After the last episode, I was prepared to not like this episode, but despite myself, I enjoyed it moderately well. However, I ended up fighting mad that we might never have more of this show to enjoy.

The first scene left me annoyed that Coreen would be so naïve, but I was won over by Gina Holden's fabulous acting as Asteroth. Yeah yeah, the Goa'uld deep voice was a little over the top, but Gina still had me convinced, in the way she moved and smirked at the other characters.

Similarly, I was annoyed at the way Vicki was clueless about what she was doing to Mike's career and Mike couldn't even come up with a bad excuse for why he was leaving the station. But in the end, the acting won me over, showing me that Mike really can't resist her and Vicki really is that clueless! (But seriously, even clueless Vicki should have said, "Okay, I'll stay with Coreen so you can get back to work." Duh. Lazy writing, methinks.)

There were a few other things I didn't like, such as the scene in the strip club. I suppose it was supposed to show how sordid the demon is, but it made me roll my eyes with the vision of a bunch of male writers sitting around saying "Heh. Maybe we can have Vicki and Coreen mudwrestle. That'd be cool, huh?"

There was a lot I liked, though, such as the reminder of Henry as a good Catholic. ("Initiate more midnight masses and you'll see more of me.") It made sense that he'd head straight for the priest.

And the plot twist of Coreen's heart being removed was seriously cool. I had no idea that was coming and it was nifty (and gross) and I loved the beating heart in the locker. (Best line of the episode? "Oh, I'm sorry, it seems the bus station was out of organ transplant containers.")

Let's see, the demon tempted Vicki with her sight and the ability to save the whole world, Henry with the ability to be human again, and Mike with the ability to do his job amazingly well and save everyone, oh, and get Vicki back. Yup, that sounds about right.

I thought each of the "tempting" scenes was done very well and each time I held my breath, even though I knew they wouldn't accept. And I melted into a little puddle of goo when Henry asked Asteroth, "Would you make a deal to leave her alone?" Oh, Henry.

I was also pleased that Mike wasn't fooled when "Coreen" said that Vicki still loves him. Go, Mike! And the projection of the kidnap victim's location into his mind was pretty darn cool too. Very evil of the demon, that was.

(Although I can't figure out if the demon didn't realize that Henry could help Mike use the vision to save the girl, or if that was somehow another trap. Did the demon intend for history to repeat itself and Mike starts feeding information to Kate, who then gets herself fired? Or am I making this overly complicated?)

The exorcism was interesting to me, mainly because as far as I could tell, Henry was watching the exorcism and Mike was watching Vicki. Hmm.

(Oh, and one little detail that I wondered about: Who did Henry feed off of to recover from being stabbed in the stomach? The show has pretty much established that he has to feed after a wound like that, but he looked mighty healthy a short time later. That's another hmm...)

I liked many of the relationship scenes a great deal, from Mike and Henry talking about Vicki ("Hard to imagine not wanting her.") to Vicki admitting she's wanted to say yes to Henry, to Mike and Vicki's broken conversation in the hallway ("I spent a whole year trying to get over you and another year trying to win you back.").

Mike's final scene nearly killed me, with that desperate kiss before he says goodbye. I'm still debating whether he's really so mad at Vicki that he's given up, or if he just thinks that Henry will keep her safe and she loves Henry best anyway.

I didn't think the writing of Henry at the end was quite as good (no fault of the actor, who played it well), because he couldn't seem to make up his mind. First he told Vicki she made the wrong decision and then he was offering to protect her, then he took off in a huff.

But overall, this was a fairly good season finale, even if it's a terrible series finale. It left our heroes broken and battered and in desperate need of fixing up. Here's hoping that someday we find out what happens next!

I think the final take-home message of the show is "No one is dying on my watch." One thing you can say for Vicki is that she's stubborn. And darn if that isn't why we love her.

* * * * *

Could There Be Another Season of Blood Ties?

If E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is to be believed, we still have a chance for a second season of Blood Ties. In a posting in her blog on January 9, Kristin said she'd received such a resounding response from Blood Ties' fanbase that she did a little digging into the show's fate.

And according to Executive Producer Randy Zalken, we shouldn't give up hope. There are Canadian broadcasters who are interested in airing it. And the "sets are still available--they've not been destroyed--our talent is very eager to come back, and our show runner, Peter Mohan, is standing by."

All it takes (no, really, it's nothing much) is an American network willing to invest along with the Canadian side. But it's not impossible.

Head on over to Kristin's blog post and add your voice to the fans calling for another season of Blood Ties. With any luck (as Kristin says) "a curious passerby with a big fat network budget will happen upon the scene and realize exactly how beloved this series is by you, the fans."

In the meantime, thanks so much for reading my reviews and giving me the opportunity to talk to you about a fun television show.