THE SHOW: Being Human
THE PAIRING: Aidan (Sam Witwer) and Sally (Meaghan Rath)
THE EPISODE: “Rewind, Rewind” – (aired March 3, 2014)
THE MOMENT: In an alternate timeline, Sally and Aidan come together romantically.
A ghost, werewolf and a vampire live together as roommates; by now you’ve probably heard the rundown for both the original UK Being Human and its US counterpart. If not, well these shows are a lot better than they sound and well worth your time. While I personally would choose the UK series over the US one if I had to choose, I still absolutely love the US series and enjoy it on its own merit. Plus this week’s latest episode from the Syfy series was absolutely brilliant. In the episode, Sally, the ghost, goes a few years back in time and lands in the one moment right before her fiancé murders her. Without thinking things through (as is often the case), Sally jumps into her own body, changing her life’s entire course. She punches her fiancé to stop him from pushing her down the stairs and ultimately lives.
Still, she doesn’t want everything to change, desiring to have her roomies back in her life. Only thing is, they don’t know who she is now. So working her “magic” and future knowledge, she stops Aidan from turning a girl into a vampire (a choice he ultimately regretted in the original timeline). Aidan finds himself listening to this “guardian angel” figure. How does she know so much about him? And why does she want to help him knowing he’s a monster?
Soon Aidan and Josh move into her place, this time with her very much alive. But everything is a little bit different. Being human now, sparks fly between this version of Aidan and Sally. While this is all new for Aidan, it is not new for Sally. She has all of her previous memories from the original timeline. Before they were still friends, but in this timeline they are definitely more…which leads me to this week’s romantic moment or moments: First up, that moment when Sally and Aidan first kiss in what was a particularly shocking scene.
In the UK Being Human, there was a beautiful build up and development between Annie and Mitchell, so when they finally did kiss, you knew it was coming and were excited when it happened. Annie and Mitchell were presented as “soul mates” if you will and you kind of knew from episode one that eventually these two would be an epic couple.
Photo: BBC
Not so with Sally and Aidan. It seemed they were intended to be forever friends rather than forever lovers. But then “Rewind, Rewind” happened.
From the beginning of this week’s episode, I started to feel romantic vibes which surprised me. Then, when the kiss scene happened, I admit to being slightly weirded out. Where exactly did this romance suddenly come from? There hadn’t actually ever been anything romantic between them besides a couple of brief flirtatious “friendly” moments throughout the series before. So there was no real build up. In fact, I thought they were going to go a completely different route with Sally and Aidan. Apparently, I was wrong.
While I’m still not exactly sure how I feel about a Sally and Aidan romance, I can’t deny how romantic this scene actually was. So let’s take a look:
The scene begins because Sally’s upset over the death of her best friend Bridget, who, in an unfortunate series of events, was murdered by Sally’s ex fiancé Danny. Sally blames herself because she feels she should have done a better job of warning Bridget about how abusive he was. Aidan tries to reassure her that she can’t blame herself for what happened, but Sally doesn’t believe him. She feels guilty. At first, she felt that by changing history she’d have this incredible chance to change everything for the better. But, she’s starting to have that feeling in her life again where she’s doing everything wrong.
“It’s like there’s no version of myself that doesn’t mess everything up,” Sally says.
“That’s not true.” Aidan replies to reassure her.
And then Aidan gives Sally a very romantic speech. Who can blame Sally for being attracted? Clearly, Aidan has put Sally (in this timeline anyway) on a pedestal to guardian angel status. What I love about it is that it reminds me of what was so great about Davis Bloome in Smallville (a Byronic character also played by Witwer who had a monster inside of him but was in search of redemption). Plus, it is also reminiscent of Annie who actually was a lot like a guardian angel to Mitchell in the other series.
Aidan wants to be better and holds onto Sally in the same way that Mitchell clung to Annie. By being with someone good who inspires them to be better, they can feel more human. The speech, while romantic, is also incredibly selfish if you listen closely. Of course, one of the aspects that make a great Byronic Hero is this selfishness. Aidan says:
“When you stopped me at the bar, I listened to you because I recognized how right you were. And I’d been there before. So close to slipping; but I couldn’t help myself.”
“But you, you could. And you did. You helped me. And I don’t think I’m ever going to forget that. [Aidan takes Sally’s hand]. I am so lucky…to have you in my life. Having you here makes me feel like I can, like we can do everything right.”
Moved, Sally leans in as if to hug Aidan, but their heads touch instead. Surprised, Sally realizes that this is a “moment.”
They stare at each other and even pause to think about what is happening. Sally touches Aidan’s face, aware of her feelings. Then they kiss. It’s a pretty good kiss actually and a great moment, albeit a strange one.
A few months pass with them as the happy couple, but unfortunately trouble is on the horizon. By being a couple this time around, they change the course of many important events. Josh isn’t as close to them as he was before and things don’t work out with Nora. But the biggest change is with Aidan himself. Aidan’s focus on his almost obsessive love for Sally (another Byronic trait), even causes Aidan to care less for Josh who goes down a bad path. Shocked that Aidan is willing to give up on Josh so easily, Sally realizes she has changed too many things and that this “Aidan” isn’t quite right. In turn, she lets him go.
Heartbroken over the break up, Aidan turns to blood to drown in his sorrow, while Josh gets into trouble with his maker Ray. Near the end of the episode, Sally tries to put a stop to Aidan’s behavior. But it’s too late. A fight breaks out between Aidan, Josh, Ray and another vampire. Unfortunately, Sally gets struck in the head with a bat and collapses; which brings me to the other romantic moment.
Aidan rushes over to Sally, unwilling to accept that he’s about to lose his love and that it’s all his fault. If he hadn’t gone on a blood drinking binge this wouldn’t have happened.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry…No…”
In a death scene reminiscent of her original death, Sally quickly fades away but has enough life in her to speak to Aidan before she goes.
“I forgive you. I love you.”
But he’s still not ready to hear it.
“No baby, don’t do this to me. Please…Please, don’t go.”
She dies, leaving a shocked and grief-stricken Aidan beside her dead body.
This Aidan looks like he’s about ready to break out into a rage over what’s happened. For a Byronic, there’s nothing worse than losing the one they love.
As the writer of the episode is clearly familiar with Byronic Heroes, and even mentioned them by name in reference to Aidan earlier in the episode, no doubt this Byronic focus will continue to play out in the next episode. Personally, there’s nothing I love more than watching Byronic rage (just think of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights and you’ll understand what I mean), and this scene I hope will be leading up to a rage where Aidan will do anything to be with Sally in next week’s episode.
So what did you think of the kiss and Aidan and Sally as a couple? Are you a fan? Or do you wish they’d stay friends? Any theories as to what will happen between Aidan and Sally if the timeline is fixed? Let me know in the comments!
Photo Credit: Syfy
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