Full ML Original Pilot

[wondergirl9847]

Thank you for posting the link to watch the pilot! It was wonderful to see the similarities and differences to our beloved ML.

I liked Mick in this. He was the Mick we know and love with more darkness and heaviness weighing on him. Liked his hair better than I did seeing it in still photos. It looked good!

Didn't care for the actors playing Coraline or Josef AT ALL. Coraline looked terrible in AND out of vampire makeup. I didn't find her sexy or appealing at all. I'm sure the actor playing Josef is great, but I had a hard time with his accent and the chemistry wasn't there like it was with Jason and Alex.

I never cared for Shannon Lucio as Beth of all the snippets I had seen. I still don't care for her watching the entire thing. Didn't feel any chemistry between her and Alex. I hated the "What are you?" "A monster." scene in this. The scene we got in OOTP was spectacular. Instead of him SAYING he is a monster, he SHOWED us he thought so by the cowering on the floor and the look in his vampire eyes. Gorgeous scene.

OMG, that vampire makeup was horrific! Didn't even look like Alex to me.

They just hit it out of the ballpark when the changed everything and it became Moonlight. The FOS style, Mick's hair, the cast changes, the dialogue....magic.

[wpgrace]

Finally, Alex was pitch perfect as Mick. I liked that he was less slick and well groomed, and I liked his complete air of indecisiveness around Beth. All in all, there isn't much about this I didn't like! I loved everything about the ML we got, and seeing this doesn't change that, but I know I would have loved this just as much if this was the show we got instead. Which probably proves that for me it's all about Mick, and everything else is just gravy.

Yeah, really loved a few things about the pilot, preferred a few other things about the real show...

...but your quote, MM, is my most basic reaction. It was all about Mick for me in any case.
I'd've watched either version and it would still have been all about Mick for me.

[PNWgal]

Will this do, gals??

Ohhhhhhh....oh Cat...

Thank you!

[redwinter101]

I agree with pretty much everything MoonMad said. With everything we'd heard and the very brief scenes that had popped up to date, I expected this to be a bit shoddy - I mean, they recast the whole thing, so it MUST have been bad, right?

So I was surprised and delighted that I thoroughly enjoyed this and found many things to admire (and some I'm relieved they changed).

The biggest relief for me was the re-casting and re-writing of Coraline - this presentation just did not work, either in terms of the actress or the pitch of her character. In our ML, it was easy to see how Mick had remained under her spell for so long - in this pilot, that would have been, um, a mystery, although the turning scene was fantastic. The jazz club scene was brilliant and beautiful and again, presented a very different picture of Mick. There was something a little washed-up, desperate, about Hawaiian-shirted Mick, whereas this Mick was all smoky cool.

I was also much, much happier with Jacob Vargas's portrayal of Guillermo (cos he was awesome and this guy... wasn't).

I liked the New York setting and the generally grittier feel to everything. Mick's apartment was okay but not a patch on the FoS and I'm glad they gave him a makeover. Our Mick, with the longer hair, the snappy wardrobe and that strut worked much better for me - the new image gave him a "man of the world" vibe that fit with the character much better for me. But I did like some aspects of the Mick here; the despatching of the vampire guard was swoon-inducingly wonderful - the flick of the match, "I don't dance." Oh maaaaaaaan... I also wish they'd kept Mick's ability to see the past; the body heat sensing and hypnotic gaze would also have been great (yeah, yeah I know our Mick had a hypnotic gaze too, but that was because he was Mick, not because he was a vampire).

The Mick/Beth dynamic was fascinatingly different - maybe in part because they wanted to get a lot of content across in a very short space of time - and I'm not quite sure how convinced I was. I really liked Sophia as Beth but the way her character was written in the later episodes drove me insane, so a new take on her was interesting to see. And the scene where Mick goes to her apartment to make her forget, but can't go through with it, was beautiful, as was the "I've been with you" moment.

The pilot confirmed the view I had from a previous very short clip of Mick and Josef. It would have been a totally different show with Rade Serbedzija. I loved our Mick/Josef relationship - and I think I could have loved this one, too. I especially liked his "living for love" line. I was intrigued by him being in cahoots with Coraline. This plotline had been much discussed and has cropped up in many a fanfic - it never worked for me with our Josef - I never saw anything in the show that made it credible to me - but it worked very well here and would have been an interesting story arc.

All in all, this was such a joy to watch - another part of our Moonlight picture.

Red

[jen]

Just watched it again (Yes, I am obsessive, even here) and was struck this time with Mick's fascination with fire. It was a recurring theme--from the lighter flicking at the beginning, when he casually ran his fingers through the flame, to his dispatch of the ugly vampire guard with lighter fluid and a flick of the match, to when he tossed Coraline into the fireplace. The fact that he knows how fatal fire can be to vampires, a factor he routinely uses to his advantage, adds an uncomfortable dimension to the lighter flicking.

Not really sure if Mick and Coraline were married in this or if their relationship was more casual. Coraline's remark, 'til death do us part' before turning Mick, mixed with the flash of fear on his face when the vampire emerged and her white lace attire could be taken either way.

As for baby Beth, four is young but not too young to try to help someone who is helping you. Liked that touch.

All in all, very interesting but I still prefer the second version.

The single best element of the first one was Jazz club trumpet player Mick.

For the most part, changes made were fabulous.

Just my take.

Jenna

[wpgrace]

Isn't it amazing... 2 years after the Big C, to have NEW Mick to talk about??

Red...

the body heat sensing and hypnotic gaze would also have been great (yeah, yeah I know our Mick had a hypnotic gaze too, but that was because he was Mick, not because he was a vampire).

True dat, honey!

And I've watched it a few times myself, Jen... and will watch it a few more.

[darkstarrising]

Don't feel badly, jenna, you're not obsessive, just dedicated

I found your comment about Mick's fascination with fire intriguing

It was a recurring theme--from the lighter flicking at the beginning, when he casually ran his fingers through the flame, to his dispatch of the ugly vampire guard with lighter fluid and a flick of the match, to when he tossed Coraline into the fireplace. The fact that he knows how fatal fire can be to vampires, a factor he routinely uses to his advantage, adds an uncomfortable dimension to the lighter flicking.

Until you pointed it out, I hadn't really caught the connection. It seems in this version of the vampire world, fire was the only way to 'kill' another vampire. Apparently, they weren't into decapitation. That said, as a vampire, fire would be something to be feared, yet it was also a means of defense.

Red, three things you cited really resonated, the first expecting the entire pilot to be as bad as the bits we had previously seen. Out of context, I think those clips came across worse than when we saw them as a part of the bigger whole. Like yourself, I expected the pilot to be terrible.

The jazz club scene was brilliant and beautiful and again, presented a very different picture of Mick. There was something a little washed-up, desperate, about Hawaiian-shirted Mick, whereas this Mick was all smoky cool

Amen! As one of the best scenes in the pilot, I wish they'd found a way to somehow work this into the series. When I saw Mick in the Hawaiin shirt, looking stiff as a board, in the series, I chalked it up to they were trying to convey a sense of naivete. Mick was out of his league and knew it. Seeing the club scene, yikes! He still was out of his league but you felt that this was a hot blooded man who went after what he wanted....

But I did like some aspects of the Mick here; the despatching of the vampire guard was swoon-inducingly wonderful - the flick of the match, "I don't dance." Oh maaaaaaaan...

O yeah....this Mick wasn't totally out to suppress his inner vamp....later on, when Josef asks why he bothers with humans, he says he was trying to make up for things, but now wasn't so sure how he felt about being a vampire. The Mick we saw in ML was desperate to deny what he was and reclaim what he couldn't. The Mick in the pilot had perhaps gotten over himself.

[Luxe de Luxe]

Oh yeah, a couple of really interesting thoughts above from both Jenna and dsr:

Just watched it again (Yes, I am obsessive, even here) and was struck this time with Mick's fascination with fire. It was a recurring theme--The fact that he knows how fatal fire can be to vampires, a factor he routinely uses to his advantage, adds an uncomfortable dimension to the lighter flicking.

I also hadn't really thought much about the cigarette lighter's meaning until you pointed this out. I loved the whole flicking it open/flicking it shut thing, there was something hypnotic about that... but for me, I think the whole lighter thing was a subtle indication of Mick's internal struggle with the decision of whether to remain alive or whether to end himself. Now that is really dark.

The other think I liked but didn't mention was the timing of his turning. 1947 way cooler than 1952 AND it made sense of the all timelines that are referred to in the show.

[r1015bill]

So many people have commented that the Twilight Mick is so much darker and less concerned with humanity than what we saw in Moonlight, the thought came to me that the Twilight Mick could have been like the pre-1985 vamp that Mick was talking about in Moonlight.

I'm talking about the scene in LLF at the end when he told Beth "I did a lot of bad things after I was turned, Beth. Things that you could never imagine. Things I carry tremendous amounts of guilt about. I wanna make up for them. Beth..."

[darkstarrising]

So many people have commented that the Twilight Mick is so much darker and less concerned with humanity than what we saw in Moonlight, the thought came to me that the Twilight Mick could have been like the pre-1985 vamp that Mick was talking about in Moonlight.

I'm talking about the scene in LLF at the end when he told Beth "I did a lot of bad things after I was turned, Beth. Things that you could never imagine. Things I carry tremendous amounts of guilt about. I wanna make up for them. Beth..."

Ah....you may be on to something there....in the series, we see Mick in 1945 and 1952 as a human. Then there's a thirty year gap until we see flashbacks to his early PI days in OOTP. There's a lot he could have done in that time frame. Good call!!

[wpgrace]

The other think I liked but didn't mention was the timing of his turning. 1947 way cooler than 1952 AND it made sense of the all timelines that are referred to in the show.

Do we have any idea why, when they went to series, they changed his turning date from '47 to '52?

[cassysj]

I found this picture ages ago on Ebay of the Original Cast. It's interesting how different the photos are.







In the original you have

Josef, Beth, Mick (focal point) Coraline

In the aired version you have

Josef and Coraline close to each other - interesting when you know the original pilot but not a vibe I ever got from our show. Mick (focal point) Beth off to the side. The vampires are on one side and the human is separated like night and day.

Now I know you put tons more thought in a photo session when a show is launching as opposed to a pitch pilot but I just thought it was interesting.

[darkstarrising]

Very intersting, Carol....I'd seen the original cast photo, but not having seen the pilot before, one thing didn't get my attention until now. In the original pilot, Mick's wardrobe was less casual than in the series, although the batcoat does appear in both. Yet in the original cast photo, except for the hair, Mick appears more as we saw him in the series. His casual attire makes him different from the other vampires, whereas Beth blends in with them.

In the series cast photo, it's just the opposite. Mick is still the focal point, but with his attire, he's more 'tailored' in appearance and to a similar degree as the other vamps. Beth, the human, is different from the rest.

[francis]

What strikes me in comparison of the cast photos is the setting. In the pilot it's set in a kind of old-fashioned study and I get the vibe it's Josef's study and he's holding an old book that immediately draws my attention. It seems focused on the old world, the past, and secrets that the vampires may have. Beth looks lost here, and Coraline is close to Mick and doesn't have anything sexy, just mean and cold.

In the new photo the setting is L.A., a cool place, with lights and skyscrapers. The clothing is chic and modern, the characters are more individually depicted, Coraline is sexy but not close to Mick, and Beth can hold her own as the counterpart to Coraline on Mick's other side. And Mick is more prominently featured.

[r1015bill]

It's interesting to see that Mick's jewelry is absolutely the same. The ring. The necklace. There HAS to be backstory for those that I'd really like to hear. If I ever get a chance to ask Alex one question, it would be "What's the history of Mick's jewelry?"


Ps. It does look like Mick's shoes are the same.