Blade: The Series 

The adventures of the half human/vampire hunter.

Creator:

David S. Goyer

Stars:

Sticky Fingaz, Jill Wagner, Nelson Lee

1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Sticky Fingaz	...	Blade 12 episodes, 2006
Jill Wagner	...	Krista Starr 12 episodes, 2006
Nelson Lee	...	Shen 12 episodes, 2006
Jessica Gower	...	Chase 12 episodes, 2006
Neil Jackson	...	Marcus Van Sciver 12 episodes, 2006
Larry Poindexter	...	Agent Ray Collins 8 episodes, 2006
P. Lynn Johnson	...	Lisa Starr 7 episodes, 2006
Emily Hirst	...	Charlotte 6 episodes, 2006
John DeSantis	...	Thorne 6 episodes, 2006
Sahar Biniaz	...	Sabine 6 episodes, 2006
Don Thompson	...	Uncle Pat McCallum 5 episodes, 2006

Storyline

The adventures of the half human/vampire hunter.

---

Plot Keywords:

black superhero | stabbing | cool | black comedy | camp | 

---

Genres:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 June 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blade: House of Chthon

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spike TV, Marvel Enterprises, New Line Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actor Sticky Fingas was part of the rap group Onyx. His cousin and former group member Fredro Starr also took to acting and portrayed one of Blade's old friends in the episode "Bloodlines."

---

Alternate Versions

The unrated DVD versions have more violence and nudity then the TV edits.

---

Connections

Spun-off from Blade (1998)

User Reviews

Reaks of creative claustrophobia, turning "Blade" into a vampire-related drama was not a great idea

Network: Spike TV; Genre: Action, Drama, Horror; Content Rating: TV-14 (for strong language, graphic violence and gore); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Seasons Reviewed: Complete Series (1 season)

For their first big scripted dramatic series, Spike TV went to the movie well and got screenwriter David S. Goyer himself to adapt Marvel comic book character and movie trilogy star Blade for the small screen. Half-human, half-vampire, Blade (Kirk "Sticky" Jones, "Over There"), also known as The Daywalker, tries to infiltrate a vast highly sophisticated underground syndicate of vampires. Meanwhile, a battle brews between the infected, lead by Marcus Van Sciver (Neil Jackson), and the purebloods that rule the vampire bloodline, one of the leaders of which – in the show's best character twist - is 12-year old Charlotte (Emily Hirst).

"Sticky" Jones does a decent Blade, as well as Wesley Snipes, but even at series length Blade is an anti-social one-note force of martial arts destruction. The show compensates by bringing in an original character. After her brother is shot by Marcus in the pilot, Krista (Jill Wagner) ventures into the vampire underworld, is converted and is then flipped by Blade as a double agent on the inside. With Blade left to do nothing more than grunt and growl, the show follows Krista's rise to the right hand of Marcus - much to the chagrin of his beautiful partner Chase (Jessica Gower) - as he tries to develop a vaccine to kill the purebloods.

One of the most interesting things about the "Blade" movies was that vampirism was treated like a disease and the aristocratic depiction of the vampire culture and inside of which where political power struggles between the 2 "races". It is fertile ground for a series to explore and yet "Blade: the series" feels like a monumental missed opportunity. Vampirism is now sold on the street like a drug as "Ash", but otherwise the show can't think of any new avenues to take itself down. If we aren't getting action how about vampirism as a social metaphor? The whole production reeks of an inescapable feeling of creative claustrophobia. I know should be grateful, given how few shows like this actually are on TV, but good intentions don't keep me entertained.

But the marquee appeal of "Blade" was the comic book fight scenes. While the Pilot looks great (the visual style of the entire series is slick eye-candy), as the show goes to series the action is suffocated by the Spike TV budget. In order to pay for a CGI effect of vampire skeletons exploding into dust (or a bit like my favorite, where Krista decapitates a vampire with a street sign), "Blade" scrimps and saves every penny by padding the show with endless, endless, scenes of expository conversation and dramatic dialog, effectively turning "Blade" into a vampire-related drama instead of a comic book actioner. And that is the biggest, and likely unavoidable, mis-step the show makes. All the saving does pay off in the end. If you can make it that far the show delivers a satisfying face-to-face final battle between Blade and Marcus.

I should also make the point that the TV-14 rating given to the show by Spike is wildly, irresponsibly, inappropriate given the language and level of gore on display here. "Blade" is a basic cable TV-MA if I've ever seen it.

* * / 4