The Dresden Files: Bad Blood

This episode we're treated to the Dresden Files' take on the world of vampires. We learn a little bit more about "The High Council" and Harry's past. But I just wasn't that impressed with much about the show.

The take on vampires found here is the same take on vampires found just about anywhere. They like to dress up and be sexy, they hang out in clubs, they're immortal and bisexual. These vampires also congregate in 'houses' - similar to the Blade series. Only here it's the "Red House" - where Dresden's friend Bianca resides - and the "Black House" - comprised of vampires who can't afford swanky digs and instead live in seedy apartments.

Bob insists that Harry shouldn't trust Bianca because she'd kill him if given the chance. However, we never see why this is the case. In the flashbacks to when Bianca and Harry met, they have sex and she protects him - but there's no sign of her betraying him or trying to kill him. In fact, he asks her to kill him (in one of the few interesting and revealing moments of the episode) but she refuses.

Less interesting than the vampires is Clive, the vampire hunter. Dresden uses a nifty magic trick to examine Bianca's bodyguard's eye and get a perspective on who is trying to kill Bianca. He immediately declares that "it's Clive." We learn that Clive is a nasty contract killer used by the High Council. Harry somehow knows it was Clive because men in masks hopped out of an unmarked van with machine guns and crossbows. Black ski masks and white vans are the tell tale signs of the High Council's hit man? Not only is this particularly lame, but the action in the episode is directed with all the intensity of a slow motion re-enactment from Unsolved Mysteries.

When the climactic confrontation happens, Harry is shot in the back with two crossbow bolts. He howls in pain and collapses. Harry then shoots two bad guys in the back with a crossbow and then takes out Bianca's traitorous girlfriend. How does he do it? We have no idea because it's never revealed. Harry just manages to get up, somehow grab a crossbow and fire two bolts in rapid succession and then save the day. There's no logic to it, it's lazy and silly.

Was there anything worthwhile in the show? Barely. The episode revealed some more information about how the High Council functions and a bit more about Harry's past with his uncle. We know he was, at one time, wanted for using black magic to kill his uncle. As a supernatural detective series, The Dresden Files is unavoidably compared to Angel (one of my favorite shows). By incorporating vampires into an episode, that comparison is now all the more fitting, and Dresden comes off looking like a pale and entirely unworthy entry in the genre.