Turn Back The Clock
Forever Knight
Distributed By: Sony Pictures
Reviewed by Justine Manzano
Much like my husband, Ismael, I have had an obsession with the whole idea around vampires since I was very young. For me, the obsession started when I was 10 years old with the airing of the first episode of a series called Forever Knight. It started when CBS began a night time series called “Crimetime After Primetime,” in which, every day of the week, a different mystery/suspense series would air in the 11:35-12:35 time slot. The Wednesday night show, (if I’m remembering my days correctly) was Forever Knight, and upon watching it all those years ago, I was hooked. Despite the fact that CBS’ experiment ended after one season of the show, I followed as the show jumped from CBS to WPIX to Fox and then finally met it’s demise. Three seasons long, this show changed how I viewed vampires. It was my Anne Rice (though it didn’t take itself nearly as seriously).
Forever Knight picks up just in
time to watch as a seemingly normal Toronto Police detective named Nicholas
Knight (Geraint Wyn Davies, 24, Tracker) partners up with the cocky and
bull-headed Donald Schanke (John Kapelos, The Breakfast Club (he was the
janitor),
Stick It). It doesn’t take long for the viewer to understand that Nick is
not like any other cop—he claims to be allergic to sunlight so he can only work
at night, he doesn’t eat in front of people and he doesn’t really love crosses.
Detective Nicholas Knight is a vampire and he’s doing a damn good job of hiding
it. Helping him cover his secret is Natalie Lambert (Catherine Disher), a
medical examiner for the department who once discovered
Nick’s
secret after he survived an explosion that should’ve killed him. When she
discovered his secret, he confessed to her that he wants to become human and is
willing to try any experiment Natalie can dream up if it would help to get him
there. He hates what he is and has become a dete
ctive
to right the wrongs in his life. Fighting against his goal are the vampire that
made him, Lacroix (Nigel Bennett, Lexx: The Series) and his long time vampire
lover, Jeanette (Deborah Duchene). Throughout season 1 and 2 of the series,
Nick struggled to keep his secret from Schanke, to try Natalie’s attempts at a
cure and to keep Lacroix and Jeanette from doing any more damage.
In season 3 (the best season in my opinion), Nick is joined by a new partner, Tracy Vetter (Lisa Ryder, Andromeda, Jason X) who discovers the secret of vampires when she finds Javier Vachon (Ben Bass), a young vampire who has been on the run all his life. However, despite the fact that she discovers his secret, she still doesn’t know Nick’s and Nick is desperate to keep her from figuring it out. Add to that the new recurring characters of Urs and Screed, Vachon’s old vampire buddies. Finally, when a secret Lacroix has been keeping and Nick and Natalie’s growing relationship begins to get in the way, all of them may be in jeopardy. In the end, only a few survive and it’s explosive!
All in all, Forever Knight is a fairly cheesy show. It was made in the early 90’s, and it has some terrible moments—the kind that embarrass you just by watching them. The actors can sometimes overact terribly, and the direction can often be very overly dramatic. It would be pretty bad…if it wasn’t SO GOOD! I don’t understand what it is, but the show always kept me on the edge of my seat.
It’s bad, silly, and cheesy, but in some ways it’s brilliant. It was ahead of it’s time. Complex relationships between characters, offbeat storylines and often genreless episodes, this drama may be comedic at times, but it’s still worth the watching. Besides, if you’re a vampire lover, you’ll certainly find the time for the inspiration of many vampire stories after it’s time. So check it out and prepare for three seasons of one of the most cheesy and entertaining series of the early 90’s!
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