Moonlight Reviews: 1x01 No Such Thing as Vampires
And some ranting about Moonlight, the new vampire show on air. I think I'll cut this for spoilers and the fact that I don't think most of you will be very excited about this show.
So it didn't take long for "Angel"/"Forever Knight"/"insert whatever old vampire show you've never heard of before" to start nagging about how Moonlight is a ripoff and how no one should watch this show. I found the amount of threads and comments rather disheartening and after I'd seen the trailer I was sure the show would be terrible, mainly due to the lack of energy/chemistry between Mick and Coraline (in Angel I always found the Angel/Darla thing to be a pillar for the show).
I didn't give up on the show before I got to see it though. "See first, trash later" is my motto. Here are some of the reasons no ill comments could keep me from it.
#1 I like Sophia Myles for some strange reason. Must be Underworld. I have a thing for the blonde bitch vampires (as my love for Blade's Chase proves ultimately).
#2 It's vampires on TV and it tries to bring new elements and twists the concept of Whedonverse vampires. I love to see different takes on vampires. This seems interesting already!
#3 The cast. Mick appear rather charming (hate his name though), the character of Josef piqued me right away (Jason Dohring), Coraline's actress is hott (Shannyn Sossamon) if they only dressed and gave her better make up. Overall its a good looking cast. Whether they can act is a different matter entirely.
#4 If you exclude Coraline/Mick moments from the trailer, it did look encouraging.
Mick St. John is a vampire. He sleeps in a freezer, dreaming of explaining himself to humans in a light interview and being accepted. However reality is cruel and he knows he must hide his true nature from humans, who're so very judgmental underneath it all. After spiking himself with some bagged blood, Mick takes off to a crime scene, being a private investigator and all.
Beth is recording a story at the murder scene with her camera man (Kevin Weisman!). She gets some Intel from the detective in charge, Lt. Carl Davis, with whom she seems to have a habit of trading information with. Mick is watching her from the afar, apparently rather taken by this beautiful reporter. She takes pictures of the body, finding two puncture wounds on its neck and decides to write the murder as a vampire attack in her story. Then she meets Mick, finding him vaguely familiar, yet can't place her finger on it. They have a short talk, and he does the vanishing act on her (cliché!).
The next morning Beth is checking the dead girl's car with her camera man and taking pictures. Her boss is happy that Beth took the vampire angle with the story and tells her to take it further. We see Josef next, he's taking to the phone as Mick walks in. You can tell he's rich and not happy about Beth's article that draws unwanted attention to vampires. He tells Mick to take care of it.
Mick has a vampire friend at the morgue, Guillermo, who supplies him with blood and information about the dead. He learns that the girl wasn't killed by a vampire, but a human. Later Mick reminiscent an old case 22 years ago where he needed to find a missing child. Apparently the case had an impact on him. Meanwhile Beth is breaking into the dead girl's apartment. Once inside she runs into Mick and breaks a vase against his head. The two chat and he tells her what he does for a living. They search the apartment and find a vial of blood that he takes before doing the vanishing act on her (again).
BETH: "Stop doing that!"
The next day they both attend the funeral that's full of emo goth girls and a creepy professor that says a few words to the dead. He's later on slashed by one of his students in her anger. Mick realizes that the professor’s blood is in the vial he stole. He then gives the vial to Beth, telling her this. Beth decides to go after the girl that attacked the professor, Chloe. She interviews her later that night and learns that the guy runs a vampire study group and thinks he's a vampire - Also apparently the study group more about orgy and lies than studying. Later on the girl lashes out on Beth.
Mick hears the professor fighting with his wife before leaving to work. He then goes in and learns more about the professor’s study group from his bitter wife. Beth attends one of the professor’s lectures in disguise and gets her an invitation to the study group by impressing him with her knowledge about his work.
The next day Mick pays a visit to the professor, but doesn't gain much from this visit. Beth meets with her informant and learns that both the dead girl and Chloe were sleeping with the professor. As Mick gets home he finds Josef at his place. Josef isn't happy with Mick's progress. He thinks Mick is too weak, and tells him to just kill the ones involved and get done with it. Chloe is attacked and killed by man wearing the professor’s favorite mask.
Beth visits Mick. They once again trade information. Beth tells she's been invited to the study group and Mick is worried. Beth is still troubled by the feeling of familiarity she has around Mick. Mick has a flashback of rescuing a young blonde girl from his maker, Coraline. Beth's cameraman helps attach a mike inside her bra. Mick finds Chloe dead and runs after Beth.
Beth attends the study group and is guided into the back with the professor for some one-on-one time. He talks about vampire energies and tries to feel Beth up, sensing the mike. He then attacks her and finds the mike. She kicks him and makes a run for it. She's helped by the professor’s male assistant who takes her to his car for his phone, and then injects her with some kind of drug. Mick runs to the professor, revealing his true nature to him and gets him to tell him where Beth is.
Mick runs after Beth, attacks the car her kidnapper is driving. The assistant reveals that he got rid of the girls because the professor was wasting his energy with them. He believes that the orgies kept the professor from fulfilling his true destiny. Mick causes the car to crash and attacks the assistant, getting stabbed in the process. A drugged Beth sees Mick pull the knife from his chest and then throw the assistant against a lamp pole. He then picks Beth up and carries her to safety.
The flashback ends. Mick and Coraline fight as Mick refuses to let Coraline hurt the girl. Mick stabs Coraline and picks the girl up, burning the house Coraline is left behind. We then learn that the young girl he saved 22 years ago was Beth and that Mick has been watching over her ever since. Beth realizes this too when she wakes up, but Mick just says she hit her head too hard. They hug and the episode ends.
- Boring story in this episode. I knew the killer almost instantly. Plus most of the guest stars were pretty wooden with the acting.
- Alex O'Loughlin is somewhat wooden, but not to a disturbing amount.
- Coraline looks so fugly. Her dress is terrible, her make up, her voice, her lines! God I hope they improve her character in the future, because she was too awful in this. Shannon Sossamon is smoking hott. How could they make her so fugly?
- The flashback scene was bad. Their clothes, their fight, the sound effects. Bloody awful. Mick and Coraline lack chemistry entirely. Such a shame.
- I'd like a bigger cast. Beth, Mick, Josef and Coraline alone might not support the series for long, especially since Mick isn't super-charismatic. I mean, he does have charm, just not 100%.
- The narrating was average. Not bad like Painkiller Jane, but not particularly inventive either. I hope it improves.
♥ I like Beth. Then again I like Sophia, so no wonder. She's pretty.
♥ The whole Beth/Mick dealio is starting off nicely. There's some chemistry there and especially the "You think that nothing can surprise you anymore. But that was before tonight, before I saw her walking barefoot through a freezing fountain at 2 am" moment caught my eye. Also the fact that he's been stalking her for 22 years was kinda hott. I liked the fact that he saved her as a kid. It gives them a bond. Now just don't make it fatherly/brotherly. He totally wants her.
♥ Josef seems like a pretty brat prince. He has money, suits, power and he's a nasty vampire with little love for the cattle. He had pretty speeches, especially his views on Mick at Mick's apartment. I like this character. He could go to places. Maybe he could betray Mick and get it on Coraline? Yeah, I like that thought. ^^
♥ I liked the imagined interview in the beginning. It was probably my favourite scene alongside with the murder scene one where Beth and Mick met. In this one Mick truly shone.
Queenline: We're kinda low on those, but the interview is pretty amusing ;)
MICK: And while we're on the subject garlic is tasty on pizza.
INTERVIEWER: Does it repel you?
MICK: It repels my dates, sometimes.
Overall: I think it was a nice start. I expected something much worse. Especially the first 5 minutes sunk the hook a bit deeper in my flesh. Let's see if it comes off soon. There's obviously some nifty potential here.
So it didn't take long for "Angel"/"Forever Knight"/"insert whatever old vampire show you've never heard of before" to start nagging about how Moonlight is a ripoff and how no one should watch this show. I found the amount of threads and comments rather disheartening and after I'd seen the trailer I was sure the show would be terrible, mainly due to the lack of energy/chemistry between Mick and Coraline (in Angel I always found the Angel/Darla thing to be a pillar for the show).
I didn't give up on the show before I got to see it though. "See first, trash later" is my motto. Here are some of the reasons no ill comments could keep me from it.
#1 I like Sophia Myles for some strange reason. Must be Underworld. I have a thing for the blonde bitch vampires (as my love for Blade's Chase proves ultimately).
#2 It's vampires on TV and it tries to bring new elements and twists the concept of Whedonverse vampires. I love to see different takes on vampires. This seems interesting already!
#3 The cast. Mick appear rather charming (hate his name though), the character of Josef piqued me right away (Jason Dohring), Coraline's actress is hott (Shannyn Sossamon) if they only dressed and gave her better make up. Overall its a good looking cast. Whether they can act is a different matter entirely.
#4 If you exclude Coraline/Mick moments from the trailer, it did look encouraging.
Mick St. John is a vampire. He sleeps in a freezer, dreaming of explaining himself to humans in a light interview and being accepted. However reality is cruel and he knows he must hide his true nature from humans, who're so very judgmental underneath it all. After spiking himself with some bagged blood, Mick takes off to a crime scene, being a private investigator and all.
Beth is recording a story at the murder scene with her camera man (Kevin Weisman!). She gets some Intel from the detective in charge, Lt. Carl Davis, with whom she seems to have a habit of trading information with. Mick is watching her from the afar, apparently rather taken by this beautiful reporter. She takes pictures of the body, finding two puncture wounds on its neck and decides to write the murder as a vampire attack in her story. Then she meets Mick, finding him vaguely familiar, yet can't place her finger on it. They have a short talk, and he does the vanishing act on her (cliché!).
The next morning Beth is checking the dead girl's car with her camera man and taking pictures. Her boss is happy that Beth took the vampire angle with the story and tells her to take it further. We see Josef next, he's taking to the phone as Mick walks in. You can tell he's rich and not happy about Beth's article that draws unwanted attention to vampires. He tells Mick to take care of it.
Mick has a vampire friend at the morgue, Guillermo, who supplies him with blood and information about the dead. He learns that the girl wasn't killed by a vampire, but a human. Later Mick reminiscent an old case 22 years ago where he needed to find a missing child. Apparently the case had an impact on him. Meanwhile Beth is breaking into the dead girl's apartment. Once inside she runs into Mick and breaks a vase against his head. The two chat and he tells her what he does for a living. They search the apartment and find a vial of blood that he takes before doing the vanishing act on her (again).
BETH: "Stop doing that!"
The next day they both attend the funeral that's full of emo goth girls and a creepy professor that says a few words to the dead. He's later on slashed by one of his students in her anger. Mick realizes that the professor’s blood is in the vial he stole. He then gives the vial to Beth, telling her this. Beth decides to go after the girl that attacked the professor, Chloe. She interviews her later that night and learns that the guy runs a vampire study group and thinks he's a vampire - Also apparently the study group more about orgy and lies than studying. Later on the girl lashes out on Beth.
Mick hears the professor fighting with his wife before leaving to work. He then goes in and learns more about the professor’s study group from his bitter wife. Beth attends one of the professor’s lectures in disguise and gets her an invitation to the study group by impressing him with her knowledge about his work.
The next day Mick pays a visit to the professor, but doesn't gain much from this visit. Beth meets with her informant and learns that both the dead girl and Chloe were sleeping with the professor. As Mick gets home he finds Josef at his place. Josef isn't happy with Mick's progress. He thinks Mick is too weak, and tells him to just kill the ones involved and get done with it. Chloe is attacked and killed by man wearing the professor’s favorite mask.
Beth visits Mick. They once again trade information. Beth tells she's been invited to the study group and Mick is worried. Beth is still troubled by the feeling of familiarity she has around Mick. Mick has a flashback of rescuing a young blonde girl from his maker, Coraline. Beth's cameraman helps attach a mike inside her bra. Mick finds Chloe dead and runs after Beth.
Beth attends the study group and is guided into the back with the professor for some one-on-one time. He talks about vampire energies and tries to feel Beth up, sensing the mike. He then attacks her and finds the mike. She kicks him and makes a run for it. She's helped by the professor’s male assistant who takes her to his car for his phone, and then injects her with some kind of drug. Mick runs to the professor, revealing his true nature to him and gets him to tell him where Beth is.
Mick runs after Beth, attacks the car her kidnapper is driving. The assistant reveals that he got rid of the girls because the professor was wasting his energy with them. He believes that the orgies kept the professor from fulfilling his true destiny. Mick causes the car to crash and attacks the assistant, getting stabbed in the process. A drugged Beth sees Mick pull the knife from his chest and then throw the assistant against a lamp pole. He then picks Beth up and carries her to safety.
The flashback ends. Mick and Coraline fight as Mick refuses to let Coraline hurt the girl. Mick stabs Coraline and picks the girl up, burning the house Coraline is left behind. We then learn that the young girl he saved 22 years ago was Beth and that Mick has been watching over her ever since. Beth realizes this too when she wakes up, but Mick just says she hit her head too hard. They hug and the episode ends.
- Boring story in this episode. I knew the killer almost instantly. Plus most of the guest stars were pretty wooden with the acting.
- Alex O'Loughlin is somewhat wooden, but not to a disturbing amount.
- Coraline looks so fugly. Her dress is terrible, her make up, her voice, her lines! God I hope they improve her character in the future, because she was too awful in this. Shannon Sossamon is smoking hott. How could they make her so fugly?
- The flashback scene was bad. Their clothes, their fight, the sound effects. Bloody awful. Mick and Coraline lack chemistry entirely. Such a shame.
- I'd like a bigger cast. Beth, Mick, Josef and Coraline alone might not support the series for long, especially since Mick isn't super-charismatic. I mean, he does have charm, just not 100%.
- The narrating was average. Not bad like Painkiller Jane, but not particularly inventive either. I hope it improves.
♥ I like Beth. Then again I like Sophia, so no wonder. She's pretty.
♥ The whole Beth/Mick dealio is starting off nicely. There's some chemistry there and especially the "You think that nothing can surprise you anymore. But that was before tonight, before I saw her walking barefoot through a freezing fountain at 2 am" moment caught my eye. Also the fact that he's been stalking her for 22 years was kinda hott. I liked the fact that he saved her as a kid. It gives them a bond. Now just don't make it fatherly/brotherly. He totally wants her.
♥ Josef seems like a pretty brat prince. He has money, suits, power and he's a nasty vampire with little love for the cattle. He had pretty speeches, especially his views on Mick at Mick's apartment. I like this character. He could go to places. Maybe he could betray Mick and get it on Coraline? Yeah, I like that thought. ^^
♥ I liked the imagined interview in the beginning. It was probably my favourite scene alongside with the murder scene one where Beth and Mick met. In this one Mick truly shone.
Queenline: We're kinda low on those, but the interview is pretty amusing ;)
MICK: And while we're on the subject garlic is tasty on pizza.
INTERVIEWER: Does it repel you?
MICK: It repels my dates, sometimes.
Overall: I think it was a nice start. I expected something much worse. Especially the first 5 minutes sunk the hook a bit deeper in my flesh. Let's see if it comes off soon. There's obviously some nifty potential here.