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Moonlight 1.3: "Dr. Feelgood" |
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Saturday, 13 October 2007 |
By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
Many critics of “Moonlight” point out that the show is riddled with cliché, and that the characters present nothing new. To a certain extent, it’s hard to argue with that assessment. It’s just that the assessment doesn’t matter very much for this particular genre. Very few vampire tales offer anything new, after all. It comes down to execution and style. One may quibble over how well the series has distinguished itself from the rest of the pack, but it’s unfair to attack any entry in such a well-traveled subgenre.
In fact, I find myself reacting oddly to “Moonlight”. I can easily identify some of the tropes at play and the struggle to find an original voice, and I know that the series has yet to introduce anything truly new. Yet I find it very hard to hold that against the series, because frankly, I just like it. It may be cookie-cutter vampire adventure material, but it’s competent, and each new episode makes up for the weaknesses of the pilot.
The cast is settling in rather nicely now, especially Sophia Myles (either that, or her American accent is growing on me). I also appreciate the fact that the relationship between Mick and Beth is advancing much more quickly than one would otherwise expect. Considering the fact that the episodes are still covering introductory material, this bodes well for the future, when the complications set in and the stories grow into (hopefully) uncharted territory.
As far as this episode is concerned, it was about establishing more of the rules and delving into Mick’s past in more detail. It’s one thing for the writers to dump all of that information into an expository dream at the beginning of the pilot, and quite another to show how it works in practice. Hopefully, now that the production side has stabilized, the writers will continue to show us the rules instead of telling us about them.
Whatever the case, this episode may not win any awards, but it was a solid enough entry for the series and was comfortably entertaining. The character dynamics are growing by leaps and bounds, and there’s every reason to believe that the process will continue. With the ratings fairly stable (especially compared to more visible opposition), this series should be safe for the short-term, giving the writers time to progress with the improvements. |
