"Why did He send His Son to us as a carpenter?"
Vampires, religion, and sex—this week on Forever Knight!
Hitting the Crimetime after Primetime image hard, this episode kicks off with a steamy affair in a mattress shop. In the middle of the night. There's huge windows on every wall, so I feel like the people of Toronto would have been standing around with popcorn, but I guess in Canada people go to bed early.
But the mistress is killed in her car just before the credits roll.
This week we're tangling with a lunatic who kills promiscuous women from his church because he thinks they're hypocrites. The plot sounds ridiculous at first (why doesn't he kill the men?) but, honestly, it's exactly the kind of stupidity I wouldn't be surprised to see in real life.
I should mention that the murder is very involved (she's staked to the ground) and happens right outside the store window. The security guard is bad at his job, is what I'm saying.
The episode revolves around a young priest who realizes that he's hearing the confession of a serial killer. But his superior is very clear about the rules: no telling the cops what you hear in the confession booth. So junior priest tries to stop the killer on his own. (Also, I'd watch a show about The Little Priest Who Could, tracking down criminals by night, taking confessions by day.)
When Nick joins the investigation he realizes he'll have to visit a church. Crosses frighten him. The fire of the lit candles frightens him. The whole place is just not his cup of tea, but he hides in a confession booth anyway and poses as a priest. The actual priest isn't happy about this.
But instead of catching the killer, he's delighted to realize his partner, the annoying Don Schanke, has entered the booth to spill his guts. Against Nick's direct orders, Don visited The Raven, the sexy nightclub run by Nick's vampire friend, and mingled with the ladies.
And, as Nick predicted, Don nearly got himself bit in the neck by a vamp named Alma. Just as her teeth were about to sink in, the club owner, Janette, orders Alma to knock it off and tells Schanke not to come back. (Spoiler: he comes back. A lot.)
Don's in the middle of confessing his almost marital infidelity when he realizes Nick is on the other side of the screen. He's not happy. Nick just can't please anyone today.
Nick and Schanke find the killer and save the day, but only when Nick faces his fear of fire and crucifixes. His ability to (barely) hold a cross in his hand is seen as evidence that he might be a bit more human. Progress!
Flashback:
It's the fifteenth century and Nick meets a young girl named...wait for it...Joan of Arc. Seriously. I don't know how a vampire who can't go out during the day could run into someone famous, but happens two more times. He visits Joan while she's awaiting trial and they have a philosophical talk about faith and eternal life. In a third flashback they continue their conversation while she burns at the stake. She seems pretty chill about the whole thing.
Quotes:
"There was this woman in there. Her name was Alma, or Yvette. I can't remember."
"It's Alma."
"How can you be so sure your God will be waiting for you on the other side?"
"Faith. Pure, simple faith. Take this to remember me by, to remember that the faith you have lost is always there to regain."
Little Bites:
-Vampire Lore: Nick gets shot. Someone's watching so he has to pretend it hurts. Also, typical "vampires hate crosses" lore, and one little cross even burns his hand. Nick explains that crosses represent the one true light and he is a creature of the darkness. (Enneagram four, much?)
Familiar Faces: Joan of Arc is played by Christina Cox who later starred in Blood Ties, a show about vampires...in Toronto. A few episodes were directed by Allan Kroeker, who directed some of Forever Knight. If you like Forever Knight, trust me, Blood Ties should be your next stop.
-A woman from a sexy call center is major character, and her name is "Magda." Probably a reference to Mary Magdalene, who some Catholics believe was a prostitute.
-Boom mic enters the shot while the older priest is complaining about the cost of nails, which sounds sort of symbolic but I can't put my finger on it.
-Fashion Police: No offenders this time, but they put a bald cap on Joan while she's burning alive and it's about as convincing as my cat claiming she's never been fed.
-It's not clear why Nick is wandering around outdoors in the glow of sunrise without dying. Maybe they thought it would look darker, like that time just before the sun comes up, but Nick is blatantly walking in the sunlight.
Final Analysis: Strong story with genuinely funny stuff between Nick and Schanke, but I just can't handle Nick meeting Joan of Arc three times. I give it three out of four dying martyrs.
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.
I really liked the Joan stuff, even though it's ridiculous that there's no context to how they met. The ambience of them having correspondence just works for me, and was still effectively haunting. I also liked her kneeling before her departure, even if it was probably to the giant cross behind him.
ReplyDeleteCute moment with the first confessor being amused at Nick apparently snoring asleep