BEING HUMAN is Tempting
Recently SciFi4Me was able to take part in a conference call with the shows producers Anna Fricke and Jeremy Carver. They discussed many topics, the first to be brought up was the similarity of season one to the UK version of the show. Anna Fricke told us that with season two they made a decision to “do completely original story lines” and Carver pointed out that “….there was great effort to make the series as original as possible this year given that its roots are still in the BBC version.” This is exciting news, because fans of the US version have heard plenty of flak from the UK fans. Hopefully season two will set the show apart and the feuding over which is better can calm down.
Carver and Fricke talked about this season’s tagline “Temptation is a beast”; they discussed how the characters are going to take a darker turn. Carver stated, “each of our characters is being tempted by something that is leading them down a darker path … trying to become more and more human they are in actuality being forced to confront their monstrosities more than ever.”
Talking about relationships, they brought up the new character of “Mother” being introduced. In regards to Aidan, being forced into the Boston clan, Carver noted that the Mother is going to “offer Aidan his freedom if he agrees to train her disgraced vampire daughter to be the leader of Boston.” We’ll also be introduced to “Aidan’s vampire protégé…the last vampire Aidan ever turned, and that was back in the early 20th century.” That is the character of Henry, played by Kyle Schmid. (He’s dashing, look him up on IMDb.)
Carver and Fricke also hinted that Bishop will be returning, but maybe not as we would expect. That leaves me to question, can vampires be ghosts too? But it very well could just be in flashbacks, either way; Mark Pellegrino is always a fun character actor to watch.
Last season Josh accidentally scratched his girlfriend Nora as he was changing and she then immediately suffered a miscarriage of her possible werebaby. Josh is unaware that Nora was scratched and this season, “we find Josh and Nora both anxiously awaiting the rapidly approaching full moon, neither knowing what’s going to happen.” I love Kristen Hager’s Nora character and am very excited to hear that she is going to be a “fantastically integral part of the show.”
Sally missed her door last season, so she is going to be facing all sorts of, as Carver put it, “spectral temptation.”
Fricke let us know, “…it’s safe to say that this season we sort of see a new form of every monster. So we have the new sort of form of vampire, and we will also see different kinds of ghosts and a sort of different kind of ghost society that we had touched into before and also a different kind of werewolf.” Carver and Fricke let loose that there is more than one species of werewolf and some werewolves want to be wolves and feel that is the way they were meant to be.
As far as production challenges have gone, Carver said they have to keep in mind, “we have to make sure we’re bringing all the new viewers [in] and keep making them feel welcome as well.” Fricke stated, “We want to set up all the new characters and the new things that we’re excited about.” Carver added to that, “Exactly, there was a lot of set up of new things for seasoned viewers, but while still wanting to grab the new viewers by the ankles and make sure they weren’t left behind.”
One of the unique things about this show is not only is it a genre show about monsters, but monsters with great humanity and if they don’t have it they are trying to get it. Not entirely unlike Bill Compton in season one of True Blood or the Cullens of the Twilight saga. In order to not get lost in the shuffle of all the other stories out there today, Fricke shared, “I think what we try to do most and what we always try to focus on is, you know, is the core of the show, which is being human. Which is sort of keeping everything grounded on an emotional level for these characters, and keeping them in touch with their humanity and trying not to get too caught up in fantastical or arch storytelling…” They let us know that the little moments between the three roommates will still be there even when temptation is taking over. Frick said that the house is the “True North…we’ll always land back with them because that is the beating heart of the show right here.” In summation, she means they are keeping it real, as real as it can get with a Vampire, Ghost and Werewolf, no fairies or high school love triangles in this show. And that is why fans love it.
Some other topics the two touched on were:
- The Dutch will play a big role this season and Terry Kinny’s Hegeman will be part of an, as Carver said, “explosive story line kicking off our season.”
- The humor of the show is here to stay, Fricke said, “Dark Comedy I think is what we are the most comfortable with. And you know, that’s the kind of voice we look for in our writers…”
- They are trying to incorporate more diversity into their world, as far as vamps choosing which sex to feed on, Fricke said, “Men aren’t always feeding on women and women on men….It’s a free for all…”
- There will be more flashbacks this season that will be taking us across the globe.
- They brought on four new writers this season and Fricke and Carver wrote three of the episodes themselves
Being Human season two begins next Monday, January 16.
