Aidan and Sally in Being Human finale

[This is a review for Being Human season 4, episode 13. There will be SPOILERS.]

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The central crux of Being Human has always been can these characters actually be, if not human, something close? Can they tamp down the things that made them unequally monstrous and be normal? After four seasons, it would be hard to answer in the affirmative as calamities and backslides have marred the existence of the vampire (Sam Witwer), the werewolves (Sam Huntington and Kristen Hager), and the ghost (Meaghan Rath), but through it all, they have continued to strive toward something better, and that is admirable. The question is, is that worth a reward?

According to the producers, the answer is yes, but while a certain amount of fan service is often par for the course when it comes to presenting a series finale, Being Human's relative happy ending felt hastily thrown together and surprisingly unearned.

Seemingly off on an ambitious journey to the bitter end, Being Human shook things up immediately after it was announced that the show would cease after the current season, introducing the characters to rock bottom before embarking on a trip to an alternate timeline by way of Sally's magic. At the time, we wondered if the show might stay in the other timeline, but it was quickly pushed away to allow for a return to the status quo, save for a newborn relationship between Aidan and Sally that was in-feasible and not nearly as emotionally resonant as producers had hoped it would be.

Aidan, Josh, and Nora in diner

The greatest sin of this final season of Being Human is that after 3 1/2 seasons of platonic friendship between Aidan and Sally, the audience was asked to not just accept their bittersweet coupling, but to accept that their love was all-consuming and the key to an immortal bliss that their characters, specifically Aidan, might not have deserved.

Aidan is a willing monster at times; moreso than Josh, Nora, and even Sally (whose abuse of magic could qualify as monstrous, considering the consequences). This has been a recurring theme throughout the show's run. Yes, Witwer's vampire has openly rebelled against his natural tendencies and pushed himself free from the vampire politics of Boston, but despite those good deeds and the deeds that he has done for his friends, though, there is still a pile of bodies that can be laid at his feet.

When Aidan's vampirism is removed by Sally, who saves Josh from both the prophecy and Aidan's wrath by way of a completely self-sacrificing act that ends her own life and infuriates Ramona, Aidan worries about what's next. He worries about being judged, so much so that he tries to stave off his suddenly fast approaching death by re-turning into a vampire and that's a sound worry that could have been answered with ambiguity after Aidan's own act of sacrifice.

Being Human Nora in season finale

There's a poetry to the moment, at the very end of the episode, when Josh and Nora stand in the charred remains of the house, Ramona seemingly gone and unable to hurt anyone else thanks to Aidan's torch job. Everything old has turned to ash, Aidan and Sally have both redeemed themselves with heroic acts that saved the future for Josh and Nora while stopping Ramona. The future is finally able to blossom for Josh and Nora, the only two characters on the show who honestly seemed fated for such an ending.

Those two represented the fulfillment of the original "experiment" when Josh and Aidan moved into the brownstone, and their happiness completes the circle, giving Josh and Nora the peace that they both wanted and deserved as the characters with the cleanest hands. Adding ghost Aidan, his rapidly appearing door, and the Sally twist just feels tacked on for sentiments sake and it ultimately drags down a series finale that doesn't so much feel like a goodbye as it does a thank you hug.

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This brings us to the end of Being Human.