First Kill T.V. Series Review

Disclaimer: Spoiler Alert! Make sure you have watched before you read.

Blood or Love?

“Savannah has always been tough to keep clean; all those battles, all that bloodshed” Well looks like it has returned.

Forbidden romance, family rivals, mystical creatures, all the things you predict in a vampire and hunter tv series, But there were a few twists that I didn’t see coming and made me wanna watch more.

Now the intro is one of the most important parts of a new tv series, a gripping and enticing opening and I did find this intro to be just that. Straight away with a catchy theme song called The Zombie song by Stephanie Mabey which I also liked the lyrics, in particular, “Be jealous that our love is deeper than Edward and Bella” The fact that it's talking about twilight which I feel was the first vampire movie that set it all off with this type of genre, It encouraged me more to watch on. I also liked that throughout the intro the story of the two main girls; Juliette and Calliope was told in a cartoony comic style. I felt it was a little disturbing at times and that it was the story of how they see their family and their lifestyle through their eyes. As the first episode kicked off titled “ First kiss” it started with a collection of moments from blood pills to Juliette and Calliope kissing, to the colour of red. An ongoing intense conflicting dream that Juliette has which had me intrigued and enticed to continue with the episode with questions in my head after only a few minutes of watching.

The main character vibes start with the vampire girl Juliette played by Sarah Cathrine Hook, Her character has some interesting little details that I found unique compared to other vampire stories such as her blood can paralyse people. She takes blood pills to “help her migraines” or as I would say ‘control her thirst for blood’. Juliette tries to delay drinking human blood for as long as possible, as she doesn’t want to drink blood. Not because she’s scared, but because she feels it's wrong to drink blood from people. A vampire with a conscious makes her character just that bit more complicated, conflicted and interesting.

I like the relationship between Juliette and her dad as they shared many sweet moments throughout the episodes. One in particular; the scene after she supposedly drank from her first human. Juliette and her dad talks about when she was a little girl, you can see he fears that she could become more dangerous after investigating into the girl she drank from. As it turns out it was more than just a feed. He was disturbed by this thought and in hoping to get through to her he says “ Compassion is not a weakness, it’s a gift to be embraced”. I found these words powerful and true but little does he know it wasn’t her! She had never drunk from a human. They also spoke of her mum in hoping to comfort her “Your mum, I love her but she is a different breed, literally”. “I’m more like my dad” Juliette says, that’s what her mother told her but Juliette wasn’t convinced it was to be taken as a compliment. I felt at first that the complicated relationship with her mum was a bit predictable however, as the episode went on she was a better mum than I originally thought. It was shown at the Consecration ceremony, where the story of Adam and eve is told on how it all began, her families history and the snake which leads to some disturbing traditions, I guess you could call it, But there is a humble and honest moment between her and her mum, a side to her mum that is more than what I led to believe.

Then the crush, Calliope, also known as Cal who is played by Imani Lewis; her opening was powerful and so relatable for many women as she said “I think a lot about how the world treats teenage girls, like everything good about us is a weakness, our hearts our emotions, our empathy, means we need to be protected” I have to agree with this, for so many years woman were made to feel like that, but they need to be protected and safe by others, as if women are not capable of taking care of themselves. But as the world has evolved, so has women and the way they think and act. I feel that the good is actually what makes us stronger, not weak. You also see how Cal desperately wants to be just like her family and spend as much time with them as possible. when cal says “Every day and every day I just go for the day so I can get back home to the only place I feel safe with my family” Cal is very eager to prove herself to her family but when Juliette comes into the picture, things don’t seem so clear. When she questions her life and what she and her family does. Personally I think that Juliette wants to escape her life and family, her intense thirst for blood gets more and more “Every day the world is a little sharper, a little louder”.

The families; The tv series hit the nail on the head with the fantasy-themed family points with family rivals, and sibling complications, Both families have their obvious differences but throughout the episodes, they also share a lot of the same values. Both families say “always finish what you started” but of course, it's meant in very different ways and yet both end in death. I do find that the families are more alike than they realise. Love has always been said to be a powerful thing and this shows just how powerful love can be, as given by Juliette's parents. Her dad was turned, not born a vampire unlike her mum who was. Her mum is the one that turned her father into a vampire so they could be together forever. For such a strong powerful couple, Cals parents finally chose different sides of things, One chose with their head and the other with their heart, driving a big space between them. I’m talking about when Cal's mum protected her stepson, Theo, who has been her son since he was seven years old. But Theo was turned into a vampire and just like any great mum would do, she did what she had to do to protect her son. Taking him to the only place she thought he could be safe and that was Juliette's brother, Oliver,’s place but I'm not fully convinced that was the best idea.

Ben Wheeler, Juliette’s best friend or as she quotes “ The kinda boy you fall in love with, We’ve been jumping around in dirty puddles and reading every book on my mother‘s shelf since we were born”, they dated for a month when they were 12 before they realised that Ben is into men and Juliette is into woman. I guess we have to mention M.A.A.M, (Mothers Against All Monsters). I honestly was not a big fan and found their characters to be quite jarring but I feel like that was what they were aiming for, so in that case they executed it brilliantly. The guild, Their job is warding off monsters and evil spirits with special candles, bunches of sage and strategic placed sea salt. But they seem to be higher up than the monster hunters. I enjoy how real some of the things that are said throughout the tv series such as “The worst monsters are the ones that appear to be human, never forget that” I felt like these words speak a lot of truth.

As I have said I was on board with the soundtrack, lots of old-school tunes however, I was not a fan of the song “Me and your girlfriend playing dress up” now I know it’s a popular TikTok tune, however, the choice of the song playing during the scene of the two main girls Juliette and Cal meeting at the party and doing spin the bottle. I found to be a slightly predictable choice and felt that it could have been a bit more creative.I know that these sorts of tv shows are all fantasy however, there were unfortunately a few very unrealistic moments that ruined it for me. The main one being; 'here is a sentence I never thought I would write’ is when Juliette's dad fully ate his wife's mum, ‘Like what was that?’

Overall I feel like there is real potential with the series, but at the same time it was missing a lot that could make it a lot better. Unfortunately, there were times throughout the series that I lost interest, which was disappointing as the intriguing grip that I had at the beginning had slipped away. I do feel like the ending of the series was a little baffling and I was hoping for something a bit more than what it was.

I might check out season 2 if It comes out, but honestly who knows?

Now don’t let me put you off from watching this series for yourself. Post your thoughts on the series in the comments. Who knows, we may even be able to write our own alternate endings.