Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

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allegrita
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by allegrita »

r1015bill wrote:I'm wondering if the reason it seems fresh might be the commercial breaks. I know that sounds weird and I normally wouldn't give commercials much of a positive spin. However, the ads give you a bit of a chance to ponder what was just done whereas the DVDs just run right through.
I think so too. I don't pay attention to the commercials (shhh, don't tell the TV guys) but I like having the breaks in the action... to kind of absorb everything.


ETA: Veema, I agree, this episode has so much working for it. And yeah, I hope so much that a bunch of new people saw it tonight, and got as hooked as we all did.
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

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This is an earlier tweet from Trevor, re-tweeted by Brian. :ghug:
actorbrianwhite :-) RT @MICK_ANGEL_: Hey guys-- Check out FEVER ep. 4 of #MOONLIGHT after #VPD tonight on the #CW. One of my personal favorites.
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by wpgrace »

He's in good company then. :ysmile:

It's cool how the cast and crew of this show have stuck together and behind one another. :cloud9:
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by lunalux »

veema wrote:I must have seen this episode at least 100 times, but watching it tonight on network TV again after all this time I still felt so moved and so impressed by how truly brilliant this show was. I was also thinking that just maybe there were some new people out there discovering this wonderful show. So lucky for them! All the cast shone in this, but Alex was especially amazing in his complete embodiment of Mick. What a treasure to see it again!
Hello everyone,

What you all said. For me, I see something new or in a different light every time I watch an episode, and in 2008, I can remember thinking that the episodes just flew by - it couldn't possibly have been a hour (with commericials) and always wishing there was a second hour, and I still felt that way last night even after watching all of them too many times to count. Still engaging, interesting.
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by Lucy »

have we noticed any totally new members/viewers?

(Did anyone go over to the CW site and let them know they had a "vampire clubhouse" they could join???)

Can you imagine seeing this for the first time???? :chin:
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

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The primary reason I love this episode is that it brings Mick and Beth closer for a brief, incredible moment, then had each of them draw back into their respective worlds, not really knowing how to really react to what happened in the desert. Beth is the first to recover, but Mick hides, fearful of what could develop between the two of them. While the story line was great, and Alex and Sophia carried the episode, two supporting cast members contributed to its success.

First, Vanessa Lengies who played Leni, did a tremendous job with her character. Her interaction with the cops, her reaction after the shooting were believable. She was someone with a secret and was scared, so she ran. But she was gutsy as well.
Jack. His name was Jack.
She defied anyone to belittle the man she loved. She stood up for him. Her interaction with Mick brought out a really tender side of his character that we hadn't seen yet. I would love to have seen something more of Leni in the second season.

Next, Jordan Belfi brought additional realism to his character, both in his role as ADA, but also as Beth's boyfriend. You know it was killing him to have to go to Mick for help, but he did it. But it's also clear he's beginning to understand that Mick is competition for Beth's affections and doesn't know what to do about it.

:cloud9: Fever will likely remain my favorite ML episode.
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by allegrita »

That's just the way I feel about it, DSR. It had so many elements that really worked. Strong performances, great writing, action, a really compelling plot, great backstory on Mick, real growth in their relationships (and a real strain in others)... it was just a grabber.
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by darkstarrising »

You're right, alle. So many things just came together and moved so quickly, you just couldn't look away.

One of the benefits of seeing these episodes now is that I'm appreciating all the things that went by in a blur or that I didn't pay attention to the first time around. Jordan Belfi's performances as Josh is a good example. At first, I saw him as a secondary character who would cause tension in the Mick/Beth relationship and to some degree he did. Now I see him as a truly tragic character, one Jordan made sympathetic. At the beginning of the series, he's a happy man with a promising career and in love with a wonderful woman. Over time, he sees Beth drifting away from him and toward someone he can't compete with. As he lays bleeding to death, his life in Mick's hands, you can't help but feel sorry for him, for all of them.
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by jen »

Absolutely!

This is one of the best episodes, in my opinion. Concept, writing, acting, chemistry, casting, makeup--the only flaw I saw involved those fake icecubes, and talk about a minor point.

It particularly struck me what an superb job Alex and Sophia did of showing that even when Mick and Beth went back to their own worlds after 'happy hour' the connection between them remained.

Beautiful--a fabulous visual example of synergy, when a lot of very well done parts came together to make up something very, very special.

Jenna

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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by diane31 »

Alle, wow, what an amazing post!!! :notworthy:

And I agree with everything everyone else said so I'm not even going to try and quote lol! :ghug:

For me too, Fever has been the OMG episode... I had already fallen in love with our show, but there, I knew I would never ever fall out.

It's funny the different things that catch one's attention as you watch an episode again. This time, it's Mick's comment about the giant thrill ride that sometimes ends that had me tear up. In retrospect, it is almost prophetic, and it only hit me this time what it must have meant to Beth in those terrible moments when she thought Mick had just been ripped from her life; how she must have been sitting there repeating those words in her mind, thinking they had been the last she would ever hear from him.
Talking of those moments, I also found myself pondering her self control when Josh tells her about the accident, how strong she really is. Within seconds her entire world is turned upside down. It feels to me the intensity of her own reaction must be a bit of a surprise to her, and she must realise immediately how much more Mick is to her than just a friend, or some thrill factor in her life... right at the same time she loses him. And she has to hide all that from someone who kwnows her so well, and she does, almost.

And of course Mick... I feel that this is the episode where we get the most insight into his predicament. I've always felt that it's kind of ironic how differently he appears to himself, and to us. I mean it's always true of course, but especially in Fever, with that tension between the fact that he could commit the worst -which is all he sees, really- and the fact that he does not, that tension between, on the one hand, how vulnerable he is to circumstances, risking to fall victim to desperation, how his control can only go so far and is somewhat of a delusion in that sense, and, on the other hand, how much greater that control is than we could have thought, how he does rise above those circumstances to remain true to who he has chosen to be. More that any other episode I felt, this one goes to the heart of that tension between what he is and who he is, between what happened to him, what is beyond his will and which he cannot identify with, and the person whom he has forged out of that predicament, out of sheer strength of will. It shows us how, ironically, what he is gave him the opportunity to become who he is, and who we all love so much.
And yeah, "delicate flower", how such few words can capture so much...

And also to me Fever is a turning point in the same sense that SB is. Until then it feels like it's Mick who does most of the hanging around, longing to be near Beth despite himself and hoping deep down against all hope. In Fever it's the first time that the tables are turned, with Mick withdrawing just when Beth gets serious. And of course the way the final scene expresses that is just breathtaking. In Moonlight so many "final scenes" feel like they are so magical, heartbreakingly bittersweet, nothing could ever top that. The one in Fever is definitely one of them, and so incredibly beautifully shot.

And of course, there's the bathroom scene... I'm sure we could talk about it for hours (wait... we have lol). Powerful, poetic, magical... What struck me most about it this time is its sensuality. I mean, we often complain about the limitations imposed by airing on a major network, but fortunately, I feel like we got away with it on this one... Maybe partly because it is anything but gratuitous. And I guess mostly because the form of intimacy portrayed here doesn't fall into the usual categories, it wasn't recognised as such by the watchdogs that be? In any case, I can hardly imagine more sensual a scene. I'm not sure how to put this but, I'm sure you'll know what I mean? It is so intimate, one feels priviledged to witness it.
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by jen »

Diane

What a lovely post!

You have distilled the essence of this episode and described it quite beautifully. I never saw it before, but you are absolutely right. The scene when Josh got the call regarding the Victorville PD coming upon a fresh accident scene, that it looked like Mick and Lenni were dead, and mentioned the detail that it was 'so hot no one could get near it' was quite wonderful. Sophia reacted to that news with some superb acting. We heard the tremors, saw the desperation, not wanting to believe it but knowing that the situation would have killed Mick. Then, in a short scene, she goes in to her apartment--her shock clearly written on her face--sits down and promptly falls to pieces, as she realizes the depth of her feelings at the very time she thinks she has lost Mick St. John forever.

Stunning.

Your vision is quite remarkable and your description wonderful.

Thanks,

Jenna

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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by allegrita »

Diane, I read your post yesterday and my head nearly fell off, I was nodding so hard. Thank you for that beautiful essay on Fever. I agree with you on every point, and I just loved the beautiful way you phrased what you said.

You made me think about a major theme that Fever explores: the battle between instinct and self-control.

Beth can't hide her tears from Josh, but she hangs on to the shreds of her composure in order to tell him the hard truth that he's got a bigger problem than he realizes... and then she manages to make the drive home, and only collapses when she's finally alone in her home.

Mick stumbles through the desert, knowing that he's an inch from having to kill in order to survive, knowing that a vampire WILL kill to survive, but staving it off. And even after he's at the motel, he hallucinates again and again about biting and killing, drinking that life-saving blood, despite all the horrible things that would entail. He feels he's failed, but he does NOT fail.

Leni wants so much to make Jack's death have some meaning, but not at the expense of the child she's bearing. Suddenly she's all protective mother, and nothing matters more than making sure she survives so that her child will survive. But then Mick reminds her of her duty to Jack. And he convinces her to go back with him, to testify against Fayad.

Josh's instinct is to keep that bastard interloper away from his girl. And OMG, after those smoldering looks Mick and Beth exchange over coffee, Josh must be sick with jealousy. But he swallows that jealousy, because he needs Mick's help in order to find Leni and keep the case against Fayyad alive.

What a freakin' amazing episode this was. :hearts:
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by diane31 »

Yes, you are so right about Leni and Josh as well... I hadn't made the connection, but yes, that is so true. Seeing things to Mick's eyes, it's almost like I ended up forgetting it, but instincts, are not just a vampire's issue indeed...
(and neither is having one's head fall off so be careful lol!). :hearts:
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by lynnrxgal »

"Fever" was the first episode I saw in Moonlight and I nearly had a heart attack - I had NEVER been that touched by a television show ever! I sat, stunned, when it was over. And Thursday night, after about 50 viewings (at least), I was still stunned by the magic that was presented on the screen. As I read the comments you all have to eloquently stated, all I can say is, "Yes, that's right!" So excuse my lack of written words. but after all this time, I still am amazed by "Fever"!
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Re: Moonlight on the CW, Ep 4: Fever

Post by jen »

Several of us have shared the feeling that something is different.

When the episode was airing, it occurred to me that the pacing felt slightly different, but this may just have been my imagination.

Anyone else share that perception?
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