First of all, a few blog updates. Tomorrow, Young Dracula Episode 6 will be reviewed. And then, before next Monday, I will write a review containing my thoughts on Episodes 2 – 5 of “The Prisoner”. But today – Young Dracula Episode 5.
Which was excellent. While the last episode had fantastic moments, it had the pointless flashbacks and certain parts seemed a bit slow. But episode 5 was fantastic. I said in my last review that with the flashback episode over, the series could move on without looking back. And it’s done exactly that, and done it perfectly. And I did not expect Erin to be revealed as a ‘breather’ to Vlad this early on in the series.
The plot for this story was similar to a plot of the old series of Young Dracula. Except again, it was more developed, more grown up, and generally handled a lot better (by both writer and actor). The comedy was there but kept to a minimum, and the storylines of all the characters were expanded on, which was brilliant. Ingrid is finally serving a proper purpose and back to her old ways, and the Count and Vlad’s relationship is being explored further and in ways suited to the new series. Fantastic.
The Vlad/Erin relationship is also developing (and very quickly, which is a good thing because no one likes watching a TV show where we spend twenty weeks waiting for progress). Vlad discovering that Erin wasn’t a vampire was done in quite a surprising way, and I’m glad it was done differently to what any other show on CBBC would dare to do. All the series between Vlad and Erin were performed and written brilliantly as always, and the conversations between just the two of them are getting to an even higher standard than before. Young Dracula is showcasing brilliant writing, acting and storylines, and throwing them into a CBBC show which any age can watch. Now to convince my friend Chloe of that.
One character I haven’t mentioned so far is Vlad’s tutor. Who is awesome. And while it took me a little while to like a character who was just a nicer version of Count Dracula, I’m now beginning to like the tutor (who’s name I don’t know) and the idea of him being around for 400 years is being used in really good ways. And it’s mentioned in a lot of it. Not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, but I like the character and it adds another dimension to the characters and series, so it can’t be a bad thing. By the way did I mention he was 400 years old?
Young Dracula this series, so far, has been excellent. It’s had only a few low moments, and the rest has been superb in all respects. The new location is great and being used to maximum, the characters are great and are being explored all the time – but I have to mention Vlad. Who is now an absolutely brilliant character. He was always good, but the performance has developed, and Vlad’s speeches to the Count’s Vampire mates in this episode were done excellently.
No complaints – I just hope the series continues to be this good.
I totally agree. I'm 15 now, but I LOVED the original Young Dracula series when I was younger and was devastated when they left it on THAT cliffhanger. I really enjoyed this episode and I was also quite surprised about the way Vlad found out that Erin was a vampire. it was certainly daring (for the CBBC)
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