Kindred: The Embraced
| Kindred: The Embraced | |
|---|---|
 Kindred: The Embraced logo | |
| Genre | Supernatural drama |
| Created by |
John Leekley Mark Rein-Hagen |
| Starring |
Mark Frankel C. Thomas Howell Stacy Haiduk Channon Roe Jeff Kober Brigid Walsh Kelly Rutherford Patrick Bauchau Erik King |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Mike Trozzo |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
John Leekley Productions Spelling Television |
| Distributor | CBS Television Distribution |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Fox Broadcasting Company |
| Original run | April 2, 1996 – May 9, 1996 |
Kindred: The Embraced is an American television series produced by John Leekley Productions and Spelling Television. Loosely based on the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, the series premiered on Fox on April 2, 1996, and ran for eight episodes before it was canceled on May 9, 1996.
The series focused on San Francisco Police Detective Frank Kohanek (C. Thomas Howell) who discovers his city is home to numerous vampires while investigating alleged mobster, Julian Luna (Mark Frankel). Julian is the "prince" of the city, ruler of five groups of vampires in the city, collectively called "The Kindred". The vampires survive through the "masquerade", disguising themselves as humans, and Julian strictly enforces the laws that govern them to protect their anonymity. Julian and Frank form an uneasy bond as they work together to try to prevent a vampire war and Julian struggles with his romantic feelings for human reporter Caitlin Byrne (Kelly Rutherford).
The eight episodes of the series have been released on VHS and DVD.
Production
The show was produced by John Leekley Productions and Spelling Television. It was filmed in the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fillmore, California.[citation needed] After the show's cancellation, Showtime negotiated to revive this series, but the untimely death of the show's star, Mark Frankel, halted the effort.[citation needed]
Reception
Sci Fi Weekly's Kathie Huddleston called Kindred: The Embraced a "cross between The Godfather and Melrose Place" that held promise, but was very confusing to viewers with the five vampire clans and a particularly confusing pilot episode. While she felt the character of Frank appeared "to be pulled straight out of a bad cop film", she praised the character of Julian as a "multifaceted character who's both good and evil".[1] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly also compared the series to The Godfather "soaked in blood," calling it "knottily mystifying". Like Huddlestone, he disliked the character of Frank, wishing he'd been killed by a vampire early in the series, while praising "the elegant, intelligent prince" Julian.[2]
Distribution
The series premiered on Fox on April 2, 1996.[1] New episodes aired weekly until May 9, 1996, after which the series was canceled and no additional episodes produced. The eight episodes produced for the series were released on a two volume DVD set on August 21, 2001.[3]On August 5, 2013 it was announced that The Complete Series with the book of Nod would be released on October 22[4] It is now selling on Amazon.com.[5]
Episode listing
| # | Title | Director | Writer | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Original Saga" | Peter Medak | John Leekley | April 2, 1996 |
| A police detective, Frank Kohanek, has learned that vampires exist, but doesn't realise that he's surrounded by them. The businessman whom he suspects is a mobster, Julian Luna, is the Prince of the San Francisco "Kindred" clans. Frank's girlfriend, Alexandra (Kate Vernon), is Julian's ex and also a vampire. When she reveals herself, breaking the Masquerade, her life is forfeit. | ||||
| 2 | "Prince of the City" | Peter Medak | John Leekley | April 3, 1996 |
| The feud with the Brujah is escalating. Against Masquerade policy, Eddie Fiori (Brian Thompson) has ordered the death of Boyle, an informant of Detective Kohanek. Fortunately for Eddie, the vote by the ruling primogens is split, and Eddie is not sentenced to final death. Julian has fallen in love with reporter Caitlin Byrne, a human who wants to do an article on him because he is wealthy, powerful, and unseen. In order to control her, Julian buys the San Francisco Times and appoints her as the editor. | ||||
| 3 | "Nightstalker" | John Harrison | John Leekley, P.K. Simonds | unaired |
| A recently embraced and insane Kindred is making the news as a serial killer. Falling in love with human women is an issue for Julian, Cash (Channon Roe), and Daedalus (Jeff Kober). | ||||
| 4 | "Romeo and Juliet" | Ralph Hemecker | Joel Blasberg | April 10, 1996 |
| Cash and Sasha (Brigid Walsh) have become lovers and Julian grudgingly gives permission for Cash to "embrace" Sasha. He's too late, however, because the Brujah clan, trying to provoke a war between clans, has already embraced her. | ||||
| 5 | "Live Hard, Die Young, and Leave a Good Looking Corpse" | James L. Conway | Aaron Mendelson, Paul Tamasy | April 17, 1996 |
| Zane (Ivan Sergei), a rock star embraced by Lily (Stacy Haiduk), endangers the Masquerade, but she's having trouble admitting that he's a problem. Sasha embraces her Brujah blood. | ||||
| 6 | "The Rise and Fall of Eddie Fiori" | Kenneth Fink | Scott Smith Miller | April 24, 1996 |
| Lily is jealous of Caitlin and sends a P.I. to take photos of Julian and Caitlin together. The P.I. ends up capturing Eddie's assassination attempt on film. Frank ends up with a copy of the photos and shows them to Caitlin, so she breaks up with Julian. Lily, meanwhile, has sided with Eddie, who is still planning to kill Julian. Heads will roll, but not the ones Eddie plans. | ||||
| 7 | "Bad Moon Rising" | James L. Conway | Phyllis Murphy | May 1, 1996 |
| With Brujah primogen Eddie Fiori gone, fights are breaking out all over San Francisco to determine which Brujah will succeed him. This is to be expected. What isn't expected is the return of the Nosferatu Goth (Skipp Sudduth). Julian ran Goth out of town years ago, but he has returned, stronger than ever. And, when he performs the ritual and drinks the blood of the human infant he has just kidnapped, he will be unbeatable. | ||||
| 8 | "Cabin in the Woods" | Ralph Hemecker | Curt Johnson | May 9, 1996 |
| Julian hasn't been out of San Francisco in seven years. So when Caitlin asks him to go away with her for the weekend, Julian leaves Archon (Patrick Bauchau) in charge and goes with her sans bodyguards to Manzanita Springs in Sonoma County where Caitlin has secured a secluded cabin in the woods. Unbeknown to Julian, the sole survivor of that bloodbath, a Brujah named Cameron (Titus Welliver), has reunited with the three remaining Manzanita Springs Brujah and has plans to take over Eddie's seat on the San Francisco conclave. | ||||
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Huddleston, Kathie (March 25, 1996). "On Screen: Backlash: Oblivion 2, Kindred: The Embraced". Sci Fi Weekly 2 (17). Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ↑ Tucker, Ken (April 5, 1996). "TV Review: Dark Victories". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ↑ "Kindred the Embraced - The Complete Vampire Collection". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ↑ Lambert, David. "Kindred: The Embraced - Finalized High-Res Package Art, Inside and Out, for 'The Complete Series' Taken from: http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Kindred-Embraced-The-Complete-Series/18803#ixzz2nBOm5vAk". TVshowsonDVD.com. TVshowsonDVD.com.
- ↑ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E5G03J8/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Missing or empty
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External links
- Kindred: The Embraced at the Internet Movie Database
- Kindred: The Embraced at TV.com
- Episode Guide
- Kindred the Embraced
- White Wolf Online