Duck Fox

Image Credit: Syfy

Creating a genre series in this modern, post Twilight, Vampire Diaries and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer world is not nearly as much of a risky proposition as it used to be. When you can exploit the tweens and the oversexed Laurell K. Hamilton audience, there's no need to put any thought into a production, just slap together a decent cast, tell them they'll be playing a broody vampire or plucky tomboy, and come up with a witty title. Bonus points if you adapt a novel! I'm being a little overly critical, but it's true that the formula for genre shows is getting almost as ubiquitous as the one employed for lawyer/doctor/cop shows. There are a few that manage to rise above the mediocrity by doing their own thing-- I'm looking at you, Teen Wolf and Vampire Diaries-- but the vast majority fall into the abyss of supernatural television failures. Judging from the pilot, SyFy's new Canadian import Bitten is poised to follow in the footsteps of less memorable genre fare.

It's kind of sad, too, as the premise is incredibly sound. I'm actually familiar with the original books by Kelley Armstrong. In her The Women of Otherworld series of novels, only a few of which revolve around the female werewolf who helms the series, Elena Michaels is the lone female werewolf amongst a pack of purebred (those who were born as werewolves, though they only learn to shift after puberty) men who are hunting a murderous "mutt" that belongs to no pack. The book creates a tension filled atmosphere of mystery while weaving Elena's feelings of being an outsider in both the human world and the "otherworld" into the political machinations of the werewolf packs themselves. There's also the obligatory love story between her and Clay, though thankfully Kelley doesn't attempt to force a love triangle.

The show picks up several of the same threads. The first episode opens with Elena (Laura Vandervoort) sneaking out of bed with her human lover, seeking the sweet release of transformation into a wolf. The goofy CGI somehow avoids marring the actual transformation sequence, but the stilted dialogue of the interlaced scene is a major detractor. Said scene has the aforementioned homicidal mutt literally call a woman hitting on him a slut and then wish her a safe journey. I get that he's supposed to be creepy and off putting, but it really didn't work with that dialogue. We then pick up on Elena visiting her pack brother Logan, played by Michael Xavier, and giving us the necessary exposition to understand her relationship with her boyfriend is strained by her late night wolf outs. Logan himself is balancing a fulfilling life in the human world with his girlfriend Rachel (Genelle Williams). We also get a glance of Clayton Danvers (the amazingly named Greyston Holt), doing his best "Thor as a college professor" impression. Soon all their days are ruined as Jeremy, the mysterious pack leader, requests their presence.

The episode outlines the general trajectory of the series, outlining the fact that the mutt threatens all their ways of life if he keeps murdering humans, and playing up the chemistry between Elena and all the very handsome men. Unfortunately, the episode stumbles when it attempts to build tension between Elena and Phillip (Paul Greene). The series doesn't give the context needed for us to believe Elena would shelter Phillip from her "siblings." Not when she is perfectly willing to admit a relation to Logan after being pushed only slightly. If she's willing to admit that familial relation, certainly telling him about the human world lives of her estranged pack before now wouldn't be too hard. Meanwhile the opposite problem exists for Phillip, whose family appears, but consist mainly of tired tropes (the mother who disapproves of her son's girlfriend). Not much depth is added from any of these characters' interactions with Elena.

Another issue is the scope of the mystery. To be fair, this felt like a problem with the original book, but considering the werewolf population is incredibly sparse--only a few hundred in the whole of the US in Armstrong's books-- I have to doubt that one serial killing werewolf would be a threat to any other wolf's way of life. The aforementioned book was also published in 2001, before the advent of cell phones and all the other technology that should make finding a werewolf considerably easier, so I could also forgive the fact that Jeremy had to round up everyone to hunt a single mutt even if it were believable that he would want to. I mean, it might be believable as there may be some perception of this being Jeremy's "duty" as pack leader, but it's all very vague thus far. The apparent killer is also as stereotypical as he is menacing.

But all that being said, there are some bright spots here. All of the actors are putting their best foot forward, and Laura Vandervoort's awkward hesitance in her human world scenes juxtaposed against her freely expressed confidence in the transformation scenes creates the same depth for Elena as narration did in the books. The overcast Toronto sky and haunting soundtrack also create an appropriately creepy mood.

Genre shows have certainly come a long way, but series like Bitten hang on the precipice of greatness. Instead of attempting to craft intriguing characters and guide them through dilemmas both supernatural and human, the series lazily adapts an established property and slaps together tropes that are well trodden. It's not a complete mess or waste of time, though, and maybe it's just time to accept that the supernatural drama has become another cornerstone of television that is doomed to be repeated ad nauseum alongside your regularly scheduled civil service dramas. I think I'll follow this weekly, just to see if it improves, but for now:

7.0/10

Enjoy It Like a Fox If:

• Laura Vandervoort was the only reason you watched Smallville
• You're into wolves
• You're into men with great abs that turn into wolves
• You're glad they didn't go with the original title, Bitchin'

Duck It If:

• Genre ain't yo thang
• You need more compelling mysteries
• You want a more complex depiction of a relationship strained by secrets.
• You can't stand that the title wasn't Bitchin'