Five years before Alan Ritchson became a star following the massive success ofReacher, he secured his very first lead action role in a wild grindhouse series in the vein ofMad Max. Starting out in modeling, Alan Ritchson initially gained some recognition asa contestant onAmerican Idolin 2004, and then went on to play Aquaman for four episodes on the hit seriesSmallville, with his first appearance in 2005. His role asThad Castle inBlue Mountain Stateshowed the hilarious acting chops Ritchson possessed, but he has been mainly relegated to action projects.
After a string of mostly supporting characters throughout his career, in both TV and film, Alan Ritchson became a main character in the Max series,Titans, playing the superhero Hawk. After that, his years of grinding and hard work paid off in spades, asReacherfor Amazon Prime became a mega-hit, catapulting Ritchson into superstardom. Alan Ritchson’s sights are set onReacherseason 3, but it’s worth remembering his first lead action role in the unhinged series,Blood Drive.
Blood Drive Was Alan Ritchson’s First Leading Action Role
Reacher’s Action Blueprint Was Set Years Earlier
It’s easy to see Alan Ritchson as one of the biggest action stars around right now following the monumental success ofReacher, but there was a time when he did lead his own series, portraying supporting characters for years.Blood Drivegave Alan Ritchson his first opportunity to be the leading man in action, as he played Arthur Bailey, a police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. Released in 2017,Blood Drivewas a grindhouse-influenced SyFy Channel series that depicted an alternate reality where it is set in a dystopian “distant future” of 1999.
The series only ran for one season, but it was some of the most absurd television shows at the time, heavily pulling from the grindhouse genre’s history to carve out its own path on cable television.Alan Ritchson was predictably great in it, having routinely shown his talent as an actor in a variety of genresfor both TV and film over the course of his career. Despite being such an integral part of his career, Blood Drive seems to have just came and went, without really breaking into the mainstream at all during its short run.
Why Alan Ritchson Fans Should Watch Blood Drive
It’s Not Too Late To Enjoy Ritchson’s Overlooked Action Series
Not only did Blood House mark an important moment in Alan Ritchson’s acting career, it is absurdly fun. It can be described asMad Maxwith heavy grindhouse sensibilities, taking the violence and absurdity even further than George Miller’s iconic franchise ever did. For example, following a fuel shortage that ravaged civilization,cars were eventually designed to run on something very different from gas, human blood.
He is fantastic in it, acting as a more grounded character in the nonstop onslaught of madness that is happening around him.
Even critics lovedBlood Drive, citing how it indulges in all the elements of the grindhouse genre while also implementing self-aware humor to great effect. It really is a wonderful, weird, gory, and frankly, silly series that fans of Alan Ritchson should definitely tune in to see. He is fantastic in it, acting as a more grounded character in the nonstop onslaught of madness that is happening around him.It proved he could be more than a supporting character,paving the way for his major roles likeReacher.
Why Blood Drive Was Canceled
Ritchson’s First Leading Series Didn’t Last
Despite only lasting for one season, there were plans for a second, but the series was unfortunately cancelled prematurely. In 2017,The Hollywood Reportertalked about the cancelation ofBlood Drivewith series creator, James Roland, revealing the news via a blog post of his. Essentially,the cancelation of the series boiled down to the low ratingsit pulled in for SyFy. This is common for networks to do, especially in the modern TV era, as shows continue to get more and more expensive. Still, it doesn’t make the cancelation ofBlood Drivehurt any less.
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It’s easy to point to SyFy as the bad guy in the situation, given thatBlood Drivehad quickly built a relatively small, but passionate fanbase throughout the first season’s run, but it’s incredible that it was even made in the first place. For the most part, gleefully violent and gory, grindhouse television simply doesn’t exist on cable, making the existence ofBlood Drive, on SyFy of all places, even more impressive. It’s a shame that it didn’t pan out forBlood Driveand Alan Ritchson, given it was his first opportunity to show everyone that he was capable of being the lead action hero in his own series.
Blood Drive
Cast
Set in a dystopian future, Blood Drive follows a former cop as he is forced to participate in a brutal cross-country race where the vehicles are fueled by human blood. The series explores the dark and gritty challenges faced in a society teetering on the edge of chaos.
