"Blood Ties"

“Blood Ties” is another fine specimen of the new breed of TV series that are the silver screen brethren of the Urban Fantasy novels and there are many examples like Moonlight, Supernatural, Charmed (which is pretty much over with but still fits the genre) and Bionic Woman although that is a bit sci-fi.

I am personally left very good impression from this first season that aired last year I think, but me being slow with the new and incredible got to some catching up to do. The plot so far has proved to very loose. Vicki Nelson is a private eye that is in the beginning of her career, when one whacky case involves her with the vampire Henry Fitzroy as a partner and bad demonic tattoos on her hands. Anyways since the case dealt with demons Vicki starts to get more supernatural cases like voodoo zombies, demons, gorgons, incubus, dark elves and everything else you can conjure from the bags of underworld goodies.

While these storylines overlap with some of the episodes of the TV series mentioned above excluding Bionic Woman, it is really nice to see a character quite sarcastic and manly like Vicki Nelson. Probably everyone knows the spunky woman with a mind of her own, but Vicki brings something new the table. I mean the actress Christina Cox. And that something is the macho act. Personally I haven’t seen that strong willed women that I enjoy watching as characters, but Vicki is captivating that she has the behavior that goes along with the attitude. By the way she walks and shrugs, you simply know that she can go headfirst into some mess and get out alive.

The vampire Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid) plays his role very well as a seductive bloodsucker as it comes quite naturally to him. He is a pretty boy and adding the vampire act certainly qualifies him for the claim of one of Anne Rice’s characters. He has the typical vampire charisma and lots of interesting acquaintances that help throughout some of the cases. His background is also very well built leading him back to the Tudors.

The plot that hangs the series together is the love triangle between Vicki Nelson, the vampire Henry and Vicki’s last partner in the police before going solo Mike Celluci (Dylan Neal). It is not the most tension and sizzling love triangle, but there is attraction, jealousy and macho butt- heading, which doesn’t impress Vicki at all. It’s amusing. However you do find a thread that ties the season together as the last episode feature the same demon Vicki fought in the first episode. Now I am all excited to watch season two.

I can’t exactly rate it, because I am left with a lot of mixed feelings, since the plot could have been woven I and not added in the last episodes. So the verdict is 7/10 for the great monster diversity.