NBC Sinks Fangs Into DRACULA

Article first published as  DRACULA Review on Seat42F.

NBC’s DRACULA, premiering this week paired with Grimm, is surprisingly good! It has not been taken to the modern day (although the 1890s is modern by Dracula-legend standards), does not have anyone solving crimes, allows most characters to speak with non-American accents, and is set in London, England. I never thought one of the Big Four networks would deliver something like this.

DRACULA does differ quite a bit from the novel of the same name. In this version, Dracula (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors) is awoken from his slumber nearly 500 years after the death of his wife. He is intent on stopping the Order of the Dragon, a secretive group that murdered his beloved, and are still around today. Since they are oil barons, poised to control the energy industry of the coming century, Dracula seeks to circumvent them with another power source.

Which is not to say that Dracula is fang-less, far from confined to the business world, which is conducted in parties, not boardrooms. We see him skulking the streets and rooftops, preying on those with the blood he needs to survive and dueling with vampire hunters who seek to kill him. While DRACULA is not gory, there is a creepiness about him and the show, and Meyers makes the character radiate threat.

The weird thing about the way the titular character is portrayed is that he is frequently forced to fake an American accent to keep up the persona of Alexander Grayson, the colonial entrepreneur he is pretending to be. Meyers’ lilt seems strange and off. One might say that the character is faking the accent, too, so this is OK, but he’s supposed to be faking it well, and he doesn’t. The scenes in which Meyers switches back to a European timbre are better.

Stylistically, DRACULA is interesting. It maintains some of the best elements of the character, especially the danger, but puts it in a new setting, and not a lazy one a bunch of other shows already share. Many of the variations with the source material seem well thought-out and make sense to the tale being told. The sets and costumes look pretty cool, though may not be accurate, and there’s kind of a steam-punk feel to the technology Dracula is playing with.

The major characters from the novel are present in DRACULA, but most have departed a bit from their origins. Renfield (Nonso Anozie, Game of Thrones) is still the vampire’s manservant, but he is also a former slave, and there is no sign of him snacking on insects. Van Helsing (Thomas Kretschmann, The River) remains an intelligent, educated man, but is willing to compromise his principals for the greater good. Mina (Jessica De Gouw, Arrow) and Lucy (Katie McGrath, Merlin) are very pretty, but are not as weak.

The one person that hews closest to the novel is Jonathan Harker (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Mr Selfridge). A dedicated reporter and boyfriend of Mina, Jonathan wants to know what Dracula is up to, but is mostly in the dark. He’s earnest and smart, and while he does come across as a little gullible at the start, he will likely rise above it, though perhaps not in a way that will pose a threat to Dracula.

The question is, will Harker be the hero of DRACULA? If not him, who? Van Helsing isn’t acting too noble in the first episode. Instead, if anything, the program seeks to make Dracula sympathetic. Immediately, viewers will begin to root against the vampire king’s enemies, hoping that he can gain some kind of revenge against them. Except, any scene where Dracula isn’t directly working on this mission doesn’t paint him in a good light, either. Is DRACULA actually daring to live in the grey, murky middle, with each player having their strengths and faults, but none clearly in the right or wrong? Because that would be amazing.

To accomplish that, the villains must be given layers, too. This wouldn’t be so hard. Yes, they are guilty of ruining Dracula’s life, once upon a time, or rather, their forbearers were. But Dracula is an undead creature of the night that deserves to be punished, right? With none of the Order of the Dragon among the main cast, I don’t know how much time might be spent developing them, or if they are merely a distraction until other roles can be grown into serious contenders.

One character that is not in the book, as far as I recall, but is part of the main cast, is Lady Jane (Victoria Smurfit, Trial & Retribution). She is fascinated with Dracula, and quickly puts the moves on him, despite being married herself. If Dracula isn’t going to feed on Lucy or Mina yet, he needs a replacement to seduce, and Lady Jane fits the bill. I’m just not sure where they are going with her.

DRACULA has its flaws. Some of the dialogue is cheesy, the direction isn’t clear, the Order of the Dragon is a very nebulous challenge, the first scene between Dracula and Van Helsing reads extremely staged, and the style and setting isn’t likely to appeal to an NBC audience. However, it’s more intelligent than much of the network’s fare, and hopefully the horror element will draw Grimm’s fans to it, allowing it time to show us what it can do. DRACULA could be really good. It isn’t quite yet, but it could be, and because of the risks it takes, it’s worth giving a chance to.

DRACULA premieres this Friday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

The curtain closes on The Tudors

     The show was called The Tudors, but really only concerned one of the five rulers from that dynasty.  Now that it's over, it seems a shame that the series didn't start with a season or two of Henry the VII's reign, as Henry VIII (Johnathan Rhys Meyers) came of age.  It its even more regretful that it did not continue into his childrens' time in power.  However, the show was about Henry and his six wives, despite the name, and it was a well-told story.  I am at a loss to think of another show centered around such a despicable main character that still held interest and ran for so long.  Sure, flawed heroes are the norm on television today, but Henry VIII was merely flawed, not a hero.

      All of Henry's six wives appeared in the final season, and four in the finale.  All six were in the finale if you count the final montage, showing scenes from all four seasons.  The scenes where the three mother of his children, Katherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy), Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer), and Jane Seymour (Annabelle Wallis, although Anita Briem played her in as many episodes as Wallis, was seen in the montage, and did a better job) came to him were spine tingling, in a good way.  They reminded him of his mistakes, and who he really was.  Henry did not die in the finale, but he was near death's door, alone.  It was hard to sympathize for him, but the finale was a fitting end.

     As mentioned above, Henry had three children, and each also played a part in the end.  Mary (played by Sarah Bolger since season two) was the most prominent.  Here was a daughter who loved her father, despite what he had done to her mother and her religion.  She deeply cared for her mother, her mother's faith, and her mother's people.  She would later become known as Bloody Mary, and it is no wonder, with such torn loyalties.  The other two were played by multiple performers, but the middle child, Elizabeth, ushered Britain into a Golden Age, and so it is unfortunate that the show did not continue for her.

     The Tudors, more than any other show, had a rotating cast of characters.  As mentioned before, the series focused on Henry and his wives, and so it was a bit disappointing that so many faces gracing the theme song appeared for only a season, or less, and were not given fitting endings.  There are two exceptions to this rule, however.  First appearing in episode three, Chapuys (Anthony Brophy), an ambassador from Spain, was never made a main character, but made quite an impression, and I was saddened by his death, which came shortly before the finale.  But the most integral, who the only person in every episode, aside from Henry, was Henry's best friend, Charles Brandon (Henry Cavill).  In real life, Henry died about a year and a half before Henry.  In the show, he died fifteen minutes before the end.  He was the heart behind the throne, and it was nice to see him get such moving screen time as the series came to a close.

The Tudors fourth season begins with LOTS of steam, and more than a bit of mean

     Showtime premiered the fourth and final season of The Tudors last night.  The drama centers on King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and his six wives, of which he is on his fifth, Katherine Howard (Tamzin Merchant), as this year begins.  But though his wife is 17, and they are having plenty of intercourse, they were far from the only ones.  Seymour's (Max Brown) wife has taken up with a new consort, and cast newcomer Thomas Culpeper (Torrance Coombs) tries to work out his feelings for the new queen by raping a peasant woman.  Yes, The Tudors went there.

     Speaking of Culpeper, The Tudors every years seems to drop a few characters who previously appeared in the theme song, and then add a few more, without warning.  This is jarring if you are new to the show, as you may wonder what happened to Sir Francis Bryan (Alan van Sprang), who, according to Wikipedia, was around throughout all of Henry's reign.  However, longtime fans may remember Sir Anthony Knivert (Callum Blue), who disappeared after season one, and may not be surprised.  I realize there are only a certain number of characters that the drama can accommodate in its limited time frame, but it's still a disappointment.

     However, it is one of the few disappointments of a very exciting, sexy series.  Among the good news this year is that Princess Mary (Sarah Bolger) is now full-time, and so will be seen much more often, including her instant clash with the new queen.  There also seems to be a war brewing, promising more action than usual for the series.  Add to that news that all six queens will appear in a dream sequence sometime this season, presumably as King Henry goes mad, and there is much to look forward to.

     In the meantime, the show continues the political backstabbing and frivolous sex that it is famous for.  Last night's episode did not disappoint, and it seems the show will go out the same way it came in: steamy and evil.

     The Tudors airs Sundays at 9pm on Showtime.