Revamp: The Undead Story 1×02 Review: Episode 2

Episode 2 of Revamp: The Undead Story wastes no time in answering some of the questions I had after episode 1. Of course, it doesn’t answer all of my questions. And in answering some, it actually posed more.

Right away, we are taken one hundred years in the past to see how exactly Ramil ended up in the painting. (I don’t know where I got the idea that it was two hundred years. Not important, but still.) I feel kind of bad for Ramil; he’s just sleeping and all of a sudden he gets yoinked into a painting for a century by a group of rebel vampires.

What are they rebelling against? Is there a vampire government? Are there warring factions? Were they resisting the rule of the Jonoel family? Because, I mean, Ramil seems like a pretty decent dude, for a vampire. He has that whole rule about not killing humans and everything. Then again, maybe that was the problem. You know. Vampires.

And once again, I am dying to know what vampire lore looks like in other countries, because the vampires summon Lilith, the Mother of Demons, to curse Ramil into the painting. Lilith is a central figure in a lot of ancient cultures, and I’m wondering if she featured in Thai myths as well, or if they’re simply incorporating Middle Eastern mythology.

Lilith has to obey the will of the summoner, even if she disagrees with them (which, considering she’s the Mother of Demons, is kind of nonsense). But she does tell Ramil – and simultaneously Methas, Mekhin, and Ciar, who have come to save Ramil – how to break the curse. It’s basically true love’s kiss, from what I can tell. Ramil can choose the curse breaker, and the one he chooses will be the one he loves for all eternity.

So when Methas told Punn that Ramil chose him, he was correct. And kudos to Ramil, when Punn asks, he tells him straight out, even the “love for all eternity” bit. But that still doesn’t explain how or why Ramil chose Punn. Could he see into the future? Is Punn the reincarnation of someone Ramil knew in his time?

Punn, by the way, is not fazed by anything. He must have been through some serious stuff to just roll with things the way he has been. Last week, he was confronted with the literal manifestation of the man of his dreams, and he just took him home. Finds out vampires are real, no big deal. In this episode, he shrugs off being eternally bound to a pureblood vampire and a car chase in which he is being shot at.

But I think this does explain the depth of their feelings, even though they’ve only known each other like three days at this point. You can’t stop Boun and Prem from BounPreming, so their chemistry is insane. I think both of them felt the connection without realizing what it truly meant. Not that he knows, Ramil seems determined to make Punn his. And Punn is clearly drawn to Ramil but is more hesitant.

Still, a scene like the one where they go get ice cream shows how Punn obviously feels something for Ramil. It’s the way he’s fondly indulgent, and how he seemed to realize that Ramil would want to try the claw machine and made sure he had coins for it. Not to mention, it would be very difficult to stay strong in the face of Ramil’s pouty lip.

I did find it hilarious that they kept going in for a kiss and kept getting interrupted. I’m kind of hoping they keep that up for another episode or two. It’s a common trope, but it’s funny. (Although I appreciate how annoyed they both looked after the third time it happened.)

We are also formally introduced to Mekhin and Ciar. We got to see a little bit of them at the end of last week’s episode, but now Ramil needs his powers back. Ciar is disinclined to give up the life he’s been living for the past hundred years, while Mekhin is willing but asks if they can wait because he doesn’t have the PTO. (That’s barely an exaggeration. The hospital is understaffed and he doesn’t want to leave them in the lurch while he recovers.)

Also, is Ciar the leader of a cult? Is that what’s going on here? At one point in this episode, he yells at Ramil that they’ve all had to go into hiding, but he’s… not exactly hiding, is he? He lives in a giant compound full of hooded people and he leads a cult!

No matter. Even though they are initially standoffish, they still come when Ramil and Punn have an encounter with the Hunters.

So, actually, this poses more questions for me. I mentioned in last week’s review that the vandals who destroyed Ramil’s portrait looked like Paul and Caster (who we still have not officially met), and it turns out I was correct. Methas watches the security footage with Jett and Elise (very curious as to why he didn’t do this originally, but whatever) and realizes that Hunters destroyed the painting specifically to target Ramil.

But this just makes me so confused. Did they intend to bring about the circumstances necessary to free Ramil to kill him for good, or did they just intend to damage the painting so that he couldn’t be freed at all? Because they could have just burned it. Surely burning the painting would do something.

And none of this explains how Methas recognized that it was time to free Ramil, especially given he hadn’t met Punn at that point.

I’m also curious as to how long the Hunters have been around. Have they always been around, or did they form in the century it’s been since Ramil was trapped in the painting? After the first episode, I thought this had been a long-standing conflict. But learning it was other vampires who imprisoned Ramil, and having Ciar explain to Ramil about how the Hunters have been going after them for a hundred years, I’m now thinking they were created in response to something.

It’s no surprise to anyone who has seen the trailer, but Jett and Elise are Hunters. In fact, Jett seems to be in charge. He mentioned last week about the legend that a vampire was trapped in the painting, so he obviously knew about it. And if he knew about it, he could have learned how to free Ramil. But I still don’t know why he would go to all the effort of freeing Ramil when he could have just as easily left him trapped.

Honestly, this whole setup just makes no sense. Did he persuade Methas to lend them the painting for the exhibition in order to orchestrate this whole situation? I find it very hard to believe Methas would willingly part with it. Does that mean that Methas knew what would happen, and was counting on it?

My head hurts.

This episode was fairly action-heavy. In addition to the aforementioned car chase, which was kind of anticlimactic, all things considered, there were multiple fight scenes as Hunters tracked Mekhin and Ciar after they left the hotel. Mekhin is ambushed by three Hunters, while eight make their way to Ciar’s compound. (For a cult leader, what crappy security he must have. Mekhin was at the hospital, but Ciar should have some protection.)

I’m not going to lie, the action scenes are not fantastic. But then, these guys are not action stars. And I actually liked the choreography, for the most part. Ramil goes to help Ciar and does this somersault into a knee spin that trips one of the attackers, and honestly that was really cool.

It’s pretty clear that there is some inner conflict in addition to the outer one they have with the Hunters. As mentioned more than once, Ciar is upset that Ramil didn’t choose him to break the curse. He’s dismissive of Punn and all humans, and it’s kind of hard to blame him. Humans have been systematically hunting them for who knows how long. He argues with Ramil about the “no killing” rule, and then flaunts it during their fight by killing three of the Hunters.

But then he goes after Punn. Ramil naturally moves to protect Punn, and Methas assists by fighting Ciar until he knocks him unconscious. You know that’s not going to be the end of things. Which makes me sad, because you can tell how much they all care for each other. Methas ran barefoot across the city to help Mekhin. Mekhin was stabbed and his first question is about Ciar. Ramil runs rather than drives to help Ciar because it’s faster. There is love there. It just may not be enough.

Something I didn’t mention in last week’s review that I meant to was how much I like the subtle indicators that they’re vampires. A couple of times, their eyes have glowed red. When they’re walking down the mirrored hallway in the hotel, they don’t have reflections. (This is something I didn’t even notice until someone on Tumblr pointed it out.) When they go into what I will, for lack of a better term, call “vamp mode”, they have claws rather than fingers. None of this is really obvious or in-your-face, but they are all clear signs.

I just have so many questions! I feel like they’re doing a good job of explaining things, but there is just so much information. It’s impossible to dump it all at once. But this is only the second episode, so there’s plenty of time.

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.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary