped and someone else take his place? Is permanently snuffing out a soul the only thing that can restore balance? Next week it looks like we’ll get more reaping as, in the trailer, it looks like the Reaper is ordering Sally to become a Reaper herself, with a less than enthusiastic response. I hope they flesh it out more in the following weeks because as it sits right now, it doesn’t seem like a fully concrete idea, just a character brought in to fill a nebulous plot hole. Last but not least, why is Sally, who was so horrified and distraught at Stevie “snuffing out” Dylan, now so blase about the whole thing she actually uses the world “Holla!” Either she is suffering from some severe PTSD or she’s badly out of character in that moment. Either way, seeing how much the whole Dylan episode upset her before, this scene was jarringly incongruous enough to take me out of the action and stop and question it. Never a good thing.
