Being Human (UK) - S5E2 - Sticks and Rope
Previously on Being Human ‘The Trinity’
Three Months Ago
The episode begins with Alex walking through a fair with a little boy, her brother Ducky. He wants to go on rides, but she’s going to be late to meet a guy. She promises him they can go back the next day. But we know from her outfit that this is the day she dies.
At the hotel, Alex is busy talking on about her old life, distracting Hal and Tom from their work. Captain Hatch watches while he pretends to read the paper. Hal encourages Alex to go home and find something to do. She goes home and finds a ghost.
Captain Has an Idea
Captain Hatch convinces the hotel supervisor, Patsy, to start an Employee of the Month competition as a way to get everyone’s mind off the server who killed herself last episode. Hal thinks it’s ridiculous, but after being goaded by Tom, he gets wrapped up in the competition.
New Housemate
Alex pops over to the hotel and tells the guys they need to come home now: there’s another ghost in the house and it’s freaking her out. Turns out, it’s the ghost of a little boy who used to live there. He’s been hiding from the Sticks and Ropes monsters who guard the other side. He decided to come out now after seeing Alex. He’s a bit obnoxious and the housemates wonder just what the hell they’re going to do with him.
Meanwhile…
Rook has Crumb in a cage, and Crumb is literally climbing the walls. He wants to feed. Rook asks him if he remembers saying he’s going to be the world’s worst nightmare. Of course he does. Well, Rook is going to give him the chance.
Party Games
After a long day at work, Tom and Hal come to find the house decorated for a party. The ghost boy, Oliver, wants to party. The best moment of this episode comes when Oliver tries to decide who should go first in a game and points to everyone chanting, “Eeenie, meenie, minee, mo. Catch a ni—-.” And in unison the other three shout, “WHOA!”
As the party winds down, Oliver gets really rude to Alex. “Dead Victorian kids are so annoying!,” Alex says. Hal sends Oliver to his room. When Tom suggests that Alex go and apologize for being so rough on Oliver, she overhears him pleading with a scary voice coming from a speaker. She asks him what’s going on, but he claims nothing.
Family Reunion
Rook leads Crumb to a room. We know that Rook plans on locking in the next room with Crumb’s sister. What we learn moments before he’s going to let him in is that the sister brought her little girl, too. Rook maintains that they must remain resolute for the greater good and pushes Crumb into the room and locks the door. His sister and niece look happy to see him, but he turns to the door, banging on it and pleading to be let out. He vamps out and attacks his family.
Help Me Be Bad
Hal goes to Alex for help in being bad. Winning employee of the month means a lot to Tom and Hal feels like due to Patsy’s crush on him and his inability to half-ass anything, he’ll win and upset Tom.
When he tries to be lazy, Patsy overlooks it. When Captain Hatch wheels up complaining that his colostomy bag is full, Hal refuses to help. Patsy quickly calls Tom to do it, citing it’s well within his skill set. Tom is so happy for the recognition that he doesn’t realize the insult. Hal feels bad.
While Tom cleans up Captain Hatch, Captain Hatch plants seeds in Tom’s head that Hal is cheating at the competition and giving Tom the crappy jobs because they are beneath him. Tom brushes it aside at first, but you see it’s starting to take.
Alex learns that Oliver killed himself after being blamed for the death of another child, his brother Albert.
Not Enough and Just Enough
While it seems Captain Hatch is doing just enough trouble stirring to get Tom and Hal at each other’s throats - remember: The Devil feeds off werewolf/vampire conflict - Rook is not doing enough to convince the powers that be to not shut down his division. The video of Crumb attacking his own family isn’t enough to show that their group is needed to keep the monsters in check.
And since they’re not in check, Crumb shows up at the hotel and Hal tosses him out. Of course, Patsy sees this as Hal being, yet again, awesome. He and Tom fight and continue to argue when Alex shows up with Oliver. The argument turns into a food fight. Patsy breaks it up and orders them to clean up and then report to her. Captain Hatch grabs Oliver and instructs him to get Alex back to the house. Oliver runs to Alex and says they should go home. They rent-a-ghost out.
A Haunting
Back at the house, Alex and Oliver are haunted by Albert’s ghost. Alex convinces Oliver to face his brother and talk to him. His brother turns into the Sticks and Rope men who try to take him away. Alex offers to go instead, but Oliver warns that was the plan all along. Alex coaxes Oliver to leave with Albert and close the door behind him. When he passes over, Captain Hatch’s connection with the Sticks and Rope men breaks, but not before one of them warns Alex that “Night will fall and he will rise.”
Hal finally stands up to Patsy after she tries to fire Tom by saying if he goes, they both go. She fires them both.
Rook’s assistant approaches Crumb and asks to be recruited. Crumb vamps out and obliges him.
Alex watches her little brothers and realizes she needs to move on. She tells Tom and Hal about the Sticks and Rope men and Hal realizes that something is changing.
Patsy calls and leaves a message for Hal saying he and Tom can come back to work. When she hangs up, we see that Captain Hatch has compelled her to call and then tells her that high blood pressure is about to go through the roof. She starts to bleed from her nose and eyes and Captain Hatch says that he needs to get rid of Alex in order to bring down all kinds of shit on the world. Then he instructs her to go take a dip in the sea.
