"Every monster had their own version of an addition; it's written into our blood."
There was a lot going on with this episode of Being Human. Now that we have reached the fifth episode of this season, it is clear the characters are on the dark path that we have been promised. Much of Aidan's story was told through flashbacks this episode.
Suren had chosen Henry after Aidan refused to run away with her. I can fully understand her desire to get away from Mother. In the 1930's, she had already reached the age of 700, and had yet to be granted any autonomy over her life. Mother very cavalierly tells her to make the most of the party that they are at because she is tired of Chicago and that they will be leaving the city. Suren suggests that she will stay on her own, only to be quickly denied.
Even in the present day, there seems to be nothing that Suren can do to please her Mother, who makes it very clear, that she has created an empire from her hard work and demands that Suren become an absolute duplicate, to be seen as acceptable. Tension between mother and daughter is not at all creative or new, but it certainly was acted well.
Suren walks in on Henry, Aidan's child, have sex with another woman. He claims that she means nothing to him, and that he brought her upstairs to feed. Suren does not believe him, and so Henry appeals to Aidan to tell her that she is being childish. He could not have chosen words that were more wrong. Suren rushes downstairs where a party is happening, while Aidan and Henry fight. Aidan breaks Henry's arm and banishes him from vampire society.
Downstairs, Suren sees the woman that Henry was screwing, and feeds on her in front of everyone. Mother is livid that they have been exposed, and demands that the doors and windows be locked. The vampires kill every single human in the room and Mother orders Suren be put to ground. As she screams about not wanting to be grounded, Serene is carried away by two vampires. The language chosen makes it appear that Suren is a six year old instead of a 700 year old woman.
In present day, Mother is still dissatisfied with Serene progress and makes an appearance at the hotel to tell her so. She wants the orphans culled immediately, because she fears that they are organizing. In a fit, Serene runs up to see Aidan and tells him that they have to find the orphans. When he tries to placate her, Serene reminds him that he does not even remember what it's like having a mother, and that therefore; he should not lecture her on how to deal with hers.
Aidan finally admits that he has known all along where a nest is. When they show up at the funeral home, all the orphans have fled with the exception of Henry. Aidan is very surprised to see him and hides him from Serene. Clearly this is a mistake, and I think in time we will come to find that Henry has assumed leadership of the orphans now that Bishop is dead. Why would he be waiting there for Aidan in the first place? The man is clearly conniving and is up to something.
Sally, is in rough shape from her body stealing. Thank goodness Josh points out that what she is doing is wrong. Aidan's concern is that she has become addicted. Once again, I feel that it is necessary to point out that creating a fake addiction is highly problematic and reduces the all too real suffering that families and people with addiction must deal with. Sally is truly cavalier about this and rightly points out that Aidan is no condition to sit in judgement of her now that he is back to consuming human blood through the vein.What is missing from this conversation however, is the acknowledgement that every time Sally takes Janet's body and sleeps with Tim, both Tim and Janet are being raped. Neither one of them consented to sleeping with her.
Sally again possess Janet and while in bed, Dr. Tim Forest points out that she is acting very differently. When she tries to leave the body, she finds that she cannot. In desperation Sally finds Josh at the hospital, but before they can figure out what to do, Tim shows up and asks her why she is not visiting with his mother. Back at the apartment, the shadowy figure shows up, but only Sally can see it. She begins to scream, even as Tim asks what's going on. The shadowy figure pushes her against a wall, knocking Sally out of the body. This leaves Janet very confused, and she can only meekly assert that she is fine, when Tim asks if she is okay.
When Sally returns home, she is pale and very obviously weak. Janet shows up at the door, and Josh lets her in believing that Sally is still trapped in the body. It quickly becomes clear that Janet is there because she has been dreaming about the house, and Sally's experiences. Janet says that something is after her, and that it all started at the spot where Sally died. Josh quickly ushers Janet out of the house, claiming that she is confused. Sally says that she is going after her because she feels that she has to help her. Josh is very against this idea, believing that Sally has messed up Janet's life enough already. It is Aidan who comes to her aid, saying that Sally has to deal with this in her own way.
When Sally gets to Janet's house, she finds her drawing pictures of the shadowy figure and then quickly discarding it on the floor. In a moment of epiphany, Janet writes the word reaper on the top of the picture, causing Sally to stop. Clearly, this thing that is stalking Sally is all about her refusing her door, at the end of the last season. It's about time that they gave this shadowy figure some definition, because until this point, Sally has just seemed irrational. I am very interested to see how they grow this storyline, because up until this point there had seemed to be very little investment in Sally's story, relative to the other characters.
Conner shows up to talk to Nora at the hospital, and she tells him that though she is on the low end of the werewolf hierarchy, because she is a mutt, she does not want to Josh taken advantage of, because he wants to be normal more than anything. Conner responds that what she is really afraid of is that if Josh does indeed find the cure, that he will make her take it too. Considering Nora's stalking last episode, perhaps Nora has embraced her werewolf more than we realize.
It seems that the hospital is quite busy. Will, Nora's ex shows up saying that he has seen her around recently. Could Nora be stalking yet another human? When Josh interrupts them, of course it's judgement time, because he is not at all please at how she is choosing to interact with the man who abused her. Umm yeah, that would totally be Nora's call.
Conner gets it into his head to tell Josh that it is his responsibility to get justice for Nora, because no wolf should be treated like that. Josh and Conner go to the house that Will is building, and proceed to beat him up. The fight is only stopped when Nora walks in and prevents Josh from bashing his head in with a two by four. She gets on her knees to see what is wrong with Will, and demands that both Conner and Josh leave.
Back at the hospital, it turns out that Will is fine and has decided not to press charges. Josh doesn't seem to care that he narrowly avoided jail, and is instead concerned that Nora still has feelings for the man that hospitalized her, and permanently scared her body. Though he plays it off as concern about her person, to me it all really seems like jealousy and fear that he is not her one and only. Nora tells him that she wants nothing to do with Will, and begs him not to be the guy who gets all possessive and violent when someone looks at his girl, because that is not who he is. She tells Josh that she loves him and walks away.
Brynn then approaches Nora, again at the hospital and tells her that she sees something in her. Nora tells her about stalking Will, and wants to know if the wolf is separate from her, or does she know what happened to her in the past. It seems that the writers are making it appear as though it is the wolf and not Nora who wants vengeance. I'm not sure that I like this. I think that it does not recognize what Nora has been through as an abuse victim. It is not only legitimate, but perfectly human for her to want revenge on the man who hospitalized her, even as he claimed to love her.
In the meantime, Josh is alone at the storage facility waiting for the time to change, and is clearly worried that Nora has not shown up. In the morning, Nora awakes covered in blood and is sandwiched between Brynn and Conner. She is clearly content to be there, and I am guessing that Will has had his last day as a human being.
