Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
12.30 Forever Knight
Forever Knight. Episode 13. "Father Figure" Little girl sees a mob hit.
An episode about partenthood. Lots to like here:
1. The Police Work. It's a very basic story. Cute little girl sees a murder and Nick gives her police protection (at his place) until her father arrives in town to collect her. That's all there is to it. Except, of course, the bad guys track the girl/witness and try to, you know, rub her out. Leading to an action finale where Nick does his Vampire SuperHero shtick.
2. Schanke is well-written in this one. He has funny scenes, yes, but he's less of a buffoon and more of a real cop. He is nothing short of superb in the two scenes where he deals with members of the general public and the scene where he gives parenting advice is one of the best-ever Schanke scenes.
3. Nigel Bennett (sadly under-used in the first season) is simply superb in this episode. He brings wonderful menace to his scenes. Sometimes the LaCroix/Nick relationship is paternal, sometimes fraternal and sometimes - as here - it is homoerotic. Wonderful.
4. The Nick-Natalie bond is fantastic in this episode. Their chemistry is strong, Nat's tendency to care for Nick is on display, as is his reliance on her. They make such a great couple, too. Sigh.
5. Janette gets very little to do in the episode, but what she does get to do is interesting. In the flashbacks she is the one who makes the trio 'adopt' young Daniel. It is her need to nurture/mother the child that gives the story a start. Of course, LaCroix casts doubt on the validity of her feelings, but I have doubts about that being true. It is more likely that the easily-led Janette allowed LaCroix to 'have' Daniel at the end of the story, rather than it being a major part of her plan from the beginning.
Despite all the stuff that is wonderful, there are some weak elements.
1. Chantellese Kent is an acceptable child actress. Sometimes she is even cute. The script, however, renders the character unlikable. Too saccharine for my tastes. The stuff with the comic books, and her father (who works away from home) was hard to stomach.
2. Nick is blinded in the closing minutes of the episode. Why? To add more tension, I suspect. Except that it doesn't. He just hulks-out (into full vampire mode) and it gets fixed. Other than serving to scare the poor child, I'm not sure what any of that was about.
3. Schanke is missing from the first scene and there's another guy in his place, saying his lines. I kid you not!
Minor complaints aside, this is still a Grade: A episode in my book.
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