Brimstone 1.1 - Pilot

Brimstone : Pilot
Genre : Action / Horror
Director: David S. Goyer
Writer : Mark Newton
Cast: Holland Roden, Stephen McHattie, Kelly Hu, Manu Bennett, Tom Riley, Lydia Hearst, Ludi Lin, Oscar Jaenada, Meghan Ory and Daniel Cudmore

Plot: Morton, Mississippi - Every door and window in the small town town are adorned with crosses as a man and woman walk down the street at night. The woman trips, and the man helps her up, but is dragged by a chain into a dark alleyway. The woman screams. The man's head is thrown from the alleyway, landing at the woman's feet. From down the street, a young woman, Rayne (Holland Roden), walks up to her and asks if she's alright. The woman breaks down crying and pointing to the alleyway. When Rayne looks toward the alley, the woman bares her fangs, revealing she is a vampire, and prepares to bite Rayne. Rayne kicks the vampire with her steel stiletto heels, stabbing the vampire in the shoulder. Rayne then takes off her overcoat to reveal a leather suit. She then pulls out her twin blades and uses them to decapitate the vampire woman. Rayne then begins running down the street as a small army of vampires surround her.

From a nearby rooftop, Tremaine (Stephen McHattie) and Mynce (Kelly Hu) watch Rayne fight the vampires. Tremaine tells Mynce that Rayne has been asking around, trying to find her father, Kagan, the vampire king they've been trying to find for decades, and that maybe she can help them in their purge of the vampire species. Mynce argues that that since Rayne is a dhampir, half-human half-vampire, she cannot be trusted. Tremaine says "to hell with it" and pulls out a rocket launcher which he fires at the horde of vampires. The large explosion allows Rayne to escape into a nearby church, one of the few safe havens from vampires.

Belgrade, Serbia - Kagan (Manu Bennett), the leader of the Cult of Kagan, sits in a castle. He asks his associate Dariel (Ludi Lin) if he has had any luck tracking down "The Shroud". Dariel says he has not, but that there has been word that a pack of vampires were all slaughtered in America. Kagan asks him if it was the Brimstone Society, and Dariel nods. Kagan is furious and asks if they have any friends in America. Dariel says there is one person he knows of in the region. Kagan tells Dariel to go solicit his assistance at once. Dariel turns himself into a flock of bats and flies away.

Tremaine and Mynce enter the church in Mississippi. Rayne pulls out her blades, but Tremaine tells her they mean her no harm, and are not vampires. Rayne says she knows they're not vampires since a vampire couldn't enter the church, but that wouldn't mean they weren't dhampirs. Tremaine tells her he knows that Rayne is the daughter of Kagan. Rayne tells them that she has no allegiance to Kagan. She's trying to find him and kill him for raping her mother. Rayne tells the story of how her mother killed herself once she realized Rayne was part-vampire. Ever since she was a small child, Rayne has vowed for revenge against Kagan and all of his vampire children. Tremaine tells that they are from the Brimstone Society, a group who have dedicated their lives to eliminating vampires and other supernatural threats from Earth, and that they would like to help Rayne in her quest if she'll join their order. Myce is less than happy about this, but Tremaine tells her to hold her tongue as she knows damn well that they need someone with Rayne's abilities if they're ever going to stop a powerful vampire overlord like Kagan.

Merida, Mexico - A flock of bats flies into an old Spanish mission and transforms back into Dariel. He walks up to the top of a bell tower where he meets with Jorge Wolfe (Oscar Jaenada), a spanish occultist. Jorge tells Dariel that he is finally close to reassembling the remains of the ancient demon Beliar. He has already located and assembled Beliar's skull and most of his skeleton, but what he really needs to bring life back to the great demon is his heart. Dariel tells Jorge that Kagan has offered his resources to help Jorge locate the heart if he will help out with a little problem they have in Mississippi.

Back in Mississippi, Tremaine is leading Rayne through the Brimstone Society initiation. Present are other Brimstone members, Mynce and Severin (Tom Riley). Tremaine gives her a necklace of the Brimstone Society emblem and officially welcomes her into the fold. Tremaine tells Rayne that she will begin combat training with Mynce before they she is sent out into the field to combat supernatural menace.

Back in his castle in Serbia, Kagan sits with his children Ephemera (Lydia Hearst), Ferril (Meghan Ory) and Xerx (Daniel Cudmore). They are all full vampires. He tells them that they have a half-sister and he would like them to track her down and bring her home to him so that he may share his castle with all of his children. 

This pilot opens strongly, but it fails to live up to that scene again. Sure it introduced the characters and the setting, but for an action-horror series, the episode had little of both of the genre.

From what I've seen so far, Brimstone looks like the kind of series you can watch simply to enjoy, a pure entertainment series. Ultra-violent and stylish with an intriguing setting, it looks interesting.

"I know it's only one episode, but I think the premise of Brimstone is too interesting to simply follow Rayne story and I hope it explores a bit more its intriguing world. If Goyer and Newton do, then I'll be hooked.