Once again, another episode bursting at the seams with plot development, but I will attempt to parse it out for you!

Chief Nick Monohan (Frank Grillo) spends most of the episode wrestling with the implications of what he witnessed at the end of last week. The realization that Dylan Radcliffe (Luke Mably) is a vampire, and the ethical gray area entailed in possessing that knowledge and not acting on it, are weighing heavily on him. Add to that the fact that his wife Sarah (Marisol Nichols) is becoming very happy living in The Gates, and he is faced with quite a dilemma. If he wants to remain in this community, he will have to come to terms with the existence of supernatural beings, and be willing to protect them. Fortunately for him (and us) he seems to be willing to do so by the end of the episode.

Marcus Jordan (Justin Miles) is intent on finding out what happened to his new girlfriend Teresa (Shannon Lucio), despite the fact that the Chief has asked him to drop the matter.

As for Dylan, he reveals that he has potentially placed himself in danger by revealing his true identity to the Chief. Just as there is a secret society for the werewolves, there is obviously also one for the vampires, with a certain code of ethics. We finally see a genuinely scary moment when he confronts Monohan at the scene of the crime.

Claire Radcliff (Rhona Mitra) is faced with a dilemma of her own, in the form of town gossip Barbara Jansen (Barbara Alyn Woods. It is becoming clearer that Barbara is not going to keep her mouth shut, and Claire is obviously considering the use of extreme measures.

Meanwhile, Andie Bates (Skyler Samuels) is wrestling with the newfound knowledge that she is a succubus, as was her mother. How will this affect her ability to have a relationship, in this case with Charlie Monohan (Travis Caldwell)?

The wonderfully devious Devon (Chandra West) is back, and she is definitely up to something. She orchestrates an invitation to Chief Monohans welcome party, thrown by The Gates developer Frank Buckley (Brett Cullen), who is also her ex-husband. What she eventually steals from his safe reveals that Buckley is keeping tabs on many of the residents, probably for nefarious purposes.

What Worked

Overall, this was an excellent episode. Direction is credited to David Solomon, and while it is not currently clear on IMDB, I assume it is the same David Solomon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. If this is true, its good news, as it means that they are bringing in serious talent.

As I mentioned, we finally get a fairly good scare in the form of Dylan Radcliffe displaying his vampire powers. Its about time. I was beginning to forget this is a horror series.

Speaking of lack of horror, it was refreshing not to see any trained wolves in this episode. I know its probably motivated by budgetary concerns, but the use of normal-sized real wolves for werewolves tends to take the fear factor out of it.

The scene where Dylan tells Claire that he killed someone was very effective. The knowledge that she has still been feeding on humans behind his back makes it even more poignant!

Although the show still feels like a soap opera, it does seem to be getting darker with each episode, which is a good sign. I think things will be much more interesting, now that Nick Monohan knows that he is protecting vampires and other supernatural beings. The uneasy truce that has developed between Nick and Dylan will especially provide great fodder for future stories.

I have finally warmed up to the character of Nick Monohan. Early on, I felt like he was very one-dimensional, but the writers have really developed his character over the course of five episodes.

The reveal at the end of the episode was excellent. Frank Buckley obviously exerts some sort of power over the residents, and I am intrigued to learn more.

What Didnt Work

At some point, I found myself asking: why didnt Dylan just use his super-speed to sneak up behind Teresa and knock her out, rather than bite and kill her? I know this technically refers to last weeks episode, but it didnt occur to me until now, when I realized Dylan was capable of super-speed.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"The Gates" stars Frank Grillo, Marisol Nichols, Rhona Mitra, Luke Mably, Travis Caldwell, Skyler Samuels, Colton Haynes, Chandra West and Victoria Platt. Repercussions" was directed by David Solomon, and was written by Scott Nimerfro.

"The Gates" airs on ABC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.