I love good guys

"Dead Air" is often remembered more for its guest stars than its content. But the episode showcases certain elements of investigative technology of the day. It has first-season's wry humor. And it is rich in thematic reflections on attachment and betrayal, fidelity and independence, guilt and forgiveness, and the ability to start over.

Recap: This is the episode in which an escapee from a psychiatric hospital twice, while on the air with a radio call-in show, murders women because of unresolved issues with his mother. In flashbacks, Lacroix tortures and murders a man, with dialogue implying unresolved issues with his father. Schanke discovers the perpetrator in the hospital's files; Nick saves the radio host. In the end, the radio host leaves what she sees as degrading entertainment and returns to clinical practice.

( some thoughts on DA )

What do you think?

Next: S1E11 "Hunters" (one of the few episodes with no standard abbreviation on ForKni-L)

"Cherry Blossoms" is another of early FK's many excellent episodes, and one of overall FK's very few episodes with genuine "ripped from the headlines" elements. It achieves an outstanding balance and mix of police and vampire storytelling components. It keeps a commanding rein on a number of dynamic themes. And it hands out character insights and banter with deceptive ease.

Recap: This is the episode in which one witness escapes a murder attempt by Hong Kong mobsters. Badly wounded, the witness finds refuge in a warehouse under the eye of an elderly acupuncturist. Nick finds the witness and her protector while Schanke escorts a Chinese-speaking immigration agent. Fearing a mole, Nick secretly brings Natalie to help treat the witness. The elderly acupuncturist misremembers Nick as his mother's murderer, and plans to execute Nick once the witness is safe. Janette helps the acupuncturist recover his true memory of Lacroix as the killer; he lets Nick go. In the end, Natalie happens to enter Nick's loft just as Nick and Janette are in each other's arms.

( some thoughts on CB )

What do you think?

Next week: S1E09: "I Will Repay" (IWR)

I'm afraid that I'm not up to par for this rewatch reflection. I've got a vicious cold (maybe an ear infection). Might you help fill in my gaps?

"Dying to Know You" is a strong, rich episode. Some elements look back at whence the series has already come; at least one arguably foreshadows far ahead.

Recap: "Dying to Know You" (DTKY) (S1E06) is the episode in which the wife and daughter of Conrad Hedges, a wealthy philanthropist, are kidnapped, and the wife murdered, crimes later revealed to have been at Hedges's instigation to protect his secret. A psychic named Denise Ford, who has previously worked with Stonetree, assists Nick and Schanke's investigation after a vision about the kidnapping. Denise finds herself psychically aware of Nick's vampirism. She suspects her sanity. Wondering whether he should tell Denise his secret, Nick remembers Matthew, who committed suicide when Nick didn't confide in him (c.1649-1659). Nick tells Denise. As the bad guys are brought to bay, Hedges kills Denise; Nick blames himself.

( some thoughts on DtKY )

What do you think?

Next week: "False Witness" (FW) (S1E07)

"Last Act" (S1E04) (LA) is one of FK's best episodes. Excellent writing, directing, acting. Outstanding themes, parallels, genre-entwining. Movement between the daytime human world and the nighttime vampire world. (Some bloopers with scene-to-scene costuming continuity!) On all its levels, "Last Act" is about motivations, and its tenacious grappling with why epitomizes much of what I so love in FK's first season.

As Natalie says of Erica's final play, "I know it was all about death, but I found it very life-affirming." To me, that line speaks meta not only about this episode, not only about first season, but, archetypally, is the foundation and justification of all that FK should be.

Recap: "Last Act" is the episode in which Nick's old friend and lover Erica ("How old?"/"Oh, two, three-hundred years."), a playwright, commits suicide in the sun, and Nick remembers her (and is, perhaps literally, perhaps metaphorically, haunted by her) as he investigates the suicide of a young doctor, Marilyn Siegal, slowly revealed to have been a murder. The procedural story structure offers three suspects: Doctor Cole, coworker; Dean Simmons, patient; Carl Janns, fiance. In the end, Nick and Schanke expose and capture Janns. And it is all — from Erica through Marilyn and the suspects to Nick — about motivations. Who values life, and how?

( Some thoughts on LA )

What do you think?

Next week: S1E05 "Dance by the Light of the Moon" (DBLM)

I rewatched both the Region 2 and Region 1 versions of "Dark Knight, the Second Chapter" (S102).

While the Region 2 DVDs stitch the two halves of "Dark Knight" (S101 & S102) together seamlessly, where the Region 1 DVDs separate them as aired, there is otherwise essentially no difference between the two regions for DK2 (S102)! Where the Region 1 DVDs present a version of DK1 (S101) that's distressingly full of holes, lacking many scenes that originally did air in Canada, those same DVDs present an uncut version of DK2 (S102). Even scenes that didn't always air in North America (like the "I shall repay you" flashback, and Fenner cutting the brake line with Nick hearing his keys) are right where they should be on the Region 1 DVD.

I don't know why the two regions treat the two halves of the one premiere so differently. You know FK. :-)

( some thoughts on DK2 )

What do you think? :-)

Next week: "For I Have Sinned" (S103)