"I sincerely hope you're right."
Forever Knight is back! Season three opens with explosions, sex, and some fun new faces. The show is vastly different from here on out, but... sadly... there are some major pieces missing.
Let's get this out of the way. Cohen, Don Schanke, and Janette have left the show and left an awful hole.
Why are they gone? There's lots of rumors and speculation, but this was before everything that happened was put on the internet, so we really don't know the reason. I'd love to tell you the new cast members make up for it, but they are sadly underutilized throughout the season. Combined with some bonkers decisions from the producers, and some very cheap writing, season three can be a downer. But it does have some wonderful moments.
Watching "Black Buddha" is like drinking from three fire hoses at once. It's fun to meet Tracy, the young cop trying to prove herself and emerge from the shadow of her father, the police commissioner. And things really take off when she meets Vachon, the driftless, guitar-playing vampire enjoying life as a vampire rather than moping around (like our protagonist).
But Vachon drags with him a strange man called "The Incan," a vampire who is chasing Vachon. His attack on Tracy is pretty strange since we later learn he's on a mission of peace.
And we're back to Nick blaming himself for everything. I'm pretty sure he reads the newspaper and says, "The housing market is unstable. I bet that's my fault because I bit that realtor in the 30s."
Our new police captain, Joe Reese, is excellent. If you've ever seen him in anything, you know that Blu Mankuma is a fantastic actor who always adds gravity to a scene. Never a bad performance out of that guy.
Flashbacks:
Nick was on the Titanic.
Little Bites:
-Myra, Schanke's wife, is often talked about in previous episodes, but never seen. This time, we catch a quick glimpse of her as Nick visits.
-Nick's time on the Titanic is the beginning of a trend. From here on out, he's a historical interloper, showing up at history's biggest moments, no matter how improbable.
-La Croix took over the club and decided to add strippers. That's a perfect metaphor for the show, which was taken over by the USA network, who managed to add strippers to as many shows and time slots as possible in those days.
-Is the Buddha toy really cursed? I'm not sure, and the show isn't going to tell us.
Final Analysis: It's fun to have new energy on the show, but this is unfocused and kind of a mess. Two out of five pixie cuts.
Adam D. Jones is a writer, historian, and undefeated cat wrestler. He is also something of a historical interloper himself, having actually been alive when Taco Bell sold items for 59 cents.
I would rate this episode a bit higher: 3 stars instead of 2. It must be tough to write a season intro when half the main cast have left, but this does a good job of introducing Tracy and Reese. Tracy is going to fit right in: goes off by herself on two different occasions :-) Reese is different to Cohen but still a good captain in a crunch.
ReplyDeleteVachon is an interesting character, and it's a really good setup to have Tracy know about vampires but not that Nick is.
I thought the Buddha thing was reasonably well explained, although I couldn't work out what happened to Claire Gibson. Did Nick bring her over or not? Nick himself gets a much needed talking to from Nat and does decide that the Buddha is just a statue.
The Inca, though is just confusing. Would have been a much better story without him.
The Inca's story is a headscratcher from start to finish, and the Buddha/Titanic storyline just...ends. Lots of ideas, but they're not coming together.
ReplyDeleteThose bastards at USA meant to take Natalie out of the equation too :( Like wtf how could they say she wasn't attractive enough anymore? She's right up there along with Jeannette as "too pretty for Nick." Well whatever, I'm glad they had to keep her. She looked good to me in this episode too, I still find her completely distracting. And the self-guilt trip this time at least gave me some catharsis in seeing her shut him down. Please take it to heart, Nick.
ReplyDeleteVachon seems OK, but he reminds me of some of the bands I used to listen to in teenhood where there's always this one guy, on guitar usually, who's standing apart from the rest of the band and rocking out on his own section of the stage. He doesn't really fit into the world as seamlessly as Reese and Tracy did IMO. Maybe he'll fit better in time... I'd like for him and Nick to meet soon.