Illustrated Episode

For the first illustrated episode review I have to go with one of my all-time favorites-The Fix. Nicky in pain...Nicky euphoric...Nick the junkie...Nicky in the sunlight...even Nicky in bondage. So much stuff to love in this episode-the spaghetti scene is priceless and the little smile at the end is adorable (Ger can definitely do cute). If I were an agent trying to sell Ger as an actor, this is definitely one episode I would take along. He shows here that he can do it all.

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The episode starts with one of the detectives on Schanke's bowling team putting a gun to his head and blowing out his brains.

Cut to Nick and Nat in the lab. Nat is drawing blood from Nick's arm. She then takes that blood and another bag of blood outside. The blood that she just took from Nick starts to boil. She looks with amazement at the second bag.

At the scene of the suicide, Schanke is having trouble believing that his friend, Brian Sykes, would kill himself. Captain Cohen notes that Fred Berman, an agent from Internal Affairs, was the first on the scene (hmmm...very peculiar for IA to be involved in a suicide). It is not a pretty sight and Natalie encourages Schanke to remember his friend as he was, not as he is now.

It's now evening and Nick, Schanke, and Berman are in Captain Cohen's office. Berman is showing evidence that Brian Sykes was a dirty cop, but Schanke is not buying. Nick has a feeling that something is not quite right here.

Nick and Nat are talking in the lab. Nat has been using a friend's state-of-the-art tunneling electron microscope to study Nick's blood and she has discovered an extra nucleotide in his RNA. By using Litovuterine-B she believes that this can be neutralized.

Flashback: Nick is seeing a "resurrection doctor" to try to reverse the vampirism. When the doctor advises that it will be an expensive proposition, Nick lets him know that he will be compensated, but the research must be done in secret.

Nick allows Natalie to inject him with this substance, falls to the floor in pain, and feels the vampire leave. It is morning, the sun is up and Nick runs out the front door. He does not spontaneously combust in the middle of Bay Street.

Nick is driving Natalie home in his Caddy. The top is down, sunglasses are on, and Nick is euphoric (possibly a reaction to the Litovuterine-B). Natalie tries to impress upon him the necessity of further tests, but he isn"t listening.

He decides to show Janette what they have accomplished and offer her the opportunity to become human again, too. Janette is not impressed. Unlike Nick, she's happy with her life, and besides she's seen this before. Nick is "so naive, such an eternal boy".

They are back on the road. Natalie wants to know what Janette meant by having "seen this before". Nick only says that she wants to rain on their parade. He asks for a second dose of Litovuterine-B, for emergency purposes; Natalie tells him that he is talking like a junkie, but gives it to him. He drops Natalie off and continues to enjoy his day in the sun.

Flashback: Janette remembers the time that Nick was seeking the assistance of the resurrection doctor. She had followed him to the doctor's house to remind him of the danger should "the others" find out and the end result should he succeed. Nick said that he could no longer live a vampire's lifestyle and the doctor had given him hope.

Schanke visits the scene of the suicide. He finds the cap to a pair of binoculars and puts them in his pocket. He is sitting on a bench at the waterside when Nick finds him. They talk and Nick decides that IA is sweeping this thing under the rug entirely too fast. He thinks that Berman may be involved and this may be mob-related since both Brian Sykes and Berman used to work in mob-boss Jimmy Vinetti's stomping grounds.

Nick and Schanke drive downtown and stop in at Vinetti's favorite restaurant where Nick helps himself to Jimmy's lunch. Vinetti is offended by their questions and leaves, offering Nick the rest of his lunch. Nick takes him up on the offer.

Back out on the street, they stop at a hot dog stand and Nick orders 2 hot dogs leaving Schanke to pay for them. Nick sees a pretty girl approaching and starts to hallucinate that he is biting her neck. Schanke notices that Nick is starting to look weird, all sun-burned. Nick looks at his reflection in a taxi window and decides he better get inside fast - the medication is wearing off.

He's b-a-a-ck! The vampire is taking over as Nick returns to the loft. He is golden-eyed, his fangs have dropped, and he is hallucinating; he appeases the beast with a bottle of blood and gives himself another injection of Litovuterine-B. He falls to the floor in pain again and looks up to see that LaCroix has arrived.
Nick informs LaCroix that he has regained his humanity, he then goes over to the window, opens the shades, and stands in the sunlight with no ill effects. LaCroix reminds Nicholas that others of their kind will not accept what he is doing, and that the two of them "are each other".

Nick goes to the Coroner's Office to see Natalie. He wants more of the magic potion so that he can stay cured. She refuses to give it to him because it is only a fix. He explodes in anger. When Schanke walks in Nick verbally attacks him also. Then he storms out.

On the way home Nick stops off at the precinct where he trades barbs with Fred Berman. He tosses the lens cap to Berman as he leaves and tells him that he dropped something.

Nick goes back to the loft where is is obviously having signs of withdrawal and he has a flashback.
Flashback: The resurrection doctor is purging Nick's body of the contaminants that cause his syndrome, but "the disease" is resistant. He then straps Nick's chest and wrists to the table in order to do some further tests. This makes Nick extremely uncomfortable and he wants to stop.

Nick comes back to the present as the phone rings; it is Jimmy Vinetti. He wants Nick to meet him in one hour and he will tell him the truth about Brian Sykes.

In desperation, Nick goes back to the coroner's office; no one is there and he breaks into a locker and removes the Litovuterine-B and a handful of syringes. Then he staggers out into the hallway and out to his car. He goes to the designated meeting spot, considers another injection, remembers that Nat said it was ony a fix, and puts the syringes in the glove box. When Jimmy Vinetti's limo pulls up, Nick goes over to the car, where Frank Berman pulls out a gun and shoots him. Vinetti orders one of his lackeys to take "take out the trash" and leaves the scene.

Natalie and Schanke are worried about Nick's possible addiction to the drug and go to the loft to find him. He is not at home so they check the messages on his answering machine and hear Jimmy Vinetti set up the meeting. They leave and as they are getting into Schanke's car, it is strafed with machine gun fire. Natalie and Schanke dive for cover. Now Schanke knows that Nick was onto something and he may be in trouble.

Vinetti's thug throws Nick into the trunk of the Caddy.

Flashback: LaCroix and Janette break in and save Nick from the clutches of the mad doctor, who had planned to make Nick the prize of his collection.

It is dark when the thug opens the trunk. Nick comes out fully vamped and attacks the man. Vinetti and Berman return for their colleague and can't believe what they're seeing - Detective Knight standing before them. They start to flee and Nick flies to cut them off. As they try to run him over, Nick jumps over the car and the driver loses control. The car swerves and runs head-on into a tree.

Nick goes over to check on the condition of the occupants of the car when Natalie, Schanke, and a couple of police cars arrive on the scene. Natalie is obviously concerned about Nick's condition as she approaches the car. Nick shows her his descended fangs, then shrugs and gives her an adorable little smile.

The tag scene shows Nick reading a newspaper account of the Berman scandal, then going to the fridge and getting a bottle of blood. Cut to Schanke at the station writing his report. He pulls out a picture of the bowling team and looks at it for a few moments. Tears start to form as he goes back to work.

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