Kindred: The Embraced (1996) is the best modern vampire story! It was created by John Leekley who also worked on the mini-series The Blue and The Gray (1982) and later created the werewolf series, Wolf Lake (2001-2002). The show is based on the role-playing game, Vampire: The Masquerade (1991) by Mark Rein-Hagen. The game was part of a larger series, World of Darkness, covering other members of the supernatural.
The Kindred is their own name, vampires is the name given by humans, the Embrace is how Kindred turn humans into Kindred. The Masquerade is the protection that the Kindred enforce that vampires are fictional, they are in every part of society, the opening has the line "We're all around you." It lasted only eight episodes with one episode, “Nightstalker”, that was unaired. The pilot episode is entitled “Original Saga”, the latest collection has the expanded pilot, “Kindred: The Embraced.”
It opens with the Golden Gate Bridge as it is about to wake up to the morning. The series has very moody music by J. Peter Robinson who also composed music for Charmed. This resolves to a rooftop where a man is being pursued by others. A car races into a warehouse, out of it is Detective Frank Kohanek (C. Thomas Howell) and his partner, Sonny Toussaint (Erik King). Howell is of course a well known actor and at that time had the lead role in the crime drama Baby Face Nelson (1996).
King was also in television with the crime series, Missing Persons. Frank is after Julian Luna and his bodyguard. Sonny notes that Frank is dating Julian’s lover. The man, Stevie Ray, is fighting with the other two men in coats on the rooftop. ne of them is Eddie Fiore (Brian Thompson) who rips off a tv antennae and stabs it into the man being held down. Thompson is an incredible genre actor including playing the Alien Bounty Hunter in The X-Files. Eddie is part of the Brujah clan, violent and ambitious.
Frank and Sonny confront Eddie and his henchman with their guns, but the killers leap off the roof! The dying man suddenly sets on fire with the sun and says to tell the Prince he said nothing. At the coroner’s office, Sonny says the man burned mysteriously. The coroner, Charon (Basil Hoffman), named after the boatman of the underworld?, suspects it’s spontaneous combustion. At a bayside mansion, Julian Luna (Mark Frankel) wants to find the murderer of his bodyguard. Frankel had the lead role of Carlton Dial in the action series Fortune Hunter.
Unfortunately, Frankel died in a motorcycle accident in 1996. Julian is the Prince of San Francisco and part of the Ventrue clan who are the wealthy heads of corporations. He confides with Archon Raine (Patrick Bauchau). Archon calms Julian down. Julian suspects a traitor. At a hotel is Frank and his date, Alexandra (Kate Vernon), he vows to take down Julian. Frank notes that Alexandra is pale and she excuses herself. Alexandra finds a woman using drugs in the restroom, her eyes flare yellow, and then she returns to Frank with a drop of blood on her dress!
They return to apartment and kiss passionately on the couch. The show’s soap opera aspect is fun. We see Julian order his driver to go to the club. Frank and Alexandra kiss by the roses on the outdoor patio, but they are interrupted by a page from Sonny about Julian. The Haven club, this is an interesting name since havens are sanctuaries for vampires in the game, Julian walks out with a well-dressed woman, Lillie Langtry (Stacy Haiduk). Haiduk was also Katherine Hitchcock in SeaQuest 2032.
Lillie is the head of the Toreador clan which is mostly artists, but she is one of the most deadly Kindred. She warns him about Eddie Fiori’s ambition to take over San Francisco after taking L.A. They walk over to a group of bikers, led by Cash (Channon Roe) of the Gangrel clan who says that Stevie Ray, the destroyed vampire, was his sire. Roe was in the thriller Persons Unknown (1996). The Gangrels are animal-like Kindred with a certain nobility in the series. Eddie is in a car and gives orders to shoot at Cash. Julian offers the bodyguard position to Cash. The political and crime element of the series brings so much depth to this world.
A strange gun appears from Eddie’s car and shoots phosphorus rounds at the motorcycle gang. This is seven years before the silver nitrate rounds in Underworld (2003). The gun is thrown away and picked up by Sonny with Frank confronting Julian. Lillie and Julian return to the mansion, Julian heads to the basement filled with paintings, he is met by his bald ally, Daedalus (Jeff Kober). He is an actor in many genre series and movies like Tank Girl (1995). Daedalus is the leader of the Nosferatu clan whom are pale and unusual looking, but while deadly, Daedalus has the gentle heart of an artist.
Julian wants to send Daedalus to talk to Eddie Fiore. He also notes about Frank Kohanek and Daedalus says that he can threaten the Masquerade. The coroner calls Frank to tell him something is unusual with the body. Out of one of the body doors comes Daedalus! He commands the coroner to cut himself with his scalpel, then sinks his fangs into his arm, it is creepy! Daedalus returns to the body container when Frank arrives, he hears moaning, and then sees the coroner under a sheet! Julian brings wine and some glasses to Lillie’s bedroom. She takes Julian over to her bed and then bites his wrist! They kiss and Julian mentions Frank.
Archon stands over them and mentions that Julian’s grandchild died. He tells Lillie that he was married, but was Embraced after she died. Julian finds Alexandra outside of the mansion. She asks Julian to spare Frank’s life. Later, Julian reaches the cemetery, his headstone reads that he died in 1899. He goes to talk to the gravestone of his wife, Evelyn, about burying their grandchild, August Octavio. Julian lies on her grave and then sinks into it! Later, Julian speaks before the casket of August abut the winemaking business, he is interrupted by the arrival of the motorcycle riding Sasha (Brigid Brannagh). The actress was previously in the comedy series True Colors.
Archon stands over them and mentions that Julian’s grandchild died. He tells Lillie that he was married, but was Embraced after she died. Julian finds Alexandra outside of the mansion. She asks Julian to spare Frank’s life. Later, Julian reaches the cemetery, his headstone reads that he died in 1899. He goes to talk to the gravestone of his wife, Evelyn, about burying their grandchild, August Octavio. Julian lies on her grave and then sinks into it! Later, Julian speaks before the casket of August abut the winemaking business, he is interrupted by the arrival of the motorcycle riding Sasha (Brigid Brannagh). The actress was previously in the comedy series True Colors.
Sasha is human, but gets involved in the Kindred world and has a romance with Cash. The other human who becomes important is Caitlin Byrne (Kelly Rutherford), who is a newspaper editor and becomes Julian’s lover. Rutherford was in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. The show was perfect vampire series, ahead of its time, twelve years before the True Blood show. It had a perfect cast, for the last DVD set, there was the coda of Daedalus: Last Will and Testament, so in the era of vampire chic, I would like to keep the series like Alexandra's roses. Kindred: The Embraced has a fascinating world of horror mixed with loyalty, beauty, factions, and great characters.
Five Roses out of Five!
Five Roses out of Five!
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