I'm doing a rewatch of the US version of Being Human & I forgot how emotionally driven the female characters are. This has nothing to do with the actors themselves. This is more about my frustrations at the writers for writing them this way. Right now, I'm wrapping up season 1 with my rewatch and I'm struggling with how these women were written.
Sally's character isn't the worst of the 3, but she teeters on it. She was written to be so narcissistic she can't even wait a full 10 seconds for a character to walk through the door, before she starts her "all about me" pitty party, which unfortunately doesn't go away. I get she's a ghost, but they've written her to act like an immature child, instead of an adult. All she does is throw tantrums, sulk around & make everything about her. I think what makes it worse is that none of the characters hold her accountable for her terrible behavior. It also drives me nuts how obsessed she is with getting validation from men. Any guy, no matter who, can give her 1 compliment & she gets all obsessed with them. It only gets worse in S3, she just becomes a completely terrible person.
side note-I also really didn't like how the writers paired her off with Aidan. They had zero romantic chemistry throughout the entire show & what felt like out of nowhere they just made them soulmates??? It felt like they didn't know what to do with their storylines & just pushed them together. I dunno, that's just me.
Nora's character really disappointed me. I was really hoping Nora was going to be rational one, but nope. Her character is constantly making decisions based off of every little emotion & just like Sally, isn't held accountable. I know they change her character slightly, but it very much feels like the writers leaned all the way into the "women are too emotional" trope. I dunno, I guess I was just really hoping for better decision making from someone who's a heath care provider. I'm also really irritated how in S3 she has a big issue with Aidan when she, herself, is just as violent. The writers made her SUPER irrational & closed minded to the point where I actually really hate her character. And what is worse is no one puts her in check.
Lastly, there's Emily. I absolutely can't with this one. She is completely insufferable and the worst one of them all. I want to fast forward through her scenes because of how garbage her character is. I get she's supposed to be the young annoying sister, but they dialed it way past 11 with this one. I was really hoping this rewatch would redeem her, even in the slightest, but nope. To me, her character adds absolutely no value to the show and I could do without her.
[Edit:] There's also Bridget & Rebecca- who also seem to change their emotions as quickly as they get them. Take for example a scene in season 1 when Rebecca, Aidan & Bernie are in a motel room. Rebecca goes from being desperate, jealous, panicked, loving, nurturing/motherly, bitchy, psycho and then calm all within a 2 minute period). As a viewer, I felt emotional whiplash watching her. And its not the only time this happens.
Also, did anyone else notice how the writers have the women insult each other, by immediately calling each other whores or sluts? Sally calls Bridget a slut multiple times for bonding over her death with Danny, but weren't they best friends when she was alive? It's not like Danny cheated on Sally with Bridget- Sally's dead. The writers made her act like an irrational, obsessive psycho/jealous stalker ex girlfriend who holds grudges (another female trope & yes I know what Danny did to her, but she acts like that a lot). She acts like Bridget purposely seduced Danny out of spite. But also, at the same time make Bridget seem weak and easily manipulated.
I'm still enjoying my rewatch, but man do I wish these characters were written differently. The only female character they did right was Zoe. Suren & Suzanna (not perfect, but wish they had replaced the main female cast).