Diary of a Blood Ties virgin – I’m getting sucked in….

Season one, episodes 4-6

“Gifted”

“I’m not Ghostbusters.” – Vicki

Until now, the episodes have focused on the case-of-the-week, with Henry’s vampirism taking a back seat to the monster of the episode. Now that he’s revealed himself to Mike, though, I’m wondering if there’s a game-changer at play. Could this be the episode where Blood Ties blew the hatch?

I’ve said it before, but I would be remiss not mentioning the pathetic special effects of “Buttercup.” Laughable, but part of the series’ charm. Whenever that thing materialized in the kitchen and murdered the kid’s mom, I just about fell out of my seat, giggling. The camp solidifies the B feel but I like that it’s reminiscent of the addictive monster movies that made campy vogue.

There were other great moments in this episode:

• Vicki checking out Henry’s graphic novels to try to get inside his head.
• The comic book shop guys squabbling, and the awesome quote: “You live with your mother!”
• I’m getting a Harper’s Island connection, first with Gina Holden‘s Coreen as a series regular, and in this episode with Cassandra Sawtell playing young Sarah, the same actress who played Holden’s daughter, Madison, in Harper’s Island. Maybe just a Canada thing?
• I loved it when Henry easily busted down the door that Mike couldn’t, and the cocky way he gloated.

“Deadly Departed”

“Son of a bitch … and I mean that literally.” – Vicki, when they found out the ghost’s mother was the murderer

OK, Blood Ties didn’t blow the hatch with Henry’s reveal to Mike … it just sort of fizzled. What it did do, though, is heighten the animosity between the two  — Mike lifted Henry’s fingerprints and I just know he’s going to find out some dirty little secrets about Henry. It’s not a game-changer yet, so no hatch blown.

The beginnings of the episodes remind me  bit of Supernatural. We often get the set-up, the murder, meet the creature of the week, etc. It works … yet the two-dimensional bitchy boss doesn’t. Think she’ll calm down now that Vicki and Mike saved her life?

I’m wondering if Vicki’s glowing pentagram tattoos will continue to reveal cool things. We know she’s bound to the demon and that she can grab ghosts … I hope there’s more in store for the viewers.

“Love Hurts”

I think this was my favorite episode so far … it was rip-roaringly funny, from the quotes to the situations to the banter between Mike and Henry. The characters are really starting to jell as a cast and the chemistry is flowing more naturally.

I could picture the monster of the week (the incubus sex demon) being on Supernatural … in fact, season four’s “Sex and Violence” was about a siren, a female sex demon … is that the same episode in which a demon sucks the souls right out of the bodies the way the Magaera does when she kills the women? Anyway, that and the humor and the banter was right out of a Supernatural script.

Some of my favorite moments:

• Henry trying to seduce Vicki and she tells him the real turn-on would be if he took out the garbage.
• “I’m going to try to remember this is coming out of your concern for me, not some sort of caveman complex.” – Vicki
  “Why can’t it be both?” – Mike
• “It’s an investigation, not a picnic.” – Vicki to Henry when she asks him to talk to the women about the gardener’s alibi and not to suck their blood
• Henry striking out with all the women under the incubus’s spell was a riot.
• “My father killed the Scottish King. Yes, I golf.” – Henry
• Henry sneaking a kiss from Vicki to try to get her to be open to the incubus.
• Henry and the incubus comparing notes about wooing women.

I’m really looking forward to the next episodes of Blood Ties. As the characters connect more, I’m feeling more connected to the show. It’s great fun!

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jul 21, 2010 @ 15:00 EST5EDT