Blood Drive premiere recap: Season 1 Episode 1, “The F-cking Cop”, Aired June 14, 2017
There is no denying that Syfy was not lying to us regarding the Grindhouse style Blood Drive was going to embrace. With the premiere episode, we are saturated with blood, assaulted with violence, enticed with sex, and provided with a load of bizarreness. Oh, and we can’t forget the vehicles with glorious flesh eating engines. With all that said, it takes an unusual; some might say deranged, type a person to enjoy the ludicrous images that flood the screen with this show. With that said, oh great reader, how insanely amazing was that first episode? As a gearhead, I have to admit I am in love with this series already. Let’s cover some of the things that we discovered during this episode along with some of the killer vehicles in it.
The world sucks
If there is one thing that we can all agree on, it would be that this takes place in a seriously messed up and deranged world. Water is scarce, food is scarce, gas is crazy expensive, and people are barely surviving. The “Big One” rocked California hard enough that it state’s status got revoked. Now we have the California Territories with no idea what happened to the rest of the United States. Well, at least not at this point.
While the rest of the world sucks, things are slightly more advanced in this world on some fronts – car manufacturers for example. They either have some serious 1999 tech going into cars no one can afford to drive, or they possess time travel. How else can you explain the Prius that entered the race? Okay, guess it could be in the script.
The 1967 Camaro SS in blood red
Femme fatale Grace d’Argento (Christina Ochoa) kills as the lead in Blood Drive in perfect Syfy fashion. There is not another channel out there that has supplied us with so many badass lead women. Grace is another wonderful addition to the channel, and she is the perfect introduction to the grindhouse style. Sex, blood, and bizarreness. She’s got that all covered. Not to mention, her Kansas license plate says Karma.
Grace is in the Blood Drive for one thing – to save her sister from wherever she is being stashed away at. The only way she is going to be able to get her out is with money. That 10-million dollar purse is the ticket to doing just that. One thing that you get a hint of during this episode is that this isn’t Grace’s first time in the race.
You can’t trust that sweet, seductive look she has either. Take the guys in the 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution for example. Sure, the driver seriously needed to die, but she was just trying to get gas after all. Pretty sure anyone who stopped would have ended up being fuel.
ContraCrime
Privatized law enforcement is only good for those employed to be the law. The rest of the filth is only there to suffer abuse by cops who collect teeth instead of tickets.
A few good cops remain on the force – those who are looking out for the people. Namely Arthur Bailey (Alan Ritchson) and his partner Christopher Carpenter (Thomas Dominique). We learn everything we need to know about Arthur’s character in one line to his partner:
“Every day we go out on patrol we have a choice. Make the city a better place or make a violent world more violent.”
His attempt to live up to that motto landed Arthur in the passenger seat of the Camaro. How far will he go to uphold the law? It’s hard to say – the car does need fuel after all. Will he put anyone behind bars since Heart Enterprises controls everything? We will have to wait and see on that one.
Christopher has some troubles of his own. While trying to find out what happened to his partner, he finds a room straight out of Blade: Trinity. It’s a blood farm, and sexbot Aki (Marama Corlett) has plans for him. Maybe she will at least fix his eye.
Master of Ceremonies
Could there be a better showman than Julian Slink (Colin Cunningham)? Maybe, but can they rock that feather outfit he has going on?
We learn a lot about Slink throughout the episode. He has been heading the Blood Drive for awhile now. What he says is law in that world. Also, surprisingly enough, he is employed by the all seeing Heart Industries. Slink also doesn’t own a toothbrush but has a high tolerance for pain. Perhaps there is something synthetic about him as well since knife wounds hurt.
The Living Camaro
When Grace was looking at the picture of her with her sister, the Camaro was there. We know that she has raced before, but when did the engine, or the Camaro, become sentient? Yes, I said sentient.
Grace feeds, err, fuels her car by inserting a body into the mouth of the engine. Blood keeps the engine alive, and you could assume that the rest of the organics also play a part in that. Case in point, the car has a digestive track. Back near what looked like the rear tires, discards the belt and jeans of the Lancer driver just as fast as Taco Bell runs through you. How much more of the car is alive?
The car is mostly driving itself all while Grace and Arthur are raising their adrenaline levels at the end of the episode. Sure, it could have been cruise control and Grace’s fantastic foot driving, or the Camaro didn’t want to hurt itself. The car might not have complete control, but it does lead a little credence to self-preservation. The spin-out did stay on the road after all, and it did stop before hitting Slink. Yes I know, that is a lot to take in. We will see how much more this plays out in the future. Or it might not at all. I am fine with speculating.
Even more vehicles
Each week, I am going to attempt to identify some of the cars that are in the episode. If you see something I missed or have a correction, hit me up in the comments below. Also, in case you were wondering why so many of the cars are right-hand drive, then I have an answer for you: the filming of this series took place in Cape Town, South Africa.
Here is what I spotted:
2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution yellow and black.
1997 Chrysler Concorde ContraCrime squad car.
1965 Ford Mustang convertible full of cheerleaders.
1951 or 1952 Chevy 6400 driven by Rip Bone.
1971 Mercedes Benz 300 driven by The Gentleman and the Scholar
1972 Ford Mustang Mach 1, license plate “No Car’
Land Rover Defender
Prius is driven by Domi and Cliff
Possible 1956 Chevy Bel Air
What did you think of Syfy’s Blood Drive? Can you identify any more of the cars in the show? Let me know your thoughts in the comment below. Don’t forget to check us out here for more Syfy fandom news!
Watch Blood Drive on Syfy Wednesdays at 9/8c
Featured image: syfy.com
