Revamp: The Undead Story 1×07 Review: Episode 7

I never would have suspected that this silly little vampire show would be one of the best-written series I’ve seen this year, but every episode of Revamp: The Undead Story just proves how layered the script is. This is going to be another long one, but I don’t think it’s possible for me to be concise about this show. I have too many theories.

Revamp is a masterclass in layered storytelling. Each episode reveals a piece of information that forces you to recontextualize everything you learned in the previous episodes. I honestly cannot wait to binge this series from beginning to end. In episode 7, we have to relearn what we thought we knew about the Hunters.

I’ve said multiple times that there is no way that Jett was behind this. Even in this episode, when he tells Pokpong that he and Punn founded the organization, he cannot possibly be telling the full truth. He and Punn were orphans; they had no connections, no money, and presumably no knowledge of the supernatural. How did they know where to start researching? How did they get the funds? (For that matter, where is the money coming from now? From what I can tell, only Hunters go to Jett’s bar, and he said himself that the museum is not doing well.)

Methas decides to investigate. Some people laughed that he basically ignored Punn when saying that they needed to find out the Hunters’ true motivation, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Punn himself no longer fully believes his memories of what happened when the orphanage was attacked. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that someone has been manipulating them from the beginning.

When he stops by the orphanage, he learns a few things. First, no one talks about what happened. I suspect that’s because no one truly knows. Only Punn, Jett, Elise, and one of the priests survived, and Punn already has reason to doubt his memories. Plus, Jett was separated from the other two, and Punn and Elise only saw the aftermath of the attack. Second, he learns that the surviving priest, Father Dracul, has basically been in a coma for ten years, and as a very private individual, no photos of him exist. Just a drawing. Which is not suspicious at all.

Methas takes what he learned back to Ramil and Punn. Punn is surprised to learn that Father Dracul survived, as he thought he had died in the attack. I find this very interesting, as it indicates that Jett has been lying to Punn (and presumably Elise) for years. It’s been a hot second, but Jett is fully aware that Dracul is still alive, as he visited him in episode 2. Dracul is, of course, the mystery man in the bed that I’ve been speculating about for weeks.

Ramil sees the photo Methas took of the drawing and recognizes him instantly, the same way Methas recognized him when he first saw it. They tell Punn that Dracul may actually be Ramil’s half-brother. A lot of people have had theories about the scratched-out name we saw in Ramil’s family tree. I have had thoughts about Jett possibly being guided by the rebel vampires who trapped Ramil in the painting. Turns out, these two are connected.

I cannot believe, with the vitriol he spat at Methas in last week’s episode, that Jett knows that Dracul is a vampire. But with this piece of information, it seems fairly obvious that Dracul has been leading Jett and the others by the nose. I wonder if perhaps he has the same mental powers as Ramil. If he has been bed-bound for the past ten years, and Punn thought he was dead, it’s unlikely that he personally participated in any of their training. But he can guide Jett, which may explain how they knew that Punn could break Ramil’s curse.

What I think happened is that, one hundred years ago, Dracul conscripted Lilith to curse Ramil and trap him in the painting. I’m unsure of his motivation at this point. If he wanted to lead the family, I don’t know why he wouldn’t have just killed Ramil. He was removed from the family history, so his motive may have simply been revenge. But again, why not just kill Ramil? And Methas didn’t warn Ramil about him when he was freed, so he has either been lying low for the past century, or Methas had reason to believe that he was dead or otherwise gone.

And then, at some point, he opened an orphanage for reasons that I can only assume boil down to a) potential recruits or b) constant food source. What happened to him must have been bad, because I can’t imagine there is much out there that would cause a vampire to be bedridden for ten years.

None of this explains why Jett is hallucinating a teenage version of himself whenever he sits in the sanctuary, but as this show has been good about answering questions so far, I have no reason to believe we won’t eventually find out what’s up with that.

My one criticism is that the main antagonist seems to have been named, essentially, Vampire McVampire. His name is Father Dracul, a name that sparked no recognition in anyone even though Punn literally used the name “Dracula” when explaining his concept of vampires to a newly-freed Ramil in episode 1. (Not to mention, there is a Dracula in Ramil’s family tree, which they presumably have a copy of since they were going after everyone on it.) And Ramil suspects that Father Dracul is actually his half-brother Feratu. As in Nosferatu. Dracula and Nosferatu, the two most well-known vampires in popular culture. Yes, everyone, we are seriously dealing with Vampire McVampire.

A bright spot is that Dracul is clearly Dunk, so I’m excited about that.

If you’ll permit me to indulge in a bit of babbling. I had a random thought, a few weeks ago, that perhaps Punn’s dreams of Ramil were something from the future. At the time, I couldn’t articulate why I thought that, because I legitimately had this thought at 2 AM. But in this episode, Punn talks about them, and Ramil says nothing. In fact, he has shown no indication that he has any knowledge of these dreams; he hasn’t mentioned them, and he didn’t seem to recognize Punn when they first met. After everything, I have to believe that he would be honest with Punn.

I initially dismissed the theory because I couldn’t make it make sense. But then I stumbled across a theory from Tumblr user hallowpen that talks about time manipulation. I recommend reading the linked post for a more detailed outlining of the theory, but the basic premise is that at some point in one of the remaining episodes, Ramil will – with Punn’s permission – go through his memories. And in doing so, he will somehow affect the past.

When I read this theory, so much made sense. After all, Punn remembers Ramil saving him when the orphanage was attacked, even though he would have still been trapped in the painting. My original theory with that scene was that Ramil had somehow managed to reach out to Punn through their existing connection while still in the painting. But I’m starting to believe that he saves him from the future.

I wish I could say that I loved watching Punn and Ramil be all domestic while Pokpong was missing. And I can. Because I did. Yes, it felt a little out of place because Punn should have been worried about Pokpong, but he does have the (presumably fake) text from Pokpong saying that he would be back in a week, even if he is suspicious of it. And Pokpong’s friend also mentions having gotten a text from him. So while it definitely strikes Punn as weird, he doesn’t really have any reason to think Pokpong is in danger. So yes, I absolutely enjoyed watching Ramil and Punn be cute boyfriends.

First, I love that they ended up back at the claw machine, but this time Ramil was successful. And as he was the first time, he was too adorable trying to win. (Him imitating the claw machine to pretend that Punn also won? My heart.) This scene represents one of the things I love about Revamp: they come back to things they say they will. Ramil did say that he would win a toy for Punn. And he did. Now I wonder if them not having enough coins for both of them to win is some kind of foreshadowing, the way Punn originally having two coins was symbolic of him giving Ramil two chances.

Second, I am living for the domesticity. Washing dishes together, while Ramil plays with the suds? Brushing each other’s teeth? (And Ramil didn’t have a reflection, I love how they’ve been maintaining that.) Ramil making puns about Punn and steamed buns? And for the first time, I am a little disappointed in a kiss scene, because I was kind of hoping that they would dance.

Third, it looks like my theory about Ramil turning human may not hold much water. I had connected the line in the curse about a new life to the scene in the trailer where Ramil talks about having a beating heart. But that scene was simply him comforting Punn. Could it still potentially be foreshadowing? Possibly. But with only three episodes left, that seems like a pretty major thing to be leaving until the last minute.

I speculated, back in my review for episode 4, that at some point the Jonoel family would fracture. And honestly, can you blame Ciar? They’ve just been attacked by the Hunters. Many of them died. Mekhin was badly injured. Even if Punn had no knowledge of the attack, it’s poor foresight to not recognize that a massive attack like that was coming. Plus, while Punn at least tried to get Ramil to safety, he clearly didn’t care about the rest of them. Ciar is just trying to protect what’s left of his family.

When you factor in everything, Ramil’s insistence that they not harm humans makes no sense. They were systematically wiped out for a hundred years. They were recently attacked in their own hotel. I can get behind a rule that they don’t seek out humans, even though that was clearly not kept after Ramil’s imprisonment. But there should be nothing wrong with defending themselves in the face of attack.

Ciar has had enough, and his speech in the hallway, and gathering followers to move with him, makes me wonder how and why Ramil was chosen to lead the family. They say he’s the last of the pureblood line, and I’d really like to know what that means. Can vampires be born the way humans are? And they’ve just been waiting for him for a hundred years. Did no one try to take over leadership while he was in the painting?

I’ve long thought that this fracturing would mirror the disconnect between Punn and Pokpong. Ciar is breaking away from the family just as Pokpong is moving away from Punn. It is ironic that Punn worked so hard to keep Pokpong away from the dangerous aspects of his life, and yet Pokpong gets involved just as Punn has left that side behind. How much of this could have been avoided if Punn had only been honest with his brother?

Something about this episode is that it highlights how little Punn and Ramil know about their family. Punn suspects that something is wrong with Pokpong, but he can only think of a few places to go. He realizes that he doesn’t even know if his brother has a partner. In his defense, he does go everywhere he can think of, and he asks quite a few people if they might know where Pokpong is. But when he doesn’t find him, when his calls are being ignored, he doesn’t really have any sense of urgency.

Still, I wish Pokpong could see how many people care about him and how much effort Punn went to in order to find him.

Speaking of Pokpong, I wanted to reach through the screen and shake him. I understand why he goes to Jett for help. He knows they are (or were) friends, and he does not know that they’ve had a falling out. After all, he recently saw Jett visit Punn at the antique shop. And I can’t even fault him for believing Jett when he says that vampires have kidnapped Punn, because from his perspective, Punn has vanished off the face of the earth.

But Pokpong, my guy, please develop some common sense. You’re asking about your brother and some guy with blood spattered all over his shirt approaches you and offers to take you to Jett. And you don’t immediately nope out of there? Then when Jett says he’ll take you to Punn, but only if he can hold onto your phone? Please, I’m begging you, have a modicum of self-preservation.

Jett is clearly using Pokpong for something. I suspect he’ll hold him as insurance to control Punn. He very carefully manipulated Pokpong into volunteering to storm the castle and save his brother with the rest of the Hunters, despite him being a teenager with no combat training. I’d wager that they will end up in a situation where Punn will be forced to choose Pokpong or Ramil. Or, as I have seen several fans speculate, Pokpong will end up accidentally killing one of the main vampires. Most people suspect it will be Ciar.

The trailer for next week’s episode only has three scenes, so I’m legitimately worried about what they’re hiding from us. With three episodes left, things are going to go downhill very quickly.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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