Above Average
Summary
What was a really awesome mini-series through the first two episodes falls flat on its face in episode three, turning a must-see event into something to check out if you have time.
Plot: Dracula (Claes Bang) finds himself in modern-day England, where he encounters Zoe Van Helsing (Dolly Wells), the descendant of his nemesis Agatha Van Helsing (also Dolly Wells).
Review: Ah, Dracula. How many times has the Count roamed our screens? Dozens of times? Hundreds? It seems everyone has taken a crack at dramatizing the Count. Hell, I even threw a version of him in one of my short stories in my last published anthology, Wizards & Demons (cheap plug, cheap plug). With all the attempts to have Mr. “I don’t drink…wine” immortalized in epic fables, there seems to be only two long-lasting characterizations of Dracula: Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. Could Claes Bang be another?
Well, the good news is that the first two episodes of this mini-series are outstanding. The first episode focuses on Dracula’s encounter with Jonathan Harker, the hapless solicitor who should have taken a left turn at Albuquerque instead of ending up in Dracula’s Transylvanian stronghold. The second covers Dracula’s ill-fated voyage across the ocean on the Demeter. Both episodes are outstandingly written, keeping the audience guessing about what is to happen next (absurd as the book had been out for over 120 years at this point), and deviating just enough, while keeping the source material front and centre.
The third episode, though…oh, that third episode. As soon as Dracula woke up in modern times, I was intrigued. What would happen? Was that Agatha Van Helsing still alive? Well, what I got was a mishmash that focused too long on Jack Seward’s unrequited romance with Lucy Westenra (yawn), Lucy’s spiral into Dracula’s thrall, and then Dracula’s ultimate defeat. Said defeat being anti-climactic as hell, and the final scene was just…yeah…I understand what they were going for, but it came across as stupid.
It’s such a shame, too, because this show had so much going for it up to then. Claes Bang was owning as the Transylvanian bloodsucker, at turns witty, seductive, and menacing. Dolly Wells was superb as Dracula’s no-nonsense, cynical nemesis, Agatha. John Hefferman was eerie and tragic as the doomed lawyer, Harker. The settings were rich, the castle beyond impressive, the blood flowed, and the terror was always lurking in the shadows. It was magnificent. Truly, this mini-series was five stars until it shit not just the bed, but the entire room in episode three.
Part of the problem, too, was that the characters in episode three, other than those already established, kind of sucked. Even Zoe, who Zoe Wells plays, seemed drained (both literally and metaphorically) and uninspired. Lucy Westerna was just every other vapid, hedonistic modern girl. Matthew Beard’s Jack Seward had a constant look on his face like someone was kicking his dog off-camera. Phil Dunster’s Quincy Morris barely registered. Only Mark Gatiss’s Frank Renfield is endearingly daffy and ridiculous. Otherwise, episode three is a YA rendition of every vampire story you’ve ever seen, only with a better Dracula character.
Truly, I am shocked by how far this mini-series fell by the third act. I wonder if the writers ran out of ideas, got fired, or body snatched by inferior story-telling aliens. Those are the only reasonable answers to the steep drop in quality. I mean, the final shot is Zoe and Dracula lying on a bed? How was that whiteboarded in the writer’s room? My God, what a mess.
As a whole, the mini-series is still above average, but that third episode stops it from being legendary. You should still see it for Claes Bang’s performance, and episodes one and two are a joy to watch; just be warned that the final episode is truly unsatisfying.