Teen Wolf - Wolf Moon

The first episode of Teen Wolf is simply plotted and quick-paced. It gets going with its cast of characters in a way that lays most of them out with little bother of long dialogue scenes. Fans of the ’85 movie will be disappointed. This is pure MTV in its characters and initial layout of their high school positions. Wolf Moon doesn’t get bogged down in complexity or high drama. I think you can tell this was merely a starting place. “Let’s introduce them and get the wolf bite out of the way then later settle in on developing them further…” is kind of the mentality of the pilot, I felt.

So Scott is this Lacrosse underling resting uncomfortably on the bench with his wise-cracking buddy, Stiles. Scott and Stiles are named after the characters of the popular 80s werewolf comedy, but that’s where it ends, really. The characters of this show are not even remotely related to those in the film. It is more or less to give slight homage then move on from that. Scott is a good kid, unassuming and harmless. Stiles’ dad is a cop, and they’re out hunting for a large animal that attacked a girl in the woods. Scott didn’t even plan on going into the woods but Stiles encourages their following the cops to see if they might possibly run across whatever it was on the prowl. This set up left much to be desired to me. I can’t possibly understand why these two would just agreeably embrace the idea of heading off into the dark of the woods to find a beast that had presumably attacked somebody. But, nonetheless, that is the set up to get Scott into the woods so he could be bitten by Tyler Hoechlin’s werewolf. Hoechlin (I recently watched him in the Linklater movie, Everybody Wants Some) is Derek Hale, a local a few years older that Scott and Stiles. He is clearly the werewolf that took a bite out of Scott and isn’t too apologetic for it! Derek feels his bite helped Scott due to the heightened senses he now is blessed with. A lacrosse tryout before the season leads to Scott’s goalie heroics. A scrimmage game against the star player, Jason (Colton Haynes), provides Scott with the opportunity to introduce his new skills to the players and coach (and spectators). Jason thinks he’s “juicing” but Scott also wants to know how he’s all of a sudden so incredibly athletic after being such an average nobody (Jason’s girlfriend didn’t even know him!) for so long. Meanwhile Stiles is investigating lycanthropy, understanding that with the full moon comes the bloodlust, and Scott is finding the inner wolf harder to tame.

Introduced is the new girl, Allison (Crystal Reed), arriving in town the next day after Scott was bitten. Her dad (JR Bourne) is actually a “hunter”, as we see when Scott can no longer resist the werewolf that emerges, with his eyes yellow, ears pointing, hair Wolverine in style, and urge to rush into the woods overcoming any sense of control. This is where Derek will serve as a type of protection. Derek had taken Allison home from a party after Scott bailed due to the emerging werewolf. Allison and Scott just had immediate chemistry. The show made a way for them to have some time together. Scott works at a vet office as a type of assistant. She hit a dog during a dark, rainy night. He splints the dog’s leg and sees she has a warm shirt (eyeing her removing her wet shirt with the dog urging him not to). Crisis diverted. This opens up the chance to ask her out and she is more than willing to accept his invite to the next night’s party. So it was a rough start for a potential high school romance.

I was looking for a replacement for Scream: the Television Series, and Teen Wolf seemed like an option. Good reception from the wife and daughter, so this should be in company with The Vampire Diaries going forward. We have watched one episode of Harper’s Island, but it didn’t really seem to grab them the way Teen Wolf did tonight. So the blog will have its share of activity going forward, I guess! The angle with the hunter being the possible girlfriend for the werewolf he'll be pursuing certainly is the kind of juicy teen soap plotting that might be expected in a show such as this. Derek serving as mentor will help Scott not literally move into hostile territory and put himself out there as bait to be crossbowed.

This is a real star making kind of show, and Tyler Posey is the lead has a great deal of appeal to him. His plight would earn sympathy, I imagine, and has. The show seems to have taken off. It doesn't seem to endure the same level of criticism as Scream. Dylan O'Brien is the kid I know from the Maze Runner films. They're a big deal in our household. We really look forward to them. I do wish the third film was getting a September release but understand the delay due to O'Brien's injury on set. He's full of spirit and energy, a real good bit of casting as the chatty, excitable sidekick.