Let the Right One In: When Childhood Ends

Mark (Demián Bichir) and his daughter, Eleanor (Madison Taylor Baez) return home to New York to try to create a new life and to stop running from place to place.  You see, Eleanor was bitten by a vampire 10 years ago and she is now seemingly frozen at the age of 12, but she also must drink blood.  She can only venture out at night, and they must be careful to not draw too much attention to themselves, or they will need to move again.  Mark will do anything for his daughter and that includes killing in order to bring her food.  He is also searching for a cure, and they have travelled extensively in search of the creature that did this to her in hopes of finding what they need. Eleanor meets Isaiah, a different young boy who lives next door to their new apartment and loves magic.  The two quickly become friends.

I am personally conflicted about this show and I will explain why.  First, it is wonderfully made.  The actors are all amazing and you can feel the very pain they experience being in their precarious situation. The characters and their relationship to each other are well handled and it succinctly establishes who they are, but allows room for growth.  The story is fascinating and well-crafted and the first episode has a good pace and nice rhythm, with the exposition being expertly handled giving the audience just enough to know what is happening and not feel lost but holds back enough to keep us intrigued.  The dialogue never feels forced or disingenuous. The series seems to have an overall high production value.

So, if this is such a well-done show, why am I conflicted? Because I personally, feel uncomfortable watching good people being forced to do extremely bad things, I really feel their inner torment over what is happening which heightens my anxiety level and makes for a non-enjoyable watching situation. I have not read the book or seen the movie that this show is based on, but I think I would probably be able to handle this story as a movie but going week in and week out with watching an otherwise heroic person take lives, I am not sure I could handle.  The thing is the show really did hook me.  I am curious to find out what happens as I became emotionally invested. I guess I need to decide if I can handle the discomfort and continue watching or forgo this series and move on to the next…of which there are plenty!