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Moonlight: The Ringer
(S01E07) "It's like one of those true stories that sounds more like fiction."-- Morgan Vincent
This was the best episode of Moonlight yet! Excellent. Everything about it was fantastic: It had a gripping storyline, well written, well performed. It was great! Of course, there were a couple of teeny inconsistencies, and I have to mention those, but in this case, think of it as the imperfections that make a Persian rug so exquisite.
First and foremost, it was nice to see Jason Dohring get more to do in this episode. His snarling and showing his teeth was exactly what we needed to see in a vampire who was four years old in 1603. His reluctance to jump to the balcony at Hank Mottola's house was odd, considering he is the one who is always telling Mick to embrace who he is. But I loved how he said, "Ugh," and then flew up beside Mick.
I'm not sure why Josef, who knew Coraline for a century longer than Mick did, was slow to accept that idea that she could be orchestrating an elaborate plot to punish Mick for attempting to kill her all those years ago. It isn't like she hasn't had time to plan this. Of course, Josef tends to play the role of Mick's voice of reason: Mick, you have to let Coraline go. Mick, you have to stop hating what you are. Mick, there is no cure for vampirism. So, naturally, in the guise of that role, he is Mick's foil. Mick says plot, Josef says, tomato.
As Morgan herself says, "This is one of those stories that is more like fiction." Of course she says that. She's baiting him. Either Morgan is actually Coraline, or she knows an awful lot about Coraline and Mick and she is a very crafty human who is setting him up. I haven't actually figured out how Morgan can smell human and bleed and fail to heal. As for the fleur-de-lis, why not just have it lasered off? Ah, so that we would know you are really Coraline. Ironically, the commonly-used symbol can represent The Virgin Mary and also purity, chastity, and female virtue and spirituality. That is really funny.
Considering how weak some of the plots involving the investigations have been, this one was really pretty strong. I loved how we got to see the beginning of Mick's relationship with Coraline, and we saw the usually tightly controlled Mick throwing a chair through a glass window because he was desperate to be with Coraline. Excellent use of showing instead of telling or using voiceover.
What we have now, folks, is a love triangle. Coraline is obviously under his skin. She has been for years. He can't let go of her, and of course, now he reveals what we viewers already knew: Mick didn't actually see Coraline die. He just can't imagine her having escaped the burning room he abandoned her to.
Some of the commenters were wondering about a baby Mick bit-- he didn't bite a baby. He rescued Beth from Coraline when Beth was four. Coraline kidnapped Beth and wanted to turn her into a vampire, so she and Mick could have a child together. Mick, being horrified at what he is, was even more aghast at the idea of subjecting a child to vampirism, so he killed Coraline-- or thought he did. He stabbed her in the heart with a silver letter opener (which is exactly the instrument Morgan claimed the "thief" attacked her with), which should have paralysed her. However, she was pressed against the glass of the burning room when Mick left with Beth The Child. If she wasn't paralyzed, of course she could have escaped.
I love Coraline's use of the name Morgan: It's the name of King Arthur's sister, who, depending on which version of the legends you read, was rather evil. She was definitely powerful and magical, no matter who you read.
Some of the parallels between Morgan and Coraline seemed patently obvious: The book Remembrances of the Past that was Coraline's favorite; the music; the "fifties thing" Morgan was trying to shake. Not very subtle. The tattoo on the murder victim from the photographs was more effective. 
I felt bad that Beth didn't have more to do in this episode, but it was hard to take our eyes off Morgan. Shannyn Sossamon was perfectly cast in this role. I haven't really cared for her portrayal of Coraline so far, but as Morgan, she was smart, curious, sincere, and affecting. I really almost wanted to believe that this was a huge coincidence and that perhaps she really did just look like Coraline-- and that maybe somebody else was using Morgan to get to Mick.
The big inconsistency that I referred to earlier is: Why wouldn't Mick insist on Josef coming to the cemetery with him and Morgan when he was convinced that Morgan was actually Coraline? Doesn't it seem like Coraline is hell-bent on revenge? Why would Mick even risk being alone with her? Ever? She kept intimating that there was a romance between Mick and Beth. If Coraline/Morgan can confirm that and that Mick has feelings for Beth then Beth is in mortal (or perhaps immortal) danger. What would hurt Mick more: For Coraline to kill Beth or to turn her? Would Mick turn Beth himself to save her? I think we are going to have a chance to find out.
Josef says he wouldn't go back to the mortal coil if there turns out to be a cure for vampirism. A cure does sound like Mick's wishful thinking, but how else to explain Morgan's human-like characteristics? I suspect that Coraline herself wouldn't want to be mortal. She is stronger and deadlier as a vampire. She must have figured out a way to disguise herself and smell human. She could have faked bleeding somehow with someone else's blood. But let's say there is a cure: Would you want to see Mick become human so he could be with Beth? Or does the show's popularity hinge on the tension of the vampire/human romance?
| Yes, that is what he wants. | |
|---|---|
| No! Being a vampire is sexy! |
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