Forever Knight: Stranger Than Fiction

"Nick, was it every really like this? Being a vampire?"
"Well, we're not that big on melodrama."

A high-profile author is writing books that scare the vampire community, and the only safe place for her is...you guessed it...Nick's apartment!

Emily Weiss is just a quiet, tea-sipping writer who likes to tell romantic vampire stories. Sounds like a charmed life. But somehow she's tapped into the world of vampires a little too accurately.

At least, that's what we're told. The flashes we see of the book are just standard vampire tropes. Then again, way, way back in 1994 we were still adjusting to the idea of sympathetic vampires. They had previously been portrayed exclusively as soulless monsters.

Emily is, of course, representing Anne Rice, whose books inspired Forever Knight and pretty much everything we think about vampires today. If vampires really are similar to the ones in Forever Knight, they would probably have a problem with Rice.

This is one of the finest episodes. It's hilarious to see everyone opening their secret copy of Emily's book and getting lost in vampire romance. Captain Cohen is the most surprising. No one is immune to the draw of a good story.

But the best part, as usual, is the...

Flashbacks:

There are no actual flashbacks this week. Instead, the cast fantasizes about being characters in the book.

Natalie can't help herself. In her mind's eye, she's the lovely and forlorn southern belle lusting after Nick...I mean Christian, the tortured vampire with a soul. Those books were practically written for Natalie.

But Schanke wins the prize with what might be the funniest scene I can remember on television. Your eyebrows will jump off your forehead when he slides into the scene as the vampire lord, doing a hysterically perfect impression of La Croix. John Kapelos is a masterful actor with perfect comedy timing, and he makes this tiny scene unforgettable.

Little Bites:

-Stephen King once said that the best stories are often about friendship being tested, and the scenes with Janette are a great example of this. She wants to drink Emily dry, and is wavering back and forth between murdering the author and doing what her friend asked. I'm not sure if Janette was the best choice for this job, but it's entertaining to see Janette lust after Emily's neck.

-This is one of the few episodes that gives you a really good look at the gigantic window in the middle of Nick's ceiling. The directors normally shy away from that spot, because it's very unclear how Nick can avoid the sun while he's at home if there's a giant skylight.

-I feel like there's something off about Emily's crush on Nick. He totally turns her down in his loft, and the next day she's giddily admitting that he's her personal vampire fantasy. Feels like something was written or edited out of order.

-Does anyone really memorize page numbers and lines from their favorite books? I've never seen anyone do that.

-Apparently it's a big deal that Nick had a crush on Emily, but he has crushes all the time (basically on everyone but Natalie) so I don't see how it's special this time.

-(Spoiler alert, but it's been thirty years, so whatever) Andrew's delusion is, sadly, not that unusual. I've met people who believed they were mythical beings. Sometimes it's just depressing and smacks of loneliness and isolation, but sometimes it's dangerous. Spend a lot of time with vampire enthusiasts and you'll eventually meet someone like Andrew.

-(Ancient spoiler number 2) Nick is really lucky he could get his hypnosis to work. Not only because so many people are immune, but because he's really bad at it.

Final Analysis: This episode is perfect. Five out of five panther heads.

Adam D. Jones is a reviewer, historian, and undefeated cat wrestler. He's also something of an introverted vampire author himself ever since he published this anthology, which opens with his own exciting and hilarious vampire story.

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