MOONLIGHT: "THE MORTAL CURE"

Moonlight: “The Mortal Cure”

Title: “The Mortal Cure”

Episode: 1.12

Original Air Dare: 1/18/2008

Rebroadcast: 4/18/2008

Writer: Chip Johannessen

Director: Eric Laneuville

Starring: Alex O'Loughlin (Mick St. John), Sophia Myles (Beth Turner), Shannyn Sossamon (Coraline), Jason Dohring (Josef Kostan)

Guest Stars: Jason Butler Harner (Lance), Meredith Monroe (Cynthia), Bitsie Tulloch (Celeste), Christopher Stapleton (Officer), Lonnie Hughes (Clarence Brown), Charley Rossman (Security Guard), David Blue (Logan), Jeremy Forte (Scientist), Tasha Tae (Hostess), Jill Latiano (The Cleaner), Marques Johnson (Minister), John Everlove (Paramedic)

Note: This review was written in January following the original broadcast date, but held for publication until there was a new episode confirmed! So here it is! DSB

Plot Summary: Beth is dealing with the aftermath of Josh’s death, and getting his affairs in order when she discovers information leading her to believe Josh was cheating on her. At the same time, Mick is looking for Coraline, his search accelerated by a visit from two medieval vampires. Upon finding Coraline, he also finds a temporary 'cure' for vampirism and a surprising link to the French Revolution.

Review: Immorality versus mortality—what would you choose? Mick doesn’t hesitate when offered the chance to become mortal, even if it’s temporary. It is what he believes will rid him of his loneliness and self-loathing, and earn him the right to love Beth. On the other hand, Beth is facing the consequences of mortality. Her boyfriend is dead, and the aftermath of a mortal’s death is icky business from searching through private papers and journals to insurance to investigating a mysterious calendar entry.

   

This episode frustrated as much as it astounded. Watching Mick and Beth deal with their individual issues apart was new ground for Moonlight. For me, our hero and heroine are at their best when Mick isn’t dealing with Coraline on his own, and Beth isn’t left to pursue her natural curiosity undirected. In other words, I believe Mick and Beth together cancel out each other’s extreme tendencies. They save each other in many ways, not just the obvious.

   

But let’s take a moment to review the procedural elements of “The Mortal Cure”, for which we had a twofer, Mick and Beth each had a case to solve.

   

Beth’s investigation leads her to delve into the possibility that Josh was having an affair. But was there legit cause for concern, or guilt leading her curiosity? I’d say the latter and quickly we discover that Josh was meeting a jeweler, resetting his grandmother’s stone for an engagement ring. A marriage proposal to Beth was in the offing. Crushing news to a young woman burying her boyfriend, but for Beth, weight that down with a ton of guilt. She’s fallen hard for Mick St. John, and recognizes that her answer to a Josh marriage proposal would never have been yes. At Josh’s burial, as Beth looks into the battered face of Mick St. John, I believe she accepts why she and Josh were never met to be. Just as Mick recognizes he and Coraline’s fate.

   

On the other hand, Mick’s case is all about finding Coraline and the cure for vampirism. Next to the developing love story between Mick and Beth, Mick’s search for a cure has been the biggest story arc of the 12-episode season. It doesn’t take him long to find Coraline, the cure and to test it. He knows its temporary, and the other plot points of this episode are just that – bits of information he’ll worry about later. From the origins of the organic compound to its mysterious connection to the French Revolution and noble bloodlines, as far as Mick is concerned it’s all blood over the bridge. Mick just wants to be human again.

Signs of Mortality

I was impressed with the way the writers of “The Mortal Cure” wove the classic symbols of mortality and immortality into the episode. From an engagement ring, a symbol of forever love, to a cure for vampirism that was temporary, we were regularly reminded of the ways mortality and immortality connect, and then break apart.

   

Throughout this episode, I kept thinking…you may never get what you want, but you always get what you deserve. Is that an old adage, or the lyrics to a song? Whatever, it brings a whole new meaning to the last exchange between Mick and Beth, when he refers to his relationship with Coraline and says, “It was never meant to be.”

Best Lines

Josef: “Boy, newly turned vampires, no matter how good they are, when you’ve been playing for 200 years, it’s hard to lose.”

Josef: “Eight ball, nine ball?”

Josef: “What did they look like?”

Mick: The talker was big, six one, two hundred pounds, dark hair. I don’t know. Strong, confident.”

Josef: “Sounds like someone’s got a crush, huh? (snicker)”

Coraline: “I think Beth is starting to like me. She didn’t stab me this time.”

Coraline: “Maybe love can’t exist without mortality.”

Lance: “Hello, sister.”

Lance: “There will be consequences.”

Mick: (voiceover) “First time in many years I can sleep in a bed. Too bad I don’t have one.”

Mick: “Still human…(laughs softly)…still human.”

Beth: “Wait a second? Are you human?”

Mick: “For now, yeah.”

Beth: “How does it feel?”

Mick: The pain, the sun, the mortality…feels amazing.

Minister: “We’re all mortal…our time is limited, it’s part of what allows us to love and hurt. And in the end, it inspires us to make the most of the time we are given.”

Straightening Out a Few Facts

Some statements made in previous episodes were proven false in “The Mortal Cure”. For example, there is a vampire nation with a hierarchy and battles to be waged between the various fiefdoms. And as opposed to Mick’s words in “Dr. Feelgood”, there is a clubhouse where vampires hang out. Well at least where wealthy male vampires hang out, and thank you Josef for being a member.

Let’s Talk About Josef…The Most Complex Character on Moonlight?

Jason Dohring hasn’t had a lot of scenes on Moonlight, and relatively few lines, as well as no action scenes to showcase his machismo. Still, he has created one of the most complex characters on the show. A slight turn of the head, a shift of the eyes (always down and to the left), and a hitch in his throat, and we know Josef is as duplicitous as his last name. Konstantin or Kostan, we know Josef has lied to Mick at least once, and survived a blaze no other vampire could survive and each time he says Coraline is messing with your head, do you wonder how much Josef has messed with Mick’s head? If for no other reason (okay, excluding some kind of progress on the Mick/Beth romance), I want to find if Josef is really Mick’s best friend.

   

“The Mortal Cure” left a lot of dangling questions, but Loyal Viewers; we’ve got to wait. First, the writers strike has to end, and then CBS has to say, let’s do some more shows. And hopefully, those things will happen in the very near future.

   

Without the business of Hollywood getting in the way of speculation, I predict that when Moonlight returns, we might see a couple of episodes in which human Mick laughs, and not sarcastically, and Beth will kiss him wholeheartedly, and he’ll kiss her back guiltlessly.

   

But, let’s not forget Coraline. She’ll return—for Mick. And of course, Josef won’t be happy that he’s lost his best friend to humanity. Sure, he’ll get over it. He’s been around 400 years and has learned to deal with change. Then again, maybe not.

   

And damn, that pesky cure is temporary, and will certainly reverse itself at the most inopportune moment. Then poor Mick and poor Beth will have to deal with the consequences.

I, for one, Loyal Viewers, can hardly wait to watch what happens next.

Until sometime in the future,

Yours in Vampire solidarity,

Denny S. Bryce

Comments

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