There seems to be no solution when a pandemic sweeps through the vampire community.
Remember Screed? As a carouche, a lower form of vampire, he's drawn to a different kind of meal. In his case, it's rats. Sadly, he found a rat that escaped a medical testing facility and became patient zero for the first vampire disease.
Vachon carries a lot of the story, which is nice since he's been gone for several episodes. Why did we get introduced to these cool new people if they weren't actually going to be on the show?
Like a few other episodes, this one doesn't give us a lot of detail about the case early on, so we just have to patiently wait for the investigation. Columbo episodes always show us the bad guy right away, and the episode's tension comes from the intense game of chess they play while Columbo does his harmless old man routine. Establishing the antagonist early is very useful in making a story compelling, but in season three they bury the lede so deep we rarely know what's going on.
I appreciate how "Fever" shows us an aspect of living with HIV. It's incredible how far the treatment has come in a few decades, but Natalie's friend was clutching at straws, hoping for any chance of survival. Your heart really goes out to him.
The vampire community is shocked by the idea that they can get sick, but this isn't just about their sudden fear of death. Being threatened by a simple disease means they are not so god-like after all. Maybe they're just another animal. La Croix has a hard time with this.
Flashbacks:
In the past, Nick and La Croix see a plague unfold. They are unfazed. Unworried. And having some fun with it. If this is how they ride out pandemics, it's easy to see how unprepared they are for a real one.
Little Bites:
-Vampire or not, the way Nick picks up that rat in the beginning — by shoving his finger into it — is really gross.
-In the flashback, I'm not sure why Nick bit that doctor in the tavern, in plain sight.
-It looks like Vachon is going to pour one out for Screed, but, ever practical, he just drinks it instead.
Final Analysis: This episode brings us a unique story about vampires, and manages to be a Very Special Episode without being annoying. Four out of five rats hung up to dry.
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.
Yeah this one was really good. It annoyed me so much though that LaCroix got to enjoy his "righteous" retribution of killing that guy at the end. Screw him, he deserved a taste of our fear of death. He had many great lines this episode though so I'm gonna divorce those from him.
ReplyDeleteI also like those microscopic shots of the infection transferring whenever someone dooms themself with a feed. Very cool. Screed though... :(
You're right about the microscopic shots. For a 90s show, that was a very creative decision that tells the story well.
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