Moonlight Episode Discussion - Ep 10: Sleeping Beauty

[GuardianAngel]

Episode Ten: Sleeping Beauty

Summary: Mick hunts for an assassin hired to kill Josef and learns a secret Josef kept from him for more than 40 years. Mick also discovers the hit was put out by a dying man with a personal vendetta against Josef.


Coraline is in the hospital, in serious condition.



She is being looked in on by her doctor when Mick and Beth come in. The doctor explains that the object (with which she was stabbed) missed her heart but punctured a lung and partially tore the pericardium. Mick asks if she'll live.



It's a deep wound. And infection has already set in - that's the biggest concern at the moment. That and a build up of fluid around the heart. Dr. Duffy says that it's a very unusual wound and understands from the ER doctor that it was some sort of accident.



She asks if either of them knows what happened. Mick is quick to say 'no'. They don't know.



Dr. Duffy leaves, saying that there's not much they can do but monitor her and she'll let them know if there is any change.

They step further into the room. Beth wants to know why Coraline didn't rat her out. Mick says it's because she wouldn't want the police involved.


Beth is remorseful and says that she can't believe she almost killed her - she was sure Coraline was a vampire.



Mick replies that she couldn't have known. He didn't even know.



Mick approaches Coraline's bedside and looks down at her.



Beth realizes that Mick still cares for Coraline and says so. Mick looks back at her (with a sort of 'duh' look) and reminds her that Coraline was his wife.





(Changing the subject?) Beth asks if Mick really believes there is some kind of cure.



Coraline was a vampire for years. Now she's as human as Beth. Something changed her back. And if she dies.....



Mick will never know what that was. Or how she did it.




Totally shallow but I'm lovin Mick in all black - so sober and tormented.

[darkstarrising]

I'm lovin the black as well....

Two things stood out in this scene ....the phrase 'She was my wife' said so much. He had loved Coraline, married her and planned to spend a happy life together with her, but couldn't on the terms she provided. There are still feelings for her, but there is disappointment and regret as well.

The other thing is that Sophia looks awful in this scene, beyond what Beth is supposed to....the circles under her eyes make it look as though she hasn't slept for a while.

Looks like Shannyn got some shut eye

[librarian_7]

You can only imagine how thrilled I am we've worked our way up to SB! Much gorgeous Josefness to come, here.

I was just thinking, looking down those caps, that Beth looks thinner. Her face is drawn....she's feeling a lot of guilt.

Lucky

[wondergirl9847]

Agreed. Perhaps it was meant to be that way that Mick looks terrific here while Beth looks terrible. I hated her hair the second I saw her onscreen.

[cassysj]

I'm so excited to see Sleeping Beauty. I agree Beth really looked drawn, stressed, tired in this scene.

[wpgrace]

Not a flattering hairstyle for Sophia... agreed.

I always felt like this scene was edited weirdly... they are talking at each other more than to each other... it doesn't flow well. Awkward, as Josef would say. But I do like the "she was my wife" line. Very Mick. Tho it's gotta put Beth on edge again... this vampire guy is hard to figure out.

One other thing... when this ep first aired, I did see a promo for it... first ML promo I ever saw, or at least the first one I noticed that I saw. And what Mick said in the promo was "she was a vampire for 500 years and now she's as human... ". I was already so addicted to the show, I knew full well that Cora hadn't been a vamp for 500 years. So I was intrigued when the ep played to see that they had already edited out that little slippage into Moonlight Math...

[r1015bill]

Agreed. Perhaps it was meant to be that way that Mick looks terrific here while Beth looks terrible. I hated her hair the second I saw her onscreen.

But isn't Mick's hair exquisitely beautifully perfect! Especially the fourth picture he's in. It's like the best hair day ever.

[helloeeze]

It must be hard for any actress to act alongside Mick. No matter how beautiful they are they pale in comparison! He is always much purtier.

[redwinter101]

ITA on the purty - but I still hate that jacket.

Red

[allegrita]

Well... imagine how nice it would feel if you were hugging it.

[Kade1301]

I still don't get why Mick is so understanding about Beth staking Morgaline - "you couldn't have known"? How so???? He told her Morgan was human, Josef told her (though Mick doesn't know that), Beth found the drug in her flat (and probably food in the fridge), Beth has possibly had lunch with Morgan and most probably seen her drink coffee - and from all that she couldn't figure out that the woman would be hurt by a stake in her body?

Bye, Kade

[GuardianAngel]

I still don't get why Mick is so understanding about Beth staking Morgaline - "you couldn't have known"? How so???? He told her Morgan was human, Josef told her (though Mick doesn't know that), Beth found the drug in her flat (and probably food in the fridge), Beth has possibly had lunch with Morgan and most probably seen her drink coffee - and from all that she couldn't figure out that the woman would be hurt by a stake in her body?

Bye, Kade

All things that would definitely make one wonder. But I think all the evidence that Beth found in the party house trumped what she had seen and heard previously. If I were in Beth's shoes I think I would suspect that a crafty, vengeful vampre would find ways to appear human - that being more likely that a vampire suddenly finding a way to BECOME human.

[Lilly]

I agree GA. At this point, neither Mick nor Beth had any idea what the "cure" entailed. Beth may very well have assumed that Coraline found a way to appear more human but that she was still essentially a vampire beneath that illusion. If Mick didn't know how it worked -- even though he desperately hoped it was a real cure -- he could hardly expect Beth to know.

[wpgrace]

I agree GA. At this point, neither Mick nor Beth had any idea what the "cure" entailed. Beth may very well have assumed that Coraline found a way to appear more human but that she was still essentially a vampire beneath that illusion. If Mick didn't know how it worked -- even though he desperately hoped it was a real cure -- he could hardly expect Beth to know.

Actually, that's an interesting point, Lilly. Mick DID seem to think it was real, a total cure. Beth would most likely, given the pics and all that she had seen at the apartment and the house, think it was simply a masking agent.

Tho she still had every intention to truly HURT Coraline. Which leads me to wonder, had Cora been a regular vamp at that moment, what WOULD Beth have done to her when staked and vulnerable?

[librarian_7]

Tho she still had every intention to truly HURT Coraline. Which leads me to wonder, had Cora been a regular vamp at that moment, what WOULD Beth have done to her when staked and vulnerable?

I recall bringing this up on the FdL thread, grace. It's a good question, and might make an interesting AU fic...what if the cure had worn off before Beth staked Coraline? What then? And beyond what Beth was thinking, what would she have expected Mick to do, with a staked vamp (regardless of who she was) in his living room?

I do suspect though, that given what did happen, it's unsurprising both that a) Beth was suffering agonies of remorse for what she did and b) this is more evidence that hello, Mick is not HUMAN, and his reaction to the situation was far more indicative of his long years as a vamp and what they'd done to his attitudes and perspectives.

Lucky