The course of true love never did run smooth; -- William Shakespeare

Love makes you do the wacky – William the Bloody

When you love crazy people, it makes you crazy. Just ask Mick St. John. Fifty years ago, he married a woman named Coraline. But she neglected to tell him a slight detail. No, it's not that she was one spring roll short of an all-you-can eat Chinese buffet. She was, but that's a minor detail compared to the big secret: She was a vampire. Mick found that out the hard way, when she turned him into one as well.

Thirty years later, Mick killed her. Or so he thought. In Episode 1.07, The Ringer, he's not so sure anymore.

The episode starts when Mick is drawn to a fire in an old hotel that held special meaning to him during his mortal life. Predictably, Beth is on the scene reporting the story for Buzzwire. But what draws Mick's attention is a young photojournalist named Morgan who bears a striking resemblance to Mick's ex-wife, Coraline.

Coraline who kidnapped four-year-old Beth and then threatened to turn her into a vampire. Coraline who Mick staked with a silver letter opener to protect Beth from. Coraline who he left to burn-to-death in a fire. Coraline, whose memory Mick hasn't been able to let go of since the night he murdered her. That Coraline.

Predictably, seeing this Coraline look-alike throws Mick off balance. Even more so, when a few days later, she shows up at Mick's apartment with Beth and a problem: Someone broke into her house and stole her photography equipment. Since without her cameras she's out of a job, she needs help. (And better insurance. I was a photojournalist for years, and all of my equipment was insured. If it had been stolen, my adjuster would have had a check for me by the end of the day. Plus? Rentals.)

As Mick pokes into Morgan's life, the parallels between her and Coraline send him into a tailspin. The normally tightly controlled detective starts to behave erratically. It's no wonder he tried to kill his ex, if this is what her memory does to him.

And the coincidences between the two are just eerie enough to keep you guessing. Morgan reads Coraline's favorite books. She listens to the same music. Further, her cameras were stolen because during the fire, she inadvertently caught pictures of a man who looked like Mick, murdering a woman who looked like Coraline, in the same way that our favorite vampire murdered his ex twenty years prior. The victim also had a fleur-de-lis tattoo on her shoulder, just like Coraline. (As an aside to classic literature fans, felons were historically branded with the sign to mark them as such. Remember Milady from The Three Musketeers?)

If she's not Coraline, it's a major coincidence. If she is, then she's selling the biggest case of crazy that I've ever seen, and I'm gleefully hooked.

The more erratic Mick's behavior becomes, the more time his friends, Josef and Beth, spend shooting him concerned looks. Mick becomes convinced that Coraline has survived being killed, found a cure for vampirism, and has come out of hiding to taunt him after he's found some glimmer of happiness over his relationship with Beth. (or not!relationship as the case may be.)

Mick finally comes back to his senses after confronting Morgan and realizing that she doesn't have Coraline's shoulder tattoo. While fixating on not!Coraline, Mick lets a killer escape. This causes him to realize that he has to let go of the memory of his ex.

But just as we're comfortable with this idea, the show pulls the rug out from underneath us in a twist ending. In the closing moments, we see Morgan removing studio-grade makeup from her shoulder to reveal the very tattoo Mick was looking for.

Can I get that crazy with a side of egg rolls?

The good: Shannyn Sossamon does a credible job as Coraline. But her acting takes a backseat to the performance that Alex O'Loughlin turns in as Mick. Watching Mick's downward spiral as the memory of Coraline gets under his skin is heart wrenching. The fact that Coraline is actually back can't mean good things for Mick.

Also awesome is the fact that Jason Dohring gets a significantly meatier part as Mick's fanged yenta Josef. With Coraline becoming more involved in the plot lines, it's my hope that we will see more of him.

The bad: Not a lot to complain about here. Of course with such heavy focus on Not!Coraline, Sophia Myles' Beth had little to do except stand around and deflect questions about her and Mick's relationship.

Conclusion: Best episode yet!