Alex O’Loughlin’s Guide to Moonlight Ep 7

This interview was done in September 2009 By Retro Ed at SciFi TV Zone. It is no longer online but I preserved it. ~Enjoy

Episode 7
“The Ringer”
Written by Josh Pate
Directed by Chris Fisher
Mick is convinced that his vampire wife Coraline is back from the dead, but all indications are that she is someone completely different and that the woman (identifying herself as Morgan) is not a vampire. He seems to be bordering on madness in his efforts to prove his theory to Beth.

“This is where it starts to get interesting,” notes O’Loughlin. “Chris Fisher directed this episode and he created the time for me that I otherwise wouldn’t have had with other directors. He prioritizes around getting the best out of the actors, not about his shots, the lighting or other things. I really like this one from beginning to end. I like the intensity. It’s the introduction of the next step of Moonlight, of the next big dramatic storyline shift. And we start to see the cracks in Mick St. John’s veneer.

We start to see where his pain lies. Coraline’s the big love of his life. It’s different to Beth. Coraline’s the tempest, the tumultuous relationship. That’s the pain and the love all mashed into one. It hasn’t left him. He’s carried it for 60 years and it runs pretty deeply.”

Alex O’Loughlin’s Guide to Moonlight Ep 6

This interview was done in September 2009 By Retro Ed at SciFi TV Zone. It is no longer online but I preserved it. ~Enjoy

Episode 6
“B.C.” (Black Crystal)
Written by Erin Maher & Kathryn Reindl
Directed by Paul Holahan

An attempt to find a vampire that Josef has had an on-again/off-again relationship with for a century, leads Mick to the discovery of a group that sells vampire blood to humans for the incredible high it provides. At one point, Beth gets a taste of “V” and she goes through an incredible personality shift.

“I really liked the scene with Beth and Mick when she comes in and she’s all horny and wants him to do whatever she wants him to do,” he smiles. “I think it was a really obvious shift from the normal Beth to this, and I enjoyed watching Mick squirming around and his discomfort. It’s really clear how these two feel about each other, right? But it has to be unrequited, because nothing good can come of any other decision. I don’t think it’s a story that can be consummated. I think it’s a story about an unrequited love. It’s like Romeo and Juliet to me, so that integrity had to be maintained at all times.”

Alex O’Loughlin’s Guide to Moonlight Ep 5

This interview was done in September 2009 By Retro Ed at SciFi TV Zone. It is no longer online but I preserved it. ~Enjoy

Episode 5
“Arrested Development”
Written by Chip Johannessen
Directed by Michael Fields

Although Mick has been trying to avoid Beth since he fed on her, the two come together to stop a serial killer who’s actually a 200 year old vampire who looks like a teenager.

“Not my favorite,” O’Loughlin says matter of factly. “I felt like I could have cared about the kid more. I’m not sure if as the lead or the voice of the show I should be this honest, but there was just something missing. I’m not entirely sure why. It was more of a ‘vampire-of-the-week’ to me. People ask about this show being a purist of the genre, but I’m a purist of drama and the importance of drama has been burned into my frontal lobe. Drama is life with the boring bits cut out and I felt like that episode was a little pedestrian. It didn’t feel like an organic Mick/Beth storyline.”

Alex O’Loughlin’s Guide to Moonlight Ep 4

This interview was done in September 2009 By Retro Ed at SciFi TV Zone. It is no longer online but I preserved it. ~Enjoy

Episode 4 “Fever” Written by Jill Blotevogel Directed by Fred Toye Protecting a witness for Beth’s prosecutor boyfriend Josh ultimately leads to Beth and the witness trapped in an abandoned motel, where prolonged exposure to sunlight is killing Mick. Beth is called and upon arriving realizes that she has to let Mick feed on her if he’s to survive. “There was a lot of location stuff in that episode,” O’Loughlin points out. “We all went out to the desert and shot out there for a few days. No new show has enough money, let alone an hour drama that has special effects, special make-up, is stunt heavy, shoots at night and is based in genre. This show was really shooting against all odds. To make it good can be difficult. In this episode, there are a couple of things that I wish we could have changed, but nothing in performance or storyline, just in effects and things like that. I really like the storyline and the acting. I thought the guest stars were fantastic, and overall I felt like I was watching a feature film. It was also an important episode for Josh and Mick. They were starting to get to know each other a bit more, and it was important to build that trust between them – despite the fact that feelings were developing between Mick and Beth. “What happens at the end of that episode,” he adds, “was pretty radical. When I read it for the first time, I was, like, ‘Oh, yeah!’ That was something to write home about, and I love the way it was shot. And the fact that Beth lets him feed on her – she reaches this amazing place of comprehension. She understands his needs so clearly, and it’s evident that there’s a connection between these two.”