Moonlightaholics

In honor of Moonlight's eighth anniversary, we thought it would be fun to list our eight favorite things about the show. It can be a character, a prop or costume piece, a plot element, some cool behind-the-scenes tidbit that you've learned over the years, or something that Moonlight brought into your life.

I'll start with my own eight favorite things. It's almost impossible to narrow down the list, but here's my best shot:

1. Mick St. John. Everything about him. His style, his amazing home, his voiceovers, his passion, and his pain. His love of jazz, his yearning to stay in touch with what made him human, his wry sense of humor, his loneliness, his car, his frosty eyelashes, his capacity for love despite all that life had hammered him with. He's a beautiful, tragic character with the capacity for redemption.

2. The theme music. I still have it as my ringtone. It gives me chills, even now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX09pdTZ3ww

3. Mick's women. Yes, I'm cheating a bit. But Lilah, Coraline, and Beth all had a huge effect on him, and each of those relationships happened as a result of the previous one. Without loving and giving up Lilah, I don't think Mick would have been as vulnerable as he was to Coraline. And without Coraline, Beth would never have come into his life. The dichotomy between Mick's relationships with Coraline and Beth was vitally important, not just to the show but to our understanding of Mick as a man. And his love for each of them went into making him the person he was.

4. The scene in Dr. Feelgood, when Beth pulled that stake out of Mick's chest. It perfectly captures what I love most about Beth, and also why Mick loves her so.

5. Josef's office. I loved his house, but I couldn't imagine actually living in a room made of concrete. His office had wonderful touches that made it obvious he was a man who had lived for centuries, yet was also absolutely on the cutting edge of the now. It was a beautiful piece of set design.

6. The songs that were played on the show. I play them often, even now. Moonlight knocked me for a loop in many ways, but one of the big things it did was to get me to expand my musical horizons.

7. The amazing effect Moonlight had on so many of us, that blossoming of talent and learning and sharing. So many people were so inspired by Moonlight, and expressed that inspiration in so many ways. Fanfic, art, videos, poetry... wow.

8. The wonderful community of fans that came together because of Moonlight. Because it deserves its own item, though it's related to the previous one. I've made friends for life because of this show. What a blessing.

And I could write 800 more. But that's my stab at it. I'd love to see what your lists look like!

Eight things…just eight things?

1. I do love Mick St. John, and I’m putting him first for a reason. He’s the center of Moonlight, and he’s this amazing, beautiful creature who is weighted with the sense of past misdeeds, and seeking redemption. He says it in the famous “interview”—that he wants to use his special powers for good. He’s dark and mysterious, and while he has the capacity to do (as he put it) terrible things, he also has the capacity to be honorable, and I think that’s why anyone would love him. He’s at heart an honorable man, and well worthy of the love he’s denied himself for so long.

2. Well, you know I had to list Josef second, because that vamp totally stole my heart. He’s so different from Mick, on the surface. Ruthless and hedonistic, and absolutely reveling in the fact that he’s a rich, immortal vampire. He could easily have been a complete jerk of a character, and yet…eventually we found that behind the snark, behind the freshie parties, behind the trappings of wealth, there was an ocean of sadness. Of humanity and pain tied up in his lost love. Josef gave us layers of character, and so much to work with in his ambiguity. You never knew everything about who he was, or what he was thinking.

3. I love big things, like the main characters, and little things, like the moment when poor, bloody Mick looks up at Beth with shame and fear in his eyes, and says, “I’m a vampire,” at the end of OOTP. I’ve always said that moment was when I fell off the cliff, and in love with this series. (For one thing, I was delighted they weren’t going to keep up some sort of Superman/Lois Lane thing, where the audience would spend a whole season wondering how long it was going to take for this supposedly bright young woman to put 2+2 together and get “vampire.”)

4. Another little “Mick moment” I truly love is the way, at the end of NSTAV, he first resists that hug from Beth, then slowly just melts into it. It goes from her hugging him in gratitude, to him accepting her human warmth, and finding an unexpected bit of comfort in his long, dark life.

5. Josef’s snark, throughout. One of the things I love about him is his intelligence. And he is undoubtedly smart, as well as being a smartass. His dialogue was written (and delivered!) with such finesse.

6. I have learned more about television, and fandom, and many other things from Moonlight. For one, I found that fandom is community. Meeting some of my best friends ever through this fandom has been such a wonderful thing.

7. I love Moonlight because it awakened a need in me to write. While I may not scribble story after story quite as furiously now, as I once did, writing fic gave me the opportunity to write, and to be read, and that experience is quite priceless. Through my passion for this little, one-season vampire show, I’ve found that not only can I write fiction, but my academic writing has become more focused as well.

8. I have to finish up this list with Josef again, because, well, Josef. And the fact that Josef wouldn’t have been Josef without Jason. I will always love Moonlight for introducing me to Jason, both literally and figuratively. Josef is possibly my favorite vampire in all vampire literature, and a lot of it is because of Jason’s portrayal of him.

Let the Moonlight shine forever!

Oooh, everyone is right! It's so difficult to put eight things into words!! But here is my go...

8 Things I Love About Moonlight...

1) The music... Seriously beautiful and emotive songs that I have loved ever since. <3

2) How inspirational it was... How many people I know who have, and continue to be inspired by it. ( Including me! )

3) The light... I've only seen one show since, that plays with light and scenes the way Moonlight did. That captured the colours of the city while still keeping a very Noir feel. Loved that.

4) The relationships... The way that the characters in the show were brought together, either through love, respect, revenge. They were interwoven beautifully. Even very brief characters. They were there for a reason, and with a presence. So well thought out.

5) The city... Moonlight made Los Angeles a beautiful place. And a recognisable one. It made me want to visit, and when I did, it was SO very cool to be part of it. Part of the show.

6) The show's humour... So subtle, yet completely funny. The banter between Mick and Josef was unmistakable, but the shows feel was never one that took itself too seriously. It made the characters so likeable, and their relationships all the more genuine.

7) The kisses... There weren't all that many? But MAN they completely counted. Utterly complimenting the scene. LOVED them. ( Yes, am very soppy. )

8) The prospect of what was to come.... Okay. This isn't something I love so much, but it's something that showed SO much promise... The stories that were about to unfold in season two. I know that we were denied it? But goodness, how cool would it have been??


So there you have them folks! 8 of my main reasons to love Moonlight. Amongst all of the others, I've never loved a show quite so much, or missed it quite so hard. I have to say that I shall always be a Moonlight fan of infinite measure. ( 8 )

Mick St. John
Beth
Josef
The music
The romance
The fan fic
The friends I made and new things I tried
The videos fans made

Happy 8th Anniversary to the show that was before its time

It really is impossible to narrow it to eight, let alone rank them. Which is why you are the head mistress around these parts, Alle — because you managed to do both (along with bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan, I'm sure... oh wait, you're vegan, aren't you? ).

Since you've set such a fine example, I shall trudge on...

1. This place. Honestly, I still love Moonlight, but over the ensuing years this board has surpassed Moonlight as the best thing about Moonlight. I have had so much fun frolicking in this playground. Like many of you've said, it's provided an excuse for a creative outlet that I had been missing for years. Plus there's all of you. Sometimes I want to know what you guys think about something more than I want to know what my RL friends think. Especially when it comes to TV. So here's my annual shout out to Alle and the mods — Lilly, Lucky & PGal — for their fabulously witty personalities and board-herdin' skilz!!! And here's to those of you who comment — for making me laugh so hard, consider another viewpoint, learn about another country... or city, see L.A. in a totally new light, read a new ML adventure, share in your joys and sorrows, make April Fools of ourselves, watch a new TV show I probably wouldn't have otherwise, snark about badly written TV shows (ahem!) and, well, I could go on and on, but you get the gist.

2. Mick is the man. Still. I doubt there'll be any list on here that doesn't include him. I mean, come on. I often wonder if Trevor fully appreciates the impact of Mick St. John. And I am reminded of this excellent archetype run down by Cinemama. She (and the comments in response) really nailed the reasons why Mick pushes so many of our buttons, and it's another example of the rich breadth of this fandom. I will be a Mick girl until I crawl into my freezer in the sky, and that is thanks primarily to two incredibly talented people: Trevor Munson and Alex O'Loughlin. One for each of them...

3. The back stories. So rich. So many ideas in which to immerse oneself. Chief among them being "what if you rewrote human history to include a sprinkling of vampires?" Am now doubling down on that whole 'Betty Davis eyes' thing.

4. The Gallery. Seriously, those images. to Lilly. By way of the crew (sets, lighting, etc.). The look of Moonlight is just gorgeous!

5. The modern sensibility. This was one of the first things that really caught my attention. The dialogue, the pop culture references, the iPhones(!), the fortress of style... this was definitely not Count Dracula! And Beth. Beth was definitely a modern woman, and I loved that, esp. her reporter's curiosity and persistence. Up until the end, when the scripts went a little haywire, she really defied TV convention. My favorite "modern" Beth moment? "Why does the girl always have to wait in the car?" And she worked for an outfit called "Buzzwire." Eat your heart out, Facebook.

6. Speaking of modern... the freezer. (Oh come on, you know that had to make my list. ) Really, Mick's ice box beats a coffin any day of the week, in my book (although we never got to see Josef's surely elaborate freezer... I might covet that more ). I think we should all be buried in such a cool, sleek disco den... or that over-the-top cremation box from P.S. I Love You. However, what really sold me on the freezer (other than the fact that it's where Mick gets nekkid ), was the story that Ethan told at the L.A. Convention about how they considered ending Sonata with Mick and Beth in the freezer. While I think they made the right decision not to do that, I just adored the idea (aside from the practical considerations). So I took up residence in the freezer... and have been there ever since, waitin' for Mick to chill out.

7. The snark. HaHa. Big surprise there, right? Josef is the master, but everyone got their share of great lines. ML snark did not feel "watered down" like on many other shows. Plus, the best ML snark of all wasn't even on the show! I am referring, of course, to Harry's story about how the "it is so on!" line came from the incident with his neighbor and the bag of dog poop on the front stoop.

8. The romance. All around, it was believable. Mick & Coraline, Mick & Beth, Josef & Sarah, Josef & Simone, Beth & Josh (okay, not that kissing scene after she came back from NY, but other than that.... ). Josh and Beth's relationship really did feel natural and real - the scenes depicted a modern relationship. And up until the strike, they paced the Mick and Beth romance pretty much perfectly... something in each episode to move it along a notch. But really, Alex and Sophia just nailed it. Their chemistry is still some of the best I've seen. I really rooted for those two crazy kids....

So I'm eternally grateful for this...



'Coz after all the "sturm und drang," it allows us the freedom to take Moonlight wherever we want.