Firebite 1×08 Review: The Rise Of The Fallen

Firebite season 1 episode 8, titled ‘The Rise Of The Fallen’, offered an enjoyable series finale. Here’s hoping this show about two Indigenous Australians hunting dangerous vampires comes back for a second season!

It can be tough to find a vampire-centric story that feels unique. The premise of Firebite is what caught my attention. I haven’t watched another show, or even read a book, about Indigenous Australian hunters trying to kill a colony of vampires. So, of course, I was going to see what Firebite had to offer.

Our two leads are Tyson (Rob Collins) and his adoptive teen daughter, Shanika (Shantae Barnes-Cowan). They are tasked with hunting down vampires who prefer drinking the blood of Indigenous Australians. Co-created by Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher, the show has lore involving the country’s colonial past, revisiting the unfortunate history of British colonization with an added touch of the paranormal and how all of that plays into what Tyson and Shanika have to deal with in the present.

Along with Firebite having racial themes, the first season also focused on Tyson and Shanika’s relationship as a family and a vampire-hunting duo. I liked how the writers showed their strained relationship due to Tyson wanting to keep her out of danger and Shanika’s determination of doing more as a Blood Hunter (people who hunt vampires).

The season 1 finale, ‘The Rise Of The Fallen’, really put Shanika and Tyson’s relationship to the test. Having suffered a bite in the previous episode, I was looking forward to seeing how the finale would handle Shanika’s resolve as a Blood Hunter. She knew Tyson wanted her to kill him if he ever got a “Firebite” (the type of bite that turns humans into vampires). However, it was easier said than done. Shanika’s not someone who loses easily when it concerns her loved ones. Her resolve didn’t waver when it came to saving her kidnapped mother, and there was no way she was going to let go of Tyson that easily.

I also liked how the finale had Shanika interact with the last Vampire King (Callan Mulvey) on her own. As far as the Vampire King’s concerned, there’s a darkness inside Shanika. And he’s willing to teach her how to tap into it. Apparently, her blood’s got some nice healing powers, too. If Firebite comes back for a second season, I would like to see Shanika struggle with not falling into darkness. It will be very interesting to see what Shanika chooses if she thinks that the only option to save Tyson involves listening to the Vampire King.

With Shanika leveling up in her Blood Hunter journey, the first season also had Eleona (Yael Stone) stand up for herself. Eleona shared an unfortunate history with the Vampire King, and it made sense for her to finally decide that she wasn’t going to bow down to him anymore.

I’m still unsure about Eleona’s motives, though. She seemed different from her peers and the Vampire King, being more or less content with hiding her vampire self to move around in the human world at night. However, the finale showed Eleona declaring herself as the Vampire Queen and telling Shanika that the land was hers now.

Frankly, I don’t want to see Eleona regress into a by-the-numbers villainous vampire who’s only interested in death and chaos. I hope the second season gives Eleona something more to do to set her reign apart from what the Vampire King had planned to do with the struggling vampire colony.

Eleona possibly thinking that she can rule the Outback with a bunch of vampires is only going to attract unwanted attention. Regardless of whether or not society believed in vampires, reports of missing people (due to hungry vampires) will inevitably involve the police and I don’t think Eleona and her colony have what it takes to face such professionals.

If you’re able to, I would recommend that you consider checking out and supporting a show like Firebite. You can stream it on AMC+ and Amazon Prime Video. The episodes are around 40 minutes each and the pace is quick (sometimes a bit too quick, making me feel the writers should have spent more time fleshing out certain moments). There’s some gore involved, but nothing too severe, in my opinion. The action and heartfelt moments are balanced well with the humor.

You can watch my reaction and review videos of the rest of the episodes in Firebite season one on The Geekiary’s YouTube channel.

Have you watched Firebite? What did you think of ‘The Rise Of The Fallen’?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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