DVD/TV Series Review: Bitten - The Complete Series

 

Bitten was a TV series that aired in the US on the Syfy channel. It starred Laura Vandervoort, probably best known for playing Supergirl on Smallville, as Elena Michaels, a photographer living in Toronto, who is secretly the only female werewolf in existence. She is estranged from her pack but gets called back when the pack is threatened by a group of "mutts" (werewolves with no pack allegiance), which puts her "normal" life in danger. The show was adapted from a series of novels, that I have never read, so I am not sure how faithfully the show sticks to the source material.

The show has a bit of a "Twilight" feel, with generally better writing, and without the high-school romance. There is some love-triangle stuff going on, but it is not as dumb as Twilight could get sometimes. The show definitely pushed the boundaries of what could be shown on basic cable in terms of violence, nudity, and sex. The DVDs actually have more nudity than the US broadcast did because most of the butt shots (mostly from the males on the show, but also quite a few from Laura Vandervoort) got edited out on the US broadcasts. The series is made up of relatively unknown actors (at least here in the US) which included Greyson Holt, Steve Lund, Greg Bryk, Michael Xavier, and Genelle Williams.

The first season is really about the pack versus Mutts (werewolves that do not belong to a pack that are forced to move around and never put down roots). The second season is basically a wolf versus witches theme, with magic being introduced into the series, and the third season has a pack vs. pack theme. The set is just the DVD released for the three seasons packaged together, and the extras as just what was included in the individual season releases. There are no special bonus features that just come with the complete series set. Each season has some deleted scenes and at least one behind-the-scenes featurette. The second season also has a 45-minute portion of the NY Comic-Con panel, and an episode of an aftershow that aired in Canada.

Overall, the series is good, but a bit predictable. It is definitely not a family-friendly show as there is a lot of violence, some swearing, and a lot of sexual content (and as much nudity as they could get away with). The sexual content decreases with each season, but the violence is prevalent the entire way through (and it does get quite bloody). The series is well-written and acted. It was adapted from a set of books, but I have never read them so I am not sure how faithful the show was to the books. I would say that if you are a fan of the sci-fi/fantasy genre, it is worth checking out, whether you stream it or pick up the DVDs. Note, that the first season is available on Blu-Ray, but at least in the US seasons, two and three, and the complete series are only available on DVD.

DVD/TV Series Review: Bitten - The Final Season

 

The third season of Bitten picks up about four months after the events of the season two finale. Elana is still trying to figure out the meaning of the vision she had of being covered in blood with Stonehaven on fire. Jeremy is still reeling from Logan's death and is trying to consolidate power and get revenge on Eduardo. The main crux of the story this season is the pack versus the Russians, headed by Roman Navikev (played by Canadian actor Daniel Kash who was also on the great 1990s show Due South). The season involves a blood feud between Roman and a character with ties to Elana that spills over into the pack's territory and threatens everyone. It pretty much dispenses with the witch storyline, although Tommie-Amber Pirie does make a few appearances.

For those who get the DVD set, while it is technically not a MOD set, it is pretty close to it. The ten episodes are spread across three discs. There are only a couple of extras, about seven minutes of deleted and extended scenes, and then a short four-minute featurette on the making of the final season. The episodes have English captions but the extras do not.

Overall, the season is good, but it felt like the series was canceled very late in production the showrunners did not really know if the show was going to be picked up for another season or not. Although, they did write the final episode so that it could work as a season finale or a series finale, which, of course, it ended up being, even though things were not tied up in a tidy bow. It felt like the scenes at the very end were added to give fans an idea of what the future of the characters held. Like the prior seasons, there is some swearing and sexual content, although there is not nearly as much sex as there was in seasons one and two. I think if you enjoyed the prior seasons you will probably like this one.

DVD Review: Bitten Season Two

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season one, but no major season two giveaways. +++

The second season of Bitten picks up shortly after the events of the Season 1 finale. The entire pack is looking for Malcolm to bring him to justice for the attack on the pack and killing Phillip, which Elana is still reeling from (to some extent). She has embraced her role in the pack and has come to accept her feelings for Clay after finding out that he bit her to protect her. In the first episode, that storyline is combined with the new storyline that will play out for the rest of the season, that is the arrival of Witches. The season is kind of wolves v. witches theme, and kind of a wolves and witches team up to prevent a threat to each group.

The show continues to be very violent and has a lot of sexual content (and as much nudity as they could get away with). There may be a bit less sex this season than in season one, but not much less, and they definitely take advantage of showing off the ridiculously good-looking cast. All of the characters continue to evolve, especially Nick and Jordan, and all of the actors do a great job with their characters.

For those who get the DVD, the extras include deleted scenes, a portion of the NY comic-con panel discussion, a feature on the fight choreography, a gag reel, and the episode of the aftershow (that aired in Canada I believe) for the season finale. All, in all, about an hour and a half of bonus features, which is getting rarer and rarer for DVD sets.

Overall, the season is good. The show will definitely not appeal to everyone, but I think most fans of sci-fi and fantasy will like it. I have personally never read the books that the series was adapted from. According to the showrunner, this season deviated quite a bit from the second book, so people who are fans of the book may not like it that much. But, if you are a fan of the genre or just a fan of Laura Vandervoort from her Smallville or Haven days, it is definitely worth checking out.

DVD Review: Bitten Season 1

 

Bitten was a TV series that aired in the US on the Syfy channel. It starred Laura Vandervoort, probably best known for playing Supergirl on Smallville, as Elena Michaels, a photographer living in Toronto, who is secretly the only female werewolf in existence. She is estranged from her pack but gets called back when the pack is threatened by a group of "mutts" (werewolves with no pack allegiance), which puts her "normal" life in danger. The show was adapted from a series of novels, that I have never read, so I am not sure how faithfully the show sticks to the source material.

The show has a bit of a "Twilight" feel, with generally better writing, and without the high-school romance. There is some love-triangle stuff going on, but it is not as dumb as Twilight could get sometimes. The show definitely pushed the boundaries of what could be shown on basic cable in terms of violence, nudity, and sex. The DVDs actually have more nudity than the US broadcast did because most of the butt shots (mostly from the males on the show, but also quite a few from Laura Vandervoort) got edited out on the US broadcasts. The series is made up of relatively unknown actors (at least here in the US) which included Greyson Holt, Steve Lund, Greg Bryk, Michael Xavier, and Genelle Williams.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras may include which set you get, as there appear to be multiple sets floating around. Mine includes commentary tracks on the pilot episode, the mid-season episode Bitten, and the season finale. Then there are deleted scenes and a couple of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. So, a good amount of material for those who like watching the bonus features.

Overall, I would say this season was a strong introduction to the show. The writing and acting are good, but not necessarily always great. The cast is ridiculously good-looking, and the show makes good use of that. The special effects were pretty good, but because it is definitely lower-budget than say the Twilight movies, the CGI werewolves did not look as realistic as they did in the movies. I'm guessing had the show been made in 2022 as opposed to 2014, the CGI would be better even with a lower TV show budget, but that said, they were not awful. The season is short, just 13 episodes, so it gets in and out of the story pretty quickly, which I definitely think worked for the show. I definitely think it is worth checking out.