What an improvement. I thought this episode was really enjoyable, with a greater emotional punch than the previous ones.
Anyone else?
One thing that always annoys me about Werewolf/Vampire/Reverse-Vampire-Werewolf/miscellaneous Undead critter plotlines is how the neonate/child/whelp/were-puppy is always whimpering about how their life sucks now that they have to howl at the moon/live on a high-protien liquid diet/etc…
just once i’d like to see the “victim” realize what’s happening and revel in their new-found powers
that said, this was an okay episode, Dresden’s HotSexyWerewolfLady freind seemed to be okay with her condition (maybe because she now has a real fur coat now? 
) at the end of the ep
i was kinda’ dissapointed that the “disease” in this case was Lycanthropy, would have been better if it was Vampirism, that’s the impression i got from the previews…
That was covered in Special Unit 2 Friday night.
I enjoyed the darkness of it. I think this series could work pretty well if they stay away from Harry Potter flash-boom-happy-times and go dark and violent.
On preview, this sounds stupid, but I hope some semblance of my intent comes across.
This was the best episode so far, with some nice magic. I liked Bob being able to depict a person’s appearance by touching their blood. I liked Harry’s magic at the jail. He actually picked up his staff (the hockey stick) but then didn’t get to do anything with it.
They haven’t yet done a good job of defining the relationship between Harry and Murphy. Why would she call Harry in on this case, with no initial evidence of supernatural activity? It’s not clear whether she believes he’s really a wizard or not.
I hope they get around to showing the pilot soon. Without some more background information I keep trying to impose the rules of the books onto the show, and it’s not working very well.
I think this episode offered another big jump in quality. I don’t know what possessed them to show “Birds of a Feather” first–it certainly seems to be the weakest episode so far. This one had a lot more impact, especially the bitter twist at the end.
I have the impression that Murphy gives Dresden a call whenever a case triggers her weirdometer, or maybe if there seems to be a ritual element. In this case, I’d guess it was the missing hair and teeth that led her to call him. I’m also not sure how much she believes at this point–her memory of the events in “The Boone Identity” is clearly muddled, but she seemed to know Harry’s mundane explanation wasn’t true, because she asked him to promise not to lie to her again. She vaguely remembers him “performing miracles”, but does she trust those memories?
I can see your point, but it just wouldn’t work in this case. If you’re basically a decent person, nigh-uncontrollable bloodthirsty urges are inevitably going to be disturbing. Lycanthropy in the Dresden-verse is a nasty business. Bear in mind that she liked Harry and needed his help…and was still struggling to keep herself from killing him. Worse, aside from the bloodline purge (and we see how that went), there’s apparently no cure. She’ll have to fight it for the rest of her life. What if she wanted to have a family? How much of a threat would she be to them? Worse, what if her children inherited the disease?
(If you want someone who adapts better, you might look into P.N. Elrod’s Vampire Files books. The protagonist has some freak-out moments at first, but they’re mostly from his death, rather from his new condition. He’s mostly happy, and has some real fun with his powers.)
True, HSWL was a decent person, and I can easily see how she’d be horrified at contracting a disease that turns her into a bloodthirsty Beast, however, if she learns how to control her Beast tendencies, she could be a very powerful Lycanthrope, maybe if she only “wolfs out” on bad guys
Maybe she could join a police force as her own self-contained K-9 unit, heck, it seems to work for Aguna on the Discworld …
that’d be an interesting show, a police force comprised of “paranormals” (kinda’ like Special Unit 2, but with Vamps and Weres)
I’ve had enough of the Angsty Werewolf/Vampire concept is all…
I enjoyed those.
For books with well-adjusted werewolves, I’d suggest Patricia Briggs’ *Moon Called *and Blood Bound. Also Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten.
In the Dresden Files books there are a few different kinds of werewolves. Some are monsters, others are ordinary people who turn into wolves occasionally. Harry is friendly with a local pack. There are three types of vampires described in the books. Two types are obvious monsters, and the third type are incubi/succubi.
Yeah, I’m trying to keep the books and the show separate in my mind. The differences appear to be pretty substantial, although they’re doing pretty well with maintaining the “feel” of Harry’s character.
In this particular case, the werewolves referred to in the books as “lycanthropes” don’t actually shapeshift, as I recall; they’re just animals on the inside. I don’t remember the details of the various types all that well; obviously, I need to reread the books.
All I have to add to this thread is:
I had a seriously intense “I’ll be in my bunk…” moment when Harry grabbed HSWL and sniffed her. Holy shit that was hot as hell… I’d be perfectly all right with more of that, please.
But I thought BookHarry was somewhat… er… antisocial. Am I incorrect in my recollection? ‘Cause they seem to want to make TVHarry quite the ladies’ man, between the waitress, the AdoptiveRavenBabyMom, Murphy, and HSWL.
Ok, is it me, or was this a plot in one of the books? I could swear I remember a book where the werewolves turn out to be the FBI agents investigating the crime. Hmmm…a quick glance at Amazon seems to make “Fool Moon” the most obviouse choice, although not exactly the same plot. My books are all still in storage, so I really don’t remember it all that well. Still, while the TV show is ok for now, it really isn’t very much like the books at all in my opinion.
BookHarry is rather shy compared to TVHarry, yes. Not antisocial, but shy, secretive, and sort of awkward. Since it nets us things like the sniffing scene with the HSWL, I’m okay with it, but it is something of a departure.
I think it would be a mistake to try to map the books to the TV show. There are shared plot elements and other parallels (HSWL reminded me of Susan in some ways), but they’re different stories.
This episode was sort of an amalgam of the second and third books in the series, what with the werewolves and the
love interest who becomes a creature of the night and has to take off lest she go all Stephen King on Harry.
Except they weren’t furry enough. They looked like giant 2-legged Chinese Cresteds. That’s the only thing that bugged me about them, (other than being so dark I could barely see them).
Please be sure to put spoiler warnings around spoilery discussions of the books, since some of us haven’t read them yet.
Make the most of the situation, says I, and could come up with a list of folks rather quickly.
Dangit. I was trying to edit to say that I see now that it was in a spoiler box, but in email it just read like a part of the line. Grr. Not your fault, just the stupid software.
“Come up with”? You mean you don’t already have one?
Oops. I think I just sorta damaged my claim on “basically decent” status.
Well hell, I don’t keep it at work!
Not all of it.
By far the best episode yet. Loved the dark ending, too.
Still, the biggest remaining vexation for me is the plots: the twists are always too easy to see coming, and I’m not usually very good at it.
I think they put that one episode first because it explained a little bit about Harry’s background, and about the bracelet. Too bad it was also so weak.
I’m not sold on the series yet, but I still have hope.