"Blood Ties" the vampire Dective show that's not "Angel"

[fembuck]

So, I just saw the new Lifetime vampire detective series Blood Ties and it totally made me miss Blade the Series like whoa!

Seriously, this show is kinda like everything I was afraid Blade would be before it aired, and why I was surprised when Blade turned out to be so kick-ass.

Now, Blood Ties isn't completely horrible, I quite liked (lusted after) Kyle Schmid as the vampire Henry Fitzroy, Christina Cox was good as the Vicki the private eye that investigates a strange case which draws her into the world of the supernatural, the show is set in Toronto which = love, and the vampire effects were pretty cool.

However, the dialogue was pretty horribly cheesy most of the time, one of the male leads, Celluci (Dylan Neal), was the most obnoxious characters I've seen on screen since Marcus Van Sciver and I kind of just want to punch him in the face, and the VoTW in this episode was just an overly campy tool who annoyed me. Also, the romantic triangle is already too big of a focus and boring as hell, and the attraction/relationship between Vicki and Henry progressed way too quickly. Like seriously, does she have no concerns about him? He kidnaps her, tells her he's a vampire, makes references to hunting people at night but she's like his BFF the moment she finds out he draws graphic novels and is letting him feed off of her in the pilot! [Gob Bluth]Come on![/Gob]

I'll probably watch another episode at least, but mostly it made me miss Blade the Series because:


1. Vicki Nelson = Poor Man's Krista Starr

Krista = Former Soldier
Vikci = Former Detective

Krista = wearing assrageous jeans, tight sweater things, lovely curly following hair (that's sometimes tied in a ponytail) and a gun
Vicki = wearing assrageous jeans, tight sweater things, nice hair (that's sometimes tied in a ponytail) and a baton

Krista = Drawn into the world of vampires while investigating the death of her brother
Vicki = Drawn into the world of vampires while investigating the death of some random guy

Krista = No annoying ex-boyfriend that she fights with all the time, while he condescends to her, which the audience is supposed to find cute and romantic.
Vicki = unfortunately has an annoying ex-boyfriend whom she fights with all the time, while he condescends to her, which the audience is supposed to find cute and romantic.

Krista = Two sexy vampires, one male and one female, totally always trying to get into her pants
Vicki = Only one sexy vampire, male, trying to get into her pants.

Krista = nude, or in a bra and panty set almost every episode
Vicki = only a bra

Krista = Kind of gay
Vicki = No hint of gay

2. The Annoying Male Lead is even MORE annoying on "Blood Ties"

Det. Mike Celluci is a tool tool. I wanted to smack him in the face every time he was one screen. And yes, Marcus Van Sciver was a total tool as well, but he was a better dressed, better looking one, and he was the bad-ish guy so he was kind of supposed to be a tool. Also, he occasionally displayed awesome bad-assness whenever he vamped out and kicked people's asses which was kind of neat. Det. Celluci while never ever do something as cool as Marcus' fight with Damic, I'm certain of that.

The shows tie on both males annoying me by flirting with the badass, assrageous jean wearing former soldier/detective characters.

3. Henry is Cool, but Chase is More Better Than Him

On both shows Krista/Vicki has chemistry with a bad boy/bad girl character, whom they flirt and share blood with in the pilot. Vicki has Henry, and Krista had Chase. Both of whom the lead actresses have more chemistry with than their 'love interests' (though I suspect Henry/Vicki fans, will get more on screen action between the two than us Krista/Chase fans did).

However, even though both Henry and Chase are awesome and sexy, Chase is still better.

Henry is kind of a neutered vampire whose ambiguously evil (maybe he killed that guy in the alley, maybe he didn't, the writers didn't tell us, becuase they want their cake adn to eat it too. Henry mentions hunting at night, maybe he kills people, maybe he doesn't, we don't know because the writers didn't address because they want their cake and to eat it to.)

Chase is deliciously fucking evil and does not apologize for it. Chase owns her vampirism, whereas Henry had some emo story about being turned because of his emo love for a girl that left him. Boring. We never found out much about Chase's past, but the hints we got indictated a troubled life and vampirism as a gift for her instead of a curse, which is something different than the old 'woe, is me, I know I asked to be a vampire but now I'm sad and curse the heavens' story.

4. Depth

Blade was a surprising complex and smart show, that took conventions and turned them on their head. The characters were pretty three-dimensional, and were not always good or right, but made mistakes and fucked up, and were selfish, but could also be caring, and considerate etc. And this could be seen in the pilot.

So far on Blood Ties, the characters are not so complex (Vicki's conflict = Bad vision, Krista conflict = dead twin brother and being turned into a vampire ... um, Krista wins). This may change though, cause the Blade pilot actually was one of the worst episodes of the show, so the same could be true for Blood Ties. But even the Blade pilot wasn't this full of cheesy dialogue and bad acting.

5. No comic relief

There was no Shen like character on "Blood Ties" to inject levity and fun one-liners.

I think maybe Vicki's new assistant chick might service that purpose in the future, but she was pretty dour in the pilot (though that was probably mostly due to her boyfriend dying a horrible death when she was on the phone with him)

Still, I bet she won't be able to build UV bombs or trick out Vicki's ride.

So Shen wins.


Conclusion: I'll check out another episode, but mostly I miss Blade :(

Comments

[gargyloveswolfy.livejournal.com]

LMAO!! Vicky shoud have all kinds of hints of Gay........her alter-ego: Christina Cox is like so gay........and you so can see it in her starring role in Better than Chocolate and (unforunately, did not get passed the pilot, much-less on the air) Nikki&Nora!! ♥

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

Vicky shoud have all kinds of hints of Gay........her alter-ego: Christina Cox is like so gay

I know! I was amazed that a show could somehow manage to de-gay Christina Cox. Like she's managed to bring hoyay to everything I've seen her in, even like guest staring on other shows. Bad "Blood Ties", bad!

Sigh, hopefully Christina will be able to work her magic and bring the les!yay in future episodes. Maybe with her new assistant.

[gargyloveswolfy.livejournal.com]

I so have to start reading the books now.......and if Lifetime holds true about how many episodes before a long hiatus........and every bloody holiday weekend..........I'll be able to read them all before S2 officially begins!! J/K ♥

[lostingeekdom.livejournal.com]

Dude .. you're forgetting the classic Krista Orgasm faces in the shower we got in practically every episode. Those were classic. And you're also forgetting Charlotte: evil little old kickass vampire. Seriously ... the hotness of the show was unbelievable.

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

OMG! I can't believe I forgot to mention the Orgasm face. Just one more area where Krista kicks Vicki's ass. Vicki tried to give an "O" face when Henry was feeding off of her, but it was no where near as hot as Krista's "O" face.

And yes, this show has yet to feature a character that's close to being as evillily delicious as Charlotte, or any hench people that are as hot as Sabine and Glynis.

Man, Blade was a good show. *sobs*

[jetgirl78.livejournal.com]

Butting in here, but..

Dude .. you're forgetting the classic Krista Orgasm faces in the shower we got in practically every episode.

There is not enough agreement in this world to this statement :)

That is all.

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

Oh Jill Wagner, you truly are a goddess among women.

Best Orgasm face ever!

[lostingeekdom.livejournal.com]

I can't think of anyone else, on screen or TV, who had better Orgasm faces than her. She could turn anything into an orgasm face, and not make it look too porny. The gratuitous shower scenes didn't hurt either.

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

She could turn anything into an orgasm face

BWAH! It's so true. Oh, Krista how I love thee.

The gratuitous shower scenes didn't hurt either.

lol, certainly not. Hell most of the 'O' faces she produced were alone in the shower, which is just awesome.

Jill Wagner and Ali Larter bringing autophilia to the mainstream since 2006. You go girls!

[kennedyismyhero.livejournal.com]

I don't know, I get the feeling that even though they're setting it up to be a 'triangle', Det. Mike is supposed to be annoyingly masogonistic to push Vicki into Henry's arms. Whatev, I'll take half-ass vampire show (with hope to get better) over no vampire shows.

And yes, Marcus Van Sciver was a total tool as well...

But the difference between Marcus and Det. Mike, besides being a vamp and all those other reasons you listed, the accent. Anybody can be less of a tool if they can pull off an accent.

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

I get the feeling that even though they're setting it up to be a 'triangle', Det. Mike is supposed to be annoyingly masogonistic to push Vicki into Henry's arms.

I hope so, because I found him horribly douche-tastic this episode. Sticking up for her with the Lt. or whatever was nice, but dude is all you're going to do is insult her to her face, and use her condition to belittle her and her abilites you can just fuck off and die. He certainly did make me appreciate Henry though, so while I don't really ship anyone I kept hoping for Vicki/Henry scenes if it meant I didn't have to see Celluci's bastard smirk.

Anybody can be less of a tool if they can pull off an accent.

So true, a nice British accent makes everything so much better. At least Marcus was pleasing to the ear.

[kennedyismyhero.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you know but supposedly in the books, Vicki's supposed to have some female ex. I guess they conviently left that fact out to have the show slide by TPTB, and it may be added at a later point. So hopefully a possible injection of another powerful female (besides the creeper college student) might give us all a nice kick of hoyay!

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

I'd heard that in the books Henry was bisexual, and that [spoiler warning]Vicki gets injured and turned into a vampire by Henry to save her life and becomes bisexual after that, as all vampires are since feeding is sexual[spoiler] and I figure that where the ex-gf thing comes in.

So hopefully they will follow the books storyline through and we'll see of les!yay. Although the de-gaying of Henry makes me wonder if it will ever be anything more than like a sideways look at another girl or something.

I mean, in hiring Christina Cox they should have realized that they had a moral obligation to include GoGA.

[gargyloveswolfy.livejournal.com]

Oh, Dear God...........please let that possible spoiler warning be true.........because Christina Cox can kick the lesbian stuff out of the park..........and she'll go full skill nudity and practically pornagraphic with the sex scenes!! ♥

[kennedyismyhero.livejournal.com]

Wow. Clearly you know far more than me and whatever I might have gleamed from AfterEllen.com...I might actually have to go buy/read these books now after hearing your spoilers.

And since the chick who wrote the books is gay/bi(can't remember which) and she directly envisioned Christina Cox in the Vicki role, maybe we can expect maybe a little something thrown our way eventually. At the very least, it's CANADIA...where y'all are cool with gays, at least to the point they can get hitched.

I really kinda hope Henry turns out like a vampire Captain Jack (Torchwood)...his milkshake brings everyone to the yard. Let me know if you don't know Torchwood.

Also, GoGa??

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

Wow. Clearly you know far more than me and whatever I might have gleamed from AfterEllen.com...I might actually have to go buy/read these books now after hearing your spoilers.

lol, not much more. I haven't read the books either, that spoiler I posted was from the TWoP board from people who have read the series. I don't think they've read the series over at afterellen either, because people on TWoP were like "Vicki's bi? Since when? Did I miss it?" so, apparently it's only after Henry takes that action that she starts with the lady love.

And since the chick who wrote the books is gay/bi(can't remember which) and she directly envisioned Christina Cox in the Vicki role, maybe we can expect maybe a little something thrown our way eventually. At the very least, it's CANADIA...where y'all are cool with gays, at least to the point they can get hitched.

Huff is a lesbian, but I don't think that she has much creative influence over the show. I didn't know that she wanted Cox for the role though, at least she managed to throw the gay girls something by getting Cox cast.

And yeah, we Canadians love to talk about how liberal we are, so I think that lifetime should step up and prove it. The show is set in Toronto too, get Vicki down to Church and Wellesley and let's have a gay 'ol time. Do it, Lifetime, I dare you!

See, vampire shows should totally be like Torchwood at it's fluid sexuality. Henry is a sexy bastard and I would totally love him to be like Capt. Jack. Which apparently was Huff's vision of him, but I don't think Lifetime is gonna be as cool as the BBC and Russel T. Davies.

I would love to see a Gwen/Carys like kiss between Vicki and anyone though, not to mention the Tosh goes gay episode.

I'll give Lifetime the benefit of the doubt for now ... gotta keep hope alive and all that :D

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<i<also,>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

<i>Wow. Clearly you know far more than me and whatever I might have gleamed from AfterEllen.com...I might actually have to go buy/read these books now after hearing your spoilers.</i>

lol, not much more. I haven't read the books either, that spoiler I posted was from the TWoP board from people who have read the series. I don't think they've read the series over at afterellen either, because people on TWoP were like "Vicki's bi? Since when? Did I miss it?" so, apparently it's only after Henry takes that action that she starts with the lady love.

<i>And since the chick who wrote the books is gay/bi(can't remember which) and she directly envisioned Christina Cox in the Vicki role, maybe we can expect maybe a little something thrown our way eventually. At the very least, it's CANADIA...where y'all are cool with gays, at least to the point they can get hitched.</i>

Huff is a lesbian, but I don't think that she has much creative influence over the show. I didn't know that she wanted Cox for the role though, at least she managed to throw the gay girls something by getting Cox cast.

And yeah, we Canadians love to talk about how liberal we are, so I think that lifetime should step up and prove it. The show is set in Toronto too, get Vicki down to Church and Wellesley and let's have a gay 'ol time. Do it, Lifetime, I dare you!

See, vampire shows should totally be like Torchwood at it's fluid sexuality. Henry is a sexy bastard and I would totally love him to be like Capt. Jack. Which apparently was Huff's vision of him, but I don't think Lifetime is gonna be as cool as the BBC and Russel T. Davies.

I would love to see a Gwen/Carys like kiss between Vicki and anyone though, not to mention the Tosh goes gay episode.

I'll give Lifetime the benefit of the doubt for now ... gotta keep hope alive and all that :D

<i<Also, GoGa??</i>

Girl on Girl Action

[kennedyismyhero.livejournal.com]

Wow, little LJ hiccup there?! Jeez.

I thought I read that it's not neccessarily a Lifetime series, Lifetime just bought the right so they can show it down here in stodgey ol' USA. Something like they've only bought 13 episodes outta the 22 shot, and Canadians will get to see all 22 in the fall even if it gets canned down here.

Thanks for the GoGa definition. You're the sixth or so person I've seen using it and I couldn't figure out what it meant.

[gargyloveswolfy.livejournal.com]

Well, someone better provide the entire 22 run of S1 and beyond for us ole' stodgey's here in the US!! ♥

[gargyloveswolfy.livejournal.com]

Teheee........me, too

He certainly did make me appreciate Henry though, so while I don't really ship anyone I kept hoping for Vicki/Henry scenes if it meant I didn't have to see Celluci's bastard smirk.

[purdysmile.livejournal.com]

Wow. Now I am pissed I didn't watch Blade the Series. I thought it would be exactly what I just sat through with Blood Ties. I found these people boring. And vampires should never be boring. I'll give it another shot or two in the hopes the writers just need some ramp up time.

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

Now I am pissed I didn't watch Blade the Series. I thought it would be exactly what I just sat through with Blood Ties.

Oh, Blade the Series was SO much better than Blood Ties. The pilot episode was the weakest of Blade and it was still eons better than this.

found these people boring. And vampires should never be boring.

I totally agree. I liked Henry and Vicki in this, but I didn't love them, you know. They were just there and didn't actively bug me. The vampires in Blade were fascinating and complex though. By the end of the first episode, I was totally in love with Chase, and Krista, and Shen.

I'm gonna give Blood Ties another chance too, cause I want a fix for my vampire love. The heavy focus on the 'love triangle' for the next episode is already bugging me though. Let's hope its mostly about zombies and kicking ass, and that maybe someone develops a sense of humor.

[murasaki1200.livejournal.com]

The main problem with 'Blade: The Series' was that is should really have been 'House of Chton' and focused on the vamps. Well that and constantly teasing us with the ass kicking girls, only to bring it back to Blade vs Marcus.
So yay for fanfic.

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

The main problem with 'Blade: The Series' was that is should really have been 'House of Chton' and focused on the vamps.

lol. I totally felt that way at the beginning of the series, when Blade was easily the most boring aspect of the show. I felt that later on the series did a better job making Blade interesting and actually giving him a plot on his own show, but it really was all about the House of Chthon and that would have been a problem for the show in the long run because the 'bad-guys' really were more interesting than the hero. Even once Blade got a personality, Chase, and Charlotte and Krista were still my favs.

Well that and constantly teasing us with the ass kicking girls, only to bring it back to Blade vs Marcus.

I know! But at least they teased us, and gave us lots of subtext which this show doesn't seem like it's going to do. Still, the Krista/Chase fight was so much better and more badass than Marcus/Blade.

Yay for fanfic indeed. Where fans can make everything as it should have been, lol

[(Anonymous)]

dude...it's fuckin' lifetime television for womens and the ovary obsessed...you gotta set that bar loooooow...

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

lol, I know, I know. Lifetime is like the straight women's paradise, all about decorating shows, and movie events like "Mommy May I Sleep With Danger", and things staring John Stamos and dating shows.

Still, I heard vampires and thought "edgy and dark", instead of "lady with man problems, who has a complex relationship with her mother, and is dealing with a debilitating condition".

The bar thusly lowered ...

[gargyloveswolfy.livejournal.com]

So so true, Soo SOooooooo true..........because in the last (what?) 6-7 years........we've only gotten (what?) 4 lesbian/Trans movies.........The Truth about Jane, What makes a family?, the hotest one thus farUnexepected Love, and The Gwen Amber Rose (I keep forgeting how to spell her last name) Story...........thus, set the bar REALLLYY LOW!! ♥

[padawanmage.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard about this show...but now I know 'Blade' is better.

*sniff* I still miss that show...

[thelana.livejournal.com]

I read about that show coming around. And yepp, I'm such a lemming I will totally check out.