The more I fall into the vertical world, the more I have gotten over my hiding it. Especially werewolf dramas. Some of them are OUTRAGEOUS. But Mated To My Rival Alpha wasn’t – it was sweet, dramatic, and filled with people figuring out who they are. It was filled with expectations, deception, and well – Armand Procacci stars in it.
He seems to like to be a werewolf and I am never mad at anything he decides to be. Though sometimes I question it – I still love it. I think that is because he doesn’t take things too seriously – at least that is how he comes across.
And we always love to watch people more beautiful than us.
There is a lot about verticals that feel the same and that doesn’t mean that I won’t watch them. The soap opera aspect of it all – well I guess that’s a big part of it. Honoring what my Grandma taught me – that it’s a womans right to love soap operas or dramas. Yes, you can laugh at me here and judge me. I am judging myself.
But yet, no regrets.
Now I don’t know much about werewolf heiarchy, but I do know know that an Alpha is top wolf. Well, Alex and Ivy are both destined to be top wolves in rival packs. They aren’t supposed to like each other, but the two actually get along. They are young and figuring out who they are.
Ivy has had her share of issues. She’s due to take over her Dads place as Alpha, but there is an issue. She didn’t kill someone that her father told her that she needed to, and that made him doubt her. It made him doubt that she would be able to take over one day.
Not to mention that she has a brother that is crazy. He wants to be Alpha so badly that he’s willing to put his sister in harms way. Ivy’s family seems to not care about her at all. She felt isolated. But little did she know, that her stepmother is purposely manipulating the situation. It’s not that her father doesn’t love her, he thinks that she’s not making attempts to be there. He just doesn’t know that she really wants to talk to him and make things right.
Alex is the next Alpha of his pack. He doesn’t want to be a leader. He’d rather avoid that at all costs, but this isn’t something that he gets to make a choice about. His sister is all about the family and getting her brother to fall in line.
The issue is that Alpha’s aren’t allowed to be each others mate. That alone is complicated. Family is complicated, each striving for dominance and control. Power seems to be a big motivator, but also a large deterrent.
You can’t tell me a family in any vertical that doesn’t have A LOT of issues and isn’t always striving to crush the other so that they can remain supreme.
When you take a look at verticals, you can see that a lot of the rituals are the same. In Mated to My Rival Alpha doesn’t break a bond that same way that others do. There is no “i reject you” and then it happens. Here, it was you had to find a witch and have a ritual and then reject each other. Only you can’t do this ritual if you don’t mean it – so saying things for the sake of revenge doesn’t work here.
Where I would normally be the first person to comment on similarities of shows, but I think that if we (as viewers) take a look at verticals – it is about the delivery. Each actor has a way of bringing characters to life and that execution is what draws you in. In Mated To My Rival Alpha, Armand Procacci and Bella Mraz, execute the story in a way that puts a fresh spin on a vertical and make you stop and pay attention.
The two have chemistry that is vulnerable at times, but also are able to shine separately. As they go down the road of gathering all of things that are needed for the ritual, they two seem to be having issues justifying what they are doing. In part because the support that they get from each other but also because the actors are able to make you believe that these characters are two people in love. Yet, love doesn’t matter, because it is honor about all else.
The two are able to – eventually – break the bond. It doesn’t solve their attraction to each other, as well as their want to be together. It’s the simplicity and the grandeur of the story that allows us to be invested in the characters. May not like the parents but do love the bond between Ivy and Alex.
It was because of the journey that the two of them were able to find their own footing and strength. They are able to find a way to have the confidence to find their own road, while honoring their family.
Mated To My Rival Alpha was a story about bonds, family and growth. Is it all that deep? Not always. But it’s a fun escape with two vertical actors that will keep you involved and interested as to what is next.
And at the end of the day – you’ll be rooting for them to be together. Love that feeling, but eve more love actors that make you feel. They are doing their job.
