"Blood Ties" reminds us that shape-shifters are nothing but trouble...

Tonight’s season finale of “Blood Ties” reminded us that shape-shifters are nothing but trouble…

The shape-shifter in this case was Norman, a demon we first met in the season premiere (when he was just human). He returned from the dead to claim Vicky’s soul. But in order to get it, he needed three important artifacts. So he took the shape of different people to find out where the artifacts were. And there was big trouble when he took the shapes of both Vicky and Henry…

As Henry, he happened on Vicky in a weak moment when she decided that if she was going to die, she was going to hook up with Henry first. But Norman being the strange one that he is, messed up his opportunity. As Vicky, he convinced Henry that she wanted to be with him, but he gave himself away when he started yelling at Henry strangely. Christina Cox (Vicky) and Kyle Schmid (Henry) did an excellent job playing Norman playing them. Schmid especially seemed to enjoy playing a goofy version of Henry.

But probably the biggest thing about tonight’s finale is that there was a bigger explanation of what’s been going on. Norman explained that the marks on Vicky’s wrists (that he put on her in the premiere) make her a doorway for all of the supernatural things that have been going on. The marks are a source of power if Vicky chooses to use them. “You can have anything you want,” Norman told Vicky. “Including him,” he said, referring to Henry. So does that mean that she could make Henry mortal? Or does that mean that she could not be turned into a vampire?

In the end, Henry and Vicky were able to stop the main demon from coming to Earth (and claiming Vicky). And they also decided to put aside what may have happened when Norman pretended to be them. But the Henry-Vicky-Mike love triangle seems to be finding some new angles for when the series returns in the fall. Especially since Mike’s colleague, Kate, is getting more and more jealous of Vicky (but, of course, Mike’s too dense to see that).

And let’s face it. It’s the love triangle that keeps me watching. Because the special effects are too cheesy and the endings too quantum leap-ish for it to be about the science fiction.

The good-looking vampire probably helps too…