Day Three: Moonlight Boys at Comic Con

The only complaint had about the Moonlight panel was the sad and tragic brevity of it all. The first fan was in line at 8 a.m. (OK, that fan was me, but Jason and I were quickly joined by Tanya and Monica, then legions of Moonlight crackheads awaiting the arrival of Alex O'Loughlin and Jason Dohring (scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. but didn't kick off til about 11:35 a.m. Not that I was keeping track or anything).

The panel kicked off with a spoilery montage scenes from the last 12 episodes, scattered with bits from the next three (Episode 16 hasn't started filming yet).

Spoiler alert now folks, skip this bit if you want to stay virgin white for the next few episodes.
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According to the footage, we've got several juicy bits to look forward to. For starters, the MickBeth romance is in full force. We got to see Mick genuinely ask Beth out on a date "Want to come over for dinner tonight?" what appears to be a a rooftop picnic with Beth and an overnight visit (with Mick heading up to the freezer and Beth downstairs)  -- scenes in which Mick is apparently a vampire again -- and a confrontation between Mick and Beth during a rooftop picnic in which Beth calls Mick out on the fact that the thing keeping them apart isn't the vampire issue -- it's him.
But the biggest spoiler of all was a scene in which Mick tells Josef that he can't save Beth as a human and asks his friend to turn him. And, in a moment that will inspire slash fanfic around the world, Josef does. Laying flat out on a table. In a, um, slightly homoerotic fashion. But exciting and wonderful and tragic.
It was the first time the two had seen the finished scene.
"The table moment is a little dubious," Alex said. "Jason, you're beautiful in the scene."
There's also a fast car chase with an unknown brunette (Mick has to remind himself that "I can't die, I can't die") and hints of a new nemesis, the new assistant district attorney (who suspects that Mick is not quite human).
And, for those who are busy lusting over a MickBeth hookup, check out this exchange between Josef and Mick:
J: "Vampires and humans can have sex, Mick, it's not about physiology."
M: "It's not about sex"
J: "Of course it's about sex. Everything's about sex."
M: I'm 58 years older than her i sleep in a freezer, I buy blood I buy from the morgue. I have this tendency to bite down."
J "Some women like that."
M: "It's complicated ... It's not the sex I'm worried about."

Spoiler alert over
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There are some general spoilers within here, but mostly speculation and general notes. If you want to stay completely spoiler-free, um, stop reading. Or leave a comment and I'll send you the clean version.

Alex and Jason both would take the opportunity to become vampires. Tops on Alex's list of things he'd miss are Whole Foods (yum) and apples. Jason named "all that pleasureable stuff" and then his family (to the requisite awes and oohs of the audience), so Alex added that he'd miss his mom.
Both drew inspiration for their characters from the Anne Rice novels. Jason sees vampires as cat-like, with a feline grace, while Alex has a snake-vibe going on (at least that's how Jason described it).
"I was doing a lot of animal work with the character. I was looking at birds. ... I was looking at sparrows and finches and how they ... but it didn't work, so I did the snake thing."
"Cool though, isn't it?" Jason said.

Alex is also a bit squeamish about blood, too, in part because he's accident-prone.

It was Kids Day at Comic Con, so there were plenty in the audience paraded up for the gentlemen to see.
Tragically for all the Moonlightline.com and Moonlightfans.com, neither really has time to check the boards.

"I've never really had fans before ... And then to have like no fans and then Moonlight fans, it's quite a transition for me," Alex said. "I think the fact that we're still on the air is due to you guys, really."

Josef's lady love, Sara, will not be back this season, but Jason wasn't sure that the actress had been cast for a speaking role.
There is a future storyline which involves her, though she won't be back by episode 16.

As for the main romance of the series, Alex truly believes that Mick and Beth will "seal the deal"
"I think that they are going to do that. The thing is, we haven't shot 16 in its entirety and you know, I'm pretty sure they are going to but, yes I think they are going to."

- Mariah

PS- Because it's Moonlight and I'm mad about it, I'll post audio the minute I get to a good connection. But if you want to hear a cleaned-up, fancy version, check back later this week. Either way, this is totally worth it.

PPS- Here's the audio, totally raw, but this is it part one, part two and part three . I'll doctor it up and post that later this week. You can also get photos here.

Comments

[Leeser]

Wasn't this lovely?

Thanks for sharing this, dear lady!

You are a treasured and much loved member of the Tribe!

Husg to you! =)

[maryp]

Thanks for that up close and personal report! I wish I was there..but since I couldn't..I love reading about it!!
I hope Alex gets used to the idea of having "fans".. we are going to stick around for a long time!

[suemm]

THANKS for that great posting! I was hoping we'd get some early feedback. Can't wait till the audio is up!

[Liz]

Thank you so much for this!! I'm so excited about MickBeth!! And the part about Mick & Josef!! omi.
Can this get any better?!? You have to tell us how you felt seeing Alex!
Liz (Moonchild4207316632from MLL)

[LMM]

Thank you, thank you!!!
Great report, and looking forward for the audio.

[Kay]

Thank you so very much! For those of us who cannot be there, this really means a lot!! :)

[Michelle]

Thank you so much for this! I'm really jealous right now. But I'm glad everyone had a good time!

[Kandyegirl]

Heya ~

What a super cool report! Those of us who live far away from the fun especially appreciate it :)

XO ~
Kandye

[Lucky]

Thank you soo much I loved reading every word of this. Big hug and smooches to you!!!

xoxox

Lucky!

[MoonlitRose]

Thank you so much for sharing with all of the rest of us who could not attend! Awesome Report!

[Allegrita]

My heart started beating a mile a minute when I read the spoilery bits of your report. I'm going to check out the audio right now...thank you so much for being there and for doing a wonderful job of reporting what you saw. *SIGH* it's gonna be a thrill ride, indeed...I can't wait.

[Gagagirl]

I can't thank-you enough for the audio!!!!!!!!!! My smile is now permanently plastered on my face! ;-) I just can't thank-you enough...
Moonlight fans are the BEST!!!

[AussieJo]

That was special. THANKYOU, THANKYOU, THANKYOU!!Everyone semmed to be having a great time, including the boy's. And a by the way to Alex,you do have fans at home. But I admire the comment about not buying in to the star system thing.

[Diane]

Thank you Alex and Jason. I wish I could have been there, but hearing the audio was the next best thing. You are such gentlemen and that just adds to the charm of Moonlight. That is also what makes you so endearing to your fans. Love and good wishes to Alex, Jason, Sophia, and Shannyn.
Diane aka Dusk2Dawn

[Cathy]

Thanks for the audio, lot's of fans mobilized quickly for this event. Can't believe that's only 150-200 fans screaming. Appreciate the coverage!

[Mariah]

Actually, I'd estimate that was 200 fans in the atrium, but more than that in the IGN Theater. It was hard to tell, but I'd ballpark several hundred at least. In the vicinity of 500 on the floor and some in the balcony.

[Cathy904]

Thanks, Mariah, I've had a chance to listen to more of the audio. Very cute moments, stories about changing eye color, Alex: "I've got photographic evidence, Questioner: "We do too.", group shouting out favorite episodes, names by audience vs Alex giving episode numbers, and lastly, Did Sophia, having played a vampire, ever give Alex any suggestions, "Absolutely not" to much laughter, followed by, "She'd better not". Very fun listening, thanks.

[skyeeblue]

Thank you so much for posting the audio and the great article on Moonlight... This series has caught our hearts and just won't let go..
skyeeblue from MLL

[skyeeblue]

Thank you so much for posting the audio and the great article on Moonlight... This series has caught our hearts and just won't let go..
skyeeblue from MLL

[Storm]

Thank you!!! I'm so happy things went great! The audio is awesome!

[vangoo]

Thanks for that. And by the way, Alex has at least one die hard Australian fan, me. We only got to see eight episodes here which is also perhaps why Australians aren't known as great fans . The tv stations are extemely unreliable and will pull a show for unknown reasons so ozzies don't tend to commit like Americans. If anyone has the rest of the series on dvd I'll buy it off them.