As the show begins, Sister Agatha (Dolly Wells) enters a room and introduces herself to Jonathan Harker (John Heffernan). Jonathan believes he is safe with them since it is a house of god. Sister Agatha suggests otherwise since a church collapses in town a few years ago. A fly lands on Jon’s face and it appears to enter his eyeball. Jonathan spent many days writing down his account but Agatha wants to hear it from him directly. Another nun joins them and they talk about the woman Jon loves Mina (Morfydd Clark). Sister Agatha wants Jonathan to tell them about his time with the count. After the intro, we jump back in time to Transylvania.

The carriage won’t take Jonathan any further so one of the ladies gives him a cross. He is told that the count will know where he is. He rides in another carriage and reads a letter from his girlfriend Mina. He arrives at the castle and prepares to open the door. When he does, tons of bats come flying out at him. Jonathan goes inside and looks around before running into Count Dracula (Claes Bang). They sit down together and begin discussing Dracula wanting to buy an abbey. Jonathan is there to help him secure the property. They chat about the locals not having any flavor or character and Dracula says he wants to absorb Jonathan.

Back at the nunnery, we see that Jonathan has lost his fingernails. Then, Dracula tells Jonathan that his home will not be easy to navigate. He claims there is no map either. Along the way, they stop and look at a painting before Jonathan is led to his room and told not to worry about the flies. Dracula says there will be flies where there is flesh. He also says that the drapes are thick so they will prevent the sunlight from getting through. Jonathan breaks a mirror and cuts his finger. That seems to trigger Dracula but he changes the subject to Mina. Jon is surprised since he doesn’t recall mentioning Mina during dinner.

Jonathan is told to treat the home as his own and he won’t see Dracula in the morning. That night, Jonathan has a nightmare. Agatha wants to know more about it. In a flashback, we see Jon sleeping with Mina who turns into Dracula. Agatha wants to know if Jon ever has sexual intercourse with Dracula. The following day, Jonathan gets out of bed and finds “help us” on the window. He believes someone is in the castle and he intends to find and help them. Since Jonathan has the day to himself, he begins searching the castle in hopes of finding the prisoner. Jonathan searches around until he gets exhausted.

Then, he sits down at a table and Dracula brings him some wine. We see that Dracula is getting younger and his English has improved significantly. Jonathan does the same thing the following day. He spots a woman and chases after her but she gets away. That evening, Jon asks Dracula if they’re the only ones in the castle and Dracula says yes. Before too long, Jon’s fingernails fall off. Back in the present, Agatha checks Jon’s neck and finds a scar there. We jump back and Jon continues searching the castle. Eventually, he finds boxes containing people. Those people climb out of the box and repeat “Omoara-ma”. Jon gets away and finds Dracula’s grave where he is sleeping.

Dracula climbs out and Jon finds himself surrounded by him and the others before he passes out. Jon learns that the people in the box were asking him to kill them. He cannot remember anything else since he passed out. Jon wonders if there is any salvation for those people. When we jump back in time, Jon wakes up and Dracula is there with him. Dracula is much younger now and Jon is pale and sickly. Dracula wants Jon to write three letters to Mina so he can mail them out at separate times. He believes this will prevent Mina from visiting. Jon realizes Dracula is going to lock him in a box so he needs to find a way to save himself.

He remembers what Dracula said about the map and he finds one behind one of the paintings. Jonathan searches the home and finds a woman locked in a box. She climbs out of the box and pleads with Jon not to tell Dracula that she can do that. The woman is hungry and she decides to feed on Jonathan. She bites him on the neck. Nothing can stop her not even the cross on his necklace. Jonathan wakes up and hears a baby. He also finds out that Dracula has killed the woman who bit him. Dracula says he is looking for brides. Dracula admits he is going to kill Jonathan. He takes him to the rooftop and asks Jonathan to describes the sun to him. We jump to the present and Jonathan finds out that he wrote none of this down. Instead, he wrote things about Dracula being god and him serving Dracula.

Jon agrees to finish his story. Dracula says he is going to England to destroy everyone he loves. Jon says he will stop him if he can. Dracula snaps his neck but Jonathan returns to life a short time later and that surprised Dracula since he thought it would take much longer. Jonathan is undead but he hasn’t turned into a vampire just yet. We see that Jonathan climbs onto the ledge and turns toward Dracula who wants him to stay. The cross on Jonathan hurt Dracula before Jonathan falls into the water below. Agatha says Dracula fears the cross so God must be real. Harker is convinced she has found the devil and not god. Moments later, Jon learns that the other nun is Mina.

She wanted to hear the story herself and has now. Soon, they find out that Dracula is there and Mina is attacked by a bat. Jonathan encourages her to kill him since he can’t handle her bleeding in front of him. Jon wants her to kill him with the wooden stake. Meanwhile, Agatha, Mother Superior (Joanna Scanlan), and the other nuns prepare to confront Dracula. Mina believes she is safe with Jonathan but he doesn’t think so. He starts feasting on her blood while Agatha tries to get Dracula to show himself. Jonathan takes the stake and stabs it into his chest. Dracula comes out of a wolf and begins speaking with the nuns.

He goes back and forth with Agatha Van Helsing for a long time but he cannot do any damage unless someone invites him inside. Before too long, Agatha sits down with Mina and Dracula struggles to find a way inside. Mina and Agatha decide that they want to work together to stop Count Dracula. Dracula goes to Jonathan and reminds him that he cannot die by suicide. He pleads with Jonathan to welcome him inside. Dracula has found a way inside and has fun with the women a short time later. While he is afraid of the cross, nobody knows why. Mina and Agatha hide in the workshop but Jonathan finds them a few moments later. Mina doesn’t listen to Agatha.

She lets Jonathan into the circle. Dracula rips off Jonathan’s face and reveals himself before the episode ends.

 

Dracula Review

Dracula started out relatively good. I was really engrossed with the Jonathan character. He went to Dracula’s mansion in hopes of sealing a business deal but ended up getting trapped there. Nevertheless, he attempted to do the right thing by saving the others. Instead, he was turned into a bride and likely died in this episode. The Jonathan character was the best of the show so it would be a real disappointment if he is gone. I am not sure the other episodes will be able to match the quality of this one.

I know the writers changed a bit here and there but nothing is out of the ordinary. The only thing that surprised me is how liberal they made this show. Van Helsing is a woman and I am convinced Dracula is homosexual. At points, it seemed like everything was about sex. This isn’t a bad thing at all but it is very predictable. The writers didn’t think outside of the box by sticking with that agenda and that is a letdown.

The Jonathan character was great but everything else was cheesy, silly, or just a mess. The show should’ve been cut down to 50 minutes an episode. It was impossible to keep caring after the first 40 minutes or so and recapping it was painful. All in all, the episode had some high points but it wasn’t anything revolutionary or memorable for that matter.

When you consider this was written by two of the best known writers in television right now, it is surprising it wasn’t much better than this. It scores a 7 out of 10.