Moonlight Episode Discussion - Ep 14: Click
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:20 am
Episode Title: "Click"
The basics (from tvguide.com):
Synopsis: A promising Hollywood starlet hires Mick to protect her after she feels threatened by overly aggressive paparazzi. Meanwhile, Beth questions her new boss' journalistic ethics.
Written by: Erin Maher and Kathryn Reindl
Directed by: Scott Lautanen
Original Air Date: May 2, 2008
Guest Cast:
Peyton List: Tierney Tate
Jacob Vargas: Guillermo
David Blue: Logan
Eric Winter: Benjamin Talbot
Alex Sol: Dean Foster
Eddie McClintock: Jason Abbot
Sean Wing: Scott Walsh
Greg Pitts: Grant Lewis
Martin Spanjers: Marshall
William Christian: Ryan Gold
My own thoughts about this episode:
When I first saw "Click," I couldn't help but think that it was a commentary on the craziness of fame (and on Moonlight fandom specifically), as well as a bit of an admission of the show's own troubled history. In an odd way, I viewed it as a wave and a wink to the fans. "Hi, we know you're out there. Thanks for your support, but please don't be too overwhelming, because we've had a tough time with all the showrunner changes and the writers' strike, and all... and hey, we're nice people and we are entitled to at least a measure of privacy."
A couple of years out, I think maybe I was taking it too personally. But on the surface, "Click" is certainly a swipe at the tabloids, and shows like TMZ, who prey on celebrities. Below the surface, there's a lot more going on. One strong theme is, "What price will you pay to get your heart's desire?" Tierney is gambling everything on "Lusitania," sure that it's her big break. Jason Abbot is willing to destroy Tierney's career, and even to kill her, in order to avoid ruin. (I can't help but compare "Lusitania" to what Max Bialystock does in Mel Brooks' "The Producers"... it's a sort of dark and tragic version of that swindle story.) Mick is giving up skulking in the shadows in order to be more like what he thinks Beth wants him to be. (Dumb vampire. Sheesh.) Beth not only gives up her dream of becoming a reporter, she makes a deal with the Devil (in the form of Josef) in order to protect Mick from exposure. (See, Mick? She likes it when you skulk in the shadows!)
Another theme is that of the strong (and unscrupulous) taking advantage of the vulnerable. Dean Foster is the prime example that runs throughout the show, but Grant Lewis does it too - don't you just hate his gleeful willingness to discard all of BuzzWire's journalistic integrity in one fell swoop?
And Josef does it to Beth when he very deftly maneuvers her into admitting that she is asking him to do something that will put her deeply in his debt. (The show didn't last long enough for us to find out what they planned to do with this nasty little situation, but it was obviously a set-up for future events.)
Click is probably my least favorite episode, but even it has a great deal to recommend it. For one thing, Mick is stunningly beautiful in this episode. For another, he does that sexy climbing thing and then crouches on the rooftop, looking down.
('Scuse me.) And we have several great scenes between Mick and Beth. I know that there's a lot of disagreement about the almost-kiss on the Queen Mary, but you have to agree that it made you go "awww..." for a minute there. 
Even the idiotic "I'll be upstairs in my freezer" scene is introduced by a fun and funny musical discussion about emo bands that just makes me giggle every time. And toward the end of the episode, we have that lovely shot of them walking away together, down the alley. (I always think of starbucksjunkie's banner when I see that scene.) 
And they toast to vampires, too. 
In addition to the Mick-Beth goodness, let's not forget one of the best Mick-Josef interactions of the whole series... the "Dad" scene. Yeah, they wrote it kind of light, and "cute." But Alex and Jason managed to put so much nuance into those words... there's a whole lot more than "cute" going on in that conversation.
After the episode was over, I found myself wishing they'd done more with all the potential they had. There was some important stuff said, but they didn't quite have the guts to do it justice. I'd have loved to see "Click" done noir-style, in the spirit of the earlier episodes. It might have been a lot more, that way, than it was as filmed...
Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1212045/
(No TV Guide episode discussion is available for this episode)
(No Wikipedia page is available for this episode)
The basics (from tvguide.com):
Synopsis: A promising Hollywood starlet hires Mick to protect her after she feels threatened by overly aggressive paparazzi. Meanwhile, Beth questions her new boss' journalistic ethics.
Written by: Erin Maher and Kathryn Reindl
Directed by: Scott Lautanen
Original Air Date: May 2, 2008
Guest Cast:
Peyton List: Tierney Tate
Jacob Vargas: Guillermo
David Blue: Logan
Eric Winter: Benjamin Talbot
Alex Sol: Dean Foster
Eddie McClintock: Jason Abbot
Sean Wing: Scott Walsh
Greg Pitts: Grant Lewis
Martin Spanjers: Marshall
William Christian: Ryan Gold
My own thoughts about this episode:
When I first saw "Click," I couldn't help but think that it was a commentary on the craziness of fame (and on Moonlight fandom specifically), as well as a bit of an admission of the show's own troubled history. In an odd way, I viewed it as a wave and a wink to the fans. "Hi, we know you're out there. Thanks for your support, but please don't be too overwhelming, because we've had a tough time with all the showrunner changes and the writers' strike, and all... and hey, we're nice people and we are entitled to at least a measure of privacy."
A couple of years out, I think maybe I was taking it too personally. But on the surface, "Click" is certainly a swipe at the tabloids, and shows like TMZ, who prey on celebrities. Below the surface, there's a lot more going on. One strong theme is, "What price will you pay to get your heart's desire?" Tierney is gambling everything on "Lusitania," sure that it's her big break. Jason Abbot is willing to destroy Tierney's career, and even to kill her, in order to avoid ruin. (I can't help but compare "Lusitania" to what Max Bialystock does in Mel Brooks' "The Producers"... it's a sort of dark and tragic version of that swindle story.) Mick is giving up skulking in the shadows in order to be more like what he thinks Beth wants him to be. (Dumb vampire. Sheesh.) Beth not only gives up her dream of becoming a reporter, she makes a deal with the Devil (in the form of Josef) in order to protect Mick from exposure. (See, Mick? She likes it when you skulk in the shadows!)
Another theme is that of the strong (and unscrupulous) taking advantage of the vulnerable. Dean Foster is the prime example that runs throughout the show, but Grant Lewis does it too - don't you just hate his gleeful willingness to discard all of BuzzWire's journalistic integrity in one fell swoop?
And Josef does it to Beth when he very deftly maneuvers her into admitting that she is asking him to do something that will put her deeply in his debt. (The show didn't last long enough for us to find out what they planned to do with this nasty little situation, but it was obviously a set-up for future events.)Click is probably my least favorite episode, but even it has a great deal to recommend it. For one thing, Mick is stunningly beautiful in this episode. For another, he does that sexy climbing thing and then crouches on the rooftop, looking down.
('Scuse me.) And we have several great scenes between Mick and Beth. I know that there's a lot of disagreement about the almost-kiss on the Queen Mary, but you have to agree that it made you go "awww..." for a minute there. Even the idiotic "I'll be upstairs in my freezer" scene is introduced by a fun and funny musical discussion about emo bands that just makes me giggle every time. And toward the end of the episode, we have that lovely shot of them walking away together, down the alley. (I always think of starbucksjunkie's banner when I see that scene.) And they toast to vampires, too. In addition to the Mick-Beth goodness, let's not forget one of the best Mick-Josef interactions of the whole series... the "Dad" scene. Yeah, they wrote it kind of light, and "cute." But Alex and Jason managed to put so much nuance into those words... there's a whole lot more than "cute" going on in that conversation.
After the episode was over, I found myself wishing they'd done more with all the potential they had. There was some important stuff said, but they didn't quite have the guts to do it justice. I'd have loved to see "Click" done noir-style, in the spirit of the earlier episodes. It might have been a lot more, that way, than it was as filmed...
Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1212045/
(No TV Guide episode discussion is available for this episode)
(No Wikipedia page is available for this episode)
