Moonlight: The Mortal Cure

by Heather Cee

Here it is: the last new episode of Moonlight (guess they’re calling them season finales nowadays) until the WGA strike is resolved. I’m not sure I would have been upset about the wait three or four episodes ago, but now? My buttons are gettin’ pushed big time – the good ones.

Last week finally provided an emotional pay-off, and this week brings a belated Christmas present for those who’ve been waiting for this show to start weaving a solid mythology – and, man, it’s a doozy. Even better, Coraline is at its center, and she’s bringing a famous royal bloodline and dysfunctional family dynamics with her. If you’re already a Coraline fan, these new revelations will only add to her cool; if you’re not a fan, you may come away with a whole new perspective on the dusky bombshell and her relationship with our favorite vampire detective.

So who actually eats food in a dive bar, other than Mick St. John? (I see David Krumholtz slapping a drug dealer from his hands and hissing, “Don’t touch anything! You may get hepatitis!”) After last week’s episode, a friend mentioned how kick ass it would be if Mick called the Cleaner to tidy up after his revenge buffet at the Gangbanger Corral. I agreed, though further pondering brought me to the conclusion that Mick likes to think he’s operating under the radar on both sides of the mortality fence. Engaging the services of the Cleaner for his own problem would be playing into the system, not to mention acknowledging that he’d lost control – and he seemed pretty damn certain of what he was doing when those bodies hit the floor.

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Plus who knows what brand of punishment Our Lady of the Hoses would deem fit for Mick’s slip-up? But not to fret, Cleaner fans (and I’m one) – she does make an appearance this week, albeit in a far less draconian package than before. The role has been recast with a woman lacking Molly Culver’s presence and ease of snark; pity, though the newbie will do. Too bad the Cleaner seems charmed enough by St. John not to probe into his goings-on more. Or maybe she’s the sort who dislikes the effort of reaching beyond her job description. All the more reason for Mick to keep his head down, though I have a feeling we’re going to see these two clash eventually, particularly if Mick doesn’t call her up for a date. A woman who flirts while mopping up a beheading is a woman after my own heart. For serious.

Our P.I. continues to have a one track mind, and he’s still being an insensitive ass to a grieving Beth. His obsession with becoming human again has clouded his judgment – and hampered his already shaky interpersonal skills – to the point of delusion. From the very start Mick St. John has had Beth up on a pedestal, working and willing himself to be worthy of her, or rather his vague idea of what she’d expect from him, and all of this under the umbrella of his personal redemption crusade. Beth is the woman he thinks he loves, yet the minute Coraline opens the door to a possible cure for vampirism, Mick can only focus on that solution for his struggle against nature. And that focus, at its heart, has nothing to do with Beth.

Mick’s done some bad, bad things. We know because he’s told us, again and again and again. Last week we were allowed a peek at what he is capable of in no uncertain terms. Combine this incident with the tidbits we’ve gleaned from Mick’s own flashbacks, including tossing a chair through Coraline’s house of glass, and I can’t help but feel being a vampire is Mick’s crutch to justify his inner monster. He’s divided his life and memories along pre- and post-vampire guidelines, neatly trimming away any gray area that may confuse matters. He explains his violence at Coraline’s house as her “effect” on him, rather than fully owning up to the fact that she just made him exceptionally horny. Not to excuse her game-playing, but there was a passion present in Mick that Coraline recognized, and then prodded and stretched to its limits. Then she turned him. Considering Coraline’s reputation, and her insistence on not letting Mick walk out of her life, you have to think that he is indeed as special as she thinks he is. Coraline may be an unapologetic femme fatale, but no one – not Mick, not Josef – has accused her of being erratic when it comes to turning. (Well, except one person, but we’ll get to him later.)

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The problem is that Mick is viewing Josh as a casualty of war, not a profoundly important person in Beth’s life. There’s giving an upset friend their space, and then there’s waiting for them to get over it. And Mick’s waiting for Beth to get over it. In the meantime, he’s going to get his hands on that cure and everything will be sunshine and puppies. How else to explain the selfishness of turning up at Josh’s funeral to gloat over his renewed mortality? Beth, to her credit, handles this revelation remarkably well, but you’re left wishing she’d deliver a swift kick to the nuts for his gall. He may as well have arrived with a parade in town.

Mick’s mortal, you say? Yep, and hopefully that means he’s midstream to a big reality check. If this show has any guts at all, Mick St. John will learn quick and hard that being mortal again solves nothing. In fact, I want him to learn that being a vampire gives him an advantage he needs and craves to reach the level of redemption he so desperately aspires to; that, as a vampire, he is not incapable of love or being loved, nor is his inner monster so strictly encompassed by his fanged nature.

I think this is why Coraline gives him the “cure.” Setting aside her speech about giving back to Mick what she took away, and how perhaps love can’t exist without mortality (not that I think she was being insincere), she wants to prove a point. And her awesome logic does not stop there – leave it to her to be the only person on the entire damn show who off-handedly comments on Beth’s attempt at murder. THANK YOU, CORALINE. Granted, she’s the one who had a chair leg plunged into her chest, but what I love about this droll comment is her flippancy. She doesn’t really care, as if it’s par for the course. There’s even a tinge of admiration to her playful jab, which makes me long for some quality Coraline/Beth face-time soon.

So what is this miracle cure that is making Mick act the damn fool and dropping Coraline in some big-time hot water? It’s an organic compound, which itself is not that interesting, but the back story is all sorts of kick ass. The episode opens with Mick “giving Beth space” after an awkward run-in at the police station, where both are signing witness statements for police wrapping up Josh’s murder case. Mick justifies not turning Josh with the same argument he used last week, and Beth seems genuine when she tells him she’s trying to understand. Mick, however, isn’t trying all that hard to sympathize with Beth’s confusion, which seems hypocritical considering he’s shielded her from so much of what being a vampire is about. It’s doubtful she’d know half of what she does if she wasn’t so persistent in pushing for answers. So instead of showing compassion, Mick’s annoyed, which is hardly fair given the circumstances.

He returns to his pad to discover the scent of a decay lingering in the air. Strolling out onto the balcony, ice pick in hand, he finds two vampires – one a squat, thuggish sort, and the other a cold, smirking figure with one jet black eye, obviously the boss. He’s looking for Coraline, who he claims has taken something from him, and he knows all about Mick. After silencing the P.I.’s “Who’s Coraline?” routine by handing over a marriage certificate, Tall, Dark, and Intimidating proceeds to be marvelous; he’s smooth as velvet, but utterly threatening. And he never once actually utters a threat – unless you count his casual smile and “we’ll be seeing you” when Mick asks why he should help him. The audience and Mick recognize immediately that this dude is Bad News and a Bad Ass, a fact Josef confirms when Mick drops in on an exclusive vampire club for answers. “Don’t mess around with this guy,” Josef warns, filling his friend in on the vague legend of Lance (Lance? Really, show? Invest in a name dictionary, will ya?), a legendary vampire who makes Josef “look like a pauper,” lives by his own rules, and never leaves Europe. Ah, well, two out of three ain’t bad.

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Mick starts trying to track down Coraline, who vanished from the hospital last time we saw her. A review of the hospital’s security footage (which I’m assuming is digital?) reveals a familiar face wheeling an “empty” bed around the time of Coraline’s disappearing act, and a few zooms give away a hand peeking out from beneath it. That familiar face belongs to Cynthia Davis, an “old friend” (oh, stop it, Moonlight, you’re making me love you) of Coraline’s, who Mick has tech-slob Logan track down. Seems she’s been busy the last few years, acquiring a PhD in biochemistry and importing agricultural products from France. When Mick drops by her hotel, they have a conversation loaded with subtext and thinly-veiled bile – and it’s fantastic. Cynthia plays coy with Mick on the cure and Coraline’s whereabouts, and Mick sneers, “Still lying for her?” Nope, no love lost between these two.

But Logan’s able to rustle up where Cynthia’s goods are being delivered, and there Mick finds a lab – and Coraline. Vampire!Coraline, to be exact, deep in conversation with a lab rat who seems to be having trouble extracting the desired results from his tests. But before Mick can leap into the room and guzzle all the vials he can get his hands on, guess who glides in like Darth Vampire? I loved Lance from the get-go, but I loved him more when I saw how frightened Coraline was of him. You can tell by the look on her face that she’s in deep poop, and that’s before Lab Rat steps between her and Lance and receives a quick decapitation by sword for his trouble. (Yep, Lance carries a short sword on his belt. It should be cheesy, but he makes it seem natural.) Then he says a few interesting things to Coraline that carry a tone of familiarity: “We’ve tried all this already” and “You’re so irresponsible – what if there’s another Reign of Terror?” Coraline’s French, remember? And this guy’s talking personal experience, not history lesson.

Mick interferes before Coraline gets another wooden stake to the chest and quickly gathers that Lance is no ordinary immortal – he watches the vampire’s hand catch on fire, then immediately regenerate. Say what? “Looks like once again Coraline has pulled you into all her trouble,” he drawls. “You really should have stayed out of this.” He gives Mick a quick smack down, then runs after Coraline, who’s already grabbed a small silver box from a countertop and bolted for the door.

Mick puts out the fire, calls in the Cleaner (who already knows the address), and plays with a monkey as he waits for the Bucket Crew to arrive. Some gentle persuasion (er, of the Cleaner, not the monkey) reveals dead vamps have been regularly dumped in the alley behind the lab for weeks. I like Mick’s disingenuous kowtowing about calling in the professional to clean up the mess. Nice one, St. John. You’re annoying the hell out of me this week, but I still love you.

In the meantime, Beth goes through Josh’s things and comes across a dinner appointment set for that night with a woman named Celeste. Thinking Josh was cheating on her (absorb how that feels for a minute, Ms. Turner), Beth keeps the appointment and is stunned when Celeste hands her Josh’s grandmother’s stone reset in an engagement ring. Still reeling, she waits for Mick at his apartment, and admits to him that she’s unsure whether her answer to a proposal would have been yes. Mick himself seems unsure how to process this information, but he doesn’t have to. A knock at the door reveals Coraline. Beth makes a hasty exit, waving off Mick’s protestations, while Coraline settles in for the mother of all Q&As – and the next five minutes are easily my favorite to ever occur in this series. This is where Moonlight moves from “this is interesting” to “HOLY CRAP, WANT NOW” with one simple story. (Also: their conversation takes place by the fire. I shouldn’t have to explain why this is a great touch.)

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We learn that the “cure” was developed by a noble bloodline in 18th century France using local plants, and that Lance is from a set of seven brothers within this powerful bloodline, all turned by the same sire and all descendents of Louis XVI, who was himself a vampire. “There’s much more to the French Revolution than what’s written in history books,” explains Coraline, and she ain’t kidding. The people discovered the existence of vampires and in the process of purging them – “a vampire genocide” – discovered the best means of disposal, and their zeal helped drive the Reign of Terror (aka the notoriously bloody year during the French Revolution where different government factions sought to demonize and overthrow each other – imagine a session of Congress that ended with you stepping off the podium and being escorted straight to execution). Seems the popularity of the guillotine was not only due to its macabre public entertainment value but because it was a guaranteed method of ensuring a vampire would stay dead. And 18th century France? Had a lot of vampires.

Part of me can’t help wondering if Moonlight is actually stretching into – gulp – wry social and political allegory here but, uh… Yeah, I’m not currently equipped to handle those particular synapses sparking. I’m still reeling from the abrupt about-face from mediocre soap to a show with long-term vision. Where the hell did this come from? The alternative history aspect is reason enough to be excited about the door they’ve opened, but combine that with a twisted vampire family – the sort of family that spawns the black-suited stormtrooper who traipses through this episode like he owns the very earth he walks on?

Sign me up.

The cure – aka “the compound” - was developed to fool the pitchfork-wielding hoards who saw fit to employ old school witch hunt tactics in sussing the unfortunate from the bloodsuckers. Take a suspect, stick their hand in a fire. If the fingers blister, they’re clean; if they turn to ash, stake ‘em. The compound foils the test by turning a vampire human, but only temporarily. Mick’s disappointment is palpable when Coraline reveals the truth of the miracle cure, but he perks right back up again when he realizes she’s working to make the compound’s effects permanent.

Or so she says. I feel it’s important to toss that in here. This is Coraline, talking to Mick. And her experimentation on vamps, regardless of whether they’re “just rogues”, skirts awfully close to megalomaniac Lola territory. (Though you do get to hear her utter the line “killing two bats with one stone” – WIN.) And my suspicions on Beth’s part in the master plan swings me firmly into the “What is she up to?” camp. Coraline and Beth sharing the same extremely rare blood type is not a coincidence. Just as Coraline chose Mick, she chose Beth, and my guess is that Beth is a descendant of the same noble bloodline that produced the cure. There’s something in her blood that holds the key to ultra-mega-immortality (or a something that’s equally grandiose) for a group of very old and very dangerous people.

Of which Coraline is one. Did I forget to mention that? After giving Mick a taste of the compound, and urging him out into the night while he’s tripping the mortal fantastic, Lance gets the drop with a smile and a greeting: “Hello, sister.” Thus two and two are put together by our savvy detective – not seven brothers, six brothers and a sister. Lance is Coraline’s brother. And Coraline has six brothers. Six! (There’s also a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-her shot of Cynthia as a servant at the flashback banquet.) That’s six opportunities for sadism and badassery, provided they’re all still alive, and I bet they are.

(Back to Beth for a moment: let’s suppose Beth is indeed a descendant of Coraline’s bloodline – colors the brunette’s “happy family” spiel in the pilot with an entirely new meaning, doesn’t it?)

So Lance isn’t just after Coraline for being a thief, he’s come all the way to L.A. to hand down some corporal punishment. This revelation also begs a question: why was Coraline branded with the fleur de lis? It’s doubtful she was a courtesan as Mick told Beth. She still could have received it as punishment, as it was a popular way of marking criminals (or traitors by their families?); or it’s simply the royal emblem, perhaps inflicted on members of nobility during the Revolution, or even a mark of pride. I’d like to know if her brothers bear the mark as well.

To his credit, Lance has little interest in harming Mick, and even says as much, but – as has been well-established – Mick likes getting the crap kicked out of him, and Lance makes sure he lands in a world of hurt…and on top of a car. Coraline, vampire intact, fares better in the scuffle, though it’s obvious she’s no match for her brother. The brawl ends with Lance ready to plunge a stake into Mick’s very human heart and Coraline offering her surrender in exchange for his life. (Show, I’ve seen it all before, yet you’re killing me.) “If you take me to him, you know what will happen,” she says, and Lance’s reply is simple, and unforgiving: “You made your choices, sister.” And we receive a hint of her crimes – bringing Mick into the bloodline without “his” (aforementioned “him” or Mick?) permission and the family’s blessing.

Then there’s a bit of tongue as Lance kisses Coraline’s cheek and stabs her in the chest with the stake. And before the Dumas fangirls can fan themselves with their copies of La Reine Margot, Lance slides a knowing smile at the prostrate Mick. “Welcome to the family.” He leaves with a paralyzed Coraline in his arms.

That smile sticks with you as Mick returns home, plays with his open wounds, gorges on saturated fat, and sleeps on his couch. Oh, and limps to Josh’s funeral so Beth can marvel at the size and color of his black eye.

Moonlight – remain on this path. So far we’ve watched Mick St. John attempt to fit into Beth’s world, but their tentative song and dance routine hasn’t led anywhere engaging. But pull Beth into Mick’s newly-complicated world that revolves around Coraline and her sadistic vampire family? How is that not ten times better than lightweight, romantic twaddle? I want Beth to hang on to her edge, Mick’s edge to get sharpened, and Coraline doing what she does best – messing with heads. (Oh, and give Josef something substantial to do while you’re at it.) Mystery-of-the-week plots have their place, but it’s the mythology and multi-episode plot arcs that are going to pull this show up to the next level. Give your characters a fully realized world to move and breathe in and I guarantee most of those pesky inconsistencies that have been dogging you since the start will begin to take care of themselves.

And bring Lance back yesterday.

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Heather Cee has been writing for music sites for several years but genre media is her original fandom. She’s a History major dropout, loves music, Batman, and the color green, and thinks Laura Roslin is the most kick ass woman on television. She currently works as a website editor in Tucson, Arizona, where she lives with her husband and a ridiculous amount of CDs, records, books, and DVDs. One day she hopes to own grown-up furniture and pants other than jeans.

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