BEM – 08, 09

「NOISE」

Bem, Bela, and Belo are mysteries. Where did they come from? How long have they been alive? It’s more questions than will likely ever be answered, but if there’s one thing that can always be counted on, it’s that 9 times out of 10, their attempts to save humans will end in tears. Belo wasn’t able to save Daryl’s father, leading Daryl to blame Belo for his death and relentlessly hunt him down. The consequence of this was Belo pushing away his remaining human friends, either to protect them or to keep them from rejecting him in the future. Can’t lose what you’ve already lost. In contrast, Bem, who was also shot multiple times after saving a human, has continued trying to reach out, which is ironic since out of the trio, he seems to be having the worst luck. Maybe it’s just different for adult-shaped beings, as opposed to child-shaped ones. I’m beginning to suspect they’re all around the same age and Bem just happens to have the oldest looking disguise.

This isn’t Bem or Belo’s tale, however. It’s Bela’s. She’s arguably integrated best with humans, having enrolled in a school and made friends without arousing any suspicion, but after spending so long acting the part of a teenaged girl, maybe a crush was overdue. A student with violet eyes strikes her fancy, and suddenly Bela is very interested in finding out if she can change her body in ways that don’t involve fangs and claws. Seeing Bem ponder the question with a poker face that rivaled Batman’s had to be the funniest part of the episode, but it was also heartwarming to see Belo understand her intention immediately and rib her for it like an annoying little brother. Unfortunately, her crush’s mother, an aging singer, has been unrepentantly killing talented young girls to steal their voices, and all with the help of the doctor that has been responsible for the majority of the goofy villains in this series. She looks like Rolling Stones album art and it’s fantastic. When her son introduced Bela, she became obsessed with making Bela her next victim. A tragic mistake, really. Despite Bela’s best efforts not to hurt her, the boy’s mother inadvertently collapsed the ceiling on herself. Afterwards, her son discovered her dead and then, in quick succession, encountered Bela in her true form, causing him to run away in terror; a significant improvement upon both Bem and Belo’s experiences. There’s still hope, though. As it so happens, one of her classmates is a huge fan of monsters, and he thinks she’s beautiful.

 

「FALLING」

If we’re being honest, the humanoid monsters are much better at killing than they are at keeping anything or anyone alive. Bem really should have qualified his “We help humans” with something like, “We try very hard to help. It doesn’t always work out.” Anyway, it’s time for Bem to finally make a friend. A young, somewhat awkwardly well-meaning politician who was ostracized due to the Unseen Council’s machinations wants to help the humanoid monsters by convincing society they can be trusted and maybe even cure them someday. Bem firmly believes that the only way they can be accepted is if they become human themselves, even though Belo has three good friends and Bela has a group of friends of her own and life outside of sitting broodily on bridges. I don’t want to say something ridiculous like he isn’t making enough of an effort, since it’s obvious that his reluctance to interact with humans is a result of a long history of being rejected by them. It’s just that changing who he is doesn’t feel like the answer. Their transformations are their true selves, not some mutation or symptom of a disease. The real question is why Bem ever thought doing good deeds would turn him human. As it turns out, he doesn’t really know why he believes it, but the hope that someday it might happen keeps him going.

Since the politician attempted to shield Belo from an attack (even though he’d clearly seen Belo shake off impalement a second before), Bem’s right back where he started, as is everyone else. Sophia and her partner investigate the cases on the margins, the villainous doctor is still experimenting on humans underground, which means the character that’s truly driving the plot at this point is Daryl. He pointed the assassin in Belo’s direction, and now he’s meeting with one of the members of the Unseen Council. He’s done a lot for a kid working alone, and has succeeded in walking into the very den of lions that had his father killed. Hard to believe he’s keen on joining them, but how he plans to avenge his father’s death is a mystery at the moment. Hopefully, he has something up his sleeve.

While it’s always good to learn more about Bem, Belo, and Bela, this does lead to more questions. Was the idea that helping humans would make them become human implanted? Were they born or made? Why does the Unseen Council call them Alpha, Beta, and Gamma? And when is Bem going to make a friend? Someone, please be his friend.

He’s so lonely.

 

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