The Bite
By Melissa Camacho,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Uneven COVID satire has zombie violence, sex work, cursing.
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The Bite
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What's the Story?
Created by Robert and Michelle King, THE BITE follows the lives of two neighbors during the COVID-19 pandemic. New York City is shut down, and Dr. Rachel Boutella (Audra McDonald) is practicing telemedicine from her apartment while her husband, Dr. Zach Deraux (Steven Pasquale), works at the CDC in Washington, DC. Upstairs, dominatrix Lily Leithauser (Taylor Schilling) is trying to satisfy her frustrated Wall Street clients' fantasies online. But when one of Rachel's patients gets bitten by a clerk at the local Trader Joe's, she soon realizes that a new strain of the virus is spreading, creating even more disturbing, and deadly, problems that point to a government cover up.
Is It Any Good?
The satirical comedy features a cast of popular Broadway actors in an odd and disjointed miniseries set at the height of a COVID pandemic that ultimately turns into a zombie apocalypse. As Rachel (Audra McDonald) and Lily (Taylor Schilling) address the realities of the immediate crisis in their own ways, they are also negotiating their careers, as well as personal relationship problems with spouses, lovers, and parents. It doesn't help that most of the series was produced during the real 2020 pandemic quarantine, which created the need for most scenes between unmarried actors to be shot via video conference.
Nonetheless, The Bite does offer some entertaining moments. Both McDonald and Schilling give solid performances throughout, and appearances by folks like Michael Urie, Phillipa Soo, and Ben Shenkman offer some well-timed sardonic humor. Meanwhile, most of the gory, over-the-top zombie activity is more farcical than frightening. But this is juxtaposed with some difficult and sad scenes toward the end of the series, which suggest that despite the crazy premise, we should have taken the entire senseless situation more seriously.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the different ways the media industry adapted to the COVID-19 crisis. How was content produced, given that people couldn't physically work together in studios and other settings? How will this impact the way media content is created in the future?
What is the intent of The Bite's creators? To entertain? To offer a socio-political messages? Did they succeed at either? Why?
TV Details
- Premiere date: May 21, 2021
- Cast: Audra McDonald, Taylor Schilling, Steven Pasquale
- Network: Spectrum
- Genre: Comedy
- Character Strengths: Teamwork
- TV rating: NR
- Last updated: February 28, 2022
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