MIDNIGHT TEXAS -- "Lemuel, Unchained" Episode 103 -- Pictured: (l-r) Sarah Ramos as Creek, Francois Arnaud as Manfred, Yul Vázquez as Rev. Sheehan, Parisa Fitz-Henley as Fiji -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)
MIDNIGHT TEXAS -- "Lemuel, Unchained" Episode 103 -- Pictured: (l-r) Sarah Ramos as Creek, Francois Arnaud as Manfred, Yul Vázquez as Rev. Sheehan, Parisa Fitz-Henley as Fiji -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Midnight, Texas Review: Lemuel, Unchained

Just when things couldn’t be sticker in Midnight, a crew of vampires has to roll into town. Claiming to be friends of Lem, the neighborhood isn’t exactly welcoming to this gang of blood suckers. But this blast from the past put’s Lem in a tough situation, as he’s parted ways with this crowd for a reason. If anything can be said about the Midnighters though, they stick together and they’re tough as hell, which has saved them on more than one occasion already.

From the start it’s clear that the town isn’t so trusting of Lem’s old friends. But Lem is willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If they say they’ve changed, he wants to give them a chance. Besides, without Zachariah, Lem wouldn’t be around now to be part of the Midnighters. We get a fantastic look into Lem’s past, and see his transition from human to vampire. Which is not a pretty story to tell. Lem’s human life was spent stuck in slavery, but he had heard whispers and rumors of a way to freedom. After a particularly rough lashing, Lem breaks free and finds his way to Zachariah, who gives him eternal life.

Image Credit: NBC

What better way to take revenge on your old captors than to come back as a bad ass hungry vampire and wreck havoc upon the whole lot of them at a fancy dinner party. Which is exactly what Lem does. Boy was there a lot of blood at that party. And that seemed to be the theme of how Zachariah’s crew worked. Kill, party, eat, repeat. I get that vampires need blood to survive and all, but geez they also enjoy the killing aspect a teeny bit too much.  That behavior eventually puts a wedge between Lem and the others, and why they parted ways so long ago. In another flashback we see the ending of their friendship. It’s another night of killing/eating, but Lem just isn’t into it. Zachariah calls him out on that, and decides to give him a gift. A young, innocent girl to feast upon. Lem can’t bring himself to do it, and he is contemplating his way out of this mess. The young girl offers him something that can help him him change.

Image Credit: NBC

And change is exactly what he gets. The girl turned out to be none other than Xylda, Manfred’s grandmother. She gives him the ability to feed off of energy instead of blood, and as a bonus that gives him the ability to destroy other vampires. Lem and Zachariah part ways, but Lem is very clear that they are to leave Midnight and not come back. Great little tie in for how Lem ends up in Midnight and bringing a young Xylda into it. If she had the ability to change Lem, maybe Manfred will discover that talent in the future. But for now, I’m happy that the only vampire in Midnight who has the ability to stop other Vampires, is the one on my side.

Luckily, everyone in Midnight knows how to protect themselves, and so all are on edge when they learn these vampires get to stay the night. And it isn’t long before someone ends up dead. Turns out the thinning veil between Hell and the living is drawing in evil at a much faster rate that I first assumed. Zachariah talks about how he felt Midnight calling to him, luring him back. But Zachariah is a vindictive jerk face who just wants to eat the entire town because of an old feud. The town had already started gathering in the church to wait it out until sunrise, sacred ground and all, but they still want to prepare themselves. So Manfred hits up the hardware store for some wooden stakes and big ass hammer. So of course Manfred is the one to find the body (Rest In Peace Henry of the hardware store). So he takes out the first vampire of the night using his foot to drive a pencil through the vampires heart, pretty kick ass in my opinion.

But not everyone has made it to safety, Creek and her family are just at home, unprotected. Sure she and her brother are sharpening wooden sticks into points, but soon this entire place will be over run. Manfred to the rescue, much to the disappointment of Creek’s father, and they set off for the church to join the others. They don’t make it quite that far though, and Manfred has to make the quick decision to stop at his own house instead. Fiji just made it unwelcome for the dead, so they should be safe in there. Speaking of Fiji, she and Bobo are at her place, also protected, but still cut off from the rest of the group. They start working together to see if there’s a supernatural way they can combat the vampires until morning. Fiji finds a sun stone, if they can just get enough light behind the rock, it’ll act as UV light, which should roast any vampire that gets in their way. Damn good thing too because shit is about to go down.

MIDNIGHT, TEXAS — “Lemuel, Unchained” Episode 103 — Pictured: (l-r) Parisa Fitz-Henley as Fiji, Dylan Bruce as Bobo — (Photo by: NBC)

MIDNIGHT TEXAS — “Lemuel, Unchained” Episode 103 — Pictured: (l-r) Peter Mensah as Lemuel, Zahn McClarnon as Zachariah — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

At first this was about keeping the town safe until sunrise, now it’s war. After refusing to side with them, again, Zachariah turns on Lem. They have one last drink, for old times sake, and Lem is dumb enough to down the entire thing. The blood has been laced with silver, so it’s poisoning him. Now Zachery and his leeches are free to run through the entire town. Olivia does her normal kick ass routine, including taking out a vampire with the heel of her boot. Sorry Manfred, that totally beats your pencil trick! And she’s able to shoot Zachery with a silver bullet, weakening him as well. Lem is dragged off and the leeches begin hunting the town.

Olivia is able to get to Fiji and Bobo and she takes the tiny flashlight and stone off of them, sneaking her way back into the town. They are going to need a bigger light, which she can find at Bobo’s shop. She takes out another vampire with the UV light, but is injured and cannot continue on with the plan. Manfred acts quickly and decides to trick Zachariah in order to gather the majority of these leeches into one area. Stating that he is Xylda’s grandson, he wants to make a deal with their ring leader. He can offer Zachariah what Lem has, if they promise to let everyone in the town, Lem included, leave unharmed.

MIDNIGHT TEXAS — “Lemuel, Unchained” Episode 103 — Pictured: Francois Arnaud as Manfred — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Joe comes to the rescue with the light, flying to the bell tower and being in the perfect position. Just as Zachariah realizes that he’s been had, the entire group of them goes down with a rock and a flashlight. Take that vampires! The only problem is Lem is still missing. Olivia finds him, but he’s still too weak to break his restraints. She allows him to feed on her, blood this time, not energy. And he is able to break free just in the nick of time. Sunrise has come, and Midnight is safe, for now…

New episodes of Midnight, Texas air every Monday at 10/9c on NBC.

Think you’re a Midnighter? Then join in on the conversation! Be sure to watch live each week and use the hashtag #MidnightTexas on social media.

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