V-WARS SEASON 1 / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: IAN SOMERHALDER, ADRIAN HOLMES, JACKY LAI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (NETFLIX)
If you’ve survived The Thing (1982) then you already know that nothing good comes from visiting a science research base in the Arctic, right in the middle of a hammering snow storm. At the beginning of V-Wars it’s a similar circumstance for scientist Dr. Luther (Ian Somerhalder) and his life-long friend, Michael Fayne (Adrian Holmes). Sent out into heavy snow to query lost communications, they come face to face with an unknown virus which forces the pair to be locked up in quarantine until they can fully understand what this ice-melting threat is. Due to the virus seemingly not having or displaying an immediate effect, they are foolishly allowed to return to their loved ones. The show unveils its teeth when Michael starts to slowly morph with animal and vampire-like senses.
While early pandemic creeps in, and with Michael not being able to fully control his vampire thirst, he decides that the only way he can overcome this bloody, life-shattering situation is by coming to terms with it instead of hiding in fear. He begins to realise just how unfair the unwritten rules are against a predicament that he didn’t ask for, which leads him to putting together a clan of “Bloods” (what V-Wars calls the infected) and starting a campaign for vampire rights. As Michael (now widely known as Patient Zero) strongly takes on this leader position, his friend Dr. Luther is locked into a path that takes him through various untrustworthy government dictators to construct a cure or, at least, temporarily halt this gory outbreak. Essentially, these two story torch holders are our main catalysts that everything else surrounding answers to.
An occurring setback with V-Wars is how the script chooses to react to the insane life-destroying events that quickly unfold. Whether that be the death of someone close or the fact that an outbreak has the power to change history as we know it, you’d think that this would have a crushing emotional impact but, a lot of the time, it just doesn’t. You want to be engaged with the characters that you are watching, so hopefully this is something that can be worked on in a more sensible way going forward. Another factor that might cause annoyance is the way that the handful of side narratives are forced on top. For example, the most poorly-run survivalist motorcycle gang you’ve ever seen attach themselves to V-Wars and, as cool as they look, it doesn’t seem to add much. These sometimes hollow plots that should further open up this vampire tale can sadly be a bit of a slog to get through but, as the episodes go on, small parts do eventually fit into the main game. Making one of the most profound strikes is a headstrong pair of journalists under the avatar of Reveleaks.
Steering away from the negatives, the gory clash goes on to evolve into a more intricate and appealing stride as it pulls in a political edge. V-Wars takes it up into a higher gear as we see Dr. Luther desperately try to lay down a fair foundation for both races in a frightening new dawn. In hectic courtrooms and in front of eager news reporters, Ian Somerhalder brings in talented acting as he pushes a stressed Dr. Luther to his limit. Confidently showing off what it can achieve in the later episodes, as well as a finale that fully grasps the title V-Wars, it’s already looking like season two will see this confrontation blossom into its true potential.
