“Blood Price Part 1”(Ep 101)
Ex cop turned PI Vicky Nelson witnesses a murder that leads her into the world of the supernatural.
Original Air Date: Sunday, March 11, 2007
Ex cop turned PI Vicky Nelson witnesses a murder that leads her into the world of the supernatural.
Original Air Date: Sunday, March 11, 2007
“There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of ... in the police officer's training manual.”
It’s night in Toronto and we start off with Vicki Nelson, a woman in her late 20s/early 30s talking on the phone with her mother. The subject, that evening’s date, is a sore one with Vicki. We cut to a dark room with a guy, who looks like he belongs at a computer or in a physics lab (in a stereotypical way), chanting and apparently performing some kind of magic. First thought is that he’s one of those D&D junky types, until we cut back to the street with a young man of college age talking to someone on the phone before being mauled by a guy that ‘looks like the freaking Prince of Darkness’, an attack witnessed by Vicki and leaving the audience wondering if there’s a connection between the Nerd and Mr Dark.
Once police are on the scene, we see Vicki talking the talk with a young officer. We also see her not too thrilled at the arrival of one Detective Mike Celluci. In a matter of a few lines we know that Vicki is a private investigator, was once a cop and Mike’s partner, and there’s something more to their history if the passion of their argument is any clue. Later we will add to this that Vicki left the job due to degrading eye sight, which explains why she conveniently had a flashlight when she ran down the alley to the attack site.
Although shut out by Mike regarding this attack and ‘the other one’, Vicki is drawn into things when the victim’s girlfriend Coreen hires her to prove that her boyfriend--Ian-- was killed, as the tabloids proclaim, by a vampire. Vicki scoffs at the notion but agrees to ask a few questions, try some of her old contacts and so forth.
Cut to a downtown high rise and a very handsome young man in his early 20s (if you can trust your eyes) in the company of a feisty young blonde. It is quickly clear from the bite marks on her neck, his old soul demeanor and his skills in persuasion that he’s not what he seems. Any doubt that he is a vampire is erased by his overly passionate, ‘he doth protest too much’ response to the doorman’s comments about the recent news. He is spotted by Vicki while checking out the alley and an odd symbol on the wall which invokes some kind of memory for the mystery man but he slips away without a word.
At the local pub, Coreen has, it seems, attracted the eye of the Nerd. He chews out part of his nerd herd, telling them that he’s going to make some changes. Get money, new clothes, a new car and a girlfriend -- seems he’s got her picked out already (eww). It begs the question, did he send Mr Dark to pick off the competition. Survey says probably.
That evening Mike calls Vicki to berate her about asking questions only to end up with Vicki proposing a truce and sharing information over dinner. Things turn a tad nasty when the subject of Vicki’s condition comes up. Mike clearly holds hope that there’s a solution that would bring Vicki back to the force (personal motivations at place here? Most certainly), while Vicki doesn’t want to talk about it. Cutting off what is likely an old fight repeated too many times, Mike tosses out the idea of a drugged out, razor wielding cultist while Vicki tells him Coreen’s vampire theory, which not even Vicki believes as possible. Leaving Mike sneaks a kiss but is cut short when Vicki says she still has work to do.
The case leads Vicki to the nightclub where Ian worked. There she runs into her mystery man, who tries to use his unique power of persuasion on her but she seems immune to his ‘charm’. Questions lead Mr Mystery into a fight with two regulars, who get their asses handed to them by the Pretty Boy. Vicki gets the scoop and walks outside just seconds before Vampy leaps out of sight. Sensing dawn approaching he scampers home, his hand burning from a stray bit of light, a wound seen by the gossip loving doorman.
Nerd guy, aka Norman, having almost all the pieces to his formula goes after the girlfriend, only to be dissed by a pretty blonde, who just set herself up as his next target. Serendipity and some map plotting lead both Vicki and the vamp hottie to the site of the 4th murder the next night. Hottie interrupts the attack only to have Vicki think he was the attacker when she comes upon him kneeling over the girl. She starts to take a swing at him with the asp baton she carries for self defense but Hottie accidentally knocks her out defending himself. With police cars pulling up, Hottie carries Vicki off into the night as we fade to black on the episode.
The story reads like a supermarket romance with a supernatural twist, as it should since it was based on a book originally published under that genre (later reclassified to take advantage of a growing interest in vampire fantasy). It’s not very deep or complex and is even a little cheesy at times. This is not a show that will win any awards. But who says that it has to. Why can’t a show just be fun. Why can’t it be entertaining with characters that are, more or less, believable and unique. Why can’t it play up the notion of the vampire as hot and sexy, without resorting to trampy porno over the topness. Lifetime is known for selecting tales with strong woman that don’t need a man to always rescue them and Vicki Nelson is certainly of that type. Or at least she tries to be, not a shock for a woman that for a time worked in a job that was typically viewed as a man’s world. It will be interesting to see how she handles her captor and his unusual nature. If noting else, there’s enough eye candy in the two male leads to make this girl tune in again. Yummy.
Once police are on the scene, we see Vicki talking the talk with a young officer. We also see her not too thrilled at the arrival of one Detective Mike Celluci. In a matter of a few lines we know that Vicki is a private investigator, was once a cop and Mike’s partner, and there’s something more to their history if the passion of their argument is any clue. Later we will add to this that Vicki left the job due to degrading eye sight, which explains why she conveniently had a flashlight when she ran down the alley to the attack site.
Although shut out by Mike regarding this attack and ‘the other one’, Vicki is drawn into things when the victim’s girlfriend Coreen hires her to prove that her boyfriend--Ian-- was killed, as the tabloids proclaim, by a vampire. Vicki scoffs at the notion but agrees to ask a few questions, try some of her old contacts and so forth.
Cut to a downtown high rise and a very handsome young man in his early 20s (if you can trust your eyes) in the company of a feisty young blonde. It is quickly clear from the bite marks on her neck, his old soul demeanor and his skills in persuasion that he’s not what he seems. Any doubt that he is a vampire is erased by his overly passionate, ‘he doth protest too much’ response to the doorman’s comments about the recent news. He is spotted by Vicki while checking out the alley and an odd symbol on the wall which invokes some kind of memory for the mystery man but he slips away without a word.
At the local pub, Coreen has, it seems, attracted the eye of the Nerd. He chews out part of his nerd herd, telling them that he’s going to make some changes. Get money, new clothes, a new car and a girlfriend -- seems he’s got her picked out already (eww). It begs the question, did he send Mr Dark to pick off the competition. Survey says probably.
That evening Mike calls Vicki to berate her about asking questions only to end up with Vicki proposing a truce and sharing information over dinner. Things turn a tad nasty when the subject of Vicki’s condition comes up. Mike clearly holds hope that there’s a solution that would bring Vicki back to the force (personal motivations at place here? Most certainly), while Vicki doesn’t want to talk about it. Cutting off what is likely an old fight repeated too many times, Mike tosses out the idea of a drugged out, razor wielding cultist while Vicki tells him Coreen’s vampire theory, which not even Vicki believes as possible. Leaving Mike sneaks a kiss but is cut short when Vicki says she still has work to do.
The case leads Vicki to the nightclub where Ian worked. There she runs into her mystery man, who tries to use his unique power of persuasion on her but she seems immune to his ‘charm’. Questions lead Mr Mystery into a fight with two regulars, who get their asses handed to them by the Pretty Boy. Vicki gets the scoop and walks outside just seconds before Vampy leaps out of sight. Sensing dawn approaching he scampers home, his hand burning from a stray bit of light, a wound seen by the gossip loving doorman.
Nerd guy, aka Norman, having almost all the pieces to his formula goes after the girlfriend, only to be dissed by a pretty blonde, who just set herself up as his next target. Serendipity and some map plotting lead both Vicki and the vamp hottie to the site of the 4th murder the next night. Hottie interrupts the attack only to have Vicki think he was the attacker when she comes upon him kneeling over the girl. She starts to take a swing at him with the asp baton she carries for self defense but Hottie accidentally knocks her out defending himself. With police cars pulling up, Hottie carries Vicki off into the night as we fade to black on the episode.
The story reads like a supermarket romance with a supernatural twist, as it should since it was based on a book originally published under that genre (later reclassified to take advantage of a growing interest in vampire fantasy). It’s not very deep or complex and is even a little cheesy at times. This is not a show that will win any awards. But who says that it has to. Why can’t a show just be fun. Why can’t it be entertaining with characters that are, more or less, believable and unique. Why can’t it play up the notion of the vampire as hot and sexy, without resorting to trampy porno over the topness. Lifetime is known for selecting tales with strong woman that don’t need a man to always rescue them and Vicki Nelson is certainly of that type. Or at least she tries to be, not a shock for a woman that for a time worked in a job that was typically viewed as a man’s world. It will be interesting to see how she handles her captor and his unusual nature. If noting else, there’s enough eye candy in the two male leads to make this girl tune in again. Yummy.
Episode
Songs
"It's Over Now" Yeah Whatever
"Dispensing Disaster" Yeah Whatever
"Bhanglesh" Othello 9
"Ain't Going So Well" Halo Buro
"Buttergroove" Fundamental
Season Sets
Soundtracks
CD, iTunes
Theme Song:
“Live Forever” Tamara Rhodes
The Books
Blood LinesBlood Pact
Blood Debt
Blood Bank
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