Thursday, May 3

Blood Tied

I just have to chime in about this new Lifetime network supernatural drama "Blood Ties," I have been holding it off for a while to really give it a worthwhile assessment. There have been a few series out there have looked like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or has played homage to it and they aren't that bad. It is surprising to see a series from Lifetime to actually try to please sci-fi fans.

It is about a former female cop Vicki (Christina Cox, who I remember from "Outer Limits") who teams up with a vampire Henry who was sired when he was 17 and does comic books based on his exploits on supernatural cases. I don't know why detective shows star non-legal police officers, how much power do you have when you aren't with the law? Anyhoo, they got the supernatural down pact, they don't playcate but they do cater to those people who don't that much about ghosts, demons, etc. As for the vampire lore, it gets kind of muggy but I let it slide. The series is filmed in Canada and it is shown there as well. It airs Sunday nights at 10pm.

Of course the series serves as eye candy and I don't complain, especially Kyle Schmid who makes my legs quake. He is a child actor and has shown more than his share of assets in the short film male to female Zerophilia (pictured above) and I cover him on my 'Unknown Hotties of the Week' for The Covenant. As for his take on vampires, it gets a little campy and at the beginning, it felt like he was like a little kid having play time and you couldn't take serious that he was lived for a long period of time. The only Buffy connection I see so far is that he draws and paints, like Angel, but at least he isn't only an detective like Angel, he makes his profession out of his art.

The series has the usual love triangle with Dylan Neal, who plays Vicki's ex-partner who of course doesn't hit it off with Henry that well. Dylan Neal was the second to play Joshua Jackson's brother on "Dawson's Creek," and was in 'Babylon 5' (pictured above). He gave a strong performance in last week's episode where he fell in love with a Medusa-like person and mourned her loss. As for Christina Cox, I thought she would be insufferable but she grows on you. She plays a mature woman, albeit with her own traumas but she gives a strong 'Skully' performance. Only when the series focuses on her, exclusively without the men, it sort of sinks. Not that she needs the men to be funny and sexy either, she has a cool friend (Gina Holden) that knows about supernatural too. So is the series worth watching? For eye candy, yes yes. For sci-fi... eh. Well it's better than that awful Sci-fi channel series about a tabloid.