In Being Human Series 1, Episode 2, George confronts his werewolf curse and the man who turned him, while Mitchell grapples with the seductive pull of his vampire instincts. PETULA MITCHELL looks back on the episode
“We can’t just dip our toe. We need to dive into the churn of humanity.” — Mitchell
After the dramatic scene-setting of episode one (“Flotsam and Jetsam”), episode two opens with the terrible transformation that George suffers every month at the full moon. A voiceover from Mitchell (Aidan Turner) describes, in detail, the physiological transformation of the werewolf. While transforming, the cursed George has no respite from the pain as his internal organs, bones, and skin undergo this.
“It’s so cruel, it’s… perfect.”
George has elected to transform in some remote woodland. When he comes round in the morning, back in human form, he finds someone looking over him. Unprepared, naked, and vulnerable, George tries to run—until the stranger calls after him.
“I know what you are!”
This is the introduction to Tully (Dean Lennox Kelly), a man who has also been afflicted by the werewolf curse. He gives George a bag of clothes and tells him he can help him manage his “condition”. George, afraid and confused, wants to get away. He thanks Tully for the clothes and tells him not to follow as he makes his way back to the house.
On arrival, George finds Mitchell has filled the house with neighbours and is cheerfully introducing them all over coffee. Horrified, George pulls Mitchell into the kitchen, explaining that the house is his sanctuary, where he doesn’t feel “different”. He also warns Mitchell that this could be dangerous for them and the neighbourhood. Mitchell disagrees, insisting that it’s better to hide in plain sight.
When they return to the sitting room, Tully has turned up and is chatting with the neighbours. A furious George drags him outside and accuses him of following him, despite being told not to. Tully admits that he has known where George lives for weeks and has just been waiting for the opportunity to introduce himself. He again claims he can help George manage the werewolf transformation.
Meanwhile, the neighbours disperse after the coffee morning, but Mitchell finds one of them in the bathroom dealing with a nasty cut on her finger. She is flirtatious with the handsome Mitchell, but more troubling for him, the sight of her blood is stirring his hunger. It’s been a while since his last kill, and he struggles to resist the urge to feed. Regaining his composure, he finds her a plaster and sends her home.
Later, Lauren turns up at the house, and Mitchell lets her in. He assumes she has been sent as a messenger by Herrick, but she claims she’s there because she wants him. She tries to seduce him, and after resisting temptation with some difficulty, he throws her out. She calls through the letterbox, comparing it to the Hotel California—”As a vampire, you can check out, but you can never leave.”
George has brought Tully back to the house. By playing on the sympathy shown by Mitchell and Annie, Tully manages to secure a few nights under their roof. He has been wandering the countryside, living rough, except for the occasional nights when he talks himself into temporary accommodation. He has accepted his condition, even revelling in it, with a cocky charm that allows him to talk his way into the beds of, probably, equally lonely women.
The few nights start to extend, and eventually, Tully ingratiates himself with George. His tips on managing the transformation, while reducing the risk to others, are useful. Unfortunately, his advice on how to talk to women is less helpful. When George tries to ask nurse Nina, a ward sister at the hospital, on a date, it goes horribly wrong.
Back at the house, Tully begins to outstay his welcome. The situation takes a dark turn when he makes an aggressive pass at Annie, upsetting her. She leaves to find Mitchell at work. Running through the streets, she stumbles across a police cordon and sees Herrick (in police uniform) leading Lauren away from the scene of a messy kill. Herrick is furious. The vampires have been spreading the word that “their time is coming”, and he doesn’t want their existence exposed before they are ready.
Annie hides in an alley, waiting for Mitchell to walk by on his way home from work. When Mitchell and Annie return to the house, they agree that Tully must go. However, George is reluctant. Tully has made himself indispensable. That is, until Tully confesses that it was he who attacked George, turning him into a werewolf in the first place. George is horrified and demands that Tully leave, never to return.
Tully, in turn, had hoped that by helping George, he might finally escape his life as a loner. He has lost his family, and his cocky charm masks his crippling isolation. But George cannot process this revelation and simply wants him gone.
A full month later, George is in the woods again. He arrives at an abandoned building, shown to him by Tully, to leave the supplies he’ll need in the morning. However, Tully is already there, poised to take his own life by hanging. At first, George does nothing, perhaps traumatised by the scene, or perhaps wishing for Tully’s death. But in the end, he cuts him down. At that moment, the moon rises, and they both begin their transformations.
They fight, and George slashes Tully across the face, leaving a visible scar by morning. They part ways for good. When George gets home, Mitchell and Annie meet him at the door. He sheepishly announces that Tully is gone, then states:
“My name is George, and I am a werewolf.”
He has finally accepted his curse as part of who he is and will use this knowledge to help him cope.
While the housemates are talking, they notice a DVD has been pushed under the door. Assuming it’s the copy of Casablanca one of the neighbours promised (Mitchell claims to have a bit part in it, knocking over a chair), they put it on. Instead, it’s a film made by Lauren of her most recent kill. Though she is invisible to the camera, the gruesome encounter with her victim is clear for all to see.
It’s a chilling reminder to Mitchell that no matter how hard he tries, he has left humanity behind, and there is no road back.
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