MOONLIGHT 1.3 – "Dr. Feelgood"

Writers: Gabrielle Stanton & Harry Werskman
Director: Scott Lautanen

Cast: Alex O'Loughlin (Mick St. John), Shannyn Sossamon (Coraline), Sophia Myles (Beth Turner), Jason Dohring (Josef Konstantin), Jordan Belfi (Josh Lindsey), Brian J. White (Lt. Carl Davis), Jacob Vargas (Guillermo), Diego Villarreal Garcia (Clerk), Jared Ward (Dr. Jackson), Countrified Cornelius Wedman (David), Josh Clark (Ed), Chris Payne Gilbert (Dr. Jeff Pollack), Linda Friedman (Tech), Molly Culver (The Cleaner), Brad Greenquist (Gerald Stovsky), James Budig (Businessman), Cate Cohen (Randi), Su Sazama (Patient), Tiya Sircar (Doctor) & Jermaine Williams (Phil)

Beth helps Mick search for a fledgling vampire, who has gone rogue and started killing indiscriminately across the city...

"A newly turned vampire is like a feral kitten; if you don't socialize it

within the first few days, it will never be able to interact with humans."

-- Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin)

It's the third episode and Moonlight is again focusing on vampirism, with actual detective work pared down to off-the-record remarks by cops and those cheating "psychic flashes" Mick (Alex O'Loughlin) has while sniffing crime scenes. The supposed romance between vampire gumshoe Mick and 'net reporter Beth (Sophia Myles) is also yet to spark, although both actors look smouldering in soft-focus...

Dr. Feelgood is essentially an episode of mythology-building and detailing, with the plot focusing on a "rogue" vampire Dr Jeff Pollack (Chris Payne Gilbert) – recently turned into a blood-crazed lunatic after falling victim to a hit-and-run and being tended to by a vampire who sees an opportunity for a quick snack...

Unfortunately, Jeff's "sire" failed to adhere to established vampire rules (of helping a human deal with their transformation into a vamp), and flees the scene of his attack – leaving Jeff overwhelmed by his new-found powers, and embarking on a blood-crazed rampage.

Beth, now aware vampires exist after seeing Mick "vamp-out" last week, is eager to learn all about this secret subculture that exists – particularly when she investigates a convenience store murder, where the victim was drained of all his blood...

Mick realizes it's the work of a feral vampire and seeks advice from The Cleaner (Molly Culver), the leather-clad owner of a clean-up squad lazy vampires call to dispose of incriminating evidence after attacks. It's an amusing idea, although surely the need for her services is a conflict of interest with Mick, who gets involved with murder cases?

Anyway, The Cleaner reveals she got a call from a vampire called Gerald Stovsky (Brad Greenquist), a mild-mannered university lecturer who admits to Mick that he became overcome with hunger and killed Jeff last night. However, Gerald didn't realize some of his own blood infected his unfortunate victim, and has subsequently "turned" Jeff into a crazed fledgling vampire.

Beth is a bit cautious around Mick, still unsure if the horror stories about vampires have a basis in fact, or not. Mick assures her vampires have a code of ethics, and he in particular only drinks from a blood bank. Her inquisitiveness into Mick's past doesn't reap much reward, but we're treated to some irritatingly distorted flashbacks to Mick's own "turning" – at the fangs of bride Coraline (Shannyn Sossamon) on his honeymoon in 1952.

Jeff recovers from his nocturnal crime-spree by sleeping inside his emptied refrigerator – an act that justly unsettles his wife, whom he later murders. Beth gets Jeff's address from a police contact and arrives with Mick, to discover Mrs Pollack's dead body, with no sign of Jeff. Gerald then makes a surprise arrival and pushes a stake into Mick's chest – paralyzing him – and reveals he's never been able to sire before (an impotent vampire?), so won't let Mick take away his "son".

After Gerald leaves, Beth creeps out of hiding and pulls the stake out of Mick's chest to revive him. They both head to the hospital where Jeff works, where Gerald has also tracked his offspring down. The tweedy lecturer fails to make a connection with Jeff, who instead just gets physical and warns Gerard away (with no retaliation, oddly.)

The Cleaner and her staff then arrive to drag Gerald away for all the trouble he's caused their kind, leaving Mick to give chase to Jeff – resulting in a violent brawl on a fire escape, during which Mick manages to paralyze Jeff with a stake, and takes his body away to be incinerated. Nice.

The denouement finds Mick admitting to his friend Josef (Jason Dohring) that he's glad his ex-wife Coraline helped him through his own "turning" 50-odd years ago, before meeting with Beth to tell her he trusts her, as she's the first human he's ever confided in about his true nature.

Dr. Feelgood is definitely the most entertaining episode yet, with some welcome background information on Mick's past and some of the rules that govern a vampire's existence. The story was simple and without much texture; meaning it was easier to follow compared to last week's, but therefore quite bland at times. The flashbacks to 1952 helped strengthen the episode -- despite being filmed with a clichéd and frustrating technique by director Scott Lautanen. At the moment they resemble untrustworthy dreams, not established reality.

I'm also a bit disappointed by the lack of proper investigation going on in Moonlight, with the series leaning heavily on Mick's psychic abilities (a clear writer's cheat) and Beth's own skills mostly revolve around eavesdropping at crime scenes and flirting with a loose-lipped detective.

So far, vampirism has been every episode's primary source of material, which I wasn't expecting so much. I thought Moonlight was foremost a crime drama (where the investigator just happens to be a vampire, for added kicks), but it's actually fully-blown supernatural hokum. I'm not complaining just yet, but I hope every episode isn't going to revolve around vampires.

Also, while I'm sensed more chemistry between O'Loughlin and Myles this week, the pair don't yet have the spark to warrant the show's comparisons to Beauty & The Beast. The more natural and relaxed scenes are to be found with O'Loughlin and Dohring – who I really hope gets to do more than sit around having chats and playing indoor golf.

Overall, Dr. Feelgood delivers what you expect from this series. The problem is, I don’t think the show's twists on vampire mythology are particularly fresh-looking or exciting, and I'm beginning to doubt the show can deliver a decent procedural without relying almost-entirely on its vampire gimmick. Right now, I've been mildly entertained, but there's nothing that's leaped from the screen to make me desperate to see the next episode.

At the very least, Moonlight needs to step up a gear with its "MickBeth" love story, let Dohring loose on a storyline, abandon the hackneyed voice-overs from Mick, shrug off the faint whiff of Charmed, and deliver an episode where the story earns your attention -- without relying on vampires to divert you from a shallow plot.


4 March 2008
LivingTV, 10.00 pm