MOONLIGHT 1.5 – "Arrested Development"

Writer: Chip Johannessen
Director: Michael Fields

Cast: Alex O'Loughlin (Mick St. John), Sophia Myles (Beth Turner), Jason Dohring (Josef Konstantin), Tami Roman (Maureen 'Mo' Williams), Brian J. White (Lt. Carl Davis), Jordan Belfi (Josh Lindsey), Janelle Giumarra (Marissa), Wes Robinson (Mineo), Casey LaBow (Cherish), Christine Romeo (Mom), Tom Ohmer (Dad), Nate Mooney (Rider England), Eduardo Ortiz (David), Roy Vongtama (Morgue Attendant), Deanna Smith (Natalie), Charly Emery (Yuppie Mom) & Asia DeMarcos (Fed #1)

Mick and Beth hunt a teenage vampire who is killing female escorts he arranges to meet via the internet...

Beth: What am I supposed to say?
I've never spoken to a serial killer before.
Josef: Well, you know. Be polite. Please, thank you.

Writer-producer Chip Johannessen delivers his first episode of the show he took over from David Greenwalt, and the former-Millennium scribe's story has mixed results: a clichéd, dreary plot about a teen-vamp killing escorts, but with better chemistry developing between Mick (Alex O'Loughlin) and Beth (Sophia Myles)...

After the events of last week (where Mick drank Beth's blood to save himself from certain-death), the vampire has been avoiding her. However, fate conspires to bring them together when cases they're working on (a missing escort girl for Mick, a dead prostitute fro Beth) are revealed to be closely related.

There's a interesting idea behind this episode – with a vampire essentially snapping after being trapped in the gawky, acne-ridden body of a 16-year-old for over 200 years. You'd perhaps think two centuries would be ample time to improve your personality and garner knowledge/experience to impress the ladies, but apparently not. But I still liked this idea; it reminded me of the even-worse fate of Kirsten Dunst's neck-biter in Interview With The Vampire – who was cursed to spend eternity as a pre-pubescent child.

Despite a good idea at its core, Arrested Development is sadly a very tedious investigative drama, riddled with clichés and disappointing scenes. The teen-vamp, Mineo (Wes Robinson), spends his time pacing a dark apartment, dressed in a black hoodie and baseball cap, trawling the internet for victims. My eyes rolled. And once Mineo was revealed as being nerdy kid, it hardly came as a surprise, but nothing interesting was forthcoming.

More appealing was seeing Mick and Beth's relationship with each other blossom, as the two actors settle into their roles. I like watching them together (they're actually quite bland when separated), and Johannessen's script provides them with amusing scenes to bounce off each other in – like when Beth has to pretend to be an escort girl in front of Mick and Josef (Jason Dohring).

Speaking of Josef, I really hope Dohring plays a bigger part on the show soon, as he displays a playfulness and charm that surpasses everyone else. It’s a crying shame to see him cooped up in his luxury pad, when he'd be far more exciting as a true accomplice working alongside Mick, instead of a friendly helper. This episode provides Josef with a geeky computer-expert friend Rider England (Nate Mooney), who seemed a little pasted into events because of the internet connection, but I can live with it.

It was also fun to notice that Beth's boyfriend Josh (Jordan Belfi) seems to like Mick – likely because of his help with recent cases – and has even noticed the way Beth looks at him. I'm glad the writers avoided the easy option of making Josh aloof to his girlfriend's feelings for Mick, and it'll be interesting to see if Josh actually grows jealous. There's a scene where Beth and Jordan host a party at their home for a group of friends, only for Beth to embarrass Jordan after she leaves for work-related reasons, that played very nicely to show how their work/social lives are splitting.

However, I have to admit that Moonlight's a bit "girlie"* at times -- lacking bite in key scenes and sugaring the romance at the expense of hard drama. There's a moment where an escort girl, speaking to Mineo by telephone, tells him she'll cost "500 flowers". It's call girl lingo for money, but she happens to be standing in a flower shop at the time. I assume that's so kids watching don't have their little brains damaged by the idea that some men pay for (whisper it) sex, and she actually just loves flowers. Sex isn't mentioned or seen throughout the whole episode, in a story about girl escorts and a teen sex pest! What demographic is this show aiming for, again – the under-10s?

I'm a man and I watch Moonlight – but my reasons for choosing to were primarily because of its vampire and crime combo, with any sexual chemistry between the leads an added bonus. As such, I just found this episode lacking in most dramatic respects. Moonlight can't exist on Myles and O'Loughlin giving each other smouldering looks alone. I don't want, or expect, a CSI-level of grit, but it definitely needs to start punching harder.

Overall, Arrested Development was the first episode that totally bored me: a limp, clichéd villain committing crimes the show is too nervous to show, for fear of upsetting youngsters. It's just toothless. The climactic fight between Mick and Mineo around a pier was fun (why am I reminded of Lost Boys?), and the staging of their brawl on a rollercoaster's tracks was original. But, a solid sequence in the last 5 minutes, and a handful of sparkling scenes between the leads can't disguise a tired, unimaginative, derivative and hackneyed story.


18 March 2008
LivingTV, 10.00 pm

* On LivingTV, this episode was sponsored by Katherine Heigl rom-com 27 Dresses, so its girl credentials seem certain!