|
|
TEEN WOLF |
Scott McCall - Tyler Posey Allison Argent - Crystal Reed Stiles - Dylan O'Brien Derek Hale - Tyler Hoechlin Jackson - Colton Haynes Lydia Martin - Holland Roden 
OTHER TEEN WOLF SEASONS Season 2 OTHER WEREWOLF APPEARANCES Buffy The Vampire Slayer Angel True Blood Being Human 
|
Wolf MoonScott McCall is at High School and he isn't one of the cool kids. Out in the woods looking for a dead body before the police find it, Scott is bitten by what appears to be a wolf. His wound heals quickly, but soon enough he can hear for miles, and see better than ever. Even better, he just made the lacrosse team. His friend Stiles jokes that he's become a werewolf, but at a party under a full moon, he learns the truth. Vampires have been the supernatural teen monster du jour for quite a while now and making the leap from the big screen to the small screen in the shape of VAMPIRE DIARIES. Werewolves haven't managed to make the same impact, always playing second fiddle to their vampiric contemporaris. TEEN WOLF aims to change that, taking the lightweight Michael J Fox movie, stripping out the lame comedy and making it sexier and more hip. At least that's the plan, but this first episode has a long way to go before it rivals any of the slew of vampire shows and movies that are out there. First off Tyler Posey and Crystal Reed aren't exactly charisma explosions, but then the dialogue that they are given isn't exactly going to set the screenwriting world on fire. None of the supporting cast make much of an impact either. It's early days yet, but it doesn't look promising. We've seen the plot before so many times as the man starts to change and doesn't understand, finally making the transformation under a full moon. Only here he only part transforms, the initially promising transformation scene just sort of stopping. The full on CGI wolves are seen in mists and shadows, but even that can't hide the fact that the mythical convincing CGI werewolf is still undiscovered. And then there's lacrosse. As a dramatic on screen sport, it is sadly lacking. Top Second Chance At First LineEveryone wants Scott to play in the big game. Everyone except Derek who is worried that he will transform in front of the whole crowd and reveal the secret of werewolves to everyone. Scott and Stiles organise for Derek to get arrested and the big game gets underway. Peer pressure is a big thing for impressionable teens and when you've got a girl and a coach to impress then it just becomes irresistable. This show, however, is proving to be anything but. The plot is OK, but hardly breaks any new ground or offers any hope of anything better in the future. Tyler Hoechlin is suitably brooding as Derek, but everyone else is, quite frankly, dull and there's a reason why they wouldn't make the cool tables at school. The plot is also horribly predictable, though there is just a bit of tension built up in the shower room scene. More of that and less teen angst could go a long way. Top Pack MentalityA man is attacked an almost killed in a fashion that mirrors Scott's dream. He challenges Derek about it, but has to discover whether he is the killer on his own and before his big double date with Allison. An underlying plot arc with hints of darkness to come and the revealing of a very large and nasty enemy hiding in the undergrowth. This is the kind of thing that is going to improve the show no end. It certainly gets a frisson going that has been absent from the show to date. Unfortunately, it doesn't get rid of the teen story thatis undermining everything. The character has to do some growing up and all that, but does he have to do it in a series of cliches? Top Magic BulletDerek is shot by a new werewolf hunter and the bullet she uses leaves him slowly dying. He goes to Scott for help. The hunter turns out to be Allison's aunt Kate and Scott finds himself trapped in the 'getting to know the family' dinner party from hell. This episode is quite tightly plotted and that helps a very great deal. Most importantly, it introduces Jill Wagner as the kick-ass werewolf hunter Kate who livens things up no end. The dinner party is the normal teenage angst ratcheted up to eleven, but it all hangs together surprisingly well. Top The TellKate goes after Derek to give and receive information. Following another killing, Stiles is left with important information that he doesn't know how to handle and Scott and Allison skip school. There's a strong opening to this episode with the attack, but then it all goes downhill. Scott and Allison skipping school is so bad that they actually dissolve into a montage with a romantic song over the top. Thank goodness, then, for the Derek/Kate scene which is excellent and the Stiles storyline which is pointless, but at least has some amusing moments. Top Heart Monitorstiles fits Scott with a heart monitor in an attempt to help him master the change. Derek meanwhile is in search of more information about what happened to his sister. When this brings him into conflict with Scott, Stiles decides to use Scott's howl to summon the alpha wolf. The stories are ramping up as the twin strands weave around each other. It feels a bit like filler, setting up storylines for later, but then it comes up with a some fast action at the end that sets up a nice cliffhanger to make up for the longeurs in the episode. Top Night SchoolScott and Stiles are stranded in the school by the alpha, but things go downhill when Allison, Jackson and Lydia show up. Now they have to stay alive and keep the truth from their friends. This is a stripped-down horror/action episode in which there is not plot, only a situation. They're in the school with something bad and no weapons. There's a nice line in tension, though it never really fulfils its potential. Top LunaticScott is trying to come to terms with Allison dumping him, but the full moon isn't the best of times for stable emotions. Stiles tricks him captivity, but when he escapes he needs someone else to stop him before he kills someone. There's far too much teenage angst in this episode for anyone's good. After the action riffs of the last episode it's a case of slowing the pace right back down for everyone to discuss their feelings and get a little bit closer to the truth. Jackson and Allison are coming to realise what might be wrong, but Allison's family are starting to get close to realising that Scott is a werewolf. It's a holding pattern waiting for something to happen and the fight towards the end between Scott and Derek just won't cut it. Top Wolf's BaneDerek and Scott go on the offensive to find out who the alpha is so that he can be dealt with. Whilst Scott searches for Allison's necklace, Derek and Stiles track down the source of the text that brought Allison to the school. Everyone gets a bit closer to the truth. The strands of the story draw a little tighter, although once again very little actually happens. The best part is Jackson messing with Scott's head in order to get for himself what he believes Scott has. It's fun and has an edgy quality to it that everything else is missing. The revelation of the identity of the alpha wolf is abrupt, almost as though everyone got bored with the mystery investigation storyline and there needed to a be a fight scene in there somewhere and so it gets thrown in. Top Co-CaptainDerek is back under the influence of the alpha, who is now making moves on Scott's mother. Allison wants to talk and Stiles is getting information out of his father's files. Jackson is about to get what he wants, not knowing that he doesn't really want it. Information is flowing and more is known about what happened to the Hale family and who caused it. Allison is finally inducted into the family business just as the family move in on Derek. The plot is getting tighter and tighter as the charactes draw towards the ever-approaching climax, but there's still more in the way of plot machination than action Top FormalityAllison's aunt Kate tortures Derek for information that he is not going to give. Allison's struggles with the new information that she knows and everyone is going to the dance, including the alpha and the hunters. It's the penultimate episode and that means its job is to set up all the cliffhangers as Allison discovers what Scott is and Stiles is forced into working for the alpha. It's all come together quite nicely and the finale might actually provide some of the action that has been promised, but which has never quite materialised. Top Code BreakerStiles helps the Alpha locate Derek, but Scott has already freed him. Kate has turned Allison against Scott and armed her, whilst Allison's father learns more about what happened the night of the burning. It's big finale time and the show just about manages to pull it off, though the final action is a bit less apocalyptic than it might have been. The CGI on the werewolves continues to be a major problem as they are just not convincing at all. The threads come together quite nicely for a big climax, but then the show goes on for another ten minutes setting up cliffhangers for the next season. Top |
|
|
If this page was useful to you please sign our 
