Moonlightaholics

Episode Title: "Fated to Pretend"

The basics (from tvguide.com):

Synopsis: Beth is kidnapped by the person suspected of murdering her boss, and Mick must decide whether to jeopardize his newfound mortality in order to rescue her.

Written by: Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman
Directed by: David M. Barrett
Original Air Date: Apr 25, 2008

Guest Cast:
David Blue: Logan
Jennifer Chu: Architect
Jacob Vargas: Guillermo
Christopher Cousins: Kent Morrow
Ksenia Solo: Bonnie Morrow
Bonnie Root: Ellen
Edoardo Ballerini: Pierce Anders
Eric Winter: Benjamin Talbot
Erika Ringor: Officer Novak
Victoria Pratt: Dee Dee Dwight
Antonio Elias: Luis Perez
Tami Roman: Maureen Williams

My own thoughts about this episode:

Thanks to the writers' strike, the number of episodes was cut to 16, and this first episode after the strike tried to tell several stories at once, with varying success. It was also the first of the "new look" episodes, and it tried to set the tone for the new direction the series was to take.

As a lover of the noir feel that characterized the first episodes, I can't help but be sad about that new direction, but it was an attempt to revitalize the series and gain it the viewership that CBS demanded, and I understand the need for it. And the cast did an amazing job of keeping their characters true under these extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

If I have to pick one theme for this episode, I guess it would be facing the truth, and dealing with it. Over and over in this episode, we see people having to face hard decisions and make the choice to be true to what they really are in order to progress. There is a lot of secret-revealing, and a lot of sacrifice, but it all comes back to the idea of facing reality. Bonnie faces her demons with Mick's help, and tells the truth about her father's crimes. Mick faces the truth that he can't be human and do what he needs to do... and that being a vampire isn't the only thing that separates him and Beth. Beth faces the fact that new people come in to replace the ones we lose, and we can't stop life from going on. And Josef faces the horrible decision of taking away his best friend's heart's desire.

What the episode did right, it did amazingly right. The first scene, where Mick wakes up and talks about the joys of being human, and those wonderful images of him driving with the top down, eating a hot dog, and walking down the beach to meet Beth. Mick and Travis. The re-turning scene--one of the most powerful pieces of drama the show gave us. Mick and Josef kickin' ass and takin' names. The rooftop picnic, and the kiss. So we all forgave it for its problems. And hey--we were all so happy to see a new episode of Moonlight by the time it came back, we hardly noticed the stilted dialogue, the muddled storylines that went nowhere, and the egregiously bad makeup on Pierce Anders.

Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1200883/
(No TV Guide episode discussion is available for this episode)
(No Wikipedia page is available for this episode)

Yay!

It is so on (and I'm in)!

I love this episode and as my crack of dawn Saturday committment cancelled for tomorrow, I will be here at the specified time!

Jenna

This ep has a special place in my heart. It's not everyone's cup of tea and does have a completely different feel to the earlier eps but I never tire of watching it and the rooftop kiss still gives me goosebumps. Mick looked so pretty in the rooftop date scene. I could do without the superman jump at the end though.

I know what you mean about that jump, coco, but after I thought about it a bit, I took it to be an indication that Mick was starting to revel in his abilities again. That he was seeing something positive in being a vampire, after all.

One of the things that bugged me was that the jump looked so fake. And the huuuge moon behind Mick's head was just... too much. But that's part of what I forgive about this episode. There was sooooo much to love.

Oy. My major sadness with this ep is he remained human far too briefly. There were stories to be told here... That never got told, on screen anyway.

Of course that's the sadness of the big C altogether... All those untold stories. Once again, thank Bob for the fanfic writers.

And I agree with your assessment, Alle. Mourned the noir, among other things, and hated the Carol Barbee-esque style here, but there were some amaaaaaaaaaazing scenes and moments. And at the time, new Mick.

Okay, my clock says 7:30 (PST), so I'm clicking Play NOW!

I just said we could skip it on the other thread.

Although... I do LOVE this song! I have played it TO DEATH.

Hey, for once I'm getting to join in! Yay!

And I love the coffee scene.

Lucky

The two least appropriately dressed people on the beach.

HotMicks wrote:The two least appropriately dressed people on the beach.

That's true they don't have beach down.

Oh no! I forgot the decorators were in this one!

AirPads!

Think Kostan

That opening sequence makes me just feel dancy. I love watching him driving down PCH, his hair blowing in the breeze. And eating that hot dog. He's so adorable as a human. But really fragile...

Okay, who here has taken the time to attach pictures to their contacts on their iPhone?? Anyone?

It's like undercoating... sounds good, but you never use it.

Oh, poor Maureen.