Vampires Never Get Old: First Kill In The Media

[Cranberry]

"When it’s time for teenage vampire Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook) to make her first kill so she can take her place among a powerful vampire family, she sets her sights on a new girl in town named Calliope (Imani Lewis). But much to Juliette’s surprise, Calliope is a vampire hunter, from a family of celebrated slayers. Both find that the other won’t be so easy to kill and, unfortunately, way too easy to fall for."

Jet Wilkinson To Direct First Two Episodes Of Netflix’s YA Vampire Series ‘First Kill’

Netflix YA Vampire Drama ‘First Kill’ Casts Lead Roles

[paulvdb]

‘First Kill’: Netflix’s YA Vampire Drama Series Sets Full Cast

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Netflix has set the full cast for First Kill, its upcoming vampire drama series executive produced by Emma Roberts. Joining leads Sarah Catherine Cook and Imani Lewis are Lost alum Elizabeth Mitchell, Aubin Wise (Atlanta), Jason Robert Moore (The Punisher), Gracie Dzienny (Jupiter’s Legacy), Will Swenson (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Phillip Mullings Jr. (American Soul), Dominic Goodman (Better Things), and Dylan McNamara (Ambition).

 

[Cranberry]

You can read the original short story this show is based on here. It's pretty much set up to be a pilot episode! Looks like they're keeping all the characters from the short story.

[paulvdb]

First look images and date announcement

Series Launch Date: June 10, 2022

Format: 8 x 60

[Cranberry]

I instantly recognize all the characters from the short story! Good start.

[BetterButter]

 

[AnimeMania]

First Kill is a TV Series streaming June 10 on Netflix, with all eight one-hour episodes released at the same time.

The First Kill YA vampire TV Series is based on the short story "First Kill" by Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, published in Imprint’s Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite by Natalie C. Parker and Zoraida Córdova, a collection of short stories about vampires that was released in September 22, 2020. The First Kill TV series was written by Felicia D. Henderson and Victoria “V.E.” Schwab and produced by Emma Roberts. 

It is time for teenage vampire Juliette to make her first kill so she can take her place among a powerful vampire family, she sets her sights on a new girl in town named Calliope. But much to Juliette’s surprise, Calliope is a vampire hunter, from a family of celebrated slayers. Both find that the other won’t be so easy to kill and, unfortunately, way too easy to fall for.

The  Fairmont Family of Vampires

Sarah Catherine Hook as Juliette Fairmont, a shy, kind teenage girl who was born a vampire and determined to not be a monster. Her family has always supported her but as she comes into her own, her quest for love is challenged by her legacy.

Elizabeth Mitchell as Margot Fairmont

Will Swenson as Sebastian Fairmont

Gracie Dzienny as Elinor Fairmont 

Dylan McNamara as Oliver Fairmont

The Burns Family of Monster Hunters

Imani Lewis plays Lewis’ Calliope “Cal” Burns is a fearless, headstrong monster hunter. Behind that strong veneer is a vulnerable young teen torn between her duty to her family and the secret yearnings for love.

Aubin Wise as Talia Burns 

MK xyz as Tess Burns 

Jason Robert Moore as Jack Burns 

Jason Robert Moore as Jack Burns 

Dominic Goodman as Apollo Burns 

Phillip Mullings Jr. as Theo Burns 

Jonas Dylan Allen as Ben Wheeler, Juliette’s best friend

Roberto Mendez as Noah

Aubin Wise as Talia    

[AnimeMania]

[Cranberry]

[Cranberry]

We should get some more news tomorrow as part of Geeked Week!

Most Presents: Vampire Pride with First Kill at 11:15am PT/2:15pm ET/7:15pm GMT

[Cranberry]

[Cranberry]

Some cute stuff with the leads here (near the end of the video, starting at 2:15):

[Cranberry]

Reviews are starting to come in:

First Kill season 1 review – Romeo & Juliet with fangs, but lacks some bite

"First Kill wants to be a teen drama, but it also wants to be a legitimate fantasy story with a relatively expansive mythology that involves the literal Garden of Eden, a quasi-political thriller about ancient, catty family dynasties, and sometimes even a monster horror, wheeling out a gang of beasties sprung to life via what look like PS2-era computer graphics. And it isn’t just genre that the show plays with, but tone – one of the most surprising and brutal moments of the season is immediately followed by a laugh-out-loud bit of silliness.

Again, it might not be a problem for some, but it was occasionally a problem for me, even if I liked First Kill a lot more than I expected to thanks to its capable cast and capacity for surprise. Fans of a certain age will, fittingly, eat this right up, especially the saucier bits and some aspects of the wider worldbuilding that imply all kinds of interesting themes and ideas that these eight episodes don’t have time to explore. "

Mercury News Review:

"Showrunner, writer and executive producer Felicia D. Henderson moves all the players around at a brisk pace, and while some of the dialogue makes you roll your eyes, the show is in on the joke and even pokes fun at itself. That, along with some interesting characters, makes 'First Kill' increasingly more interesting. If you surrender to its delicious cheesiness, you’ll have a lot of fun. I mean how can you resist a show with the line: 'You ate my mother!'”

Netflix’s ‘First Kill’: TV Review

"Add it all up, and First Kill might as well be tailor-made to grow fandoms. It’s not hard to imagine a devoted viewer breathlessly cataloguing the supernatural creatures mentioned in passing, or penning fan fiction about Apollo’s love-hate dynamic with Juliette’s equally arrogant big sister Elinor (Gracie Dzienny, having more fun than the rest of the cast combined).

But it is harder than it should be to envision too many people getting that invested to begin with. Having laid out an entire universe of supernatural lore and tangled interpersonal connections, First Kill struggles to shade in much depth or texture."

[peachmangosteen]

1 minute ago, Cranberry said:

one of the most surprising and brutal moments of the season is immediately followed by a laugh-out-loud bit of silliness.

I absolutely love this.

2 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

If you surrender to its delicious cheesiness, you’ll have a lot of fun.

Sounds promising!

[AnimeMania]

Spoiler

Netflix’s ‘First Kill’ Is a Tired Take on Teens, Lesbians, Vampires, and Teen Lesbian Vampires: TV Review

Variety TV Review

First Kill star Sarah Catherine Hook on that pilot shocker and what it's like playing a vampire

Edited June 10, 2022 by AnimeMania

[Cranberry]

Our own Mark Blankenship liked it: Recommended: First Kill on Netflix - Romeo and Juliet Meets Buffy in Netflix's sexy and suspenseful new thriller.

[Cranberry]

This made me chuckle:

[Cranberry]

Ha, big split on Rotten Tomatoes between critics and audiences (currently 50% and 89%), which doesn't surprise me. Campy stuff usually gets pretty mixed reviews, and critics are hard on WLW media (unless it's a period piece with an unhappy ending; that's like catnip).

Polygon gets it:

Netflix’s First Kill is a YA romance worth sinking your teeth into

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In the era of prestige television, it can be easy to dismiss a show like First Kill. Shows about supernatural teenagers rarely get the respect they deserve, especially if they don’t have the budget of Stranger Things. But they can be formative for the teens that watch them. The fandoms that develop around television shows can create a community that viewers lack at home. No matter how uneven some aspects of First Kill are, with an epic love story at its center it has the potential to give audiences, specifically young people who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, a show that validates them. There’s no downside to that.

“First Kill” Stars Sarah Catherine Hook & Imani Lewis Unpack Juliette & Cal’s Love Story and Queer Representation Onscreen

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Another key point of First Kill? The clear queer representation alongside the way Calliope and Juliette’s relationship evolves and portrayal of Black characters who are more than sassy best friend and whose parents are never seen onscreen. First Kill has multiple queer characters — Juliette and Calliope of course, but also their respective best friends Ben and Tess — and half of the cast is comprised of Black characters, something truly rare for urban fantasy. Normally, we’re made to choose between cool supernatural themes, queer representation that says what it is from the start, and the presence of characters of color. Popular television shows like Supernatural brought the badassery, but dropped the ball on any representation (and gained a bad reputation for queerbaiting in the process). Queer-friendly shows like Wynonna Earp may not have fridged their queer characters, but Black characters on the show like Dolls weren’t so lucky. The Vampire Diaries revolved around female characters who get to be center stage in their romantic arcs, but the most prominent Black character across the series Bonnie Bennet ended the series without any real growth and a limited personal life outside of her white friends. First Kill is different from what we have gotten across a lifetime of urban fantasy that demands that viewers choose between themselves and their identities and a story focusing on supernatural strife. Instead of making viewers choose, it just… offers up representation and action at once. Callliope gets to be a queer Black vampire hunter, Juliette gets to be an awkward queer vampire.

Meet the minds behind First Kill, Netflix's queer vampire romance

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AVC: Victoria, what are your influences for this story? And how did you step away from traditional vampiric tropes?

VS: I grew up with my two pillars: Buffy and Supernatural. Those are my families; those are my loves. But the fact is I didn’t see myself in them. I often joke—it’s not really a joke though—that if I had a show like First Kill when I was 16, it probably wouldn’t have taken me till 27 to realize I was gay. I think that’s the beauty of mirrors. As a novelist, I am very aware how often we see queer narratives but [they’re] about queerness. You can have a queer love story, but it better be about coming out. Straight characters don’t get reduced to their identity in a narrative, and it seems like the only time certain people get to take up space is [with] their identity. So it was both the love of these things I grew up with, like Buffy and Supernatural, and also the absences I saw in them that I wanted to write to.

[paulvdb]

‘First Kill’ Canceled By Netflix After One Season

[Cranberry]

The WLW shows have been dropping like flies lately. This one wasn't a good show by any means, but it was fun and it had good viewership -- better than Heartstopper, which was renewed for two seasons. It just sucks.

[peachmangosteen]

Boo! Dammit, Netflix!

1 hour ago, Cranberry said:

This one wasn't a good show by any means, but it was fun and it had good viewership -- better than Heartstopper, which was renewed for two seasons. It just sucks.

Really? Interesting.

[Cranberry]

If this Tumblr post has accurate stats, yeah. 

[Anela]

I stopped watching after the dad ate the mother in law, which was funny, but I skip around shows a lot - I did mean to get back to it. I wasn't in the mood for it. 

[Cranberry]

First Kill Showrunner Says Netflix Failed to Properly Market the Supernatural Show

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Even if the marketing was too niche, that doesn't seem to have affected First Kill's overall performance on the streamer, as Henderson points out, "We were in the top five globally and domestically for three of the first four weeks."

Also:

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In the 24 hours after the announcement of First Kill's cancellation, the Google search term "cancel Netflix" soared by 250%, according to an analysis by JeffBet.com. The same analysis showed a 250% increase in the search term "why does Netflix cancel good shows?"

[Sakura12]

And Netflix wonders why its losing people. They seem to only be interested in new content, then canceling it after a season or 2. People watch shows to see it continue. If they keep canceling shows people aren't going to want to start a new show that will also be cancelled. 

Not that I thought this show was amazing, but it was decent enough and I would've watched a second season.

[ihavenoidea]

On 8/3/2022 at 7:50 AM, Cranberry said:

The WLW shows have been dropping like flies lately. This one wasn't a good show by any means, but it was fun and it had good viewership -- better than Heartstopper, which was renewed for two seasons. It just sucks.

From what I gather a lot of people started the show, but most didn't finish it to the end. I guess they figured the people that dropped out wouldn't try it again if it got another season. 

I'm bummed because it wasn't a good show, but I really enjoyed the Juliet actress and thought she and Cal had a nice chemistry. Hopefully both go on to have good careers and I can watch them in other things.

I've basically decided I'm not watching any Netflix shows until it already has at least two or three seasons. Getting invested and then having a show get dropped after one season and a cliffhanger isn't worth it.

Edited August 9, 2022 by ihavenoidea

[AnimeMania]

I thought the first episode was good and made sense then after that it got worse and more illogical. I stuck with it though, I blame the show more than Netflix for their cancellation, even though they seemed to have pretty good numbers and probably could have worked out their problems in the next season.

[zenithwit]

Damn, that sucks.  I thought this  universe had a lot of potential but the show did a poor job showing/explaining it.  Also, some of the acting performances were a bit rough. 

Maybe someone else will take a stab at adapting this story/universe at a later point?  It would be cool to see the history and all of the different types of monsters laid out more clearly.