For those familiar with that series, "Night Prey" seems almost like a backdoor pilot. No, Nick and LaCroix aren't in this episode. And we already got Nigel Bennett in season 2. Still, the Canadian production and Fred Mollin's musical stylings give this episode a familiar ring. 'Forever Knight' premiered in 1992: this episode premiered in 1989. Maybe somebody watching got an idea...
Whatever happened to Mollin, anywhere? He seems to have disappeared off of TV & movie credits after 2001. But his death isn't listed.
"Night Prey" hits all the "Forever Knight" plot points. Romantic vampires, check. Male vampire surrounding himself with relics of the past, check. Long, drawn-out piano music, check. It's more from the (initially) Kurt's POV than the vampire Evan's, but given that the protagonists are human...
Anyhoo, "Night Prey" continues the then-trend of showing vampires as dark, romantic creatures of the night, just like with Nick. And we get voiceover work by Wiggins, as Jack ponders the mixing of good and evil. "Night Prey" isn't the first time that evil has been shown as partly good and vice versa: didn't "Faith Healer" teach us that back in season 1? Jack's friend got corrupted by the Glove, and some people got (presumably) permanently healed by the power of the curse. Yes, some people had to die horribly for that to happen. But it was still evil doing good, no matter how much peripheral evil there was.
So yes, I can see why the episode is depressing. But we've had the "evil can do good" conflict before. And Jack doesn't seem too concerned that Kurt has to kill (relatively) innocent people to power the Cross to kill vampires.
Wiggins' speech at the end does ring a little hollow. He talks about how much wisdom vampires have, and how he almost envies them. We saw no such wisdom on display in the episode.
Johnny's not very sensitive, is he? Jack comes in from investigating the death of an old friend, and Johnny offers him pizza and cold beer. Thanks, jerk! Maybe that's why Johnny doesn't play much of a part in the episode.
Fortunately, Micki doesn't fall under Evan's spell like she does Frank in "The Baron's Bride". Maybe this is a sign of actress Robey's maturity. Robey has improved her performance in season 3. She does lock eyes with Evan a couple of times when he turns on the charm, but nothing comes of it.
Evan dying when Kurt stakes him at the end is a pretty impressive mix of FX and physical effect.
Evan (Eric Murphy) doesn't get much characterization: he's just "the bad guy". But the focus isn't on him, so that's not surprising. Michael Burgess as Kurt has a much bigger range as a near-demented vampire hunter. He makes a pleasant change from the usual sleaze ball who gets hold of an antique and uses it for evil. Burgess seems to have pretty much retired in 2002 (around the same time as Mollin: hmmm...), and didn't have an extensive acting career. That's a shame: he's pretty good.
So no, there's no clear-cut good guys and bad guys in the episode. So there's that. "Night Prey" does pave the way for future Canadian vampire productions, but one can't blame it for inspiring them. It doesn't do anything new with the vampire tropes, but at least they don't sparkle. It's a solid episode, and gives Wiggins a chance to shine. Which he didn't get much of in the last seven episodes of the season.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Whatever happened to Mollin, anywhere? He seems to have disappeared off of TV & movie credits after 2001. But his death isn't listed.
"Night Prey" hits all the "Forever Knight" plot points. Romantic vampires, check. Male vampire surrounding himself with relics of the past, check. Long, drawn-out piano music, check. It's more from the (initially) Kurt's POV than the vampire Evan's, but given that the protagonists are human...
Anyhoo, "Night Prey" continues the then-trend of showing vampires as dark, romantic creatures of the night, just like with Nick. And we get voiceover work by Wiggins, as Jack ponders the mixing of good and evil. "Night Prey" isn't the first time that evil has been shown as partly good and vice versa: didn't "Faith Healer" teach us that back in season 1? Jack's friend got corrupted by the Glove, and some people got (presumably) permanently healed by the power of the curse. Yes, some people had to die horribly for that to happen. But it was still evil doing good, no matter how much peripheral evil there was.
So yes, I can see why the episode is depressing. But we've had the "evil can do good" conflict before. And Jack doesn't seem too concerned that Kurt has to kill (relatively) innocent people to power the Cross to kill vampires.
Wiggins' speech at the end does ring a little hollow. He talks about how much wisdom vampires have, and how he almost envies them. We saw no such wisdom on display in the episode.
Johnny's not very sensitive, is he? Jack comes in from investigating the death of an old friend, and Johnny offers him pizza and cold beer. Thanks, jerk! Maybe that's why Johnny doesn't play much of a part in the episode.
Fortunately, Micki doesn't fall under Evan's spell like she does Frank in "The Baron's Bride". Maybe this is a sign of actress Robey's maturity. Robey has improved her performance in season 3. She does lock eyes with Evan a couple of times when he turns on the charm, but nothing comes of it.
Evan dying when Kurt stakes him at the end is a pretty impressive mix of FX and physical effect.
Evan (Eric Murphy) doesn't get much characterization: he's just "the bad guy". But the focus isn't on him, so that's not surprising. Michael Burgess as Kurt has a much bigger range as a near-demented vampire hunter. He makes a pleasant change from the usual sleaze ball who gets hold of an antique and uses it for evil. Burgess seems to have pretty much retired in 2002 (around the same time as Mollin: hmmm...), and didn't have an extensive acting career. That's a shame: he's pretty good.
So no, there's no clear-cut good guys and bad guys in the episode. So there's that. "Night Prey" does pave the way for future Canadian vampire productions, but one can't blame it for inspiring them. It doesn't do anything new with the vampire tropes, but at least they don't sparkle. It's a solid episode, and gives Wiggins a chance to shine. Which he didn't get much of in the last seven episodes of the season.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?