ORBzine The Crow: Stairway to Heaven November 2000
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This is based on the comic by James O'Barr, and adapted for TV by Bryce Zabel [ Dark Skies ]. It stars straight-to-video martial arts star Mark Dacascos as the title character, an undead avenger. This time he has to help a young man who was framed for his GF's murder - by her father! . .
This time the zombie saves a circus boy, and takes on a gang of fairground entertainers into the bargain. . . .
The friendly African-American detective gets kidnapped by an old enemy - an ex-cop he sent to jail for killing his partner. This is yet another re-telling of The Most Dangerous Game. . .
Mr Deadite thinks he sees his deceased GF walking around. The girl is in trouble with the Mafia, and he has to save her. The fact that he walks around in bright sunlight so much - far more blatantly than the similar Angel Chronicles - is a real move away from the utter darkness of the first film. .
The guest star is Kadeem Hardison. He plays an spirit creature of some kind, who offers to help Draven cross over to be with Shelley. However, something goes wrong and a blonde babe gets possessed by the spirit of Shelley. The main plot concerns the return of the pilot villain. He breaks out of the loony bin, hisses a lot instead of speaking clearly, then breams into the skateboard-girl's apartment and forces them to cook dinner for him. The villain tells Draven something to the effect of You don't have the guts to kill me! This illustrates how the TV adaption clearly lacks the cut-throat edge of the film.
After last episode, Draven still can't see his dead GF. He takes hypnotic regression therapy, and discovers he first met her in the 19th century. He was a Native American, she was a missionary's daughter. Back in the 20th Century, it seems that the villain Draven killed in the last episode can now come back and threaten people in their dreams. Also, the African-American cop now has a pretty blonde rookie partner.
Draven has found a way to see his babe again. For his good deed of the episode he has to save a young kid and his stunt-biking father. Someone shoots at him, and he flaps his arms around as if he were in The Matrix. .
Someone comes through the portal - but it's not Shelley. It's an undead serial killer, who kicks the crap out of Draven and then wanders off in search of more victims. Yes, we finally get a bad guy who's up to the job! The killer was executed in the electric chair, and has special powers to do with electricity. He also has a list of victims - the witnesses at his execution. And one of them is a recurring character in the show! The skateboard girl finds help on an Occult website. This may be a recurring character ...
This week the guest star is Tim Kelleher [ Dark Skies ] as an investigator from Internal Affairs. He is after the African-American cop, and Kelleher gets the blonde rookie partner to spy for him. Draven is up against a crooked businessman who is his bimbo friend's estranged husband. .
Draven is on trial, falsely accused of murdering Shelley. The Prosecution's logic is this: Shelley and Draven were killed together, but since Draven is alive then he must have faked his death and was therefore responsible for Shelley's murder. Of course, the fact that he is a Goth rocker also counts against him. He has long hair, so he must have killed his GF. Hmm. We get lots of flashbacks to the pilot and subsequent episodes. Is this a flashback show or part of a story Arc? The trial's witnesses include: This brings out the differences between the show and the film. To start with, Funboy is actually alive to testify! Secondly, his ex-GF was an alkie - not a junkie like she was in the film.
This episode was co-written by Brent Friedman, Producer Zabel's associate on the Dark Skies series. The guest star is Kadeem Hardison again. He pops up and turns the clock back for Draven: our undead hero has the opportunity to relive the day leading up to his death. .
Albrecht has been busted down to uniformed patrolman, but otherwise things are pretty much the same as they always were. His rookie babe parter has his desk, and is assigned to investigate the theft of Rasputin's manuscript. The skateboard girl meets up with her Internet acquaintance again. He is involved with a Ruskie Satanist type who wants to bring Rasputin back from the dead. Rasputin's death was by 4 different attacks: he was poisoned, shot, stabbed and finally drowned. In order for him to be resurrected, 4 people must be sacrificed - one by each of the same means.
The hypnotic regression doctor asks Draven to help the Lazarus Group, a secret society of rich financiers who want to live forever. They know about the power of the Crow, and want to harness it for themselves. They put Draven's persona in a VR machine and the Crow personality [with the face-paint and bad attitude] asserts itself through Draven's unconscious body! Meanwhile, Albrecht hires a Blaxploitation lawyer who wants to push the Race angle so Albrecht can get his detective job back.
Funboy, the hired thug from the pilot episode, escapes from jail. His former employer, the undead Top Dollar, has a new henchman - a black guy who uses music to control peoples' moods. Draven is back with his old band, though they do well enough without him. .
We learn that Draven was a Vietnamese orphan, adopted by an American lieutenant colonel. Unfortunately the Colonel was listed MIA, and the kids had to grow up without a father figure. Eric's brother is an ex-con, on the run from a mobster whose ill-gotten gains he has stashed somewhere. Meanwhile, Albrecht is back in plainclothes. His blonde babe partner is still stressed out after being shot, and wants to quit the job.
The Lazarus Foundation, villains in a previous episode, reappear and capture Draven's crow. Stacey returns to the world of the Living to help Eric. Draven and his Demonic Undead side are separated - the Crow and the mortal Eric must fight over Stacey. The Personal Trainer is Eyes Only from Dark Angel
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The Crow: Stairway to Heaven [Season 1, Episode ]
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