Bitten: Season Finale Review

Well hello there, my fellow Bitten fans! We meet again! Sadly, this is the last time until next season (season three has been confirmed but hasn’t been given a release date yet.) This has definitely been a season chock full of new characters and revelations. One of the biggest surprises comes in the form of Clara Sullivan (Debra McCabe). Clara seemed to be a character of little import for most of this season. She betrayed Ruth and the coven, got stripped of her coven status and lived as a psychic/magick practitioner. She was full of animosity for Ruth and the coven that had shunned her, but also seemed like the type of person that wouldn’t do much about it. Oh how wrong I was about that one! I like that the writers threw that little surprise at us. It’s not often that we are given a character in such a manner. Usually, major involvement is at least hinted at. Perhaps we did get a clue with her involvement in Aleister’s life and the fact that he lived to have one, but if we did, it went over my head!

These last two episodes are the (obvious) culmination of this, the second season. There are a lot of loose ends for them to tie up, which leaves me wondering if they’ll be able to fit it all in. Granted, they have 80 some odd minutes to do it in, so I guess I shouldn’t cut them short. This being said, they’re trying to open up even more plot points. While understandable (leaving something to lead into next season), it kind of leaves my head swimming. The overload of information has been my main complaint this season. Every episode, there are so many details to take in. Sometimes that’s a sign of a good show, but there’s usually twice as many episodes as this series was given this season. I do have to give it to the cast, they have done a smashing job delivering it all.

As I’ve mentioned in past reviews, one thing that I really enjoyed about this season was that they actually gave some of depth to some previously vapid characters. One of these characters is Nick. Previously, he didn’t have much of a role beyond being the eye candy. He was a member of the pack and did his job as such, of course, but outside of that he was fairly one-sided. We’re used to seeing Nick as a user of women, but this season we got to see him fall in love with someone (Paige). From the beginning of their interactions, we’re shown a different, softer, side of him. She’s able to convince him to go see his mother, and I’m not sure anyone else would’ve been able to do that. In these last two episodes, we get to see just how far their relationship has come since the first few episodes. They care for each other in a way I would’ve previously thought beyond Nick’s abilities.

Similarly, Zachary Cain, a character we haven’t seen since mid-season one, has shown back up and we get to see more than just his usual meatheaded-ness. We were given a hint to the fact that he might have a heart when he meets up with his girlfriend in their trailer. He seems to be quite sensitive with her, and we find out in this season’s closer just how true that is. He honestly loved her more than anything and wanted her to be a wolf with him. Unfortunately, she didn’t survive the change and he couldn’t handle that. He’s been hiding in seclusion with her on life support just so that she isn’t completely gone from him. For someone that was given to us as nothing but an insubordinate muscle man, I actually kind of liked him in the end.

Along with Nick and Cain, Jeremy also shows us something new. I wouldn’t say it’s a new side of him. It’s something that we always knew was there, but he did his best to hide it: tenderness. Behind all the anger, threats, chest puffing and ruling with an iron fist, Jeremy has the ability to show true sorrow. Tears. The circumstances in which we learn this are horrible, to say the least, but it’s another nice bit of development in an integral character.

For all the things I’ve had problems with this season, it still managed to be a good one. It’s very different from season one, in both good ways and bad ways. The story line was expanded far beyond just the pack and their dealings. There were some episodes that we hardly saw anyone from the pack because they weren’t the main focus. There were others where the entire pack was involved, but the story arc didn’t revolve around them. To me, a continuation of this style will be important in the season to come. Yes, obviously, the series is about the werewolves, but I’d like to be able to add “and so much more” to the description. I think that between now and season three, I’ll have to read some more of Kelly Armstrong’s book series to see where the television series is being true to the original story, and where it’s forging it’s own path. Greg Bryk said that they aren’t following the books so much beyond the beginning of the first season, but it’d still be interesting to see what characters and situations are in both versions of the story.

There are definitely some loose ends that still need tying up after this season’s finale, but that’s to be expected. If everything was neat and tidy, we wouldn’t have much to hold on to until next season. I am wondering, though, how many of you think that certain characters will be back (whether from the grave or just from having left in general) next year? There are a few that I’m idly wondering about and I’m interested to know if anyone else feels the same. Or perhaps if anyone is thinking of characters that I might not be. I’m unsure whether the Witches will be important next season or not. The way it was left, it could really go either way. I think a lot of which way it goes is going to depend on if any of the aforementioned characters come back. Without something of the sort, I’m not sure that we’ll see much more of Paige and Savannah.

Well, it’s been lovely, this past season! I’m kind of bummed that it was only ten episodes long! Hopefully we won’t have to wait as long between seasons two and three as we had to wait between seasons one and two. I want to thank anyone who actually read my reviews! I hope you guys leave me some comments letting me know what you think next season has in store. And don’t forget to tell me what you thought of this season! Until we meet again (at an undisclosed date and time), merry meet, y’all!