Every good vampire story states the rules at the outset so viewers can keep track. Here's what we learned from Mick St. John, PI:
" He doesn't bite anyone.
" Mick sleeps in a freezer, not a coffin.
" Garlic, holy water and crucifixes don't work on him.
" He can't turn into a bat.
" Daylight's not good but it won't cause him to burst into flames.
" A stake through the heart might be painful, but decapitation and consumption by fire are the best ways to kill him.
" He's 90 years old.
" Mick's heightened senses allow him to hear very well, smell the past and glimpse the future.
The case: Kelly, a local college student, is found murdered. The bite marks on her neck lead reporter Beth Turner to suspect a vampire as the culprit. When Beth mentions this to Mick, who just happens to be at the crime scene as well, he quickly tells her there is no such thing as vampires.
Meanwhile, Mick goes to see his old friend Josef - still looking pretty good at 400 years old in the visage of
Jason Dohring (RIP
Veronica Mars). He's insanely rich and only wants to get his blood fix from willing young women. He urges Mick to do what he can to prevent the perpetrator of this crime from threatening their secrecy further. He doesn't care if there are multiple suspects - he wants them all dead.
Guillermo, Mick's guy on the inside, gives him blood and information. Mick doesn't smell a vampire on the victim but when he goes to Kelly's apartment, where he runs into Beth, they find a lot of blood-cult paraphernalia including a necklace with blood in its vial. Mick disappears with the necklace but the two encounter each other again, this time at Kelly's funeral. Christian Ellis, one's of Kelly's professors, gives a eulogy while his harem of Goth young women surround him. Another young woman, who's not with that group, Chloe, breaks through and slashes him on the neck. Mick recognizes the smell of his blood from the necklace in Kelly's apartment.
Beth tracks Chloe down at work and discovers that Ellis runs a vampire study group. Chloe brought Kelly into the cult, but soon the girls had a falling out and Kelly got a restraining order against her. Mick, on the other hand, goes straight to the source's wife and discovers that Ellis used to be a serious academic but apparently all he's interested in now is pretty young women. Mick then visits Ellis and discovers all sorts of artifacts in Ellis' office. Ellis tells Mick he's a vampire searching to balance his life force.
Beth, encouraged by her editor and her cameraman, goes undercover to continue her exposé on vampires. Although Mick has warned her not to be alone with Ellis, she ends up one-on-one with him. When Ellis discovers her hidden mic, Beth escapes, only to be drugged by Ellis' TA. He's actually the one who killed Kelly, and Chloe earlier that night, because he thought they were both distractions hindering the career of the brilliant Ellis. Mick beats up on both Ellis and his TA and saves the day.
Through flashbacks we discover a case that deeply affected Mick. In 1985 he took a missing-child case. Turns out his ex-wife Coraline, also a vampire, kidnapped the child in the hopes of luring him back to her so they could be a family. Mick was having none of that and got what turns out to be young Beth Turner to safety after setting Coraline's hiding place on fire. Beth seems to finally realize who Mick is but can't reconcile how it could be possible.
Overall, I thought this was a solid start despite all the
behind-the-scenes drama I've been hearing about. I love noir and want the show to play up that angle a little more. I'm also curious to find out more about how Mick became a vampire and about his early days before he turned do-gooder. We got some good backstory on Beth tonight, but I'm also interested in getting to know Josef's and Coraline's histories. Did anyone else recognize
Rudolf Martin as Dracula from
Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Beth's cameraman Kevin Weisman from
Alias? I love TV.
What did you think? Take a bite out of our
Online Video Guide and this
Q&A with
Alex O'Loughlin for more on
Moonlight.
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Every good vampire story states the rules at the outset so viewers can keep track. Here’s what we learned from Mick St. John, PI:• He doesn’t bite anyone.• Mick sleeps in a freezer, not a coffin.• Garlic, holy water and crucifixes don’t work on him.• He can’t turn into a bat.• Daylight’s not good but it won’t cause him to burst into flames.• A stake through the heart might be painful, but decapitation and consumption by fire are the best ways to kill him.• He’s 90 years old.• Mick’s heightened senses allow him to hear very well, smell the past and glimpse the future.The case: Kelly, a local college student, is found murdered. The bite marks on her neck lead reporter Beth Turner to suspect a vampire as the culprit. When Beth mentions this to Mick, who just happens to be at the crime scene as well, he quickly tells her there is no such thing as vampires.Meanwhile, Mick goes to see his old friend Josef ...
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