I ordinarily despise montages and what I call "whiner" music, but that's because they're usually at the end of a show, feels like lazy writing and a replacement for good dialog, and I can't stand whiner music. In this episode, though, they used a montage at the beginning, while "Sally" narrated over it.
I found it an excellent way to help the new viewers get a feel for each of the characters, as well as build impressions of each of them for the veterans. This was also our first chance to really see Josh's transformation, and it was really well done.
I'm going to try to refrain from excessive comparison of this series to its UK counterpart, but I gotta say that the US transformation is better, and the end result is much better, than the UK werewolf. Nicely done, in bits and pieces, understandable on a cable network budget, but still nicely done. We were given the transformation during that opening montage of flashbacks to earlier times in our three characters' lives, and it was then or never in this episode. I've decided that I'm not disappointed that they didn't have Josh kill his sister. It could have been interesting seeing how Josh dealt with the guilt and the fact that his friends couldn't stop it. But this early in the season, it would have set the tone for their interaction, and honestly, they probably have enough to deal with right now without having that level of angst. In the alternative, it could have been interesting to have his sister see at least some of his transformation, plenty of future plot potential there. Again, however, it would have been a distraction from the development of the relationship between the main characters, which is this series' strength.
Thank goodness for superfast vampire running speed! And apparently in this series vampires are fine in the sun, though they appreciate sunglasses - but really, who doesn't? The creator of the original series worked under the philosophy that there are so many different ideas about what vampires can and cannot do, he could pick and choose what elements he wanted to incorporate. The showrunners of this series are appearing to do the same, adding "superfast running" to the plus column. Aidan saving Josh's sister allowed them to have a discussion about Josh and what his life was like before he became a werewolf, or in his sister's view, before he had a nervous breakdown and ran away from his family two years ago. "Okay, he's quirky," medically trained, and has a mother who experienced an "incident - our little family curse" - and Aidan's lovely reply, "I think we're all a little cursed that way."
At that point they BLASTED the whiner music; even if it wasn't whiner music, if the singer's voice is as loud as the actor's, it's too loud. Just saying.
Josh was nicely goofy in front of Danny. His "we like creepy" was counterbalanced in a lovely way later in the scene by Aidan's "there's a good echo here." A key line from the ghost's fiance in the UK version was missing from Danny's scene, so I'm curious to see if they will change that entire storyline.
So, Rebecca is still "missing." It's an interesting twist, as is having her be a flaming redhead. But a flaming redhead who is hanging out at the park where she used to hang out? A beautifulflaming redhead? Really, no one would notice? On the other hand, if it's on purpose, it does point to her recklessness as a new vampire. Also, a nice setup by having Aidan not know that Rebecca was turned by Bishop and the gang. The glimpse into the vampires' lair was interesting, and we were given a better idea of Bishop's true character this week: sarcastic, slick, and unsympathetic to new vamps.
Overall the tone of this episode was a bit lighter, and the US series definitely has a lighter feel than the UK version, which is much more angsty. I don't mind the lightness, as it isn't anywhere near a Warehouse 13- level, nor should it be. Though the UK version has higher highs and lower lows - Russell Tovey absolutely owned the exchange between he and the vampire when he learned that the vampire "killed" their mutual friend - but with an American accent I don't seem to mind as much. No cliffhanger at the end of this episode, but it was billed as a Part Two episode, so perhaps the cliffhangers will only happen in the middle of two-part episodes.
There were quite a few great lines this week, some of which I incorporated above; here are a few more:
"I may not be here forever. Or maybe I will." - Sally
"Not sure if I want to take advice from a man who fell off the wagon and into my neck" - Rebecca
"It was a miracle I got her to love me once" - Josh
I liked it, and I'm still in.
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