Before he was traveling the country solving crimes and protecting the vulnerable from dangerous foes in the Prime Video hit Reacher, Alan Ritchson showcased his acting chops in various projects on both the big and small screens. In 2017, Ritchson starred in the criminally underrated dystopian sci-fi series Blood Drive, in which he appears as an LAPD officer who joins forces with a mysterious femme fatale on a terrifying death race with deranged drivers in which the cars run on human blood.
The exhilarating original featured the additional talents of stars like Christina Ochoa, Colin Cunningham, and Thomas Dominique and was heavily inspired by the style and elements found in exploitation films of the ’70s and ’80s. Despite garnering positive praise from both critics and audiences for its never-ending action and epic thrills, Blood Drive was unceremoniously canceled by Syfy after just one season and 13 episodes. Let’s take a look back at the post-apocalyptic gem and why it deserves to be on every Alan Ritchson fan’s watch list.
Ritchson Headlines Syfy’s Underrated Dystopian Gem
Set in the dystopian “distant future” of an alternate 1999 where the United States has been literally split apart following the devastating “Great Fracking Quakes”, the adrenaline-pumping sci-fi series Blood Drive focuses on rogue LAPD officer Arthur Bailey (Ritchson) as he is forced to partake in the titular brutal death race. Due to the calamitous environmental decline, water and fuel have become scarce, and society has subsequently descended into madness. Despite such chaos, Bailey tries his best to make a difference and keep the innocent safe.
When Bailey, A.K.A. “Barbie”, is chosen to compete in the vicious cross-country death race alongside a femme fatale named Grace D’Argento (Christina Ochoa), the courageous cop must set aside his strict moral code to survive the homicidal maniacs he’s sharing the road with in vehicles that quite literally run on blood. Under the watchful eye of the Master of Ceremonies, Julian Sink (Colin Cunningham), and with his LAPD partner Chris (Thomas Dominique) investigating Bailey’s sudden disappearance, Bailey and Grace must race to each checkpoint before their competitors or risk immediate death.
Created by James Roland (TV’s The Purge), Blood Drive took a unique approach to storytelling as each of its thirteen episodes was based on a different genre of exploitation films, with the sci-fi show tackling insane asylums, cannibals, nymphomaniacs, and more. David Straiton (Bates Motel) produced and directed many of the high-octane installments, with Syfy president Dave Howe describing the series as a “throwback to 1970s grindhouse cinema” and saying that the “combination of gritty action and dark humor can push the envelope in some fun and unexpected ways.”
‘Blood Drive’ Is an Action-Packed Thrill Ride For Audiences
Prior to starring in the action-packed extravaganza, Ritchson appeared in the comedy series Blue Mountain State and had supporting roles in movies like The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Wedding Ringer. Portraying Arthur Bailey in Blood Drive proved that Ritchson was more than capable of being in the driver’s seat of a show and that he had the charisma to be a successful leading man. Mirroring the chaos and carnage found in cinema classics like Mad Max and Conan the Barbarian, the show follows Arthur as he struggles to hold on to his moral compass in a lawless world. Richtson connected with the courageous character and told Daily Dead:
“To be willing to lose everything, your life included, in the hope of saving that one person or being that last beacon of light while some monster tosses you through a truck windshield—whatever it is, Arthur’s inner journey parallels how I move through the world in a lot of ways. I love his journey and I feel like it hits home.”
Blood Drive puts the pedal to the metal and takes audiences on a fun and raucous ride as Arthur and Grace develop a flirty love/hate relationship with one another on their daring quest from Los Angeles to Phoenix, with the unlikely pair being forced to contend with not only one another but all the other unhinged drivers in the gruesome competition. When the action series debuted on June 14, 2017, it opened strongly and attracted 834,000 viewers for its first episode. Syfy even playfully opened a hotline where viewers could call and voice their complaints about Blood Drive‘s most over-the-top offenses (yet another nod to its Grindhouse themes).
Despite a solid beginning and garnering appreciation from critics and audiences for its explosive action, gory violence, and tongue-in-cheek humor, Blood Drive saw a steady drop in viewership and averaged between 300,000 and 400,000 during its 13-episode run. Syfy subsequently announced the show’s cancellation on the same day its finale aired, and despite his disappointment in the outcome of Blood Drive, Ritchson took it in stride and said of the outcome: “It taught me to enjoy just staying in my lane, that I have no control, and I have to trust the process and the people I’m married to for each project.”
Just a few short years later, Ritchson would find himself married to one of Hollywood’s most buzzed-about small-screen hits: the action crime juggernaut Reacher. For three seasons (and more to come), the charming actor has dominated the role of former U.S. military man-turned-self-proclaimed hobo Jack Reacher, traveling across the country and facing dangerous adversaries both new and old at every corner. The Prime Video original has not only dominated the streaming world but it has also attracted critical acclaim and a stellar 96% Rotten Tomatoes score in large part due to Ritchson’s powerhouse presence; a fourth season is set to premiere in 2026.