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01 February 2011

Moonlight S1 E14 "Click"

Spoilers Ahead

Welcome to "Click": Mick and Beth don't kiss. She spends the night at his place...on the couch. And he spends a good chunk of the episode chasing after another woman. Can you feel the romance yet? Somebody should have told the writers that by episode 14 the significant looks between Mick and Beth were getting old. Unfortunately, the best part about Moonlight is the relationship between our hero and heroine and if that's going nowhere then so is the show (not to mention my interest in watching). I don't feel so bad anymore that it was cancelled.

The episode starts off promisingly, with a car chase through Beverly Hills in which Mick is an amusingly anxious passenger. It turns out the driver, Tierney Taylor (Peyton List, Mad Men, Smallville) is a popular actress being pursued by paparazzi. This is where it gets a whole lot less interesting (for me, anyway). It turns out Mick has decided to join the rest of the world (by doing things like taking on high-profile clients and getting a Facebook page). His client, Tierney, is being hounded by paparazzi everywhere and at all times--someone is clearly tipping them off. The car chase ends with them pulling up at a restaurant where Beth just happens to be lunching with the new ADA, Ben. What're the odds?

Ben apparently still needs to talk about being kidnapped by a psychotic vampire plastic surgeon (see last episode). He also wants to get to know Beth better, although it's not entirely clear whether this has potential to turn into romantic interest (I really hope they weren't planning on going there with it).

In between fending off the paparazzi (including one particularly creepy specimen), having lunch with Tierney, chatting with the producer of Tierney's big upcoming movie ("Lusitania"), and shadowing Tierney's every move, Mick manages a few moments with Beth. They chat about work and there's even talk of--gasp--going on a date!

In the meantime Mick's making the news as Tierney's new hottie, which makes him the newest target for the paparazzi. That's going to cramp his vampire style. Particularly when he captures the attention of Tierney's creepy photo-stalker, Dean Foster.

Beth's going through her own work-related issues. Her new boss wants to take BuzzWire completely tabloid, adopting the position of 'scoop first, retract later'. He wants Beth to use her connection to Mick to find out about the "curse" of Tierney's movie Lusitania, which seems to be plagued with production problems. He orders her to go to a party in honour of the movie.

Mick, of course, it also at the party (a reference to the Poseidon Adventure is the best part of the entire episode). He and Beth spend some quality time together chatting about work (again) and discussing their upcoming date. Mick admits he hasn't been with a human since he was turned (it's kind of sweet). And just as he and Beth are about to kiss...they get distracted by Tierney and her real hottie, Scott, having an argument. Mick abandons Beth to check on Tierney, something I wouldn't have been too happy about but Beth apparently doesn't mind.

When Mick catches up again with Beth they're interrupted once more, this time by screams. Several people are looking over the railing of the ship. When Mick and Beth look they see Tierney in the water below. Mick jumps in after her. One bad cut later and the police are taping off a perimeter and getting Tierney into a body bag. Blaming himself for her death, Mick takes off to her State Room and quickly finds the murder weapon (an anchor that's been wiped but still smells of blood). Now comes the fun part of figuring out who killed Tierney: her seemingly greedy business manager, the creepy paparazzo, her shifty-looking boyfriend...or someone else entirely...

As Mick and Beth investigate, Mick is hounded by the paparazzi (somehow he's the story now). In a rare moment of not being surrounded, a car suddenly comes careening out of nowhere straight for Mick and Beth. He pushes her out of the way but ends up badly hit. Being a vampire he's okay, but neither of them realize that Dean Foster got photos of the entire thing. It doesn't take Beth long to find out, however, when Foster emails the pictures to her and blackmails her. He wants the exclusive rights to BuzzWire's hot leads or else Mick will become his new priority.

After they find the killer (about five minutes ahead of the DA's office) the paparazzi decide that Mick is old news. Except for Foster, of course. Instead of saying anything about him to Mick, Beth goes to see Josef with the photos. She asks him to handle the situation so that Mick won't be exposed. She wants to protect Mick the way he's protected her, which is fine except that it turns out Beth isn't above murdering a human being if they're annoying/threatening. Josef agrees to help but points out that as long as Beth works at BuzzWire Mick's secret will always be in danger.

The episode ends with Mick and Beth on their dinner date. She tells him she quit BuzzWire (it's okay--the place was going downhill anyway). In the shadows outside Dean Foster is taking photos. Until he gets jumped by a couple of teenage vamps who quickly put an end to his career as a professional scumbag. The big surprise comes as we see ADA Ben watching Beth's last BuzzWire broadcast. As it wraps up he looks down at Foster's photos of Mick getting hit by the car, which he then slips into a file labelled Mick St. John. This is not good.

Overall this was an underwhelming episode. There were a couple of good moments and it was nice to see that Mick and Beth at least managed one date. The situation with Ben could be interesting but, with only two episodes of the series left, I doubt it has a chance to go anywhere. All we can hope for now is a satisfying conclusion to Beth and Mick's story. But I have a bad feeling that's not going to go anywhere either.

Fang Files

Appearance: Pale humans until the vampire emerges, then bruised-looking ghostly white eyes and long, elegant fangs.

Strengths: Heightened sense of hearing and smell. Ability to jump great heights (including jumping straight up). Quick healing. Ability to survive major trauma without injury. Super speed and strength.

Weaknesses: Sunlight sickens vampires.

Mythology: Before digital photography photos of vampires always came out blurry because of the silver in the emulsion.

Sound Bites

Mick: Right, we go out, get to know each other--
Beth: You've known me since I was four.
Mick: Okay, it's weird when you say it like that.

Josef: I'm not your sire.
Mick: Kind of a step-sire, though.
Josef: No.

Mick: [to a teenage vampire paparazzo] Give me the camera, lost boy.

Logan: You know Tierney spends a thousand dollars a month on cat grooming? Cat. Grooming.

Moonlight, Season 1 Episode 14 "Click." Written by Erin Maher and Kathryn Reindl. Directed by Scott Lautanen. From CBS/The CW.

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