TV Review: ‘Dracula’ – “The Blood is the Life″

2013 has had a generally dull Halloween season, both in movie theaters and on television screens, so it’s nice to see NBC doing something right by wisely holding back the premiere of Dracula until the end of October. This new envisioning of the classic monster is poised to capitalize on the seasonal scare-deprived masses. After all, what other classic character pops into your mind faster than Dracula when you imagine the scary embodiment of Halloween?

[pullquote_right]I found myself fully engrossed in the smartly subtle drama that Dracula presents.[/pullquote_right]I will admit to being a bit apprehensive about this project ever since the marketing for the campaign started all the way back at Comic-Con this year. Promotional materials for the new series were everywhere, showing lead Johnathan Rhys Myers with a weird facial expression (see above) in numerous badly Photoshopped banners on every bus and corner.

But after fighting this bad taste in my mouth for months before finally sitting down to view the pilot, I found myself fully engrossed in the smartly subtle drama that Dracula presents in one of the better pilots of the Fall season.

The show boils down to a revenge quest by the title character after his love is burned at the stake and he is trapped and entombed for centuries, only to be awoken in Victorian-era London. Posing as an American entrepreneur (complete with accent switching) named Alexander Grayson, Dracula tries to ingratiate himself into the upper class society by attempting to bring modern science to London.

Alexander/Dracula displays his prowess with electricity (provided by devices that look like they’re from Frankenstein’s lab) to this rich society so he can track down members of the “Order of the Dragon,” the very men and women that cursed him with immortality and put him into the big sleep. With the seeds of his plan being sown, the unexpected happens when Alexander/Dracula runs into Mina Murray (Arrow’s Jessica De Gouw), a striking young woman who looks identical to his long lost love.

The Blood is the Life evokes a more Downton Abbey meets Hannibal vibe, rather than taking the more predictable approach suggested by the marketing as just more vampire dreck akin to Twilight or True Blood. John Rhys Meyers is excellent as a more sympathetic version of Dracula, with an otherworldly weirdness and underlying sadness that makes it easier rooting for him to gut the stuffy uptight Brits that make up the “Order of Dragons.”

[pullquote_left]John Rhys Meyers is excellent as a more sympathetic version of Dracula with an otherworldly weirdness. [/pullquote_left]Notable characters from Bram Stoker’s novel get revamped (heh) for this new version, including the original vampire slayer himself, Abraham Van Helsing (Thomas Kretschmann) as a professor teaching at a local university.

Soon he becomes involved in Dracula’s web in a very unexpected way, and Kretschmann (no stranger to the mythos having played the title character in last year’s Dracula 3D) brings a fun balance of mysterious, creepy and commanding to the role. I also really enjoyed Dracula’s stoic bodyguard/sidekick R.M. Renfield (Nonso Anozie) in a nod to the bug eating character from Bram Stoker’s novel.

[pullquote_right]Just enough gore/horror to satisfy the people tuning in for that version of Dracula.[/pullquote_right]It’s not all slow political intrigue and revenge plotting during The Blood is the Life though, as there’s plenty of sexy and just enough gore/horror to satisfy the people tuning in for that version of Dracula.

But when Dracula tries to please its audience with more common style entertainment, like a rooftop fight scene near the end of the episode, it doesn’t quite work as well and crosses a bit into camp territory (although fangirl viewers will likely eat up the honest sex appeal and romance). NBC has already ordered a full 10-episode season with Daniel Knauf (the creator of Carnivale) serving as showrunner, so Dracula has set up a ton of unexpected potential and The Blood is the Life is a very solid first episode. 

The Good:

The surprising restraint of the storytelling. The class war. The re-imagined characters. Jonathan Rhys Meyers. The aesthetic of Victorian London and its inhabitants. The slow burn. New mythology being created.