n a plot that picks up where the TNT original movie left off, NYPD's Sara Pezzini (Butler) faces a review board to explain her part in an incident where her partner, Danny Woo (Lee), and several others were killed. Sara is hard pressed for explanations, mostly because she's confused about what really happened.
All she knows is that she still wears the Witchblade bracelet, which turns
into a weapon when the need arises, and allows her to see things others cannot,
including the ghost of her dead partner. The Witchblade has other mystical powers that Sara struggles to understand.
After a run-in with her new boss, Sara and her new partner, Jake McCartey (Chokachi), answer a call involving shots fired. Jake finds out that two of the guys who ended up dead were part of a special experimental military unit called the Black Dragons. They were given psychotropic drugs and were trained to be deadly and obedient. Nine of the 11 men in the unit died under mysterious circumstances. Two are left alive, and one of them is Ian Nottingham (Etebari).
Sara knows that Nottingham works for the elusive billionaire Kenneth Irons (Cistaro), the man who seeks to control Sara and possess the Witchblade. Since Irons may be the only one who can give her answers about the Witchblade, she's forced to keep Jake in the dark about Nottingham. As she gets involved more and more deeply, Sara comes to believe that the rogue Black Dragon is hunting Irons. Suddenly, Sara's forced to decide if she should help protect Irons or let the man take his revenge. But this Black Dragon's revenge may extend to the woman who wears the Witchblade as well.
Kicking butt with an attitude
TNT's series Witchblade picks up seamlessly from the original movie, with the same cast, level of action, Matrix-like special effects, edgy camera work and pounding rock music. While "Parallax" plays more like a second episode than a series premiere, it starts off with a bang involving superhuman stunts and plenty of attitude.
Based on the Top Cow comic series of the same name, Witchblade sets up a compelling and mysterious premise based on a silly device. It all works because Butler does a great job with the physical action and makes a believable tough-yet-emotionally-fragile Sara.
"Parallax" continues the series nicely with lots of action as we learn a little more about Nottingham and Irons. It will be interesting to see how these characters are kept in the action every episode, while partner Jake is kept out of the action so he doesn't learn about Sara's secret. In the movie he got knocked out and in "Parallax" he got shot. Time will tell if this becomes ridiculous.
While the episode is entertaining, it's still too serious, the dialogue is filled with nonsensical riddles, and the Witchblade gauntlet special effects aren't effective. "Parallax" shows a slight attempt at lightening up, but the gauntlet special effects are another problem. Flashing to Sara in a suit of armor isn't as visually interesting as Sara flying through the air, running up walls, doing cool motorcycle stunts and kicking butt with the best of them. "Parallax" is a prime example of the problem where the ending loses steam after a very exciting beginning.
However, this series will live or die on more than just the special effects. Butler and the supporting actors are very well cast and do a great job with their roles, especially Lee as the likeable ghost Danny Woo and Chokachi as Sara's partner, Jake, who may have a secret of his own. In fact, every character in the series has secrets, and mystery is what this series is really all about.
