Time for my pouty frustrated face
I’m not frustrated by how this episode went, but by how
it got there
Today, everything was revealed to the rest of the pack –
so Jeremy et al are aware that Sasha Antinov and his kids are in America and
that Roman wants them handing over – something Jeremy has already promised to
do.
This puts the North American Pack in something of an
awkward position – the Russian pack is bigger (especially after the recent
losses the North American pack has suffered), even when Karl reveals that it’s
not quite as united as it seems (relying on a whole lot of bribes to keep the
disparate factions united) and Roman has been steadily moving more and more
wolves into the US.
It’s not a good place for the Pack to be in. And it could
have been a great storyline
Again, this frustration comes from my reading of the books – But I’m going to complain about it anyway. In the books Jeremy would have been awesome with this storyline! In the books he would have spoken to Clay and Elena and other wolves, taken their advice, explored options, thought and then made a decision – and it would have been a decision everyone would have supported because they respected him that much! It would have been excellent and told us, yet again, why Jeremy is such a supremely good alpha
Instead we have this Jeremy who frets about Elena keeping
secrets and being distant – without for one second acknowledging that she may
be being secretive because he is less approachable than a rabid porcupine! How about,
for one second, realising that the reason people are keeping secrets from him
is because he rides roughshod over every suggestion and concern raised? Even
this episode, when Elena speaks to him he pulls the whole “I am Alpha. Do not
question!” Why offer advice or objection when it’s rejected out of hand.
Sadly none of them make the obvious point that allowing
Roman to hunt mutts in his territory, allowing him to bring in more and more
wolves without permission doesn’t exactly make Jeremy look in control either.
There’s a lot of debate back and forth over who can trust
who, from Antonin and his kids as well as Jeremy trying to find a middle road
until something fortuitous happens: in an attempt to grab Sasha, Roman’s son
holds a knife to Elena’s throat
That’s a definite breach of the treaty, gives the
American pack a hostage and room to negotiate.
Also, Sheriff Karen in town is no longer sheriff, but she
is still aware that odd things are happening at Stonehaven.
I just think this whole thing could have been a much better
story if Jeremy wasn’t depicted the way he is – the inflexible alpha constantly
trying to control everything through threat and force (and not being all that
effective about it either) and was only, very belatedly, moved to help Elena’s
family when she tearfully begged: rather than as a pack coming together under Jeremy's excellent leadership to
address a problem
