So, Dresden Files.

I'm not permitting myself to form a solid opinion until I've seen at least three episodes. I'm also doing my best to compartmentalize and separate the show from the source material and judge it on its own merits. As long as I'm throwing out caveats, I might as well add that I'm violating my own rule of watching something at least twice before I try to watch it critically, because I simply don't have time to watch it again, which is exactly why I hardly ever write intelligently about TV anymore. But as much as I went on about looking forward to this show, and as much as I tend to go on about the books on which it's based, I can't very well get away with NOT talking about it.

With all of that in mind…

The Good: Paul Blackthorne is indeed a cutie. He has pretty good tragic hero potential. For what humor there is, he has a deadpan delivery that's perfect for the character. He and Valerie Cruz as Murphy had some pretty decent chemistry and hints of the requisite UST. I liked the flashbacks to Harry's childhood and his stage-magician father, and the hints dropped about his mother and his uncle laying the groundwork for a major story arc. Terrence Mann's Bob is so note perfect that I don't care that they turned him into a ghost. Bob is awesome. The end.

The Bad: I know I said I'd try to compartmentalize and not compare, but a certain amount of comparison is inevitable. I'm concerned that people will assume that the show is just like the books, but so far it's a pale reflection of the vivid, imaginative and humorous world in which Harry lives on paper. I've noticed reviewers unfamiliar with the books comparing it to Angel and finding it lacking there, too, which is sad and a little unfair in light of the fact that the creator, Jim Butcher, is such an unabashed fan of the Whedonverse that the books are laced with humorous winks and nods to Buffy and Angel and the obvious fact that he drew inspiration for his world from those shows. Far from ripping them off, though, he used that inspiration as the foundation on which to build a rich and complex world of his own design, peopled with characters that feel every bit as real and worthy of our attention and caring as any of Whedon's.

Yeah. So far I'm not getting that from the show.

I'm sure a lot of it is a matter of budget. The sets, the monster makeup, the effects… all of it left a lot to be desired. The writing wasn't half as witty as Butcher's tends to be, and the actors don't yet feel comfortable in their roles. It feels like it's teetering on the brink of falling into camp – not just camp, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing by itself; but camp doesn't know it's camp and takes itself too seriously. But then again, it could also totter the other way and get better. I expect that it'll have to go through some growing pains to get there, but it has the potential to be something good.

The Indifferent: Harry's waitress girlfriend. Melissa. The diner standing in for McAnnaly's pub. The Jeep standing in for the Blue Beetle. I'm going to wank that the timeline here is some time before Storm Front, and we're building to some of the events of that book, and some of the more charming and familiar aspects of Harry's existence simply aren't yet in place. There was no Mister simply because Harry hasn't gotten him yet, not because he's been omitted. Ditto his signature rod and staff. I hope. At any rate, I'm willing to wait and see.

The WTF?!: The lack of Harry's difficulty with modern technology. That's a fun complication in the book that forces Harry to do things the hard way. He can't simply jump on the phone or a computer to get the information he needs because his magic energy will kill them dead. It's an instant obstacle that always makes things more interesting. I suppose I can understand from a production standpoint why it would be more economical to leave that little tidbit out, but from a storytelling standpoint, it just seems like a really lazy choice.

Murphy's daughter? Why? Maybe they're combining Murphy and Michael into one character and they want her to have a family to serve the same purpose Michael's serves in the books. I can live with that, but still, that made me pause. As for Murphy herself… nothing against Valerie Cruz, but she doesn't have the incongruity thing happening that helps to make Murphy one of my favorite characters. Again, dragging the books back into this, one thing I love about Murphy is how physically unlikely she appears to be for a badass cop. Much like Buffy, she's this teeny tiny blonde woman who by all appearances you should be able to knock over with a feather—but she WILL kick your ass. A big part of her character is that in order to make it as a cop she's had to work extremely hard to compensate for her size and appearance, and has succeeded in doing so. Valerie Cruz has Murphy's bitchiness down, but so far we're not given any real reason for it, and without making her understandable they run a real risk of simply making her unlikable. But then again, I didn't really like or get book-Murphy until about the third book, so I guess I owe TV-Murphy the same chance to grow on me.

All in all, I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed by the first episode (I think it's worth noting that Matt HATED it, and he's not nearly as big a fan of the books as I am. To paraphrase: "They freaking castrated Harry, man!"). I think the heart is there, though, and as long as the heart's there, it has the potential to grow into, if not exactly the representation I hoped it would be, something pretty good in its own right. For now, I'll definitely keep watching.

But now I want to know what you guys think.