Internal conflict among the vampires plays into Shanika’s quest to rescue her mother.

After the high point of the near wordless episode 4, similar levels of tension were always going to be hard to maintain. Episode 5 – I Wanna Go Home – settles back in pace, as Shanika (battered and bruised) and Tyson (battered and drunk) find themselves battling with the Australian care system. If vampires weren’t bad enough, the pressure for social conformity proves to be an equally challenging foe. It’s an interesting episode, perhaps a diversion from the main thrust of the series, but one that holds the attention and allows Shanika to come into her own and take charge of her life in an extremely satisfying way.

Episode 6 – The Bastard King – is perhaps the weakest of the series so far. It’s very ‘plotty’ and gets tangled up in the internal wranglings of the subterranean vampire community. We do ‘need’ this information, but to get it means spending a lot of time with secondary characters about whom it’s hard to care. But even a weak episode of Firebite is actually a whole lot better than many other series I see, so it’s hardly a disaster.

As the series reaches its penultimate act – Hero’s Life – I had little doubt things would pick up again – and so they do with a smack in the face. Several smacks in the face, as it happens. Tyson, Shanika, and her mum are back at the centre of the story, and obviously we’re gearing up for a final showdown with the vampire hordes, if our heroes can escape capture. I’m avoiding spoilers here, but let’s just say that the resolution of this episode doesn’t come without a cost – and even this old cynic found himself shouting at the telly: ‘Nooooooo!!!’.

Verdict: I can’t wait for the finale – and I already know that I’m going to miss this show when it’s gone. 8/10

Martin Jameson