"Blood Ties" Review: Take a Bite Out of This One

In case you haven’t noticed, vampires are kind of big right now. Which makes me wonder if networks that had vampire shows are now regretting letting them get away.

I know that CBS has to be regretting their cancellation of “Moonlight,” but what about Lifetime? Do they regret not renewing “Blood Ties”? Since I was a big fan, I would say if they don’t, they should…

Fortunately for us “Blood Ties” fans, Eagle Rock Entertainment has released the first season of the show on DVD so we can relive all the supernatural goodness of the “crime series with bite.”

If you don’t remember, “Ties”—which was based on the book series by Tanya Huff—followed private investigator Vicki Nelson (Christina Cox). Vicki was a cop until she was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease that compromised her vision. While investigating a murder, Vicki meets Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid), who turns out to be a vampire. The two form an unlikely partnership—a partnership that doesn’t really sit well with Vicki’s ex-partner (and ex-lover), Detective Mike Celluci (Dylan Neal).

As the season progresses, all three are sucked into an ever stranger world of supernatural activity. And Vicki becomes torn between her lingering feelings for Mike and her attraction to Henry.

The freak-of-the-week cases could get a little crazy and the resolutions could be a tad on the “Quantum Leap”-ish side, but in all honesty that never mattered. Because “Ties” was always about the love triangle. A love triangle I still consider to be among the best television has ever given us…

The first key to any love triangle is chemistry. And Cox, Schmid and Neal had that in spades. The second key is that you can actually be happy with the middle person in the triangle being with either person. And yes, I could have been happy if Vicki ended up with Mike, but I was totally rooting for a hookup with Henry—as implausible as it may have been.

Plus, it helped that Vicki was a great heroine and Cox is the type of actress you could see kicking butt on a show like “24.” Schmid was super-suave as Henry and Neal wasn’t too hard on the eyes himself. The trio also had great support from Gina Holden as Vicki’s Goth assistant, Coreen.

If you like a good supernatural story with intense special effects, then “Ties” will be a bit of a disappointment for you because that’s not what the show is about. If you’re a vampire fan, however, then “Ties” will be right up your alley.

But if you’re a fan of a good dramatic love triangle, you won’t want to miss it. For you, the drama and mysteries will be just a nice bonus…

The DVD has all 13 episodes from the first season and a behind-the-scenes documentary that gives some nice insight into the show.

“Blood Ties: Season One” is available now in stores and on-line…

Photo Credit: Kayos Productions