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Being Human 'The Graveyard Shift' Review - SciFiNow

Being Human ‘The Graveyard Shift’ Review

Read our review of Being Human’s third episode but beware of SPOILERS

Being Human series 4 episode 3, The Graveyard Shift, aired on Feb 19th on BBC Three at 9pm.

4/5 stars

After two episodes of pretty heavy stuff – friends dying all over the shop, a prophecy scribbled on human skin – we’re rewarded with a breather. Packed with laugh-out-loud moments, The Graveyard Shift enlists vampire Hal as an employee at the local cafĂ©, dealing with irritating customers and the mess they leave behind. His reaction to a discarded Nuts magazine is priceless, as he picks it up by his gloved fingertips and takes it straight to the bin.

Tom and Hal really gel this episode, reluctantly becoming pals through a bet to get a girl’s number. The hilarious result shines a glaring beacon over Tom’s inexperience with the opposite sex: “I like your tights,you look like a bee, I like bees.” Unfortunately, the insect-girl in question happens to be a charcoal etched caricature of an emo. Actress Laura Patch throws herself into the role of Michaela wholeheartedly, but the laughs fall a little flat. Her subsequent death was her only redeeming feature, and even then she was disappointingly resurrected as the most annoying vampire ever. Regus, Michaela’s maker, was equally jarring with his Team Edward t-shirt, claiming to be 400 years old. Wouldn’t you have gained an ounce of vampire mystique with centuries on the headstone? Fergus cuts a much better bloodsucker and you genuinely believe he will stab the baby quite happily when he meets Annie in the park. His swift staking at the hands of Hal was brutally quick, only three episodes in, leaving the next Big Bad with a lot to live up to. Cue bespectacled man walking through the door of death.

It was great to see some niggling issues faced head-on this episode, like the trio’s insistence of staying at Honolulu Heights despite the threat, and Annie’s apparent ease of swapping one set of housemates for another. Her decision to abscond with baby in tow was logical and the weird sex memory was pure comedy relief. By the time the housemates settle down for The Antiques Roadshow, all happy leg-patting and awkward smiles, you truly believe they’ve earned that friendship. Who were Mitchell, George and ‘Tina’, again?