As you know, I have a lot of time on my hands during the summer months … horses don’t care to train in 100 degree heat with 80% humidity apparently. So my favorite afternoon activity is binge watching TV shows.
Today we’re going to have a pseudo sci-fi theme with MTV’s Teen Wolf. I happened across the show because of Dylan O’Brien. Check out all the reasons I love Dylan in my Maze Runner coverage. What I didn’t expect was to become completely engrossed in a show about teenage werewolves.
Teen Wolf first aired in 2011 and its fifth (most likely final season) is set to debut this month. It is loosely based on the 1985 film starring Michael J. Fox … the one where he surfed on top of a van and played basketball. Here’s what I love about this updated TV version.
5. Creepy Things Abound
The series revolves around Scott McCall, a misfit teen who is bitten by a werewolf in the pilot episode. The first few episodes deal primarily with Scott learning about his new powers while maintaining a regular high school life. Pretty undramatic, typical YA stuff. The series diverges from the crowd, though, when it comes to its fright factor. The show features good old-fashioned monsters without relying too much on hokey computer effects. It probably won’t give you nightmares or have you checking behind every shower curtain, but it will certainly make you jump in the moment.
4. Derek Hale
Here’s the problem with loving YA novels and movies – at some point you start to feel like a creepy old lecher. Teen Wolf solves this problem with the character Derek Hale. He’s scruffy, he’s brooding and he’s age appropriate!
He also gets kidnapped and chained to things on occasion. #yaas
3. Blossoming Bromances
I love bromances. They sustain me. That’s why I love the show Supernatural. So anytime a series can push male characters in that direction, I’m in it to win it. The primary one is between Scott and Stiles as evidenced when it was Stiles – not the beloved girlfriend – who pulled Scott back from the edge of suicide.
But I also love the reluctant bromance between Derek and Stiles. Interaction between the two characters are often the funniest moments of every episode.
2. Difficult Subjects
The sex is sexy and, yes, all of the teenage characters “do it” whether they are gay or straight. The gore is gory and the fighting is intense. The stakes are high on Teen Wolf, probably higher than any other teen series with the exception of BBC’s Skins. The characters also all have a family – something magically devoid in most teen dramas – that are usually kidnapped and tortured by the villains. These teens don’t drown themselves in misery a la Vampire Diaries, they simply step up to the plate and rescue their parents.
1. Extraordinary Casting
Yes, I love Dylan O’Brien. You’re going to here me say it over and over, because I predict this kid is going places. He’s going to win an Academy Award, or several. I promise. His character, Stiles, has become the accidental hero of the entire series, but he never really steals the scene. Truthfully, the ensemble is magnetic. Maybe they wouldn’t be great individually, but together they are as good as any other seasoned cast. This connection no doubt comes from the fact that they truly seem to enjoy each other on and off screen.
Clap your hands if you’re not ashamed to love Teen Wolf! Clap your hands twice if you’re going to start watching just to see Derek chained to that fence. 😉
