Well, yesterday NBC aired the first episode in their Dracula 10-episode mini-series. And let me tell you, it takes the formula, shoves it on a pike, and then dresses it up in lace and ribbons and names it Sally. Or something. In other words, NBC's Dracula is absolutely insane. And... I think it may be a lot of fun.
NBC's Dracula starts in a deceivingly normal Dracula-story way: in the late 1800s, a servant of Dracula takes an unsuspecting grave-robber to Dracula's tomb in order to stab the man, causing his blood to fall into the mouth of Dracula's "corpse." This wakes him up and rapidly restores him through the magic of mediocre CGI.
From there, though, things immediately get "weird" for anyone who knows the story of Dracula. First, it is announced that Dracula will not be posing as an old-money European aristocrat (the way he usually does) but instead as a "new" money American industrialist named Alexander Grayson. Oh, okay, well interesting update but not completely bizarre. What else have you got, universe? Surely, with the characters of Mina; Lucy; Jonathan; and Van Helsing all getting name-checks and appearing in this episode, the rest of the details will resemble Bram Stoker's novel, right?
Er... well, I don't remember Stoker writing anything about Dracula being interested in alternative energies and lightbulb patents.
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| Seriously... |
Basically, this Dracula is like a Howard-Hughes-Tesla, who just happens to like drinking blood... Oh and also he is fighting against an organization that is basically the Illuminati. And he has slow-motion fights where he wields what looks like a samurai sword.
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| Stoker would have included this, I'm sure... |
I just.... what?! Congratulations, NBC. You're giving Japan a run for its money in the weirdness race.
The other interesting detail with this show is that there is nothing even remotely frightening about this Dracula. In fact, he is our... hero?
Yes, Dracula is essentially a superhero of sorts, fighting against an Illuminati-like organization of evil, world-dominating businessmen who we're clearly supposed to dislike from the start. This flies in the fact of every Dracula movie/series/story ever. Even in films like the 1979 Dracula where the count is played more suave and sexy than frightening, as an audience we still know that Dracula is preying on these (yes, often annoying) young women and therefore must be defeated at some point. But this series already throws that into question. This Dracula actually ends up, in Episode 1 at least, seeming more heroic than characters like the CW's Green Arrow, who actually is supposed to be a superhero!
Pretty much every detail of this Dracula takes Stoker's novel and uses it as a holder for some gooey cheese. Lightbulbs, the Illuminati, samurai swords, and a shirtless Jonathan Rhys Meyers? It's enough to give Stoker's neighbor (Oscar Wilde) a nosebleed.
That said, it's the insanity of the show that ultimately makes it fun and interesting. In most Dracula stories, you know what's coming. However, in this show, there's almost no way to predict what direction the series will go in next. Will Mina pass her student medical exam with Dr. Van Helsing? (Yes, that is a plot line... Mina appears to be the only female med-student in 1880...) Will the Illuminati's secret anti-vampire task-force find Dracula and his charming non-bug-eating servant Renfield? Will Dracula patent his next electronic cooling device???
I'm really not sure how good this series will end up being, but dear lord did it start out fun. I won't spoil any more for now! If anyone is interested, you can watch the craziness for yourself now at NBC.com (http://www.nbc.com/dracula/)
Rating: not sure yet... but I'm sure there are a lot of bites to be had!
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