Voices From Krypton

SUPERNATURAL ACTION: Untitled Horror-Action Film in Development

According to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Paul Sloan (The Scorpion King) has sold a spec script to Millennium/Nu Image, which supposedly crosses elements from The Expendables and Conan. States the story, "The untitled supernatural action script is described as having been inspired by pulp heroes Doc Savage and Tarzan, and centers ona  team of mercenaries whose search for a missing person in the jungles of Cambodia becomes a descent into the heart of darkness as they confront the dark force of a vampire." Production is hoped to begin early next year.

FRIGHT NIGHT: The Casting of the Film

With Colin Farrell on board to play vampire Jerry Dandridge in Craig Gillespie's version of Fright Night [for more, click HERE], the production team turned to the other characters populating the film, begining with Charley Brewster, who discovers his neighbor is a vampire. Ultimately they chose Anton Yelchin (Chekov in JJ Abrams' Star Trek), who was thrilled for the opportunity.
   "I like the relationships in this story," says Yelchin. "Charley versus Jerry, Charley and his girlfriend, Charley and his friend who, who he has shunned; are all interesting elements. With Craig Gillespie at the helm, we got to develop the nuances of all the relationships."
   Academy Award nominee Toni Collette signed on as Charley's mother, Jane, helped no doubt by Gillespie directed her in her Showtime series United States of Tara. "I love working with Craig Gillespie," she enthuses. "If I'd been offered this film and there was another director, I really don't know if I'd have taken it, but I trust him wholeheartedly. I think he's going to make the film scarier by making it real and honest."
   Adds the director, "I was very excited to get Toni for this role. She's able to blend humor and drama, which is such a tricky dance to do, and she does it beautifully. Also, you feel an instant bond between Toni and Anton, which made my work easy.

WELCOME TO FRIGHT NIGHT: An Interview with Imogen Poots

Behind many a vampire is the reincarnation of a lost love that he pursues in the present. This was true of the original Fright Night, and one has to wonder if it’s part of the remake as well. One thing that is certain is that the character of Amy Peterson, played by Amanda Bearse back in 1985, is being portrayed by actress Imogen Poots, whose credits include Jane Eyre, 28 Weeks Later and Solitary Man.
   In the film, Amy is the girlfriend of Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin), who she dearly loves – even after he develops an unhealthy obsession with his neighbor, Jerry Dandridge (Colin Farrell), who he comes to believe is a vampire. Naturally it isn’t long before she comes to realize that Charlie isn't crazy as she finds herself turned into a pawn by Dandridge as a means of torturing him.
    In the following exclusive interview, Imogen Poots reflects on the making of the film and her portrayal of Amy Peterson. This is a first in a series of Fright Night-related articles that will appear on VFK until the film’s August 19th release.

VOICES FROM KRYPTON: Congrats on this film. I saw the footage at Comic-Con and it looks pretty amazing!
IMOGEN POOTS: Thank you. I’m really excited about it.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: So tell me about your excitement. What is it about the project that you find so exciting?
IMOGEN POOTS: I think it’s very much a reimagining of the original and I think it’s an interesting idea to explore, bringing a newer interpretation to a modern audience. And I’m excited about it, because I think it goes back to the original concept of the vampire and what that means in terms of being a predator and the monster behind it, rather than the personification of something melodramatic and romantic. I was looking forward to getting back to the original concept.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: And you assure me there won’t be any sparkling vampires?
IMOGEN POOTS: No sparkles here. Only in their eyes.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: That would actually make a great T-shirt, “No Sparkles Here… Fright Night” [both laugh]… Did Amanda Bearse’s portrayal of Amy influence you at all or did you want to go in a completely different direction?
IMOGEN POOTS: I definitely watched Amanda Bearse’s performance, but I very much wanted to embody Amy with my own heartbeat and ideas. I also wanted to fulfill this kind of duality of being the innocent and collaborator and partner in crime with Charlie, while at the same time being capable of killing vampires and ultimately going through that process of becoming sexualized, which is what happens.

UNDERWORLD 4: Interview with Kate Beckinsale

This January actress Kate Beckinsale returns to the Underworld franchise as she reprises her role of the role of the vampire Selene. In this audio interview she shares her feelings about coming "home" again.

MEET THE DARK COMMANDOS

What if Michael Bay directed a vampire film?

If the director of such films as Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor did choose to turn his focus to the undead, the resulting film would undoubtedly be along the lines of something like “Vampire Marines” – a team of young, good-looking, kick-ass vampires working on assignment for the U.S. government.

At least that’s the conclusion that Tom Sanders and Ed Gross came to when they turned that particular question over in their minds and created Dark Commandos, the live-action Internet series. The show, airing in three-to-six minute installments, chronicles the adventures of the Undead Brigade as they take on the missions that no one else can handle.

“The idea of a team of vampire commandos was originally Ed’s,” says Sanders, “and I have to tell you, when I first heard it, I had my doubts. Ed’s always been into vampires, but I honestly felt that the genre had been beaten to death. But we started tinkering with it and, as usually happens when he and I start writing something, sending scenes and drafts back and forth, fleshing out the characters and developing a storyline. We both got excited about the material and pretty soon it was all either of us were thinking about.”

Dark Commandos originally began existence as a script called Millennium Rising. That story told the tale of New York Detective David Manning and his struggle against a blood cult headed by one Timothy Jenson, whose ultimate plan was to trigger a war between humanity and his vampire army. Additionally, Manning had to deal with the return of his late wife – a victim of Millennium Rising – who has returned as a vampire and who conceivably holds the ultimate clue on how to stop Jenson.

“We really saw it as a tragic love story set against the backdrop of an epic struggle for the survival of the human race,” says Gross with a smile. “Granted we were aiming high.”

Things were progressing well, until the aforementioned references to Michael Bay and Vampire Marines entered the picture. At that moment, Dark Commandos was born. Manning’s story was temporarily shelved (intending to be resurrected later in the show’s run) and a group of all new characters were introduced instead.

Dark Commandos in its current form stars Justin Neal Thompson as team leader Non Agememnon Gage, who is over 500 years old. Transformed during the Crusades, he served the vampire who turned him for several years, until the man’s unrelenting brutality caused him to flee. Non survived on the run for the next several centuries, until an unexpected meeting with his progenitor resulted in Non being forcefully buried in Austria in the mid 1800s, where he was left – presumably forever. During World War II, however, the forces of the Third Reich discovered his amazingly preserved body and brought him to Hilter’s top secret “Theosophic Research” facility, where his blood was sampled by Nazi scientists who hoped to use it to create an undead army. Their experiments produced several hideous false starts, but Hitler’s vision remained unrealized when American Commandos “rescued” Non, effectively drafting him into. Despite what he is, Non remains a spiritual man who continues to practice his Catholic faith (a point emphasized in episode five). On the one hand, Non would love nothing more than final death, but in the back of his mind is the fear that he would be denied entrance into Heaven. The alternative is too frightening to contemplate.

Dreyfuss, second-in-command, is played by Bradley Upton. Turned during the Spanish-American War, Dreyfuss was actually on a suicide bid when he was attacked by a female vampire, suddenly finding himself cursed with eternal life. After years of self-imposed isolation, he emerged as a solider of fortune, hiring out his skills mostly to Third World countries with little regard for his employer’s stance. He never revealed to them what he was; they knew him only as an efficient covert leader and killer. It was in this capacity that he crossed paths with Non several times and was eventually persuaded to join the DC in the 1970s. Of the Commandos, Dreyfuss is the most resigned to what he is, wasting no energy debating the morality of killing to live.

Christopher Boicelli is cast as Ed “The Kid” Torin. Chronologically, Ed is about 50, but physically (and some would say emotionally), he’s in his 20s. His father was a friend of Non’s and when Ed was dying in a Vietnam POW camp, Non went in and saved him the only way he knew how – by turning Ed into a vampire. The Kid desperately tries to hold on to his youthfulness. He embraces whatever is trendy at the moment, but it’s a kind of desperate clinging rather than a real exuberance. Feeling he was cheated out of his youth, first by Vietnam and then by Non’s life-saving “cure,” Ed has a soft spot for children, particularly the abused. While his youthful idealism makes him a spirited fighter, it also leaves his emotions raw and his impulse control lacking. At the same time, in many ways Ed embraces what he is, and approaches vampirism as something of a super hero gig, serving as Robin to Non’s Batman.

Amber Phillips is Sue Janic, the newest Commando. In her early ‘20s, Sue is a top CIA agent who is persuaded by someone high up in military intelligence to join the Undead Brigade. In Sue the audience witnesses the deconstruction of a human soul and its rebirth into the unnatural state of vampirism. Sue at first embraces this journey, as it seems to offer a path to the enlightenment she has long sought, but the transformation ultimately takes her to places darker than she could have ever imagined. Even as Non privately searches for his own redemption, Sue plunges headlong in the opposite direction, prodded along by Ed’s well-meaning, but ill-advised companionship. In many ways, Sue’s journey will be the audience’s into this bizarre world of the undead.

More behind the scenes information will be featured in next week’s installment. Below, check out episode one of Dark Commandos.

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- EPISODE ONE -

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If you've checked out episode one of the original web series Dark Commandos (about a team of vampires carrying out covert missions for the government), then you can probably appreciate the challenges of producing a show like that on an extremely limited budget. To provide an inside look at the process involved, this video shows how the car chase for the episode came together.

JEPH LOEB ON BUFFY SEASON 8 & THE ANIMATED SERIES

Heroes executive producer and comic writer Jeph Loeb, who had helped to develop Buffy the Animated Series, has returned to the Buffyverse by penning issue #20 of Season Eight, "After These Messages... We'll Be Right Back." In this issue, which is a nod to both Pleasantville and The Wizard of Oz, Buffy gets to return to her freshman year in high school as she finds herself IN the universe of The Animated Series. The art is by Eric Wight, who did the original designs for the show. In this exclusive interview with Voices From Krypton, Loeb discusses both the issue of the comic and the proposed series itself. Note About Audio: Don't EVER conduct a phone interview with the air conditioner going and the TV on in the background. Not very conducive for great sound quality, but it seemed worth posting anyway.

    In the interview, Loeb explains, “Joss had this great idea that he was going to do all the season eight stories as comic books. Dark Horse needed to have some names attached to this, because to be perfectly honest, a licensed book has never worked. There are 40, 60, 80 issues of Buffy that no one cares about. But Joss had this wacky idea that he was going to do a Buffy comic and someone’s going to care. And now it’s a Top Ten book; a monster hit book. It’s the biggest book Dark Horse has ever had. It’s consistently beating out everything that DC has and it squeezes itself into the Marvel world.”
Loeb saw this as an opportunity to bring Buffy The Animated Series, on which he was to be co-executive producer, to life for an issue of the comic. “I wanted to tell a story where something happens to Buffy in the present and she wakes up Pleasantville-style and she’s on the animated show. And the part that is incredibly exciting is the animated series took place in year one, so it’s always episode 7.5. Which means that she knew Angel, but she did not know that he was Angelus. It was just a simpler time. Her mom was still alive, the biggest surprise would be that Dawn would be there and she’d be 10 years old. It would feature Principal Snyder and Cordelia would still be alive, and, you know, Willow had not gone dark. All the things that happened as the years go by. They were still kids trying to figure out how to stake a vamp. And Buffy gets dropped in this world. There’s a line that it’s ‘a Season 8 brain, Season 1 Bod,’ and she’s having a ball. It’s like The Wizard of Oz, but at what point does she decide to go home?”

   For more, check out the audio interview

Click To Play

JOSS WHEDON INTERVIEW FROM WHEN "BUFFY SEASON 8" WAS FIRST ANNOUNCED

30 MINUTES OF NILES: AN INTERVIEW WITH WRITER STEVE NILES

In this interview that originally appeared on our sister site at www.vampiresandslayers.net, writer Steve Niles spent considerable time talking about the vampire genre, his motivations for creating 30 Days of Night, the joy he felt in writing IDW's Dracula Meets the Wolfman and details regarding his new vampire superhero comic, Epilogue.

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

MOONLIGHT: "LOVE LASTS FOREVER"

Moonlight: “Love Lasts Forever”

Title: “Love Lasts Forever”

Episode: 1.11

Original Air Dare: 1/11/2008

Writer: Josh Pate

Director: Paul Holahan

Starring: Alex O’Loughlin, Sophia Myles, Shannyn Sossamon, Jason Dohring. Recurring Role: Jordan Belfi (Josh Lindsey), Brian J. White (Lieutenant Carl Davis). Guest Stars: Maurice Compte (Bustos),  Emilio Rivera (Chemma Tejada),  Manuel Urrego (Jorge Perez),  David Blue (Logan),  Margaret Easley (Dr. Alison Lin),  Luis Fernando Moncada (Huerta),  Jon Emm (Judge), Shelbie Bruce (Nicole),  Jeremy Denzlinger (Paramedic).

Plot Summary: Josh is working on a big case, a conviction against a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. In an attempt to force Josh to drop the case, the gang threatens Beth, but Josh refuses to fold and enlists Mick’s help in protecting her.

Review: To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. (Quote from The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis).  This excerpt, from an author best known today for his novel The Chronicles of Narnia, caught my attention as I contemplated my review of Love Lasts Forever, a fast-paced thriller of an episode that showed why Moonlight is deserving of all the buzz. (As well as a People’s Choice Award and possibly more recognition, if the writers’ strike ends before the beginning of the next millennium.)

Before I get philosophical, I want to give a quick overview of the procedural portion of Love Lasts Forever. Right off the bat Loyal Viewers, we know the bad guy, the bad guy’s goals, and that Josh Lindsey, Beth’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, is going to play a major role in this episode. The set up is that Josh, Mr. D.A., is going to take the hit for prosecuting a crime lord from El Salvador one way or another—and quickly, we learn that the way the bad guys want to play it is to go after Beth. Ironically, Josh asks Mick to protect their mutual ladylove. And that’s when it begins - a harrowing, exciting, angst-ridden, well-written episode that tore the guts out of our hero Mick St. John metaphorically, and out of Josh, literally.

 

This was a big episode for Jordan Belfi, the actor who plays Josh. His character is not confused about his feelings. He loves Beth and has for more than a year (pre-series). He also forgives her for getting caught up in the intrigue that is associated with private eye Mick St. John. He believes Beth cares about him and, although she went off to New York with Mick on a case, she came right back. So Josh is as pure as they come, an innocent bystander in the complex roller coaster that is the Mick/Beth relationship.

 

As C.S. Lewis says, when you’re in love, you’re vulnerable. The next thing we know, Josh becomes the victim of the revenge initially directed at Beth. This leads to a sequence of violence and bloodshed that is riveting. Once Josh is thrown into the trunk of that car, we know things won’t end well. I expected Josh to die, but I didn’t expect to experience each moment of his dying so vividly.

Kudos are well deserved for the actors’ work in sustaining the tension throughout Josh’s death scene. It was gory, bloody, and heart-wrenching, but we learned a lot about each of them—from Mick’s days as a medic, to Beth’s selfishness (more on that later), to Josh’s last words about his first days with the love of his life.

Best Lines

Mick: (voiceover) “How does an immortal handle mortal feelings?”

Mick: (voiceover) “Blood is vengeance.”

Beth: “Can’t be all that bad to live forever. You’ll see things when I’m gone, when everyone’s gone, that…we can’t imagine now.”

Mick: “Like what?”

Beth: “Cars that can fly. Diet soda that doesn’t suck.”

Mick (bar scene): “You missed me.”

Beth: “If you hate what you are so much, why do you go on living?”

Mick: (voiceover) “You make me want to.” (Mick laughs, sadly) I’m not really sure, I’m not really sure.”

Most Intriguing Voiceover

Mick: (voiceover) At the end of the day not a lot separates life from death…that’s what makes it precious. (He says this kneeling over Josh’s body, and then later, the last line of the episode Mick says: (voiceover) What I do know is that at the end of the day not a lot separates life from death…only one thing… eternity.)

Things to Ponder…

Where will the blood trail end? Is there really a vampire nation?

Mick Brings Out His Vampire

Two scenes that will standout as amongst the most compelling of Moonlight’s strike-abbreviated season are the interrogation sequence and the bar scene in this episode. Alex O’Loughlin, with no special effects outside of makeup, gave Loyal Viewers the face of a snarling, vicious, brutal vampire. It was horrific and mesmerizing.

The voiceovers in Love Lasts Forever were excellent, as well. We not only learned that Mick St. John was a medic during World War II, but that he also lies to himself and to others, in particular Beth and Lieutenant Carl Davis. But he tells Josh the truth, “I won’t let anything happen to her (Beth).”

Character Development and I’m not talking about Mick

Beth Turner’s character has intrigued me since episode 1.01. Young, 26, with a brand new shiny job—Internet crime reporter—and a year-long serious relationship with an up-and-coming DA, she’s a survivor of a horrific childhood abduction that didn’t leave her so crippled she couldn’t live her life. She developed a ravenous curiosity about living, which makes the Moonlight writers’ choice of making her a reporter almost a ‘duh’ moment. So when she meets Mick St. John, whose past links unexpectedly to her own, she feels an affinity, a connection she can’t shake off. She needs to be around him, learn his secrets, protect him, and find a way to deal with her fascination with him and his world.

 

In Love Lasts Forever, I got a real sense of Beth Turner (although, I still sometimes feel her dialog is choppy). I don’t believe she wanted to be in love with Mick, but she was falling, and until she came face-to-face with the devastating reality of vampirism (Sleeping Beauty), she was well on her way. That episode stopped her in her tracks.

 

From New York, she went back to her safe haven. Josh was her connection to the normal world of the living—a world that shouldn’t include Mick. That world died with Josh, and Beth was angry—angry because a man she cared about was dead, brutally shot in front of her, and the vampire she was falling in love with was a witness to the end of her normal world. Mick even tried to save Josh, but although she begged, Mick refused to turn Josh into a vampire. 

 

In this episode, Beth asked Mick all the tough questions from save him please, for me to would you have saved me? She also played self-preservation games, pushing Mick away casually with statements like “So take a vampire wife then.” She may have seemed hard, or even disloyal, but Beth is a survivor. She doesn’t like feeling vulnerable. Perhaps she realized that loving Mick could break her heart, and being with Josh wouldn’t hurt as much. That’s the mindset I believe she brought to the love scene with Josh—the need to connect to a future without Mick. That’s why she looked so uncomfortable with Josh (good work Sophia Myles). 

   Loyal Viewers, there’s only one episode left this season. Wow, what a ride! Stay tuned to Voices from Krypton during the hiatus (because I believe this show will return). We’ll have updates, special features and more, because we don’t plan on letting Moonlight fade away.

Until next week.

Yours in Vampire solidarity,

Denny S. Bryce/denny_dc

 

 

 

MOONLIGHT: "SLEEPING BEAUTY"

Moonlight: “Sleeping Beauty”

Title: Sleeping Beauty

Episode: 1.10 

Original Air Dare: 12/14/2007

Writers: Trevor Munson & Ron Koslow

Director: John T. Kretchmer

Starring: Alex O’Loughlin, Sophia Myles, Shannyn Sossamon, Jason Dohring

Guest star: Jordan Belfi (Josh Lindsey), Tami Roman (Maureen), Nick E Tarabay (Ralf Martan), Ian Abercrombie (Richard Whitley), Alice Greczyn (Sam), Paul Rae (Tom), Kavita Patil (Doctor Duffy), Al Galvez (Dan)

Plot Summary: Mick has a lot on his mind after Beth’s staking of the hospitalized Coraline when he learns Josef’s office has been torched. Now he must deal with his best friend’s apparent death and finding Josef’s killer. Mick and Tom, Josef’s head of security, launch an investigation into the attack. This leads Mick and Beth to New York City and a surprising discovery about Josef’s past.

Review: “Hope, Lies and Sacrifice” could well be the subtitle of “Sleeping Beauty”, episode 1.10 of Moonlight. We had Mick embracing hope, Josef telling lies and three women choosing to make tough decisions about what they were willing to sacrifice to be in love with a vampire. Interestingly enough, two of the women — both from eras long ago — chose to jump into the flames for their vampire lovers, while one — Beth Turner — jumps into a cab to catch a flight (modern women can be so frustratingly practical).

But before I dive into all of that, let’s recap the procedural plotline of “Sleeping Beauty”. In this episode, Mick sets out to find the person trying to kill his best friend, Josef. At first, Mick does not question the why of the assassin’s motives. It’s a given Josef has enemies, and Josef reacts to this kind of attack from the eye-for-an-eye book of payback. But after finding out Josef’s not dead, Mick follows him to New York City in hopes of preventing Josef from doing something stupid. Mick and Beth (who comes along to “stop Mick from doing something stupid”) meet a 93 year-old man who has a lot of hate in his heart and revenge on his mind. Turns out Josef’s alias Charles killed (or as it turns out tried to turn) Whitley’s daughter in 1955.

This episode was enjoyable, yeah, and fast-paced, and almost breathless in its scene progression. We also had passionate performances from the main cast, and some of the seasons best choreographed fight scenes.

But Mick’s emotional journey was the star of the episode. From controlled anger, to uncontrolled grief to rage and finally elation, he covered the emotional gambit, including a scene where his grief was so raw it was tough to watch (more on that scene later).

Then there was Josef. He’s not big on telling Mick the truth. Watch carefully, if you’re into re-watching episodes, but Josef is showing himself to be somewhat of a master manipulator of the truth (could it be his hedge fund trader skills coming into play?). Not only did he mislead Mick about the human/vampire relationship deal, but when quizzed about Richard Whitley (Sarah’s dad) he flat out lied until he was forced to do otherwise.

I found Jason Dohring’s performance delectable in this episode. Some may say that Josef

behaves immaturely at times considering his age — being a 400 year-old vampire. But Josef was turned in his early twenties. And as we learned in “Arrested Development” (episode 1.05), vampires can be saddled with aspects of the personalities they had at the time they were turned. I believe we see that in Josef. He screams spoiled aristocrat from the 16th century, while Mick, for example, is a GI. He fought in World War II, most likely enlisted at age 20, and survived the Battle of the Bulge. Mick’s a warrior. Josef is a negotiator.

Other liars in the episode included Security Chief Tom, who paid for his deceit with a bullet in the head (we presume as much from the bloody computer monitor).

How much to sacrifice is the choice for the women in “Sleeping Beauty”. Clearly, Coraline will sacrifice whatever it takes to get Mick. It’s just that her tactics are a bit warped. Still, to me Coraline is a tragic figure. She loves Mick absolutely. She’s done bad things, yes, but her goal is clear.  “Mick” - That was her last word as her human life slipped away (which is what I believe we saw in that last scene, Coraline’s human death).

Josef’s Sarah sacrificed her family, and her human life for him. That’s a lot of love to end up in a coma.

However, both of these women were from another era. Could that contribute to their idea of love? Could be.

Because our Beth, Loyal Viewers, got in a cab.

I thought Beth’s dialog in “Sleeping Beauty” was inconsistent in some spots. I think the writers are working at nailing down her motivations, but she has a lot going on (Josh, Mick, Josh, Mick, vampires exist, Mick, Josh). But her actions were right on in that last scene in my humble opinion. She’s struggling with the idea of falling in love with a man that’s not a man (vampire, remember) and having loved or still in love with another man, a good man she’s left at home. Josh is the sensible option. And as mad as it made me, she had only one choice. Get in the cab.

Odds and Ends

·         Josef’s office—one of the most beautiful sets on the show—trashed—blown to bits! Where will Josef live now?

·         Mick is Josef’s muscle. But at least, Mick dictates housekeepingJ).

·         What’s Mick going to do with the vial of blood he extracted from Coraline? (I know, the cure.)

·         Male vampires come to Josef for advice about dating human women — check out dialog during poker game.

·         Beautiful aerial shots of LA and some nice lighting effects throughout episode.

·         Excellent scene for Josh elicited much empathy for his character.

·         Josef Konstantin becomes Josef Konstan! What’s up?

·         Bourne Identity-esque fight scenes rocked!

Best Lines:

“Trust me on this one fellas, you get mixed up with mortal girls and it never ends well.” Josef

“You can always turn them not mortal.” Vampire poker player

“It’s too much commitment.” Josef

~

“He’s a vampire.” Richard Whitley

“That’s not funny old man.” Ralf Martan

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“Tracking says women 18 to 34 find you a little harsh.” Beth’s boss Maureen.

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Things to Remember:

Every scene between Josef and Mick was intense and layered. That friendship is complicated just like every relationship on this show. Nothing is just on the surface on Moonlight.

Alex took a risk and went for sobbing instead of moist eyes in the hallway scene, and it was tough to watch. Why? It was so raw and personal. Male actors — especially sexy leads — usually avoid big time sobbing. But Alex didn’t and I salute his choice.

Mick and Hopefulness:

The last scene in “Sleeping Beauty” between Mick and Beth was a thrill ride of emotions—going in opposite directions. Beth was filled with doubt about Sarah’s sacrifice and perhaps some empathy for Coraline’s plight (maybe a reach, but…). While Mick, for the first time in the show’s 10 episodes, revealed to Beth some of the man he’d been before he’d met Coraline, before he was turned. As Mick said, “Josef Konstan in love? I guess that proves anything can happen.” And that translated into even Mick St. John can be happy.

One thing about watching Moonlight 1.10, we learned that this show doesn’t believe in making it easy on any of its characters — and that’s one of the things I enjoy about it.

Until next time.

Yours in Vampire solidarity,

Denny S. Bryce/denny_dc