I have been championing this series, encouraging people to give it a go as an opportunity to gather the family together for a cosy Sunday night in.
I have enjoyed the episodes so far, but episode three was not as well done as the first two. There are several reasons why.
There were too many subplots competing for attention, each featuring rather annoying characters. It was jarring and distracting, especially as none of the subplots was particularly strong or credible in its own right.
Victor loses the castle
Victor admits that his family no longer owns the castle after he lost it in a bet with his arch-nemesis, Alexis. Alexis arrives to collect the keys and evict the family.
Alexis was an incredibly irritating character to watch, although I feel he may have been deliberately written that way. He was smug, brash and constantly trying to outdo Victor.
But what irked me most is that I genuinely prefer Victor as the menacing head of the family. Here, he came across as whiny and weak. It disrupted the balance between the characters and almost made him seem human, which is far from what he is.
I am struggling to enjoy the character of Vernon. Other than skulking around and trying to trip up his younger brother, Val, I fail to see any need for him at this point.
We are now at episode three, and all we have seen of him are brief glimpses of him peering out from behind walls and listening in to conversations. He needs more presence and a stronger plot if the audience is to invest in him.
The drunken shapeshifter
Aside from Victor’s subplot with Alexis and Vernon sneaking around the castle, the other plot involved a drunken shapeshifter. It had potential, but the story didn’t follow through on it.
I am not sure why the shapeshifter needed to be drunk. It didn’t work well. The shapeshifter was used to help Val attend prom with Gertie.
We see him shapeshift into Val, meaning the child actor playing Val then had to play a drunk. It didn’t seem right and disrupted what could have been a funny subplot.
Had they portrayed the shapeshifter as exceptionally clumsy, or perhaps even allergic to humans, it might have been easier to watch.
I feel that A Reluctant Vampire got off to a strong start with its first two episodes. This one lacked pace and humour in comparison.
I do hope we get back on track. I was starting to enjoy my Sunday evening dose of vampire comedy.
A Reluctant Vampire is on the BBC and is available on BBC iPlayer.
