If you were a fan of the somewhat cheesy, now very dated Teen Wolf from the 1980s, you may be shocked to see what the MTV version for the new generation looks like. It really isn’t a reboot so much as a complete rewrite. Naturally the effects have come alone way in just a few short decades, but with the evolution comes an adaptation of the now classic werewolf tale. No longer are they chained to the curse of the full moon; now werewolves can use their agility and speed as a gift to live fuller, more enriched lives. It is a darker, more weighted tale than ever before, and surprisingly it is coming from usually fluffy MTV. But still, it is nothing new in today’s television landscape and where it’s greatest strength lies is in knowing that and not trying to reinvent the wheel-- or the werewolf lore, as it were-- and instead focusing on creating a mini movie every week.
In a move that makes the pilot for Teen Wolf feel lifted right out of Mystic Falls, Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) is a below average high school kid. He has asthma that makes him incapable of even walking in the woods without taking a puff from an inhaler; he is perpetually on the bench in schools sports; and he is so quiet and assuming (and let’s face it, shaggy) that the rest of the polished preppy kids in his Beacon Hills High School don’t take him all that seriously. But all of that is about to change.
After getting bitten in the woods, Scott begins to experience hypersensitive abilities, such as super sonic hearing, but they appear to be selective. He picks up the scent of new girl in school Allison (Crystal Reed) early on and hones them all on her. He can hear her private conversations from yards away; he can calm her after she has a car accident in a rainstorm; he can even make impressive lacrosse catches with her watching on the sidelines. All extremely useful skills for a teenage boy but not really anyone else.
Teen Wolf is one of those series where you just have to suspend your disbelief, sit back, and look to be entertained. The minute you start asking the “Whys” of any of it is the minute you can’t help but wonder why this story was resurrected with so many others like it on television right now in the first place. It is certainly MTV’s (albeit extremely late to the game) attempt to capitalize on the supernatural-meets-teen-angst craze, and it certainly comes with all of the usual problems that one would come to expect from the genre and demographic, believability of age for some of these so-called high school kids first and foremost on the list. But furthermore other than Scott, whose journey is chronicled in close-up detail in the pilot, the other characters all appear one-note thus far. Though there are a few throwaway lines in the pilot that set up more to Allison and Derek (Tyler Hoechlin)’s stories, this episode really revolves solely on Scott with everyone else just along for his crazy ride.
On the eve of the month’s full moon, Scott’s seemingly Red Bull-infused best friend Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) alerts him to what he is becoming. Normally throwing a word like “werewolf” around would be fodder for quick laughter and brush-off but for the Twilight generation it prompts a serious discussion. And thankfully for Stiles, it also prompts research. We didn’t know kids of that generation had ever stepped foot in a library, but we’re glad to see he is thorough in his reading, going for ancient texts as well as online search engines.
But where Stiles offers a lot of energy and at times comic relief, Derek is the quiet and mysterious not-quite-a-stranger who offers the answers Scott is going to have to seek in order to fully understand his lycanthropy as well as how to control it. Hoechlin wears this role with pride; he certainly carries himself heads and shoulders above Posey’s scared little boy as the man who has it all figured out.
Horror genius Russell Mulcahy directs the pilot episode in a way that certainly brings a cinematic style to a station on which we never expected to see such beauty. POV tracking shots, long lens looks at characters shrouded in darkness, and intense close-ups on characters to reveal the secrets they refuse to say but still wear on their faces. Aside from an early moment that inadvertantly sets up a much more shocking tone than will be carried out in the rest of the episode, Mulcahy doesn't go for gore all of the time; instead he reaches for a way to internalize what should scare you. Scott is just a boy going through an extremely amplified hormonal change, after all, and when he begins to transform, Mulcahy chooses to focus on small details, such as the way his nail beds extend on his hands and the flicker of new color in his eye. It keeps a supernatural occurrence a bit more grounded and understandable.
If you’re a Vampire Diaries fan, you inevitably can’t help yourself from making comparisons between Scott’s transformation in the Teen Wolf pilot to Michael Trevino’s first transformation on that little CW show. But we would ask you not to read too much into any discrepancies or differences. After all, the werewolf lore in Teen Wolf is meant to stand alone, different in its own ways from that on any other show. In fact, there may even be a cure for it. And we have to hope that also comes with a cure for the audience’s interest in such sensational mythology projects because enough is enough!
Teen Wolf will premiere on June 5th, right after the MTV Movie Awards. The following evening, June 6th, the show moves into its regular time slot of Monday nights at 10pm, and the second episode is one you might need to give this show a proper chance. Plus for any Vampire Diaries fan, there is a Mystic Falls Easter egg hidden in the big lacrosse game scene in episode two!
Want more Teen Wolf news and coverage? Follow LA TV Insider Examiner on Twitter!
Comments