Blood Ties

[norwich36]

Can't sleep--demons will eat me. In this case, demons of the common cold virus. So I watched "Blood Ties" hoping that after staying up really late to watch the whole thing I'd finally fall asleep.


I'm impressed to have found a show that outdoes even Smallville in the cheesiness factor! The series is of course based on the Blood Price/Blood Ties/etc. novels by Tanya Huff. I loved those books to death, though not so much for the horror plotlines (see P.I. Victory Nelson solve a series of supernatural murders assisted by vampire Henry Fitzroy and her ex-partner on the police force, Michael Celluci) as for the sexay that was Henry Fitzroy and the various love triangles in the series.



It's been a while since I read the book on which the premiere was based, so I can't say for sure, but it seemed like they built up the cheestastic horror even more than the book did, what with Vicki and Henry now sharing an implacable demon enemy. But I won't be watching for the plots, so I don't particularly care.

I was pleased with most of the casting decisions on the show. Christina Cox is a bit younger than the Victory in my head (and why did she become Victoria rather than Victory? Or was that just Mike's nickname for her? I can't remember), but otherwise perfect. Kyle Schmid doesn't look at *all* like the Henry in my head, but he's a hotass, so I don't really care. cinderella81 has a picture of him in her journal--it's too late for me to hunt down pictures of him, but I like the fact that he looks like a cross between Geraint Wyn Davies (the original vampire detective in Toronto, aka Nick Knight) and Ewan MacGregor. And again, Celluci didn't look anything like my mental image, but I still like the actor. I'm bummed that Tony has been replaced with Coreen Fennel, but I understand that was contractural, because they bought the rights to the "Blood" books but not the "Smoke" books. It sucks, since Tony's relationship with Henry was definitely one of my favorite parts of the series.

So, cheesy cheesy plot, but as long as they heat up the love triangle thing I won't care. It will be weird, though, if Coreen takes Tony's place not just as Vicki's assistant but as Henry's lover. I don't know if I'll like that or not.

Comments

[drkcherry.livejournal.com]

Oy, finally got to watch the ep.

I love Christina as Vicki, and whoever that guy is as Henry, although none of the characters look like what I had in my head.

I didn't like the books, so I was pleasantly surprised to like Vicki (whom I actually loathed in the books).

I also thought that Vicki's assistant was male and became Henry's lover. However someone told me that Tony, Henry's lover, was Vicki's street informant. I wonder if they are going to have Henry be bi, or make him straight?

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I don't remember VIcki having an assistant, though that doesn't mean she didn't have one--it's been ages since I read the books, and I don't think I actually bought the early ones, just read them in the public library. Tony originally is a street kid, in the first novel (I think it was even implied he was a hustler?), though later he starts taking on more respectable jobs when he hooks up with Henry.

It is rather convenient that by eliminating Tony (which they have to do for contractural reasons) they make it unnecessary to include Henry's bisexuality--who knows what they're going to do with it. I'm actually more curious to see if the eps not based on Huff's actual stories are better or worse than the original.