Review: Dracula 1x01 "The Blood is the Life"

Original Air date: Oct. 25,2013

It’s London 1896 and a dormant Dracula (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) has just been awoken.  What does he do first you say? He throws a party and invites all the coolest people, duh.  Posing as an American entrepreneur, Alexander Grayson, he attempts to sniff out the contemporary high council members of The Order of the Dragon.  An corrupt and evil organization that once murdered his true love many centuries before and who are now intent on controlling the city.  At the party he sees Mina Murray (Jessica De Gouw) a medical student and also the reincarnation of his long lost love, he's a bit smitten you could say.  Grayson also meets Mina’s boyfriend, Jonathan Harker (Oliver Jackson Cohen) a struggling journalist.

The tone of the show is kind of dark playful with more than a bit of camp in there.  We've moved back from the fluffy romcom vampire and back into the dark sexual fantasy Dracula. Come on. Its Jonathan Rhys Meyers would you expect anything differently?  That could be fun if the show doesn't take itself too seriously this season.  They almost lost me though with the slow motion fight scene on the roof.  That was… uncalled for and the show didn't need it.  I have a feeling we’re going to get at least one of those over the top scenes at least once an episode and I could do without but I’m willing to give it a try.

So far we have a shaky partnership between Dracula and Van Helsing.  Oh by the way Van Helsing is the one to wake Dracula as he needed an accomplice in his mission to take down the Order of the Dragon as revenge for the loss of his own family (he's also Mina's professor).  We also have a tumultuous love affair for Grayson and Lady Jane, a deadly member of the Order of the Dragon herself.  A soon to be thrilling and dangerous love triangle for Grayson/Dracula, Mina and Harker (I beg of you writers please do not give me a bland Harker).  I think that about covers the premier episode.

I guess you could say I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.  I’m not jumping in my seat excited but I’m also not removing it from my weekly schedule either.  So far the cast is good, the storyline interesting enough and as long as it has fun with its over the topness than I’m in.  I have just one little pet peeve I guess you could call it… what was with Grayson's American accent?  I’m going to go with that Dracula is going for a stereotypical American grating accent because he thinks that’s what Londoners are expecting… maybe? Perhaps? Yes? Because that was kind of an assault on my ears. 

In conclusion: Vampire kill number is at three so far.  Plus, I give the show a thumbs up.  Not a bad way to spend an hour of television.  If nothing else we've got a good looking cast here and in episode three I believe Andrew Lee Potts will be making his appearance. So. There’s that.