Moonlight Episode Discussion - Ep 10: Sleeping Beauty

[GuardianAngel]

LOL. You don't have to hit ME over the head to take a hint. I'll get on it ASAP.

[nutmegger911]

I can see both sides of this one. Beth clearly didn't want the assignment. I could see her rationalizing that at least she could spin the story away from the vampire community, but IMHO she could kept the camera shots to the outside of the building.

Mick just lost his best friend. Aside from the secret lifestyle, when you lose a friend it is not a news story to you, it is a personal tragedy. Having anyone show up with a camera could be upsetting, never mind someone you had just started to trust (and we all know he finds it hard to trust people). The whole situation was just difficult. *sigh*

[Luxe de Luxe]

I think Mick initially felt that Beth was there for him in his moment of need the way he would have been for her, and part of his harshness was not just upset that Josef had died, but was also hurt and disappointment at the thought that this was just a job to her. He'd had higher hopes for her.

It was a tough situation for Beth because she wasn't insensitive to this but was placed in a difficult situation. And she was right of course about her covering the story rather than someone else. (Although on a story that big heaps of reporters would have been sniffing around.)

[GuardianAngel]

I agree with you Luxe. I think part of Mick's pique was finding out that she wasn't there to comfort him - she was working.

Okay, here we go.....


Mick meets with Tom at the Kostan Industries building to go over the security tapes.



Tom explains that there were cameras everywhere (even the boiler room) and wanted them to be infrared. Tom didn't know why. But Mick does. Vampires don't give off body heat, so Josef knew who was human.



The guy who made it to his office was human.



Tom says that by the time he noticed the guy in the building he headed up there but it was too late. Mick wants him to get a closer shot of what the guy is holding. They are incediary devices and Mick recognizes them as being military grade.



Mick asks for a copy of the footage and Tom seems more than happy to comply. Our vamp's cell phone rings. It's Dr. Duffy. Morgan's awake.



Mick gets his fine derriere down to the hospital and speaks with Dr. Duffy who takes him to Morgan's room.



The wound has shown some signs of healing and Morgan has been in and out of consciousness. Mick can only talk to her for a few minutes. She needs to rest. He approaches the bed and looks down on her.



He leans forward, lightly touches Coraline's shoulder and calls to her. She awakens.



She tells him that he looks like someone just died (I think she was referring to herself) and Mick responds that someone has. Josef.



She remembers introducing them - that Mick thought he was a pompous jerk. Mick smiles (You only see his cheeks move up but I love it).



And Josef didn't think he was cut out to be a vampire. Mick says they were both probably right. They were best friends anyway. Mick agrees. And now Josef is gone. Coraline reminds him that she's back (he's not alone). Mick, earnestly, says that she has to tell him how.



She (deliberately?) misunderstands. How she survived the fire, she asks. No. How she became human. I felt bad for her here -she wants so desperately for him to show that he cares. But it always comes back to him wanting to be human. She doesn't understand why he wants to be mortal - experience death. Why? Oh! She thinks she knows why. It's Beth, isn't it? He think that he loves her. (I think her choice of words says a lot. It's not that he loves her, it's that he THINKS he loves her.)



Mick laughs (he always seems to look up and laugh when asked about his feelings for Beth).



He says it's not Beth. Cora's not giving up. She reminds him that she came back for him. Became mortal for him. Doesn't that mean anything. Oh yeah. But not how she wants. He wants to know HOW.



She fades into unconsciousness. Mick steps back and produces a needle and proceeds to take some of her blood. (I thought this was unbelievably cold. I know how much he wants to be human. But DAMN!)



She flinches as he inserts it, he gives her a brief glance. When he's done he caps it, gives her a final look and is gone.



Mick heads home. He gets a surprise as he exits the elevator.



Beth is there, sitting on the floor, waiting for him.



The both start to apologies. She shouldn't have brought a camera man, he over-reacted.



Mick starts to get emotional, explaining that it's been hard for him. All of it. Coraline in the hospital, Josef being dead.



She commiserates. She knows he meant a lot to Mick. Mick's outlived most of his human friends - you'd think he'd be used to losing people by now. But losing Josef is different.



He's survived 400 yrs. All the history he saw. He WAS history. The loss is so enormous, Mick doesn't even know how to mourn him.















Beth steps up and hugs him. Mick latches on.



They pull apart but still hold to each other. They give a laugh when Mick says he needs a drink and she says she does too.



They step into his office and BAM!



There's Josef in Mick's robe (I assume it's Mick's robe), waiting for them and sarcastically tells them so. He wants to know if they are going to help him find out who killed him. (Gotta luv 'em)



Beth looks at Mick. This shot always makes me smile because I can swear I can hear the voice in her head saying "don't kill him Mick, you just said how much you'll miss him".



And how could you hurt this face?

[r1015bill]

I will step aside to avoid the tomatoes, but I really wish they had played the "I don't know how to mourn him" scene differently. There are two scenes in the entire 16 episodes where I saw Alex ACTING the first time I saw the episodes and this is one of them.

I'm sure they were going for a maximum impact when Beth and Mick open the door and see Josef. But all the head moving did not seem like Mick at all - Mr. "I'm not going to reveal my emotions if I can avoid it." I could have bought it if he weren't looking directly at Beth, maybe turned sideways or hiding his face from her.

I think Alex does a far better job showing deep emotion after Josh dies in LLF.

[Luxe de Luxe]

I'm with you, bill. Alex's portrayal of Mick's emotion in the hallway didn't quite ring true to me, it was just trying a little too hard I think.

Ok, some great sequences here.

Hospital scene: GA, couldn't agree more about Mick's coldness in the hospital, the woman has just been stabbed in the chest, sheesh, give her a little comfort would 'ja? And isn't there that whole, 'we shouldn't give bad news to patients in the hospital' thing? I thought it was pretty insensitive to tell her about Josef's death at that point. It could have waited. And..

(I think her choice of words says a lot. It's not that he loves her, it's that he THINKS he loves her.)

Good pick up, GA. I've never noticed that before. I think you're right.

Hallway scene: I've always wondered why Mick couldn't smell Josef in the hallway. Josef is pretty old and would have left a scent trail (or a waft of smoke and charcoal at least). I really liked that Beth was waiting for him, though. That was very romantic. (We've all had a waiting in the hall for someone special moment, right? I can't be the only one to have ignored a court order. )

Inside Mick's: Josef was so adorable. The pure cheek of him. You have to love Mr Unflappable in Mick's bathrobe.

[helloeeze]

I have caught Alex more than a few times "acting" but that hallway scene has never been one of those times for me.

Now it could be true that Mick wouldn't let out his emotions that blatantly but he might have been caught off guard by Beth waiting for him there. Sometimes I know you can hold it together until someone shows tenderness to you and then that's it and the tears come forth. Anyway I will give Mick allowance to show emotion because, after all, it was Josef, the person (I mean entity, I guess) that he is closest to on earth. And Mick is given to tears at times (balcony scene comes to mind). Sometimes he just can't stop it.

It has always been true that I never quite understood how Mick is feeling towards Coraline at any one moment. He seems very concerned about her and the nurse even calls him (so he must have told the hospital he was Coraline's husband). Yet in the hospital he seems to be less caring and more concerned about Coraline's blood. Hard to figure out what Mick is thinking. But it's safe to assume his infatuation with Coraline is sudsiding by this point.

[wpgrace]

I think MICK doesn't know what he's feeling about Coraline, and then you throw Josef's death into the mix, and I think Mick is just acting on pure adrenalin thru much of the early part of this ep. He's an internal mess. A perpetually cool mess, but an emotional mess inside. Not accountable for what he says or does, none of which is all that bad or harsh considering... he's not vamped out or slugged anybody or even had a temper tantrum, but face it, he's had the worst day ever here.

His girls literally fought, placing one in the hospital BEFORE he got to have sex with either of them. His best friend died. His sorta girlfriend brought cameras to the death scene. His ex wife may die AGAIN, and again sorta his fault. And she has something he wants and now may never get. And some human, a HUMAN, killed his Josef.

He's trying to keep it together, cause there's also danger here. That the hospital is gonna figure out there's something... odd... about "Morgan"; that a vamp-hunter has killed his best friend, and is there danger to other vamps now too, and btw TIm and Dan are toast; that Beth is gonna bail at any moment given all this high drama, at least once she's got her "story"; and that Cora really is human and--just when he's found her again for better or worse-- could die too, or die again, whatever; or even worse, Cora die without telling him how to be human too.

There's A LOT going on in MickWorld right now.

So when he comes home, frustrated as hell, emotional as hell (but has been trying so hard not to show it all all day), and finds Beth, sans camera crew now, waiting for him, just for HIM, that HAD to be the seminal moment of his day. A moment of calm. Of peace. Of joy. Of getting the emotions out.

And then he did what I would do, head inside for a drink.

[Phoenix]

... She thinks she knows why. It's Beth, isn't it? He think that he loves her. (I think her choice of words says a lot. It's not that he loves her, it's that he THINKS he loves her.)

Quick question: are you sure you have the wording right?

In the spirit of total disclosure, I have a hearing impairment, so sometimes it's impossible for me to hear a few words no matter how many times I watch something. But I always thought Coraline said, "It's Beth, isn't it? I think you love her."

I'll take the word of those with better hearing - it just changes the scene quite a bit if what I thought I heard was incorrect.

[redwinter101]

... She thinks she knows why. It's Beth, isn't it? He think that he loves her. (I think her choice of words says a lot. It's not that he loves her, it's that he THINKS he loves her.)

Quick question: are you sure you have the wording right?

In the spirit of total disclosure, I have a hearing impairment, so sometimes it's impossible for me to hear a few words no matter how many times I watch something. But I always thought Coraline said, "It's Beth, isn't it? I think you love her."

I'll take the word of those with better hearing - it just changes the scene quite a bit if what I thought I heard was incorrect.

I'm sure it's "You think you love her..." This is also what's on the subtitles.

Red

[Lilly]

Phoenix, I just had a listen. What I hear Coraline say is "Think you love her." There is no "you" or "I" there that I can hear. Or see on her lips, for that matter. I had always interpreted it the way you had, though.

Just for kicks, I checked the script -- which means nothing because they didn't necessarily shoot things the way they were written. Lines were often cut or changed before filming. And sometimes the actors delivered them just a bit differently, as well. But, for anyone who's curious, the line in the script is:

Spoiler:

"You think you love her."

[Phoenix]

Thanks, ladies.

I'm pretty good at reading lips, but in that scene, I never could get it.

[librarian_7]

This IS interesting. I pulled out the ipod, and with the sound turned up pretty loud, what I heard was "I think you love her."

Lucky

[Kade1301]

I can't stand Coraline and would have wastly preferred her to have stayed dead. But still, in the hospital scene I almost feel sorry for her: There she is, injured and fishing for sympathy, and all Mick cares about is the cure. To me it's absolutely clear that their relationship is over.

Why Mick didn't smell Josef (or the glass full of blood) in the hallway I've never understood either. And anyway, why is he entering through the office when he's going for a drink?

Bye, Kade

[allegrita]

Maybe his sinuses were stuffy from crying?