Contributor: John Keegan
If the second season premiere was all about the fallout of the first season finale, then this episode is about setting up the story arcs for the season as brutally as possible. That’s what I’ve come to appreciate about this series: they don’t hold back when it comes to the uncomfortable and disturbing. One might even say they relish in it, which is a nice touch.
As it turns out, Nora makes short work of the vampire assassins gunning for Josh, which leads to her waking up naked in a pile of leaves, blood caked around her mouth, in someone’s backyard. As noted in the review for the premiere, Nora is so adorably cute that the obvious trauma etched on her face is all the more affecting. When Josh is horrified by the realization of what has happened, and wracked with helplessness over what to do about it, we feel the same way.
Unfortunately, it’s not as though Nora looks to get over the reality of being a werewolf anytime soon. In fact, she’s apparently lost her baby and her humanity in no time at all (though I’m not so sure about the baby part), so she’s right on the edge in terms of her sanity. I can easily see her snapping and becoming a serious problem for Josh. I hope not, because as I said, she’s ridiculously cute and I’d hate to see her killed off. But she could also show Josh the allure of giving in to the animal.
Of course, there’s plenty of other trouble, too, as Aiden is reunited with Suran, his new partner in the administration of the vampires in Boston. Played by a raven-haired Dichen Lachman with particular relish, Suran doesn’t quite seem as touched in the head as Mother suggested in the premiere. But when the hints of amoral crazy shine through, it paints a definite picture; Suran is very, very dangerous.
She also has a history with Aiden, which is not unexpected. It happens to come from a time when Aiden was a bit more carnivorous, and she wants to bring that part of his back in the limelight (and get frisky in the process, I imagine). Aiden was having enough trouble resisting his urges in the first season, so this is just an escalation of everything Bishop was trying to force upon him.
Meanwhile, Sally has figured out how to invite friends over, and as one would expect, it doesn’t go according to plan. After a few rather unfortunate attempts at possessing some vapid partygoers, she finally slips into a young woman and proceeds to indulge in food and dancing. (I love how the rest of the partiers completely ignore as Sally’s first few “victims” puke and have seizures, as if this is just a normal night on the town!) When one of her fellow ghosties ties to get frisky, however, it leads to a fight that ends with the would-be rapist completely evaporated.
Beyond bringing Sally a bit of a reality check in terms of agency, since she seemed to forget for a moment that she was violating her own “victim” on a fundamental level, this turn of events adds a wrinkle to her existence. Ghosts can be “killed”. And that means whatever came through the doorway in the premiere is more than just a vague threat.
The producers and writers have said on more than one occasion that the theme for this season is “temptation”, and we’re already seeing the seeds being planted. It directly plays into Sally’s behavior in this episode, and Suran is about as tempting as it gets. I foresee Nora tempting Josh into some animalistic ways (and how I wish that had less to do with werewolves). In essence, all these internal temptations would lead to serious external consequences. And in that respect, the season is definitely on the right track.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
