The Dresden Files: Season 1

 

 

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Imagine if Harry Potter grew up to be Philip Marlowe, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what "The Dresden Files" is like.

While it starts weakly -- and is rarely faithful to Jim Butcher's novels -- "The Dresden Files" manages to whip itself into a solid supernatural-mystery series, with a pretty good cast and some genuinely twisty-turny mysteries. And, of course, a snarky ghost living inside a skull.

Harry Dresden (Paul Blackthorne) is Chicago's only wizard-for-hire, with a tragic past, a hockey-stick staff, and a companion spirit named Bob who lives in a skull (Terrence Mann). He's also perpetually in bad with the wizard council, and moderately famous among the supernatural crowds lurking around Chicago.

As the series opens, Harry is approached by a young boy who claims he's being stalked by otherworldly forces -- and his mother confirms that he's been followed by blackbirds, crows and ravens ever since he was born. Even worse, a skinned body is found in a nearby apartment -- and the malevolent skinwalker who stole the woman's dermis may be after the boy as well.

Arguably the premiere is the weakest of the series, since there's little actual detecting going on. But things perk up in the following episodes. Harry tackles a hellspawn in love, a serial killer murdering werewolves, a bodysnatching murderer, a fertility clinic with a dark secret, a bunch of young thieves using deadly magic, and an attempt to frame Bianca, the sultry vampire club-owner.

Things get even worse when Harry is trapped with a bunch of hostile wizards inside a deadly cloud, which can only have been conjured by one of them. And when Bob is stolen, Harry finds himself confronting his cruel uncle Justin -- whom Harry "self-defensed to death" five years ago.

"The Dresden Files" are only loosely based on the Jim Butcher novels -- it's not as dark or as complex, and a lot of characters are changes. But take it as its own animal, and it ends up being a very solid detective series... albeit one where the suspects and victims just happen to be vampires, devils, lycanthropes, incubi and necromancers.

The plots are genuinely mysterious and gritty, sometimes with genuinely surprising answers, and odd twists on typical urban-fantasy, like vampire junkies. The stories are kept from being too grim by Bob, who provides some witty dialogue to offset the cop-style stuff ("And you wonder why your life is an unending series of insurmountable intellectual, financial and emotional hurdles!").

If the series has a problem, it's that sometimes they overuse the handheld camera, especially in fight scenes. And the CGI ranges from decent (Bianca's vampire transformations) to somewhat hokey (dragon, werewolves), but not bad considering.

Blackthorne is just right for the role: quirky, likable, and a little bit charming. Mann makes a brilliant foil as a damned ghost, who provides hilarious, slightly pervy information for every occasion, and Conrad Coates is good as the rigid Morgan, who is just waiting for a chance to behead Harry. Unfortunately Valerie Cruz is far too dewy-eyed to make a convincing hardcore cop -- she's completely eclipsed by the hilarious Claudia Black in "Other Dick."

The first season of the "Dresden Files" has its flaws, but it's still an enjoyable, suspenseful urban fantasy series that gives a new spin to the lone-wolf detective. Definitely worth watching.

If you are a big fan of Stargate SG-1 or Dr. Who, The Dresden Files is a perfect fit to satisfy your hunger for sci fi tales. It's a great show with unique stories full of mystery and intrigue based on the books by Jim Butcher.

This was an amazingly fresh new series that was good enough to sink your teeth into, week after week.

Simply put, it was an adult version of Harry Potter, a grown up wizard named Harry Dresden along with his sidekick Bob. Bob is Harry's snooty mentor, hilariously portrayed by Terrance Mann, who is imprisoned in his own skull as punishment for dabbling in black magic.

Harry, deliciously played by Paul Blackthorne with a lost puppy dog expression, is a lone wizard that actually advertises his business in the yellow pages, who always seemed to find himself surrounded by trouble. Or trouble always seemed to find him.

Whether it be battling against sultry vampires, seductive werewolves, creepy skinwalkers, spooky shapeshifters, or helping solve cases with his cop friend, Murphy, he does his best in protecting the city of Chicago from dangerous threats day after day. What a guy. Heck, I just want to give him a big hug.

The Dresden Files has been by far one of the best shows on television this past year (2007) pulling in at least 1.7 million viewers on a weekly basis. Many fans who watched this series have gotten addicted to Jim Butcher's novels, who just recently released a new addition called "White Night".

Unfortunately, it was a short lived series on SCI-FI and recently cancelled which is a shame since it was a superb show that was truly a magical experience.

There are thousands of loyal fans trying to encourage the network to renew The Dresden Files, please give them a helping hand and stop by this site: http://dresdencity.org/.

In the meantime, you can also check out the official Dresden site at http://www.scifi.com/dresden/

starts slow but quickly picks up. The characters are interesting and funny but not overdone. The stories are complex and opened a general intrigue for the series. Too bad it's been cancelled.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Magical, in a film noir sort of way.
I'll start with the characters then move onto the way the DVDs are set up and explain the rating of this series which may not exactly match with the way I've tackles other reviews... Read more

Published 4 months ago by C. S. Sauvé

5.0 out of 5 stars Dresden heaven
Excellent show that was cruelly cut down by the SciFi channel. It has everything you could want - mystery, magic, comedy and drama. The cast was the best around. Read more

Published 8 months ago by DebD

3.0 out of 5 stars Love the books!
I've been reading my way through the Dresden Files books; heard about the series and thought it might be ok. NOT. Read more

Published 23 months ago by AnnieG

3.0 out of 5 stars Monster of the Week
I would say the serie is good in general (good acting, nice theme and mood) but two elements displeased me:

1) Not enough information with regards to the background of... Read more

Published on May 7 2009 by MadMacabre

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dresden Files
This was one of my favourite T.V. shows, unfortunately they did not continue past season 1. I bought the series to watch on days where there is nothing on T.V. Read more

Published on Feb 10 2009 by M. Tomaselli

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