The Greater Good

Not doing spoilers, so can't comment on the Radio Times article, but....

Been mulling over the fact that Hal called Rook.  Why did he do that?  Why not dispose of Larry's body himself (it's not like he hasn't done it before!)  Could it be that he thinks Rook will save him from himself?  I suspect that it will turn out to be a very bad move!

This really is a spectacular series.  It just couldn't be better! 

First thoughts.....

The series trailer shows the clip of Hal in the cellar saying 'he's going to destroy everything' and I had wondered whether he was strapped to the chair again........but I'd assumed that if he was then it would be connected to the clip of him drinking from the flask.  Wasn't that scene just brilliant! Despite the churning in the pit of my stomach, I must admit that I kept grinning because it was just so glorious to watch. 

The whole alter-ego thing is quite interesting.  It's a bit of a new idea to be throwing into the last series.  When Hal attacked the pawn shop bloke he was giving in to his urges, not being.......well - possessed.  But I just loved it so much that I can more than happily overlook that. I guess if you give your soul to the devil then you're effectively possessed anyway. And I keep thinking back to Hal telling Crumb that he 'met' the devil.  Have they 'met' yet? I know Hal didn't recognise Hatch, but I can't help thinking there's more between them. That picture of Hal in uniform leaning against the wall.....does that suggest that we've got another flashback still to come?  I sooooo hope!.

Any other thoughts will have to wait til tomorrow.....

this episode is now available on the BBC iplayer - let the re-watches begin!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01qys6s/Being_Human_Series_5_The_Greater_Good/

Keeping away from supernaturals didn't go too well then did it!

Still feeling a bit shellshocked, to he honest......

I'm still a bit fixated by the possession thing.  Hal went to Crumb's house (who I thought was brilliant in this episode) where there was a lot of blood and bodies, but after a couple of deep breaths he appeared to be pretty unaffected by the sight.  Strapped in a chair talking to Crumb in the cellar, faced with threat but not temptation, he flipped.  Not sure if I'm reading too much into this.

The meditation scene was breathtaking.......still not sure I can actually say anything beyond oh my god!

Hal told Leo that he, Pearl and the barbers shop had been his cage which had kept him safe from the world and the world safe from him.  That cage vanished when he arrived at Honolulu Heights (Annie really didn't do a good job of sticking to his list!) and so yes he has been holding on by his fingernails ever since.  However, the story which he told in the 'Sylvie scene' was about a total, unaccountable and instant reversion.......

This again feels like two eps squeezed into one - the Bobby story and the rehabilitating Crumb story.  Both of which really, really deserved to have more time to expand.  The Mr Rook developments are good too......his realisation that maybe his life's work had been misdirected. He did tell Bobby that it wasn't his fault that he killed his family.......but he needed to see supernaturals as irredeemable in order to justify his own actions.  But now that Hatch has literally got his claws on him I think he's had it!  (wonder what happened to Hetty)

But I have to come back to Hal every time.  The scene in the cellar with Crumb has taken over most of my thoughts.  The emergence of Hal's alter-ego (I'm finding the terms 'good Hal' and 'bad Hal' increasingly difficult to rationalise) is unbelievably chilling, thrilling and convincing.  The scriptwriting for the meditation scene was perfect, and Colin Hoult pitched Crumb perfectly.  But.....oh my god....Damien's performance really was breathtaking.  It's back to that breathing through the eyes thing. Compelling....mesmerising....and just heartbreaking. 

domino wrote:

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Did anyone else notice that the soundtrack for the scene in the cellar with the blood roulette with Crumb and the Hal is on the cusp of a switch to 'bad Hal' is the same as the soundtrack for Hal's Prequel when he was on the cusp from bad Hal to good Hal?

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 It's called 'Ancestors' and is on the Being Human soundtrack CD. It pops up here and there and was also used in the scene where Mitchell stakes Herrick in 'Wolf Shaped Bullet'

I rewatched this week's episode and i really don't think Hal is either 'possessed' or has MPD or DID. I think that centuries of going from bad to good has made him very good at supressing which ever side battles for dominance. I can imagine when he's in a good cycle then he is working hard to make sure that the bad side stays down and vice versa. I could imagine something traumatic could trigger a bad cycle though he has said that sometimes he can sense when another cycle is about to begin but not always, as the story of Sylvie attests. As i've said before, i think what we're seeing is 'Transitional Hal', he's going from one cycle to another and he's desperately trying to suppress the bad side and whilst he was fastened to the chair, Lord Harry burst through (perhaps due to being knocked out by Crumb and/or Hatch's malign evil all pervading influence) . Although i'm a little bit perturbed that we got no real warning,  apart from last week when he's seated on the bed at the end of the episode. He didn't look sorry or afraid or remorseful for what he did to Larry. It was though he knew that another cycle was about to begin after centuries of going from good to bad, he seemed almost resigned to it. I can imagine the uncontrolled re-emergence was terrifying for him. 

Hals' support network is gone, and as he's settled into the world without the reassuring presence of Leo and Pearl and had to adjust, slowly but surely everything has begun to unravel. I think it's only been a matter of time before Lord Harry made his presence felt. Neither Tom or Alex have the emotional strength, patience or understanding that Leo obviously did and that is not their fault, it's just who they are. 

Maybe Hal defining the parts of him (Hal and Lord Harry) as separate help him to deal or cope with what is going on with him, knowing his love for order and control. 

I'm probably completely and utterly wrong but those are my thoughts about it. 

Thanks Lisa, interesting that although i have watched every series countless times I did not recall the same music being used in the Mitchell/Herrick scene. says much about how my BH fandom has evolved since the pilot #Damiac

I feel it is significant to use the piece in both these quite lengthy scenes relating to pivotal (in all senses) Hal moments. Signature for apocalyptic change .

Totally agree about the possession and MPD thing..it didn't strike me at all in that way, rather the inner struggle and resistance that Hal has to Lord Harry fighting his way to the surface.

Although, when he goes all floppy and then emerges a different Hal, it does bring to mind how a medium channels – which for a moment gave me a glimmer of a thought that it was partially the influence of Captain Hatch, in the same way that he put Patsy in a trance. Especially when he says “he’s coming”. But that is just a tiny glimmer on the edges of my mind, the overriding sense for me is as you say, transitional Hal, on the cusp, his constant inner battle rising to the surface in a highly physical way.

I don’t feel that we had no clue it was coming though, from the beginning of this series there has been a sense for me, like background hum, of how dangerously close to the edge Hal is, since he decided he was safe to be released from the chair, he recruited Crumb and although he had his reasons there is a desperate tension around this, and the being given the flask of blood, that rumbling away in our consciousness, and also there is this new sense of futility that has emerged a couple of times in Hal…right from ep 1..from Crumb’s recruitment he had a mirror to see (aspects of) himself in, to the point where he had every intention of killing them both with that epic speech

“500 years of murder and torment, round and round we go....evil
doesn't die, it just passes like a parcel, from year to year, body to
body... i live on i survive while good people die around me, heroes
die.."

then the way he rejected Crumb when he came to the hotel for his help, reminding us that he had “killed men, and women, and children” and all the while it feels as if his awareness of his capacity is something he is finding less able to ignore, his awareness reminding us of that fact too…in ep 4 he has that critical moment of doubt with Alex in the kitchen after the Sylvie speech, the Sylvie speech itself a powerful moment in owning his capacity, with a sense of almost resignation and futility again…as well as the tiny tidbits where he is exposed to blood, although he doesn’t act on it and as fifi said just appeared to have a mini struggle that passed, for me as a viewer they all add to the increasing tension and momentum towards that moment when his resolve crumbles. (As an aside , in terms of the drinking blood part, this is how addiction goes, sadly, it can be very sudden and surprising after years of abstaining and technically for Hal it has only been months.)

That moment at the end of ep 2 when Alex asks, ‘He will rise’, what does that mean, who will rise?” and Hal replies “It’s as if something’s changing, as if the barrier between the worlds is becoming weaker” to me this had a double meaning – and a double sense of foreboding – that the barrier between the 2 Hals is becoming weaker and he will rise also applying to his evil Lord Harry side…and just throwing this out there…perhaps, the 2 are not mutually exclusive, if there is a bigger picture of changes to the supernatural world, could this not effect Hal and his ability to BE human?