(S01E03) I love it when form follows content, so I really enjoyed this episode. In fact, I think it was the strongest episode yet: It was tight, it had pathos and humanity, and it had humor. "The Red Cross doesn't mention that in their literature." It was a funny line, but Sophia Myles' delivery made it great.

In this episode, the characters are starting to find themselves. Beth is more driven by curiosity than anything else. It makes her good at her career, but it also helps her overcome any fear she has toward Mick. Unfortunately, it also puts her into dangerous situations. And as she tells Mick, "That's why it's a good thing I've got you around." Rather than thinking maybe Mick isn't such a good person to hang out with now, she considers him her own personal body guard, and is more driven than ever to solve cases. I think her drive to solve cases and her curiosity are more compelling to her than her news stories; in any case, a journalist like Beth will protect her source, so I think she will protect Mick's secret.

In some ways, Mick and Beth are a lot alike. They are both driven to solve murders, though for entirely different reasons. Mick is driven by a strong moral code and guilt for being a vampire, which is something he didn't want and still doesn't. We know this from subtle cues: He calls himself a monster more than once. When Beth says, about the fact that vampires don't age, "Immortality looks pretty good from where I'm sitting," he disagrees with her. We are already seeing hints that if Beth ever wants to become a vampire, Mick is going to try to stop her.

There was a lot to like about this episode: I freaking loved the fact that the vampires have a cleaner who comes up and takes care of little accidents like vampire gluttony. I also loved the fact that there are consequences for sires who create rogues: The cleaner, with her hair pulled tightly back, is a lovely vision of cold efficiency. She doesn't just clean up dead humans. Her job is to make sure that vampires can co-exist with humans without danger to vampire existence. It is clear that the vampire code exists more to protect vampires than the weaker humans around them. This is because the vampires seem to understand that even though they have more powers, there are more humans, and ultimately, remaining hidden is the smartest idea.

The plot was tight too: There is a rogue vampire. He is killing people and exposing the vampires, so he must be stopped. Follow the clues, find the sire, find the vampire, clean up the sire, kill the rogue. Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. Very neatly done. And building upon the thin but tight skeletal scaffolding of the plot which, this week, was not convoluted, the show hangs layer upon layer of having Beth find out what she wants to know about Mick. My metaphor is unraveling here: Just as layer upon layer adds to the show's substance, there is also a process of removing layers of mystery: We find out at a slightly faster pace than Beth, but clearly, we are being privy to an un-layering, just as she is.

Last week, I was complaining about not having enough answers, about the vampire back story not having a substantial mythology. However, this week, it became clear that the show does have a vampire mythology, and we finally started seeing glimmers of it. Through the plot of the doctor becoming a rogue vampire, we experience what it is like to change into a vampire: The hunger, the blood thirst, being out of control. We see much more than Mick could explain to us in words, so form follows content. So, in following the rogue, we see Mick's early vampire days: He explains that if Coraline hadn't taught him, he would have ended up out of control as well. He doesn't confuse his reflection for gratitude toward Coraline: He is clearly still pissed as hell that she has made him into a vampire, though we still don't know what human hopes and dreams died with him that night. However, he seems to have a new appreciation for how much worse his vampire existence could have been.

We got more Josef this week. Of course, at 400 years old, is there anything he hasn't seen or experienced? He has probably been alive so long to have been bored a few lifetimes over, so he doesn't understand why Mick still cares. Even though I have heard the story of the Buddhist monks before, I enjoyed Josef's use of it to show Mick that he needs to let go of the past. He doesn't need to become as apathetic as Josef is, but he will be haunted far longer than any mortal by whatever he carries.

It would be a bold move for Beth to be telling her boyfriend the truth that nothing that is going on with her has anything to do with their relationship. It seems pretty impossible for Beth and Mick to have a love affair, so they could be star-crossed lovers, or maybe, just maybe, they could be really really good friends. They are moving into a really nice rapport: "And wait in the car means?" "Look how well that worked out last time!" Those lines turned out to be foreshadowing as once again, Beth has to rescue Mick. His paralyzed telling her to take the stake out was hilarious too, and I am just going to roll with the fact that it was intentionally funny, especially when Beth starts babbling, "Maybe it's like glass and we should just..." "Take it OUT!"

Mick has now trusted Beth with all of his secrets. So, if she is the keeper of his secrets, then what does that mean they mean to each other? When will she figure out that Mick is the one who saved her from Coraline? I hope CBS gives us a chance to find out. I will be traveling next Friday, so I don't know if I will have a chance to see the show on time to review it. I will try to find someone to substitute for me, but if I can't find anyone, I will see you in two weeks!