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Forever Knight: False Witness

"Nat, I've been around for eight hundred years. I know what's wrong and what's right."

Nick takes the stand to testify against a killer, but the truth is too dangerous to admit.

While listening in on a stakeout, a sting to catch a murderous pornographer, Nick smells trouble. Thinking their contact is in trouble, he vamps out and moves at supernatural speed. Meanwhile, the murderous pornographer realizes he's being set up and pulls a gun. Nick flies in through a giant skylight—smashing it to bits that scatter all over the ground—but he's too late. The contact is dead.

The pornographer says the contact shot himself, but everyone knows it's a lie. So Nick decides to engage in his own deception. He tells everyone he saw the pornographer pull the trigger. The other cops think Nick is saving the day, bagging the scumbag like a good cop, but Nick is quickly trapped in a lie that will swallow him up.

Nick cares about the law. He cares about doing things by the book. But he cares more about stopping killers, and this time he's decided to throw out the rule book and do the right thing.

But it's not gonna be that easy.

For one thing, his good friend Natalie the Coroner has to make a report, and her investigation shows details that conflict with Nick's version of the story. For another, the court quickly notices that Nick was way too far away to have gotten to the scene of the crime so quickly. What looked like an easy white lie has become a situation that threatens to reveal Nick's nature.

This episode does a great job of keeping you guessing. Nick's trapped himself between both worlds, and his ladies, Janette and Natalie, both think he's screwed up. Big time. Natalie's so disappointed she doesn't even have a crush on him anymore. And Janette, as usual, thinks he's silly for even caring about mortals. Even calls him pathetic. Instead of being torn between his usual women, he's somehow landed in both of their doghouses.

Eventually, he admits to the lie and pursues the case honorably. It doesn't take long to discover the pornographer was working for a bdsm lady who wears skin-tight latex outfits that probably squeak when she walks. (It's Crimetime After Primetime, folks. You never know what you're gonna see.) He used his vamp powers to figure it out, but worked the system to keep it a secret. Finally getting it right, he manages to lock the bad guys away with a clear conscience.

Flashback:

In 1828, Nick, La Croix, and Janette visit a tavern where Nick is enchanted by a woman's violin playing, saying she has good taste. La Croix and Janette think he shouldn't resonate with art any more since he has no soul. Nick's not a normal vampire, for some reason. Janette kills the musician and drinks her blood, complimenting Nick on her "good taste" as blood drips down her chin.

Quotes:

"LaCroix, music feeds the soul."
"It's a pity that music is one of the only thing mortals excel at. Why do you think that is, Nicholas? Is it because they have a soul?"
"And you do not?"
"We do not."

"The things that you concern yourself with are just specks in time. Why do you do it? Why does it matter?"
"It'll help me find my soul."
"Your soul is long gone. You lost it when LaCroix brought you over. He was never one to let his life become boring. Do you know where he is, Nick? Dead? You're pathetic. You want to belong? You belong to no one. Not us, not them. You're not true to your own kind... you're not even true to yourself."

"Yeah. So you lied: it happens, Nick. The dishonorable opposition does it. Sometimes we gotta do it too. It's not as if there's any question that the bad guy murdered the victim, right? So what's the big deal?"
"So you knew all along?"
"No, it just wasn't the main issue, that's all. It's either that, or I've got the Six Million Dollar Man as a partner."

Little Bites:

Fashion Police: If I ever get arrested north of the border I'm not going to do well, because I'll be laughing through the whole proceeding if they actually dress this way:


-No, no one ever notices that the gigantic window is smashed. The murdering pornographer never mentioned to anyone how weird it is that Detective Nick showed up by flying through the skylight. No one comments on the glass shards everywhere. Not once.

-Nick doesn't appear to get into any trouble for lying about the case, even though it was highly illegal.

-Nick and Janette have a deep talk about La Croix. She asks, "Do you know where he is?" Nick flashes back to the time he killed his master, a few episodes ago. "Dead?" Janette laughs. "You're pathetic." It's a very eerie moment that leaves the viewer appropriately confused. Janette loves Nick, very deeply, but she's committed to their master even more.

Final Analysis: This story is well-crafted to pull Nick apart between both of his worlds, and it's times like that when this show is at its best, but the plot hole about the window bugs me. I give it three out of four dorky court costumes.

Adam D. Jones is a writer, musician, and medievalist who feels a kinship for vampires because his sensitive eyes that make it difficult to go outside during the day.

5 comments:

  1. I play my DVDs at a higher volume or through a better sound system, so can confirm that BDSM lady definitely squeaks when she walks around in the latex outfit.

    What's with the tilted camera angles and vampires? I'm still not sure whether there is any pattern or meaning. Usually the camera is off angle for inside The Raven nightclub, but here the modern day Nick and Janette are shot normally and it's part of the flashback that is tilted.

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    Replies
    1. Good question. That's a technique knows as "Dutching," which was used extensively by German silent filmmakers and later ever more extensively on the Batman TV show. It's not clear why it's so pervasive on this show. Were they trying to evoke the old scary movies of the silent era? Or just being experimental? Hard to say.

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  2. Hugh, fyi, the blog Powers That Be decided your enjoyable comment was spam and I didn't even see it. I have since rescued it and will be on the lookout in case it happens again.

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  3. And now that I've thought about it, it was probably a couple of words in the comment that got it slammed. :)

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  4. Thank you Billie! Yes, I can guess which word or rather acronym caused that classification. I will be more careful in future.

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