By Brandon Nolta

Last time viewers could check in with MOONLIGHT, Mick (Alex O’Loughlin) was waving goodbye on a New York street as Beth (Sophia Myles) rode a cab to head back to boyfriend Josh (Jordan Belfi), the understanding D.A. being left in the dust by this mortal-immortal romance-in-bloom. Of course, that was last year, before it became apparent that this TV season had been strangled in its bed by the WGA strike. Now, it’s pretty certain that MOONLIGHT has one, maybe two episodes left before getting replaced with THE AMAZING RACE: POUGHKEEPSIE or whatever crap CBS foists on us. If you like this show, set your recorders, because you’re probably about to see its end.

Anyway, requisite WGA rant aside, we continue. Josh is about to file charges against an El Salvadoran drug lord, but he’s got lots of associates to help him do his dirty work, and Josh’s resolve wavers after getting beat up and receiving evidence that Beth is on the drug lord’s hit list. Beth, naturally, tells him to grow a pair and continue with the case, so he does (continue, that is; no idea about the other part) which they celebrate with sex. Wouldn’t you? Meanwhile, Mick’s still trying to find out how the hell Coraline (Shannyn Sossamon) turned in her fangs, so he’s stealing blood samples from her and researching the issue outside the vampire nation. What a card.


Unfortunately for all our heroes, things don’t go anyone’s way. The drug lord, despite getting arrested on high-value felony trafficking charges, gets bail granted, meaning he’ll have plenty of time to send goons after Beth. The blood sample Mick takes to Beth’s doctor friend for analysis turns out to have nothing unusual in it at all … although it appears to be taken from a young child, due to its purity and free radical count, and one with a very rare blood type. Beth’s blood type, as it happens. Mick and Beth were pondering these mysteries when a sniper wings a few rounds at them as they leave the doctor’s office. Mick gets shot, boo hoo. Since nobody packs silver in their guns these days, no harm no foul.

Mick and Beth regroup at a safe house with Josh and a police tac squad for protection, but the gang guys are wily, and Josh is snatched out from under their noses. Mick and Beth take off after the guys, and thanks to a GPS-enabled cell phone and Mick’s pet tech wizard, they find the gang guys before they can whack Josh, whereupon Mick applies some super-violence. Unfortunately, he doesn’t apply enough, and one of the bad dudes comes to and shoots Josh before Mick and Beth can extricate him from the trunk. Through the backseat, even. Normally, this would kill a guy, but when you’ve got a vampire around with combat medic training and supersensitive hearing, you’d be surprised at how things turn out. Or not, as Josh dies anyway, at which point Beth asks Mick to turn him. Horrified, Mick refuses.


So, we’ve got a dead lawyer, a grieving girlfriend, some gang members running loose and one pissed-off vampire. Remember that bar scene in NEAR DARK? Well, this wasn’t as cool, but it was pretty good for network TV, and Mick does off a few bad dudes, including the gang boss. Of course, this doesn’t help Beth in her grief, so Mick doesn’t tell her … which, if the series continues on in future seasons, probably won’t come back to haunt him. Lots of good stuff; O’Loughlin continues to charm, Myles is still pretty easy on the eyes, and the dramatic threads continue to deepen. It ain’t Shakespeare, but it’s worth a go.