Teen Wolf - Pack Mentality

Our family has really taken to Teen Wolf. It is a fun little show. Pack Mentality gives us a good, old fashioned werewolf fight. How could I dislike that?!

Scott has a terrible dream where he attacks Allison in a school bus. The next morning he talks to Stiles about it, about how it felt so real. Then the students and faculty learn of an animal attack on a school bus driver in a school bus, and Scott is tormented by the idea that he might have been responsible. He or Derek perhaps lost control and the school bus driver just happened to be in wrong place, at the wrong time. That is the general crux of the plot in Pack Mentality, the third episode of the first season. Derek is a great part for the intense Hoechlin, and his build/look fits the character quite well. Derek has an air of mystery to him that the show is dutifully unveiling episode to episode. In the third episode whether or not Derek was responsible for the murder of his sister and the eventual demise of the school bus driver (he visits the driver in the hospital and questions what he knows) gets an answer. Scott wants to know what his involvement was in the driver’s mauling, with Derek mentioning that he’ll mentor the kid…but for a price not yet elaborated. So that little nugget is left for us to ponder. He does encourage Scott to go to the bus, use his werewolf instincts/senses to unravel how he’s connected, and determine how involved he really is. Derek seems to know who attacked Scott, only telling him once the two have a row as both go full on werewolf, letting out some serious aggression on each other. Scott might take some licks but he doesn’t back down until Derek lands that serious blow which weakens him into a standstill. It is enough for Derek to realize this kid isn’t a total weakling but has drive when he feels strongly about something. That there is this Alpha werewolf out there more powerful than either of them certainly whets the appetite for whatever lies ahead for viewers new to the show like my family.

Jackson is convinced that Scott has something (he is “cheating”) which provides him with such incredible strengths (the skills on the field in Lacrosse and, in this episode, his sudden emergence as a masterful bowler). Lydia initiates a double date while Allison is taken by surprise (as is Scott, quite underwhelmed at the prospects of doing anything with Jackson, much less Lil Miss Popular, Lydia) and unable to coax her way out of it. Allison, we soon learn, is quite a good bowler, while initially Scott isn’t. Then Allison tells Scott to concentrate, not to focus so much on the game but perhaps on her naked! And that seems to do the trick! Jackson, sufficed to say, isn’t too amused. The unease between Jackson and Scott is quite toxic although the latter tries his best to ease the tensions of the former. Good luck with that!

Derek is “greeted” by Allison’s dad and his “crew” while pumping some gas at a service station. Being less than subtle, Chris Argent offers a barely veiled warning towards Derek about protecting family. A broken windshield also results from this conversation. It is essentially a line in the sand talk and warning not to cross it. It is also a “we know what you most likely are and we will protect our own against you” chat. Later Chris is insistent that Allison stay home (there’s a 9:30 curfew), but she does a gymnast flip off her roof much to Lydia’s surprise. Mom (the wonderful Melissa Ponzio) also tells Scott to stay in, but these kids just don’t listen to their parents! Mom is a nurse on call when the bus driver dies. She nearly clubs Stiles with a baseball bat as well as he pops in her son’s room through an open window! Stiles, while I’m mentioning him, continues to be Scott’s trusting buddy and confidante. He bounces idea off him and relies on his advice often. But Stiles ties of being “Robin to Scott’s Batman” and wants to be a part of the action, not just a tagalong sidekick!

The puppy love of Scott and Allison has all the kissy-kissy and grinning flirts that teenage romance is all about. The two are quite cute which might appeal to their essential demographic, but I’m a bit too old for this kind of mushy-mushy, lovey-dovey high school content. It will all be undermined by escalating dangers and werewolvery…