Blood Ties - Complete Season 1 [DVD][2006]

I was drawn to the show when I first started watching the commercials on the Lifetime TV network (in America).

Based on the successful books by Tanya Huff, Blood Ties follows Vicki Nelson (Christina Cox), a private investigator who was released from the Toronto Metro Police because she is going blind because of retintus pigmentosa. It was a normal day in the office when Gothic girl Coreen (Gina Holden) comes into her office to help her find her boyfriend Ian's killer; whom she believes was a vampire. What ends up happening to Vicki from this point on changes her life forever.

Along the way, she meets Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid), bastard son of Henry VIII and now well recognized for his graphic novels and charm. They begin a tumultuous relationship against everything the darkness can throw at them.

If anyone was a fan of "Forever Knight" or "Buffy," you definitely want to check out Blood Ties and go on the website to support the show for a second season. The books were extrodinary and if they are able to have their way, it would be interesting to see how they incorporate the second story in book two and the first story in book three into the show.

Okay, first things first: I bought this dvd boxset based on Amazon recommendations and the very cheap price. Yes, I was dubious and yes, some of my fears were confirmed. But in all honesty, Blood Ties is fairly entertaining (for the most part) and the show probably deserves a little higher than 3 stars.

Anyway, to briefly give you some background: Blood Ties is an odd mash up of TV shows of yesteryear - it has the obvious vampire/horror elements of shows like Buffy and Angel, plus a bit of an X-Files feel. There is a Mulder/Scully type relationship between Vicki Nelson and her ex cop-partner Mike Celluci. And then there is Henry - a cenutries old, very hot (sorry, but it must be said!) and well informed vampire who gets Vicki's blood boiling.

The formula to this show is not particularly original - Vicki solves mysterious and supernatural cases with the help of Mike and Henry and gets all confused about her true feelings for both of them. This is all topped off by doses of questionable dialogue and some dodgy special effects. Whilst the series starts off horrendously, it does progress to a point of interest and along the way there are some pretty good episodes ("Gifted" and "5:55").

However, my main irritation with this show is Vicki: I just can't sympathise with her very wooden and one-dimensional, "I'm-a-strong-willed-feminist-female" character. While Mike is interesting, with his Scully-like troubles in accepting the supernatural and Henry's suprisingly witty and likeable tourtured soul routine, Vicki's character loses out in the likeable-personality stakes (*cough!*). Although the final episode goes some way to resolving the above issues, it's all too little and all too late.

In fairness, at less than £6.00 you're not exactly risking too much. Yes, some elements are cheesy and badly done but at the end of the day Blood Ties is decent enough, especially given how ridiculously cheap it is. But if you're willing to shell out a little more dosh, check out Supernatural or those age-old classics Buffy and X-Files.

I feel I have to respond to redress the ridiculously high and unwarranted rating of the Vampire series called "Blood ties". No doubt many people have been duped thinking it's a high quality show much like Buffy the Vampire slayer, or some such thing. Unfortunately you have been tricked by desperate American fans knowing this show has been cancelled and for good reason. It's not even mediocre fare.

Clearly there are parallels to Buffy the Vampire slayer and its spin-off series Angel but it honestly doesn't deserve comparison. Calling this a mediocre show is a disservice to the word mediocre. There is nothing quality about this show. The only similarity is vampires and a female lead. Note that I did not say a strong female lead even though the so-called writers try to make her that way.

Now if you think "charmed" is a good series you can disqualify my comments because this is a diluted Buffy styled Vampire Show aimed at the "charmed" demographic . No quality writing/stories, no good action, no quality drama but I'm sure you girls can live with the handsome guys regardless. For those with a little taste try Buffy , Angel or Firefly you'll find guys/girls to lust over with characters and stories you'll *really care about* at the same time.