Blade

I wasn't sure if I'd like it at first. I was worried it would be a silly action show with no plot, bad acting, and no depth. Even after watching the pilot, I was hesitant, and I didn't watch any more for awhile. But I did record the first season(DVR). Later, when I had more time, I went back and watched a few more episodes, in order. I got hooked. My conclusion: It's not a silly action show as one might expect. A good story develops into a great one, with a lot of intrigue and mystery. To me, its a little bit like ALIAS meets UNDERWORLD. I hope people give it a chance. There just aren't many shows like this on TV. We lost DARK ANGEL and other good shows. Hopefully this one will stick around. While I like Smallville and watch it religiously, it's nice to watch something a little darker with less teenage drama. I'm a fan of a certain kind of vampire story -- like UNDERWORLD, VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE, KINDRED THE EMBRACED, and BLADE. So, this new series is satisfying me and I hope it stays. Jill Wagner's character Krista Starr was a brilliant idea. She is a very good, very necessary, character for the series. If it was just Blade and his sidekick, I believe the series would fail quickly. And, Jessica Gower's character, Chase, is great! Scary, striking, beautiful, and very memorable. I'm also fond of Neil Jackson's character, Marcus. A good choice. So there you go, a good ALIAS/UNDERWORLD show, with Marcus, Krista and Chase as my personal favorites (so far).

I really didn't expect much when I first started watching the pilot, but I am pleased to say I was interested enough to watch the next episode, which I liked a bit better. I think that the length of the intro was a bit too long, and the story seemed to flow better in the second. However, the third was even better. Now this is saying a lot, considering I really wasn't a big fan of the movies. I find Kirk "Sticky" Jones much less annoying than Wesley Snipes, better looking, and without the awful hairdo. As a nice plus it's got a really cool intro. The story is getting progressively more interesting. I'll definitely continue to watch!

Blade the Series is the series following the events of Blade Trinity. Surprising that the pilot is TV-MA and the rest of the series is TV-14 with the series following 3 rated R films. It does have quite a bit of blood and violence and some sexual content, of which could make it TV-MA. Blade is definitely more of a R/TV-MA rated character than a PG-13/TV-14 rated one.

Wesley Snipes doesn't return as Blade in this series. The role of Blade went to Sticky Fingaz for the entirety of the series. It is still a sequel to Snipes' trilogy. I'm not sure the exact reason why but Sticky Fingaz did an alright job in the series.

It does some of Blade's youth towards the middle of the series. I felt like that would've been a good idea to include in the first film. I felt like it is good that they finally did a bit of it.

When the series started, it definitely seems like some time has passed since Blade Trinity and this show. Obviously not a direct sequel. Trinity ended on a note that there could be a follow-up, of which this series picks up after some time after the ending. The one season we got of this series definitely feels like it also could have a follow-up. I have researched it and it didn't get a season 2 is mainly of financial reasons of the studio. I feel like this Blade could definitely appear again in Avengers Secret Wars as a bit of insight of what happens after the series. Hopefully both Wesley Snipes and Sticky Fingaz could both return as they seem to have more time for their Blades.

I myself was a skeptic of this series, because I enjoyed the movies a lot and didn't want the series to ruin that. I listened to Howard Stern the other day and he was raving about the series, and said "if you can get over the fact that it isn't Wesley Snipes, then you will really enjoy this show." And I completely agree I watched it for the first time last night and it was awesome. Watching this show is like jumping into the comic, dark and twisted.It is very different because you don't hate the bad guy Marcus, you almost feel for him, and there is a mystery about him because he has sympathy but is very powerful and strong.It great because it has a little of everything plenty of action, blood, skin and good plots. So everyone should give this show a try, once you do you will be sucked in (no pun intended.)

Network: Spike TV; Genre: Action, Drama, Horror; Content Rating: TV-14 (for strong language, graphic violence and gore); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Seasons Reviewed: Complete Series (1 season)

For their first big scripted dramatic series, Spike TV went to the movie well and got screenwriter David S. Goyer himself to adapt Marvel comic book character and movie trilogy star Blade for the small screen. Half-human, half-vampire, Blade (Kirk "Sticky" Jones, "Over There"), also known as The Daywalker, tries to infiltrate a vast highly sophisticated underground syndicate of vampires. Meanwhile, a battle brews between the infected, lead by Marcus Van Sciver (Neil Jackson), and the purebloods that rule the vampire bloodline, one of the leaders of which – in the show's best character twist - is 12-year old Charlotte (Emily Hirst).

"Sticky" Jones does a decent Blade, as well as Wesley Snipes, but even at series length Blade is an anti-social one-note force of martial arts destruction. The show compensates by bringing in an original character. After her brother is shot by Marcus in the pilot, Krista (Jill Wagner) ventures into the vampire underworld, is converted and is then flipped by Blade as a double agent on the inside. With Blade left to do nothing more than grunt and growl, the show follows Krista's rise to the right hand of Marcus - much to the chagrin of his beautiful partner Chase (Jessica Gower) - as he tries to develop a vaccine to kill the purebloods.

One of the most interesting things about the "Blade" movies was that vampirism was treated like a disease and the aristocratic depiction of the vampire culture and inside of which where political power struggles between the 2 "races". It is fertile ground for a series to explore and yet "Blade: the series" feels like a monumental missed opportunity. Vampirism is now sold on the street like a drug as "Ash", but otherwise the show can't think of any new avenues to take itself down. If we aren't getting action how about vampirism as a social metaphor? The whole production reeks of an inescapable feeling of creative claustrophobia. I know should be grateful, given how few shows like this actually are on TV, but good intentions don't keep me entertained.

But the marquee appeal of "Blade" was the comic book fight scenes. While the Pilot looks great (the visual style of the entire series is slick eye-candy), as the show goes to series the action is suffocated by the Spike TV budget. In order to pay for a CGI effect of vampire skeletons exploding into dust (or a bit like my favorite, where Krista decapitates a vampire with a street sign), "Blade" scrimps and saves every penny by padding the show with endless, endless, scenes of expository conversation and dramatic dialog, effectively turning "Blade" into a vampire-related drama instead of a comic book actioner. And that is the biggest, and likely unavoidable, mis-step the show makes. All the saving does pay off in the end. If you can make it that far the show delivers a satisfying face-to-face final battle between Blade and Marcus.

I should also make the point that the TV-14 rating given to the show by Spike is wildly, irresponsibly, inappropriate given the language and level of gore on display here. "Blade" is a basic cable TV-MA if I've ever seen it.

* * / 4