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Halloween Watchlist
Social Distancing: Dracula (Series) - #30
Synopsis: In an update of Bram Stoker’s iconic novel, Dracula travels to London, pretending to be an American entrepreneur with an interest in bringing modern science to Victorian England. The guise conceals the vampire’s much darker plans for revenge against those who ruined his life centuries earlier. His plan hits a snag when he meets and falls deeply in love with a woman who appears to be the reincarnation of his dead wife. Golden Globe winner Jonathan Rhys-Meyers plays the title role in this provocative drama.
My Take: Just like zombies, vampires are old and tired. However, this series explored an interesting angle on Stoker’s creation. You have the love story, which seems to be a fundamental element of a vampire story, between Dracula (Jonathan Rhys Meyer) and Mina (Jessica De Gouw). But for those who haven’t read Bram Stoker’s novel, that story was anything but a love story. In fact, there was no romance in the novel for Dracula. He was pure evil, but modernist and beyond have made him into this romantic figure who was driven just as much by love than his blood lust, but I digress. There is the love story, which has its appeal. However, what’s most intriguing about this series is Dracula’s relationships with others. He develops an explosive liaison with Lady Jane Weatherby (Victoria Smurfit) who is his nemesis being that she’s a vampire hunter, but their chemistry is fire way more so than what he has with Mina. Additionally, he has a strange alliance with Abraham Van Helsing (Thomas Kretschman), who is also his nemesis, but their common goal of taking down the Order of the Dragon, helps forge their partnership. My favorite relationship is between Dracula and Renfield (Nonzo Anozie). He, Nonzo Anozie, is great in this. I loved the character of Renfield.
He is extremely important to Dracula, not only because he handles his business, being that he’s an attorney, but that he is his friend. What’s also intriguing about this series is the fact that Dracula was seeking revenge in a way that wasn’t just about violently taking people down. He was doing it strategically with business, by introducing innovation (the energy of electricity) to London society as well as having a black man, which was unheard of, as his attorney. The acting in this was good from almost everyone. Jonathan Rhys Meyers captured Dracula’s intensity well, but at times was laughably over the top with his petulance and rage. Katie McGrath was unfortunately the weak spot in this. Her acting was abysmmal, but she’s never been the greatest actress anyway. Everyone else played their roles well, with just the right amount of nuance and believability.
There are many fascinating layers to this series. It’s too bad it only got one season, so most were barely explored. But it still kind of worked for the show. The series finale closed out well, leaving few open ends. So if they’d been given another season, many relationships would’ve dramatically shifted, which may have diminished the appeal of the show. The series only has 10 episodes. So this is one you can binge watch over a weekend.
