jasondohring

(S01E11) "I love you, too." Beth to Josh

I wish I could say this was a heart-breaking episode, but it wasn't. In fact, I'm torn because some parts of it were truly excellent, and others were pretty predictable. Let's unpack it a bit, though, and see if we can uncover whether it was a good episode or not. And by suggesting that we critique it, that is with the caveat that I am a big fan of the show-- but everything that is good should be able to stand up to a little scrutiny, yes?

Visually, the episode was stunning, starting with the opening shots of Mick working out, shirtless, in his apartment. I am pretty sure the voice over was talking about how vampires spend a lot of time alone at night while the rest of the world sleeps, but I was pretty much paying attention to Mick doing push-ups.

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(S01E09) "I've never been almost killed before."-- Morgan

Now that Beth has discovered some of the secrets to her past, she is hellbent on discovering all of it. There were some definite inconsistencies, though, in what she said about it this week compared to last week. Last week, she said that she had always felt safe, and she knew it was because Mick had been watching over her. We even saw that in the scenes from last week.

This week, she tells a different story: She says she needs to find out the truth about her past in order to feel safe, and she doesn't know whether she will ever feel safe again. So, did she just start feeling unsafe when she started putting together the pieces? Mick is still her guardian angel, right? So, why won't she feel safe again?
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(S01E08) "Me casa, su casa. That's Spanish for, 'Keep her out of my stuff!'"-- Mick St. John

Despite the fact that the future of Moonlight is uncertain right now (just like every other show on television at the moment, except reality shows), I am amazed by the huge following the show has garnered so quickly! I continue to love how the show builds on itself, episode by episode. Each episode can not only stand alone, but also contributes to the threads that are weaving themselves through the show's mythology and overarching storyline: The love story of Mick and Beth.

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(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.

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(S01E06) "Vampires can't really be trusted with pets."--Mick St. John

I'll go ahead and admit it: I like it, in episodic dramas, when subtleties of the plot further a developing theme or subplot. Bear with me here: Moonlight isn't a soap opera, because the storyline isn't continued every week. There are definite cases with beginnings and endings. However, we all know by now that at its heart, Moonlight masquerades or moonlights (ba-dum bum!) as the burgeoning love story between vampire Mick St. John and human Beth Turner. In the backdrop. we also learn more and more about vampirism and its culture. So, I appreciate when the investigation, in its fashion, furthers the love story every week, and this week did not disappoint me.

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(S01E05) "I saw how you two looked at each other." -- Josh Lindsey

A big shout out to Isabelle Carreau for covering Moonlight for me last week. I was in Canada, and I really felt the pain of not being able to watch an episode online. Stupid ISP blocking. If you haven't heard yet, CBS has ordered four more scripts of Moonlight, which is promising for our current favorite vampire addiction. Of course, that could simply be due to the impending writers' strike, but considering the fact that cancellations have already been made, I choose to think of it as a good sign. Even so, I have to say that I enjoyed last week's episode, "Fever" more than tonight's "Arrested Development." One of the things Moonlight writers do well is to lay out Mick and Beth's relationship, layer by slow layer. Their attraction and their bond are growing almost painfully slowly, but each week we get more and more and more -- but not too much by a long shot.

(S01E04) "You're a delicate flower, Mick St. John." - Beth

Since Jen is on a trip, I'm taking over reviewing duties this week for Moonlight. Sorry for the delay in posting the review. My phone company thought it would be funny to switch my phone number with someone else's on Friday night. This meant no Internet access until the phone company took care of the problem on Sunday morning! Yikes!

As Jen said two weeks ago, even if a lot of people don't like this series, it seems that I too have a higher tolerance for it and I enjoy vampire smut. Plus, the shows I tape on Friday nights and watch over the weekend are all about me not having to think too much while being entertained (the other show on my Friday watch list is Las Vegas). Moonlight falls right into that category.

(S01E01) Los Angeles and Toronto -- two cities that I will probably never end up moving into or near. Why? Because of the dense population of vampires that make those cities their home. I could understand Toronto: it's cold and gloomy in the winter and you can transverse the city through a myriad of underground passageways. But, Los Angeles? The place is sunny for most of the year. Why the hell would a vampire want to move there? Frankly I would think Seattle would be a better city to live in, or one of those towns up in Northern Alaska. I mean, those places don't see the sun for months at a time. What a perfect location for a vampire to live!

Now that I got that out of my system let's talk about the first episode of the new CBS supernatural drama Moonlight. If you read my early look of this show you could see that I wasn't really enamored with the program. Besides the fact that the acting was sub-par and the featured crime was something you would see on any standard criminal procedural, the whole thing just left me empty.

Is there anyone left from the original cast of the new CBS show Moonlight?

The latest cast member to leave: Amber Valletta. She plays Coraline, one of the vampires on the show. Or should I say "played." She has been replaced by Shannyn Sossamon. This comes after news that lead actress Shannon Lucio had left (replaced by Sophia Myles), followed by Rade Serbedzija (replaced by Jason Dohring, from Veronica Mars). Lead actor Alex O'Loughlin is staying with the show though, and this supposedly completes the reshuffling.