Being Human S03E12: "Always a Bridesmaid, Never Alive"
For an episode as action-packed as "Always a Bridesmaid, Never Alive," the penultimate episode of Being Human's third season, not a whole helluva lot actually happened. However, what DID happen was enormously important, the episode could've stood on its own as a finale, except that Being Human tradition dictates that the status quo must be destroyed by every season's end so that we spend the long hiatus fretting over the state of our favorite monster roommates. Okay maybe we only panic for a like week after the finale airs. Or a day. Whatever. The important part is that we come back for more and that image of Josh and Nora driving off in newlywed bliss with a recently re-ghosted Sally shaking that thang on the sidewalk was a little too happily ever after—even with Bubble Boy chained to Aidan's bed in the basement.
Awkward.
Nora and Josh pushed their wedding date up to, like, tomorrow in order to make it possible for Rapid Decomposition Action Sally to attend as Nora's maid of honor, but when Sally took a turn for the worst, the rush job was halted so everyone could stand around and mope, except for Sally who was really very positive about the whole My Life As a Rotting Corpse routine and who delighted in freaking Josh out by flashing her gnarly rotting stomach at him. That's my girl. If you had told me at the beginning of this season that Sally would be my favorite character, I wouldn't have believed you, but I now accept the error of my ways. I'm excited about Sally moving forward; I forgot how much fun Ghost Sally can be with her invisible peanut gallery shtick, but her commentary during Josh and Nora's wedding ceremony was a welcome reminder. Here's hoping she stays fun even after the novelty of (apparently) beating Donna the Necromancer wears off.
On one hand, I feel like the big battle with Donna was anticlimactic after all the doom and gloom from Josh about his and Aidan's probable suicide mission to back Sally's assault on the keeper of her soul. But on the other hand, I appreciated that Sally ultimately saved herself by overwhelming Donna with her energy and zest for (after) life. Before she died for the second time, Sally confessed that even though things didn't work out ideally, she didn't regret what Josh and Nora did for her by initially making contact with Donna to bring her back from limbo. She got to be alive for a little while, which was awesome at face value, but more importantly, Sally got to be herself again. We'd heard all about this perky, smart, and fun Sally who was gradually worn away during her abusive relationship with her eventual murderer, and Sally's original ghost self reflected that anguish over not just losing her physical life, but also realizing that she'd been dead inside for a long time before Danny threw her down the stairs.
Ghost Sally 2.0 is the product of a woman who died on her own terms and successfully faced the malevolent entity that wanted to strike her down. She died (again) after a second life that she thrived in, with friends, a job, and a ridiculously sweet boyfriend—all the trappings that her first stint in the meatworld lacked in the run-up to its early conclusion. By leaving the world with few, if any, weighty regrets, the Sally that remains behind this time around is a more recognizable shade of the person Sally Malik was in life, and I'm really happy for her.
Not sure what this means for Sally in regards to her real door, or if that's even an issue anymore. I thought Being Human had established that ghosts are created by the deaths of people with unresolved issues, which explains Sally's lingering presence in the aftermath of her murder, but not so much this time, where she went into the sort of light uninhibited by regrets. A lot of credit was given to Sally's overwhelming resolve to stay with her friends and I'm totally willing to just go with it for now, but I feel like that isn't something that the cosmic powers that be will allow to go on indefinitely. She got in trouble the first time around for blowing off her door. Even though Donna was all evil and stuff, she had a point about the natural order of things. I'm pretty sure there are rules somewhere about how ghosts can't just shack up in a funky old house in Boston simply because they want to.
But it's cool. Sally needs something to do next season. For now, I'm just going to bask in the sweet, sweet glory of victory.
What did you think of Donna's death? And the nuptials of a certain werewolf couple?
– "DID YOU JUST GOUGE A HOLE IN MY CORPSE?"
– Even though Nora made me gag with her newfound, over-the-top love for her and Josh's "best friends" (and Aidan in particular), the fact that she didn't write any vows was kind of precious. I'm not saying I'm forgiving whatever was going on with her earlier this season, but this episode made small—but steady—progress toward redeeming Nora for me.
– I really hope that hallucination/fourth dimension/mind-trip encounter between Josh and his wolf doesn't adversely affect all the nifty progress he made meditating with Pete. RIP, Pete.
– How much longer are Aidan's flimsy excuses going to fly with Kat? Can we just tell her already? I mean, he has a teenager chained up in the basement, a bunch of accidental were-vampire mutant babies possibly running around, and a bunch of frenemies who keep eating his roommates' pals. AND he helped fight a witch. AND he officiated a were-wedding. Dude just has a lot on his plate right now, you know?
– HI RAY! BYE RAY!
