Recap and Review
Well, it looks like the poll asking which characters might die was pretty well timed... but more on that later.
Last episode had Krista "detoxing" and supposedly returning back to her normal conflicted self. It appears that she's ready to go back to work for Blade as Episode 12 starts off with her strolling back into the House of Chthon like nothing had happened. She quickly goes to work trying to find out the location of the Conclave, a secret meeting for the Pure Bloods of Chthon, but Marcus intervenes with a little romp in the office.
Marcus and Krista finish their brief romance just in time for a meeting with Marcus' architect; who's apparently behind on the Conclave building renovations. Marcus reminds Krista of his brutality when he brutaly murders the architect's assistant right in front of him. A bitter Chase cleans up the mess and discovers Krista wearing Marcus' ex-wife's necklace. Needless to say, she wasn't so happy about that. As such, she sneaks into Krista's room and let's her know she's not a woman to be messed with, especially with the impending chaos.
Speaking of impending chaos, Marcus' gift to Charlotte (Blade's sword) turns out to be a bomb, which happens to detonate while Charlotte and her crew are mid flight. The resilient Pure Blood and her giant of a bodyguard Thorne both survive the crash. They also are able to heal themselves rather quickly thanks to a couple of unfortunate campers that happen upon the crash site. With the sun rising, the two vampires quickly make their way to the nearby town for cover.
Meanwhile, Blade and Shen welcome a new visitor to their group - agent Collins. After Collins proves his worth by determining the location of Charlotte's plane, Blade decides to take him along in an effort to round up some intel on the location of the Conclave. Upon arriving at the plane, however, they discover that there were survivors so they follow the tracks to the previously mentioned town.
When the two heroes arrive, they are presented with the aftermath of the blood bath that preceded them. It doesn't take long for Blade and Collins to be jumped by some newly turned vampires. Blade handles them quickly, but not before Collins is badly injured. Collins volunteers himself to be bait for the remainder of the turned vampires as Blade continues on in search of Charlotte.
After a couple turns in a winding hall, Blade comes upon Charlotte and Thorne. The Pure Blood makes a run for it while her bodyguard does his best against the Daywalker. Thorne actually has the upper hand for a moment, but Collins shows up to distract him long enough for Blade to ash the giant. While Blade finishes his dirty work, Collins runs off after Charlotte. That proves to be a mistake as Blade finds him bitten and dying with Charlotte in the corner. She tries to offer him a deal, but he counters the offer by ashing her. Knowing Collins is done for, Blade stakes him before he can turn.
The end of the episode shows us that Shen does decifer the location of the Conclave from the information brought back from the wreckage, setting us up for a great season ending battle.
Notable Scenes
- Collins being killed.
- Charlotte being ashed.
- Chase kissing Krista.
Closing ThoughtsThis. Episode. ROCKED! I mean damn it had everything. Action... check. Romance... check. Drama... check. Surprises... check. Everything else... check!
I can't believe they killed off both Collins and Charlotte. Like I mentioned in the poll wrap-up, I was thinking nobody was going to be killed. I did say Charlotte was the most likely suspect, but I never would have guessed both her and Collins wouldn't make it. Hell, we still have another episode for people to die - and the previews sure make it look like we might have
at least one more casualty.
Anyway, I was hoping she and Thorne would have put up a better fight. Actually, Thorne put up an okay fight, I just thought the fight scene itself was anti-climactic and poorly done. If the Thorne fight was more engaging, I think I would have been more accepting of Charlotte's quick demise. And Charlotte may have been ashed, but she did make a phone call first and that call will likely mean trouble for Marcus during the final episode.
Other than that last big encounter, the rest of the show was incredible. I don't know if I've ever been this excited for a season finale before. The build up in the show has been amazing and the key is that each episode still stands strong on its own without relying on the suspense for the finale.
Let me go off on a tangent a bit here using one of my favorite shows last season that turned into one of my least favorite this season -
Deadwood. In
Deadwood this season, the entire show was a suspenseful build-up of a single conflict. Every single episode this past season relied on that suspense and as such, each episode was pure crap by itself. To compound this problem, the finale was probably the most anticlimactic finale I've ever experienced. With that, the entire season was a snooze fest that only had me watching it because I was hoping it would eventually live up to its former glory... which it didn't unfortunately.
Now, take
Blade: The Series. While each episode does build up to the eventual realization or failure of Marcus' plans against the Pure Bloods, each episode also delivers on its own merits, even without that suspense. This is why tonight's episode was so great. It was amazing on it's own, but it also built us up for what looks to be an incredible season ender.
So, to sum it all up... this episode was fantastic and I'm extraordinarily excited about next week's season finale.
*the two
Blade: The Series photos were found via
Comics Continuum[tags]Blade: The Series episode, Blade monsters, Blade episode 12[/tags]