Bitten: Nine Circles Review

A quick recap of last week to make sure everyone is up to date on the story: We were told that Aleister is actually Ruth’s son. The witch that makes no mistakes made an unforgivable one (as far as the coven is concerned).

Savannah is somehow innately connected to Elena and quickly formed an emotional bond with her. Meanwhile, Elena seems to feel an almost motherly protectiveness of her. Elena was able to talk to the Pack through Savannah and gave Clay clues of where she is. And off he goes to find his beloved!

There’s a lot of “fancy” editing in this week’s episode. Beyond the usual fighting and flashbacks, we get to see what it’s like when Elena hallucinates. There’s a lot of shaky-cam moments, which is okay with me since it denotes her state of being. The only problem I have with it is that at one point, Savannah is talking to Elena and the entire background is shaking but Savannah and Elena are completely still. That in itself isn’t what bothers me though. What bothers me is that it almost feels like a badly photoshopped video image. You can almost see the blur tool used around Savannah’s outline. I don’t know much about video editing, so perhaps it was on purpose, but somehow I’m thinking it wasn’t.

The storyline definitely takes an interesting turn this week. I mentioned before that Elena was hallucinating. That’s because Aleister used magick to (essentially) drug her. She’s basically on a bad trip. What I find cool, though, is that even though she’s seeing things that aren’t really there, they aren’t completely wrong. That is to say, some of the people she’s hallucinating are giving her information that she needs.

As an example, she thinks she see’s Clay inside the compound. Since drug-induced Savannah has already told her that she’s imagining it all, she knows that Clay isn’t really there. We know why she knows this, but what isn’t as explainable is how fake Clay is able to tell her that he’s near the compound and that she should signal. If all of these images are in her mind, how does she know that he’s close? Another thing she sees but can’t possibly know is that Savannah is wearing a red dress that Aleister just gave her. Elena has never seen this dress before, much less seen it on Savannah. Perhaps it’s due to their connection? That would explain why it happens with Clay too. Either way, it’s an interesting thing to ponder.

I feel like the acting in this episode is very overdone. Then again, the situations are very extreme and I can’t say that I’d act any different (well, minus the werewolf thing… and kicking ass… I don’t kick ass…) if put in a similar place. I’m kind of sad that we don’t really see much of Logan and Rachael in this episode. Among all of the extreme emotions, they seem to be the most level-headed, which I guess isn’t really saying that much. Rachael appears to have learned signals that no one else has picked up on (such as the bell ringing to signal a ritual). Kiara Glasco, the actress that plays Savannah, is proving to have a wide array of talents. And I know this has nothing to do with talent, but those eyes! They are so arresting! Throughout the season so far, we’ve seen her emotions go everywhere, from moody pre-teen angst, to understanding and caring child, to a mocking, jeering hallucination.

This is another example of us FINALLY getting some character development that has been so lacking! Now, granted, Savannah isn’t exactly a minor character in this season. Far from it. But she’s someone outside of the Pack, and in the first season, we didn’t really learn much about anyone outside of the Pack. Sure, there was Malcolm, but even with him we didn’t really get much information. Last season he was more of the “mysterious force that everyone mentions but no one sees” sort of character. Now, he’s the “we finally killed him after so long, let’s celebrate with a new enemy” type of character. That is to say, no character at all! *insert evil laugh here*

Among all the drama and anger, there is one moment that I find hilarious: Elena uses a rope as a fuse, sticking it into a fuel tank and lighting it before walking away. This is the signal she’s using to guide Clay to her. What I find hilarious is that she walks over to where Aleister is doing his ritual, bangs two baseball bats together (where did those come from anyways?) and screams “give me the girl! I want Savannah! NOW!” As if to punctuate her point, the fuel tank explodes about a hundred yards from where she is facing Aleister. It’s like pyrotechnics at an awesome play! Finally! FINALLY! Aleister says his little chant of “I am the lock,” and instead of getting the usual “I am the key” response from Savannah, she ignores him. At the same time, Rachael is being a bad ass, getting out of the compound with Logan. I knew I liked her for a reason!

There are a lot more special effects in this season, as compared to last season. The editing style is different, as is the camera work. To me, these all denote a series that’s finally coming into its own and is starting to experiment with what works best for them. Finding the techniques that best accentuate the acting abilities and the story line. I’m kind of excited to see how far outside of the box they’re going to go! I’m also glad that they’ve slowed down a bit on the onslaught of information. It seems that, at least for now, they’ve given us all the information we need and are now expanding on what it all means. I am very happy about that part! I no longer feel like I need to take notes throughout the episode just to keep everything straight.

So, my fellow fans, what do you think about these changes? Do you like the way they are doing things this season, or do you long for the simplicity of the first season? Also, who’s your favorite “minor” character? I think it’s fairly obvious, but mine is Rachael!

Until next time!