Is it too early to declare this show hands down, easily, no question, my favorite new show this year?  And I’m not just talking mid-season replacements, either, and I really liked The Walking Dead.  I just … LOVE IT.  I keep craving more of it, and wishing there was going to be a new episode sooner, and all kinds of crazy, stalkerish behavior usually reserved for freshman year of college.

Anyway, this episode totally lived up to all my obsessive expectations, and I find it really encouraging to see a show have such a definite direction and clearly developing characters so early on.  Supernatural was good at this too, so it’s not shocking, but it’s nice.  And speaking of Supernatural, this show is making me its bitch in the exact same way–I both teared up and laughed out loud several different times during this episode.  Oh, Show, you know how to cut me straight to the core.

Let’s start with Sally.  She was the character that we knew least by the end of the last episode, which makes sense, as Josh and Aidan already knew each other and had somewhat of a relationship, and she was the new girl.  This time, we got more of her backstory and just more of her in general.  I still think she and Josh have insanely great friend chemistry, and I loved how excited she got to see Dave, like a little kid, and by the time he showed up and was talking about how Sally lit up the room (very, very thoughtful and sweet of Aidan to ask, by the way), you could already see how it was totally true.  Sally, by virtue of her situation, spends a lot of time being sad, or lost, but when she’s happy, she’s amazing and I love her.  And, you know, when she hurts, it hurts.  I was glad we (and she) found out how she died in this episode, and that it was nothing sinister, just an accident that happened and could’ve happened to anyone.  That was actually one of the sadder things.

Also, the mere MENTION of Marley & Me makes me tear up.  I couldn’t watch the movie, because I read the book and cried for like four straight days.  It terrified Billy so much that he won’t even touch it, and it was originally his Christmas present.  Yikes.

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You guys, I wish you could’ve seen the joy on Billy’s face when the werewolf announced he was Jewish.  Billy LIVES for Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.

Alright, so I’ve been excited about this show from the beginning, because the premise sounded awesome, and then I found out that Jeremy Carver was running the show, and I’m pretty sure I’ve said this like … A ZILLION TIMES … but Supernatural is my favorite show!  And I’m gonna keep saying it!  Anyway, I started to watch the British version but then I had some sort of DVR screw up and that whole plan went to hell.  I did get a little nervous at @moryan‘s fairly negative review, since I’ve loved her since I actually got to read her in the Chicago Tribune on actual paper and she’s a fellow Supernatural fan.

But you know what?  I completely disagree with her.  In general, pilots (Supernatural not included) are not awesome.  But I LIKED this.  I wanted more.  I felt like I knew the characters, at least the two main boys, by the end.  It was funny, and awkward, and bromantic … and I wanted to know what happened at the end!  Man, what a fucking cliffhanger, right?  And I felt like there were just a lot of places for it to go.

I think the most annoying thing that I’ve read on the internet, to the shock of no one, is aaaaaall tied up in the, “Oh, I watched the UK version and there’s no way this will be as good!” or “I’ve got too much nerd cred to watch this version!”  Seriously, internets?  Get real.  In all likelihood, this will end up being a pretty different show, as most adaptations do, just because of the nature of US television vs. shows from other countries.  Case in point, The Office.  They’re totally different shows.  The US one had some major down points that the UK version did not, but it also didn’t have the same kind of timeline at all.  The UK version was very tight and pretty perfect, but the US version has seen some greatness as well.  And sure, a lot of UK shows don’t work in the US (Coupling, for one), but how can you KNOW that until you watch and give it a chance?  I mean, I looooved the Gene Wilder Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I would’ve missed out on some serious fucking amazingness if I’d skipped the Johnny Depp version because I was too cool for it.  I just don’t understand why people think they can only like one thing, or one version of a thing.  It’s so limiting.

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