The basics (from tvguide.com):
Synopsis: Beth is kidnapped by the person suspected of murdering her boss, and Mick must decide whether to jeopardize his newfound mortality in order to rescue her.
Written by: Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman
Directed by: David M. Barrett
Original Air Date: Apr 25, 2008
Guest Cast:
David Blue: Logan
Jennifer Chu: Architect
Jacob Vargas: Guillermo
Christopher Cousins: Kent Morrow
Ksenia Solo: Bonnie Morrow
Bonnie Root: Ellen
Edoardo Ballerini: Pierce Anders
Eric Winter: Benjamin Talbot
Erika Ringor: Officer Novak
Victoria Pratt: Dee Dee Dwight
Antonio Elias: Luis Perez
Tami Roman: Maureen Williams
My own thoughts about this episode:
Thanks to the writers' strike, the number of episodes was cut to 16, and this first episode after the strike tried to tell several stories at once, with varying success. It was also the first of the "new look" episodes, and it tried to set the tone for the new direction the series was to take.
As a lover of the noir feel that characterized the first episodes, I can't help but be sad about that new direction, but it was an attempt to revitalize the series and gain it the viewership that CBS demanded, and I understand the need for it. And the cast did an amazing job of keeping their characters true under these extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
If I have to pick one theme for this episode, I guess it would be facing the truth, and dealing with it. Over and over in this episode, we see people having to face hard decisions and make the choice to be true to what they really are in order to progress. There is a lot of secret-revealing, and a lot of sacrifice, but it all comes back to the idea of facing reality. Bonnie faces her demons with Mick's help, and tells the truth about her father's crimes. Mick faces the truth that he can't be human and do what he needs to do... and that being a vampire isn't the only thing that separates him and Beth. Beth faces the fact that new people come in to replace the ones we lose, and we can't stop life from going on. And Josef faces the horrible decision of taking away his best friend's heart's desire.
What the episode did right, it did amazingly right. The first scene, where Mick wakes up and talks about the joys of being human, and those wonderful images of him driving with the top down, eating a hot dog, and walking down the beach to meet Beth.
![love :hearts:](./images/smilies/icon_love.gif)
![swoon :melts:](./images/smilies/icon_melts.gif)
![sad :hankie:](./images/smilies/icon_cray.gif)
![happy :teeth:](./images/smilies/icon_teeth.gif)
![loving :happysigh:](./images/smilies/icon_happysigh.gif)
![smart :snicker:](./images/smilies/icon_snicker.gif)
Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1200883/
(No TV Guide episode discussion is available for this episode)
(No Wikipedia page is available for this episode)