Thoughts on Moonlight


The fall season has begun, which means there are lots of new shows that are re-hashing premises we’ve already seen before. In Moonlight’s case, we are seeing another version of Angel, a vampire turned PI in Los Angeles. It takes the noir concept serious on a superficial level, which is maybe as good as broadcast television can do it. There are shadows and blonds, monotone voiceovers by our conflicted hero, but it seems to be missing something.

The pilot was not terrible, and a tormented vampire makes a great noir character. Angel worked as a private investigator. The pilot, though, really does take a little too much from Joss Whedon’s spin-off. Mick St. John, our tall dark and handsome hero, is fixated on a blond journalist, whom he once saved as a child. Buffy anyone? In this case Beth does not have superpowers, just a nose for a hot story. She is played by Sophia Myles, who I really like, and honestly she was one of the draws for checking out the show. I think it is interesting that in a way she is reprising her Doctor Who role. In both shows, she is drawn to an ageless man from her childhood who saved her from monsters.

The vampires in this world are more integrated in society. Instead of working outside of and against the vampire community, Mick’s best friend is a major player among the vampires. Josef is one of the oldest vampires, and richest. He pressures Mick to try and downplay vampires in the media, to keep their presence unknown to mortals. Jason Dohring plays him, hot off of his role as the tormented Logan Echolls on Veronica Mars. He’s the other reason I tuned in. I needed a fix since VM got canned. So far he was not given much to do, besides to establish him as a vampire of power.

All in all, this is no Joss Whedon, but it has some promise. I think Mick, played by Alex O’Loughlin, is okay. He seems a little boring, a little too monotone. He’s cute, which is to be expected. I continue to like Myles and hope that Dohring is given some scenery to chew, as he does best. I am also curious to see how well the writers keep the noir premise up. I hope they delve a little deeper, to give it a fuller feel.

Moonlight plays on CBS Fridays at 9 Eastern. Did anyone else see it?

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September 29th, 2007
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Viewing 5 Comments

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    Oh yeah, I forgot about that show. It's on tonight. Thanks, Jason.
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    Didn't see Moonlight...but for pure Joss Wheedon TV kicks I really dug the Kevin Smith directed pilot of Reaper...Clerks meets Buffy with Ray Wise impeccable as Satan. Looking forward to episode two
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    Well, just because I didn't think it was terrible doesn't mean I didn't think it was good. I agree with you, Karen, that the lead was awful. And the dialogue was stupid. But, I guess I'm admitting that I'll watch a bad show because of an actor or two.

    I think pilots tend to be a bad showcase for a show's potential, even though I think that's what they are technically supposed to do. They tend to be an introduction of main characters and how they are related, or at least this particular pilot was. I hope they give Dohring more to do, because he is fantastic. He would have been an more interesting lead, if the lead were darker or more conflicted. I think they are letting the lead off the hook a little.
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    The lead here really made me appreciate David Boreanaz in "Angel." I liked Sophia Myles, although she was saddled with one of those ridiculous moments that makes a character look a simp: when Sophia was running in fear from the evil prof, she stumbled across his TA, and blindly went with him to his car, instead of thinking - as everyone who saw the episode thought - "Evil!! Run!!"

    One big difference between this show and "Angel" is that the latter felt like it knew LA from the inside, whereas the new show feels like it only knows what it's seen in movies.

    Having said that, I'll probably watch it again, anyway. Inertia is a powerful force.
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    Geez, I thought it was dreadful. I thought the dialogue was stilted, the actors affectless, and the accents kept slipping all over the Atlantic Rim. The only time the screen came alive was when Jason Dohring was on as Josef. He managed even to make his lines sound witty, which is a real indicator of his talent.

    I thought O'Loughlin in particular was just dismal. And the professor wasn't much better. A PhD in "mythical anthropology"?? REALLY??
 

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