Although I missed the premiere episode of The Dresden Files on the Sci Fi Channel, all-knowing, all-TV-viewing Chindi wrote up a review for us. And anyone who can use the word "nictitating" in a sentence can write a review for Zombos Closet anytime.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have not yet read Jim Butcher’s original fantasy books upon which the SCI FI Channel's new, original series, The Dresden Files, is based. I suppose that means I may have saved myself from the all too familiar disappointment when a TV adaptation fails to live up to the vision created by the author. On the other hand, I was quite taken with the premiere episode of The Dresden Files, “Birds of a Feather”.
Harry Dresden is a wizard in Chicago. What we see of the city is not the usual stock footage used in the old Bob Newhart Show, the original Night Stalker series or Steve McQueen’s Bullet. Rather, it’s lovely aerial footage or ground shots that don’t dwell on the usual landmarks. In short, Harry could just as easily have set up shop in your neighborhood. This is a small but important thing which draws the viewer into the story. The show was full of subtleties like this, and I love details like that.
Harlan Ellison said that most protagonists in a story are looking for their father. Harry, on the other hand, is a man in search of his mother — even if she is dead. There are some nice Native American touches in the first episode: a skin walker (near and dear to my heart), the raven clan who aren’t what you expect, and a brother (Uncle Justin Morningway) wanting to care for his late sister’s son (it’s an Iroquois thing) even though Harry’s father is doing a pretty good job. That’s the surface. It’s pretty clear that everyone has their own agenda. I particularly enjoyed the fact of the raven clan nesting inside of an abandoned Methodist church. I was also quite amused with how Uncle Justin wore black and Harry’s father wore white. Those details again.
The fact that he, a man who appears to be in his early to mid 40s, with a receding hairline, can wake up next to a hot waitress nearly half his age, should give all us single guys hope. On the other hand, he does get his ass kicked by two women in a row. Who of us hasn’t been there, too? Even if one of them was an animated corpse controlled by the skin walker, and the other was the skin walker herself (at least, we think it’s a “her” since we never see its true form), it still hurts.
In Harry’s world there are monsters, real and imagined, but not all of the real ones are malignant (the ravens feed young Scott a banana split). This, of course, is an obvious reference to the monsters (terrorists, serial killers, republicans, etc.) real and imagined which exist in our world.
The acting is wonderful and we can’t always say that about things offered by the Sci Fi Channel (did anyone watch Pterodactyl in its entirety?). [ZC: What do you mean? Zombos loved Pterodactyl.]
Paul Blackthorne uses a nondescript amalgam of an east coast accent, which I translate back into his UK voice in my head. That’s my problem, not the fault of his acting. The other characters are immediately believable and I look forward to watching them develop throughout the series.
Many questions remain. How did Harry’s mother die? Why wasn’t she wearing the shield bracelet which could have protected her? With which tribe or tribe was she affiliated? Why were she and her brother fighting the High Council? Who are the High Council and why does Harry want to stay off their radar for now? How and why did Harry “kill” his uncle Justin? How did Bob the ghost get that very interesting hole in his skull (which sits on a shelf in Harry’s home)? Will Harry reconcile with Laura the waitress? Will he begin a relationship with Cheryl?
If you know the answers to any or all of these questions, don’t tell me. I plan to read the books, but I want to continue to be pleasantly surprised by the show. We get one such surprise toward the end of the first episode. I have already alluded to it, but I won’t spoil it here for anyone who has managed to avoid the many airings of the show or the torrent files online. We know something Harry doesn’t. It will be fun watching him find out.
Again, the details are what will keep us watching.
— review by Chindi
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