Bitten Recap 'Right Behind You'

Image from Bitten, streamed via Netflix

Season 3 Episode 3

I love mysteries. Since my early teens, I have collected mysteries. I am patient by nature, so I do not mind waiting for resolution on the stories I am interested in. The way Bitten has presented the mystery of the blood feud between Sasha and Roman, however, made this episode, and the previous one, feel light on information. Why did Sasha choose now, after 30 years, to introduce himself and his children to Elena? What was the cause of the blood feud between him and Roman? Why was he so convinced that the Russian Pack would not go after him if he killed Roman?

After writing that first paragraph, I realised that the first three episodes of the third season of Bitten were not really about the mystery of Sasha Antonov and his connection to Elena. They were about Jeremy. The mystery that these three episodes were trying to solve was whether Jeremy was lost. Even loyal Nick has noticed how different Jeremy has been. It was not just on his insistence on an iron rule over the mutts. It was that, as Elena pointed out, he has been running the Pack as an army rather than the family they once were. Was the man who treated Clay as his son, the Alpha who allowed Elena to craft a life of her own away from the Pack in Toronto, gone?

This episode showed that he was not. There has always been an undercurrent of brutality in Jeremy. There had to be, for him to rule a vast territory like North America. Clay was Jeremy’s muscle, the one with the frightful reputation, but Clay only did what Jeremy wanted him to. Several times over the course of Bitten, Clay was shown to be emotionally struggling with Jeremy’s commands. Clay owed Jeremy his life, Jeremy was a father to Clay, so Clay obeyed. Despite his more dictatorial impulses as an Alpha, however, Jeremy was protective of his Pack and had a soft spot particularly toward Elena.

When Jeremy told Nick and Clay to call Roman, despite their pleas to help Alexei and Katia, innocents in this blood feud, I was not at all certain that it was not just another chess move by Jeremy. For a second, I entertained the idea that Jeremy would hand over these two teenagers to their father’s enemy, the man who had their mother murdered. In the end, Jeremy chose not to. He allowed Roman to see his displeasure because Roman brought Russian werewolves into North America without permission. Jeremy showed Roman that he knew Jeremy’s Pack was being surveilled by Roman’s Pack. Jeremy had a trump card --- Konstantin, Roman’s second in command and son. Jeremy told Roman they would settle this before Roman returned to Russia.

Strays

■ Jeremy ran into ex sheriff Karen after purchasing cement and tools at the hardware shop. I do not know if Jeremy sensed that Karen was interested in more than his good looks and charm. When Karen later ran into a Russian werewolf who said he was a guest at Stonehaven, Karen surreptitiously took a photograph of his car.

■ Clay showed Elena the house he was buying for them.

■ Karl Marsden, International Mutt of Mystery, is severely underused in Bitten. It was Karl who told Jeremy and Nick about the Russian Pack. Since it was a large territory, Roman divided them into districts. Each district was administered by a leader. These district leaders were paid by Konstantin. Karl has heard rumours about grumblings regarding money from the district leaders.

■ After Jeremy and Sasha had a conversation, Sasha ended up convinced that he needed to confront and kill Roman.

■ Konstantin and another wolf attacked Elena and Sasha. Sasha killed the wolf whilst Elena captured Konstantin.