Revamp: The Undead Story 1×08 Review: Episode 8

Things come to a head as both Ciar and Pokpong believe they’re doing what they need to in order to protect their families. Meanwhile, Methus gains an unlikely ally in trying to get to the truth.

OK, first off, I have to start with a bit of a happy wiggle and pat on the back that a random thought I had at 2am one night may actually have had some merit. I have never really been good at theories, and as I mentioned in my review for episode 7, I couldn’t make the thought really make any sense. It wasn’t until I read other people’s theories based on the same concept that I understood what I think my subconscious had been thinking.

Anyway, it seems that the time manipulation theory may actually be true. Which also implies that the dreams Punn had been having before he went into the painting may not have happened yet. Which was the random thought I had at 2am. Punn talks about how he remembers Ramil, even though they had never met. This indicates that Ramil going through Punn’s memories in the present had an actual affect on what happened in the past. At the very least, it left an imprint on past!Punn’s mind that lingered.

The fact is, we’ve already seen proof of this. Take careful note of the clothes Ramil is wearing when he and Punn begin their, for lack of a better word, mind meld. Those are the same clothes that Ramil had on not only when he rescued Punn from Methus at the end of episode 1, but also in the rooftop dream Punn had in episode 4. I’d noticed that Ramil was in different clothes than he should have been both times, but it was more of an absent acknowledgement than it was thinking there was anything deeper going on.

What I love about this is how Punn approaches it. This isn’t so much proof that they are fated as it is them choosing to be fated. I’m not going to lie, I love a good soulmates story. (The amount of soulmate au fics I have read in virtually every fandom I’m in…) But people choosing to be soulmates is such a fantastic concept. Ramil going through Punn’s memories is like him leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to make sure that Punn will come and find him.

(I hope this means we get another bedroom scene before the end of the show. I’d really hate it if all we get are dreams that Punn had and one night of dubious consent.)

That scene between Ramil and Punn is such a masterclass in acting. Punn’s line about why is Ramil sighing so heavily when he doesn’t even breathe had me cackling. But from then on, this is a wonderful example of healthy communication, which given their beginning is fairly mature of them. The way Punn starts out gentle but gets sharper when he recognizes Ramil trying to dismiss the conversation. (Which makes sense, given that they aren’t very far removed from Punn being in very real danger.) The way Ramil speaks too harshly at first and then reverts to the pleading tone that he normally uses only with Punn. Their facial expressions. Boun and Prem are truly amazing.

Now, let’s talk about Elise, because I’m starting to get whiplash. Just a few episodes ago, she begged Punn not to leave by reminding him of their shared traumatic backstory. But in this episode, she says to Methus that she wants the violence to end. When did that happen? I wonder if she was ever truly as gung-ho about this as Jett and Punn were, or if she just didn’t want to lose the only two people she had left.

If that’s the case, I can see why Methus continually reaches out to Elise for help, or why Elise might contact him. After all, this isn’t the first time they’ve met up on their own. If she truly did want to take down the Jonoel family, she would use Methus’s seeming trust in her to her advantage. But she’s given no indication that she’s even afraid of him.

And honestly, that’s something else that’s very confusing to me. They obviously had a list of all the vampires in the Jonoel family. They had to have known who Methus was, as they specifically contacted him about displaying the painting. Why had they not taken any steps to take out Methus, Mekhin, or Ciar before Ramil’s return? Surely they would have been easier targets then.

I’ve seen people suggest that Elise is lying, which is definitely a possibility. She claims that Jett had been acting distant with her, and that’s why she didn’t know that he had recruited Pokpong. But that could just be a story she told Punn to calm him down when he and Ramil stormed the club. Although I’m not sure what her angle is, considering that she did let Mekhin take Pokpong to safety. I guess they could have planted something Pokpong.

Truthfully, I’m inclined to believe her. There’s been no hint that she knows anything about Dracul, aka the mystery man in the bed that we haven’t seen since episode 2. She’s close to Jett, yes, but I get the impression that the three of them were all close before Punn inexplicably left the Hunters a few months ago. If Punn didn’t know, I can’t see Jett telling her, either.

Jett is a fantastic villain. He is someone who is so driven by vengeance that he doesn’t care who he hurts along the way. He lets Elise go when it seems like she’s not as devoted to the cause anymore. (Presumably this was what happened with Punn as well, although I suspect we’ll never get a full answer there.) He’s willing to send Pokpong to his death to force something out of Punn. He may not even know why he’s so dedicated to this mission.

So, the fandom was right about Dunk being Feratu, though we still don’t have definitive proof that Feratu and Dracul are one and the same. Although given that both Punn and Elise recognized the drawing as Dracul, while Ramil and Methus recognized it as Feratu, should be all the confirmation that we need. It looks like whatever went down between Ramil and Feratu happened so long ago that Ciar and Mekhin weren’t yet there. And Ramil only banished Feratu from Greenmore, which means that Feratu could have been behind the rebel vampires who ended up cursing Ramil.

It looks like this all may be down to a family dispute. Feratu wanted to lead the family, and Ramil didn’t agree with his methods. And we may be heading to a similar fracture when it comes to Ciar. I think Ramil is treating Ciar the way he is because he remembers where he went wrong with Feratu. But it’s making Ciar think he isn’t part of the family. He’s left out of so many important conversations, so he doesn’t know what’s going on, and he thinks he’s doing what is best.

Likewise, Pokpong thinks he’s saving Punn when he joins the Hunters. I don’t think Pokpong is naïve, but he does seem horribly young here. He has to know that he’s not skilled enough to be joining in the mission, but he is willing to do it because it’s his brother.

Mekhin is the eternal peacemaker. He tries to talk Ciar out of going into battle, and when that doesn’t work, he joins the fight. He wants to protect both Ciar and Pokpong. I’m annoyed at the fact that we don’t see Ciar very much during a fight that he is responsible for, nor do we see his reaction to Mekhin healing Pokpong, which Ciar literally threatened to kill him over. But I do appreciate Mekhin trying to bridge the gap between frustratingly tight-lipped older brothers and their younger brothers who just want to be treated like adults.

With only two episodes left, I doubt we’re going to get a satisfactory conclusion to everything going on with Ciar. And honestly, that makes me worried for his safety. This is GMMTV, yes, and characters dying is rare. But it’s not unheard of, and a vampire story has to have a few casualties.

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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