"Moonlight" Review: I Love a Good Vampire Story, But...

You guys know I love a good vampire story.

I’m just not sure “Moonlight” falls into that category…

The vampire in this case is private investigator, Mick St. John (Alex O’Loughlin). He’s eternally in his 30s after being bitten 60 years ago by his bride on their wedding night. Now he’s decided to go straight by doing good deeds and only drinking donated blood.

His friend Josef (Jason Dohring) is a successful professional, who just happens to also be a vampire. He often sends Mick out to solve cases that threaten to expose their existence to the world.

While investigating a murder that appears to have been committed by a vampire, Mick crosses paths with Beth (Sophia Myles), an Internet news reporter. At first, it seems that Mick has just met her. But we soon learn that Mick has been watching her for years because the two have a secret history.

Mick’s wife kidnapped Beth as a little girl, planning to turn her into a vampire so the three of them could be a family. But Mick rescued Beth by destroying his wife (He set their house on fire.).

When Mick rescues Beth from the murderer, she starts to remember what happened to her as a child. And Mick begins to realize he is starting to have feelings for Beth. But by the end of the second episode, Beth has fully remembered what happened as a child and Mick is forced to admit he’s a vampire…

“Moonlight” has had A LOT of backstage turmoil, as the original pilot was scrapped and the entire cast canned (except O’Loughlin). And I think that shows through on the screen. The supporting characters have very little to do and the mysteries are a tad uneven.

But because I do enjoy a good vampire story, I like when Mick goes into full vampire mode, flying around and beating the crap out of people. However, it’s not enough to get me over what bothers me the most about the show—where it’s headed (which was spelled out clearly in the promos following the premiere).

It seems that Beth and Mick are headed for romance. O’Loughlin and Myles (a dead ringer for Kate Winslet) are appealing and have good chemistry; but there’s just something creepy about Mick falling in love with a woman he first met as a little girl.

And because I can’t get past that, I can’t get into the story that appears to be at the heart of the show. Which, of course, means I can’t get into the show.

So much for a good vampire story…

“Moonlight” airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on CBS…