Moonlight on the CW, Ep 3: Dr. Feelgood

[allegrita]

Episode Title: "Dr. Feelgood"
Current air date: June 17, 2010

Guardian Angel's Episode 3 discussion thread with screencaps

The basics (from tvguide.com):

Synopsis: Beth helps Mick track down a renegade vampire who can't control his urges to kill.

Written by: Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman
Original Air Date: Oct 12, 2007

Guest Cast:
Kevin Weisman: Steve Balfour
Josh Clark: Ed
Cate Cohen: Randi
Jordan Belfi: Josh Lindsey
Brad Greenquist: Gerald Stovsky
Brian White: Lt. Carl Davis
Jacob Vargas: Guillermo
Jermaine Williams: Phil
Molly Culver: The Cleaner
Chris Payne Gilbert: Dr. Jeff Pollack
Jared Ward: Doctor No. 1
Linda Friedman: Tech

My own thoughts about this episode:

After the amazing ending to Episode 2, I just had to find out what was gonna happen, didn't you?! How would Beth react? How would Mick react? And how would they go on from there?

I remember thinking at the time that I liked the way the first scene went. Uncomfortable, tentative, both of them struggling to find their footing in this new, strange place. I thought Beth was very brave to go back, but her insatiable reporter-curiosity really stood her in good stead here. She found the courage because she HAD to know. And I liked the way Mick got overwhelmed and broke off the conversation, too. That made a lot of sense to me.

The story about the rogue was good for passing on more information about what it's actually like to become a vampire, and also about Mick's feelings about the process of his own turning. As the episode progressed, I liked seeing Mick and Beth building up trust again. I won't say more here, because I hope you'll all be commenting as the episode goes on!

Links:
http://www.tvguide.com/episode-recaps/M ... -7082.aspx
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1077036/
(No Wikipedia page is available for this episode)

[redwinter101]

I remember it well, too - what on earth were they going to do now that Beth knew? Was the next episode going to pick up immediately after her discovery or was she, perhaps, going to blow the whistle? Dun dun dunnnnnn. The ending of OoTP was so strong, I remember being absolutely desperate to get to the next episode - rarely has a week passed so slow.

And then, we're off and running...

Red

[wpgrace]

That is just the most beautiful opening scene... it actually can mix with the astounding ending of OOTP... the acting and honesty in that opening is just to die for, for me. How anyone can call Alex wooden, if they did so after seeing this scene, is just a mystery.

And the scene at the morgue, too... first with G, then with Beth... we learn so much about ML vamps... and about Mick.

[librarian_7]

I've always thought that in the morgue scene, Beth looked absolutely luminous...as good as she looked any time in the whole series.

And..."there's not like a big clubhouse where we all hang out"? Oh, yes there is!

Lucky

[librarian_7]

And how did Coraline manage to get blood all over him, and all over the bed, but not one drop on her white dress? Seriously.

Lucky

[r1015bill]

The leaning against the Benz scene

[wpgrace]

And how did Coraline manage to get blood all over him, and all over the bed, but not one drop on her white dress? Seriously.

Lucky

She's a drama queen... they got style.

LOVE the scene at the rocket lab with Stofsky... it's so vampiry. The problem isn't that he may have killed a human... it's that he made a mess. He DIDN'T kill the human; he made a rogue.

Just love that... it is how real vamps, if they were to exist, would judge one another... their rules, their morality. Sometimes they really got this show just right...

[darkstarrising]

I wonder if it gave Mick pause when Stofsky said he had gotten used to his solitary existence....Mick has Josef and other friends, but he's still very much alone.

[GuardianAngel]

I really like Beth in this one. It was a good balance between her wanting to know more about Mick, about vampires and her natural inquisitiveness. We really get a better sense of their relationship is going to continue. Mick can't say 'no' to her. He has trouble with trusting but she's going to push and get her way. He tries to use the defenses he's live with for so long but they don't hold up against her. And, again, it's Beth to the rescue when Mick's in trouble. She's not going to wait in the car and he's beginning to accept that.

I wasn't really crazy about this storyline - the rogue vampire doctor - but it did answer a lot of questions. Mick's turning, how vampires are made. We get a better picture of the new vamp's insatiable hunger. How they seek cold instinctively.

Ahhhh, the Mick/Beth car conversation about Mick's age. Their chemistry really melded here for me.

Oh, and we meet the Cleaner. I LOVED her!


ETA: forgot about the Cleaner

[nutmegger911]

Good thought DSR. I loved the little snort about the irony of draining the doc trying to save him. No good deed, and all that.

Here comes one of my favorite scenes. Right after commercial break.

[cassysj]

A couple of things I noticed. Mick mentioned about not having contacts on the police force and we saw in the previous episode that he could only talk to the top from the "old" days because he was blind. Now when Gerald mentioned not being able to sire before, I wonder if that was Sarah foreshadowing or just a throwaway line for this episode.

[r1015bill]

I agree with GA. Overall I thought the episode was weak the first time I saw it but in retrospect, I see how much it explains. I also didn't pick up on the "he killed his wife" scene and how close that comes to Mick's experiences till future viewings.

[nutmegger911]

Imagine how her horror at the idea must have made him feel.

[GuardianAngel]

Imagine how her horror at the idea must have made him feel.

I agree. I felt Mick's inner wince at her horror. But then again, he did it to save HER. I loved his "You're not, trust me" when Beth states she's sorry his wife is dead.

[darkstarrising]

Yeah, the whole exchange about the doctor killing his wife, then seguing into Mick's marriage and the fact that his wife was dead was pretty cool.

the first few times I saw this, I couldn't hear / understand Mick's answer to Beth's "I'm sorry" as he said it kind of low. When I did finally understand "Trust me, you're not", the whole scene took on a whole new meaning.