![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annavereThis show. Holy cow, this show. Humor is subjective, and this is a teen supernatural drama, not a dramedy, sitcom or other humorous entity, so I'm aware much of my amusement is unintentionally provoked but I haven't laughed this much in years. I'm in fits of giggles just trying to get my notes in a semblance of order. Heads up: This is not one of my deeper, thoughtful reviews.
This was unexpectedly hilarious from the get-go. Kid gets lycanthropy (his nerd best friend Stiles diagnoses him in seconds) and then he can kick ass in slo-mo music video montages... on the lacrosse team. I laughed so hard when that scene unfolded, and I am truly grateful they picked something outside of the mega sports, because if it was foot/basket/baseball, I would be rolling my eyes, but a quirky secondary sport is just funny. I rather enjoy the possible developing theme of the superpowered kid having to learn to manage anger. Buffy never spent a lot of time on that theme and it's a good one.
On the other hand, wolf boy Scott using his advanced senses to kick ass at the bowling alley is just this show taking the piss. What's he gonna be good at next, ping pong? Curling?
The werewolves... look better than the ones on Buffy (truly, it would be hard to be worse) but even I can tell the special effects are terrible on this show, and I am normally pleased with anything. Also, Scott's werewolf howl really sucks - it's more of a grating, groaning mutated lion than a nice clean eerie wail. Why break with a perfectly good tradition? On the other hand, there's nice autumn moon spooky atmosphere throughout, which sometimes rises to the level of effective horror.
Being MTV, the amount of incidental rock music is through the roof. Not in a bad way, just... not subtle. But then, Teen Wolf is where subtlety goes to die.
The dialogue is unexpectedly cute and despite being an MTV teen boy show, it is so far neither gross, raunchy nor particularly objectifying. The "teens" are stupidly pretty and dolled up, of course (except Stiles, who might actually pass muster), but that goes with the territory.
I liked basically all the characters. Scott is a sweetie, and makes a ridiculously cute couple with Allison. There is a glorious send up of Edward Cullen style "I'm watching over you outside your bedroom window" stalking, as when Scott tries it, he nods off and topples off the roof. Allison spends most of the season as a helpless civilian, but her archery skills are useful in the season finale and she's also a sweetie. Allison's weird home life needs some explaining, though. How do you keep a family business of werewolf hunting in operation if you hide the truth from the next generation?
Scott and Stiles really do come across as buddies. It's easy to see why Stiles is the most popular character. He's played by the most natural actor, he's got most of the deliberately funny lines, he's genre-savvy and he fights off his werewolf bestie with a fire extinguisher. It is less easy for me to see why he's the most popular shipping option. To me, he looks like a kid, acts like a kid and I don't want him going any further than holding hands in the park, thank you.
Jackson is a jerk, but he's also really broken, so I like him anyway. He wants to be a werewolf, even though werewolves scare him to death, and he's got this hunted, haggard, self-destructive thing going on, plus he spends like three quarters of this season absolutely plastered in sweat and sick as a dog. Interesting choice.
Lydia is set up as the mean Cordelia type, but instead of forming a rivalry with new girl Allison, she is constantly welcoming. This is deeply refreshing. She's also secretly smart, despite making out with Kubrickstare!Scott. Their thankfully short-lived trifecta of cheating is exactly what I was expecting this show to be like before I clicked on it. Other than that slip, I liked her, too, and she appears to be getting a real plot next season.
Derek is silly, but then I always thought Angel was kind of silly, too (*ducks*). That whole "supernatural broody boy" vibe is hit or miss with me. He spends the first half of the season jumpscaring into scenes when all he's actually doing is standing around with hands in pockets glowering like a discount Rufus Sewell. By the time he finally wolfs out, I regret to say I burst out laughing. The amount of sweaty masculinity in this show is (again) ludicrous. Insert "don't lose your shirt over it" joke here.
Seriously, why wait till episode three to explain pertinent details of what's going on? Why wait until a week before the full moon to explain anything or train Scott? Yes, he got arrested and got shot by a poison bullet, but that doesn't fill three whole weeks. Why the mystery act, dude? USE YOUR WORDS. No social skills, insert "raised by wolves" joke here. He's also squatting in the burned-out husk of a house, with no apparent job or other residence. I have questions.
The adult characters are surprisingly decent. Aside from Allison's mom, the various put-upon parents seem entirely reasonable in their attitudes. Scott's awesome mother Melissa gets one date in the entire season and it ends in tears, and I genuinely felt bad for her - and am impressed the show actually took the time to make her a real character and depict her loneliness. Sheriff Stilinski has a great relationship with his son. Chris Argent struts around posturing over suspected werewolf vehicles and keeps telling the same story about a rabid dog, but also shows he's got some layers which will hopefully develop. Meanwhile, it's always lovely to see Seth Gilliam, who plays the local vet and also gets some entertaining revelations.
I think I've officially hit the line where the parents are the attractive people in a teen show. Roswell weeded most of its adult characters out very early on, and criminally downplayed Sheriff Valenti, so I hope Teen Wolf chooses another direction and gives them some strong B plots. This is also something of a nice contrast with and (dare I say) an actual improvement on Buffy, where the adults were almost universally appalling, evil or dead.
Then the villains, which is where the lunacy really cranks into overdrive. Aunt Kate is a grade A psycho bitch and I love her. Her heinous actions kicked off the entire story arc. She's unapologetically ax-crazy, convinces Allison to taser a teddy bear, and is overly-appreciative of Derek's physique every time she tortures him (yes, it happens more than once). A little flirting, a lot of torture, and a gun nut with a constant "bring it on! I'm living my best life!" attitude.
I was pinning my hopes on the chemistry teacher (who simply oozes maladjusted arrogance) being the mysterious Alpha, partly because some of the killings were on school property, but mostly because I figured a mystery plot had to give the reveal to an actual character and I've seen Breaking Bad and know chemistry teachers are not to be trusted. Instead it turned out to be... the vegetative burn victim who featured in like one scene? And his psychotic nurse?? Who he then kills so unceremoniously I wasn't sure she was dead, trashes the medical ward, beats up Derek, menaces Stiles and nobody notices any of this??? It's a hospital.
Next episode timeskips over how Stiles gets away and it starts to feel like the writers cheating at speed chess to get the pieces to where they need to be.
This leads to now properly introduced second villain Peter Hale, who wears the exact same costume as Spike (black jacket, dark red shirt). It's like he's a werewolf pretending to be a vampire. Actually, though, Lucas Buck wore that costume before either of them, so really, they're both ripping him off. Bite-happy Peter Hale is now on the loose and engages in a diabolical battle of wits with Scott... which amounts to Peter Hale creeping on every female Scott has any connection to and Scott following him all over town coming up with creative ways to cockblock him. Subtext be damned, they really hung the entire plotline on these muttered antics. I bet it saved on budget.
Also, this adult male loiters creepily in the prom dress aisle, makes remarks about Allison's "perfect skin" (he said the same thing while dating Scott's glamorous mom; Peter Hale's stock of compliments is small), makes her increasingly uncomfortable and Allison... actually wears the dress he picked out for her? Do I have that right? Is that seriously what just happened? WTF.
So the last four episodes feature two psycho flirts with no sense of personal space chewing all the scenery and most of the cast they can get hold of. It's way more fun than it should be and it somehow leads, after a whirlwind of characters rushing around making me dizzy, to a genuinely dark and rather unique dramatic crescendo. The big confrontation in the last episode is not between any hero and villain combo - it's between Aunt Kate and Peter Hale, and it works really well. I am truly sorry both die at that point, because they were tremendously entertaining and had genuinely good, dramatic backstories - plus they were out of focus for the majority of the season, so it really felt like their plots were just getting started when they were summarily defeated.
The season ended on a bunch of weird not-quite-cliffhangers. Really, it couldn't have ended any better for what it is. Whatever it is.
The best way I can sum up: Looking back, most scenes in this season could easily be passed off on the unwary as dream sequences. Most shows have to try to be illogical and strange. Teen Wolf just embodies it with confidence. What the hell, I love it.
This was unexpectedly hilarious from the get-go. Kid gets lycanthropy (his nerd best friend Stiles diagnoses him in seconds) and then he can kick ass in slo-mo music video montages... on the lacrosse team. I laughed so hard when that scene unfolded, and I am truly grateful they picked something outside of the mega sports, because if it was foot/basket/baseball, I would be rolling my eyes, but a quirky secondary sport is just funny. I rather enjoy the possible developing theme of the superpowered kid having to learn to manage anger. Buffy never spent a lot of time on that theme and it's a good one.
On the other hand, wolf boy Scott using his advanced senses to kick ass at the bowling alley is just this show taking the piss. What's he gonna be good at next, ping pong? Curling?
The werewolves... look better than the ones on Buffy (truly, it would be hard to be worse) but even I can tell the special effects are terrible on this show, and I am normally pleased with anything. Also, Scott's werewolf howl really sucks - it's more of a grating, groaning mutated lion than a nice clean eerie wail. Why break with a perfectly good tradition? On the other hand, there's nice autumn moon spooky atmosphere throughout, which sometimes rises to the level of effective horror.
Being MTV, the amount of incidental rock music is through the roof. Not in a bad way, just... not subtle. But then, Teen Wolf is where subtlety goes to die.
The dialogue is unexpectedly cute and despite being an MTV teen boy show, it is so far neither gross, raunchy nor particularly objectifying. The "teens" are stupidly pretty and dolled up, of course (except Stiles, who might actually pass muster), but that goes with the territory.
I liked basically all the characters. Scott is a sweetie, and makes a ridiculously cute couple with Allison. There is a glorious send up of Edward Cullen style "I'm watching over you outside your bedroom window" stalking, as when Scott tries it, he nods off and topples off the roof. Allison spends most of the season as a helpless civilian, but her archery skills are useful in the season finale and she's also a sweetie. Allison's weird home life needs some explaining, though. How do you keep a family business of werewolf hunting in operation if you hide the truth from the next generation?
Scott and Stiles really do come across as buddies. It's easy to see why Stiles is the most popular character. He's played by the most natural actor, he's got most of the deliberately funny lines, he's genre-savvy and he fights off his werewolf bestie with a fire extinguisher. It is less easy for me to see why he's the most popular shipping option. To me, he looks like a kid, acts like a kid and I don't want him going any further than holding hands in the park, thank you.
Jackson is a jerk, but he's also really broken, so I like him anyway. He wants to be a werewolf, even though werewolves scare him to death, and he's got this hunted, haggard, self-destructive thing going on, plus he spends like three quarters of this season absolutely plastered in sweat and sick as a dog. Interesting choice.
Lydia is set up as the mean Cordelia type, but instead of forming a rivalry with new girl Allison, she is constantly welcoming. This is deeply refreshing. She's also secretly smart, despite making out with Kubrickstare!Scott. Their thankfully short-lived trifecta of cheating is exactly what I was expecting this show to be like before I clicked on it. Other than that slip, I liked her, too, and she appears to be getting a real plot next season.
Derek is silly, but then I always thought Angel was kind of silly, too (*ducks*). That whole "supernatural broody boy" vibe is hit or miss with me. He spends the first half of the season jumpscaring into scenes when all he's actually doing is standing around with hands in pockets glowering like a discount Rufus Sewell. By the time he finally wolfs out, I regret to say I burst out laughing. The amount of sweaty masculinity in this show is (again) ludicrous. Insert "don't lose your shirt over it" joke here.
Seriously, why wait till episode three to explain pertinent details of what's going on? Why wait until a week before the full moon to explain anything or train Scott? Yes, he got arrested and got shot by a poison bullet, but that doesn't fill three whole weeks. Why the mystery act, dude? USE YOUR WORDS. No social skills, insert "raised by wolves" joke here. He's also squatting in the burned-out husk of a house, with no apparent job or other residence. I have questions.
The adult characters are surprisingly decent. Aside from Allison's mom, the various put-upon parents seem entirely reasonable in their attitudes. Scott's awesome mother Melissa gets one date in the entire season and it ends in tears, and I genuinely felt bad for her - and am impressed the show actually took the time to make her a real character and depict her loneliness. Sheriff Stilinski has a great relationship with his son. Chris Argent struts around posturing over suspected werewolf vehicles and keeps telling the same story about a rabid dog, but also shows he's got some layers which will hopefully develop. Meanwhile, it's always lovely to see Seth Gilliam, who plays the local vet and also gets some entertaining revelations.
I think I've officially hit the line where the parents are the attractive people in a teen show. Roswell weeded most of its adult characters out very early on, and criminally downplayed Sheriff Valenti, so I hope Teen Wolf chooses another direction and gives them some strong B plots. This is also something of a nice contrast with and (dare I say) an actual improvement on Buffy, where the adults were almost universally appalling, evil or dead.
Then the villains, which is where the lunacy really cranks into overdrive. Aunt Kate is a grade A psycho bitch and I love her. Her heinous actions kicked off the entire story arc. She's unapologetically ax-crazy, convinces Allison to taser a teddy bear, and is overly-appreciative of Derek's physique every time she tortures him (yes, it happens more than once). A little flirting, a lot of torture, and a gun nut with a constant "bring it on! I'm living my best life!" attitude.
I was pinning my hopes on the chemistry teacher (who simply oozes maladjusted arrogance) being the mysterious Alpha, partly because some of the killings were on school property, but mostly because I figured a mystery plot had to give the reveal to an actual character and I've seen Breaking Bad and know chemistry teachers are not to be trusted. Instead it turned out to be... the vegetative burn victim who featured in like one scene? And his psychotic nurse?? Who he then kills so unceremoniously I wasn't sure she was dead, trashes the medical ward, beats up Derek, menaces Stiles and nobody notices any of this??? It's a hospital.
Next episode timeskips over how Stiles gets away and it starts to feel like the writers cheating at speed chess to get the pieces to where they need to be.
This leads to now properly introduced second villain Peter Hale, who wears the exact same costume as Spike (black jacket, dark red shirt). It's like he's a werewolf pretending to be a vampire. Actually, though, Lucas Buck wore that costume before either of them, so really, they're both ripping him off. Bite-happy Peter Hale is now on the loose and engages in a diabolical battle of wits with Scott... which amounts to Peter Hale creeping on every female Scott has any connection to and Scott following him all over town coming up with creative ways to cockblock him. Subtext be damned, they really hung the entire plotline on these muttered antics. I bet it saved on budget.
Also, this adult male loiters creepily in the prom dress aisle, makes remarks about Allison's "perfect skin" (he said the same thing while dating Scott's glamorous mom; Peter Hale's stock of compliments is small), makes her increasingly uncomfortable and Allison... actually wears the dress he picked out for her? Do I have that right? Is that seriously what just happened? WTF.
So the last four episodes feature two psycho flirts with no sense of personal space chewing all the scenery and most of the cast they can get hold of. It's way more fun than it should be and it somehow leads, after a whirlwind of characters rushing around making me dizzy, to a genuinely dark and rather unique dramatic crescendo. The big confrontation in the last episode is not between any hero and villain combo - it's between Aunt Kate and Peter Hale, and it works really well. I am truly sorry both die at that point, because they were tremendously entertaining and had genuinely good, dramatic backstories - plus they were out of focus for the majority of the season, so it really felt like their plots were just getting started when they were summarily defeated.
The season ended on a bunch of weird not-quite-cliffhangers. Really, it couldn't have ended any better for what it is. Whatever it is.
The best way I can sum up: Looking back, most scenes in this season could easily be passed off on the unwary as dream sequences. Most shows have to try to be illogical and strange. Teen Wolf just embodies it with confidence. What the hell, I love it.
