TV Review: Teen Wolf

I've never seen the Michael J. Fox version of "Teen Wolf", but I understand this new MTV creation is nothing like it. All I remember about that film was a werewolf in a letter jacket playing basketball. Much like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" before it this new series seems to want to take everything good about the original and leave the cheese on the side. Not so much camp and a lot more drama and horror. Not to say "Teen Wolf" isn't great on a campy level as well! There are at least 4 or 5 eye-rolling plot devices every week in fact. It's the latest entry into the werewolf/vampire canon of TV shows/books/movies and while it isn't the best thing on TV it entertains me for an hour each week.

Stupid!

Could it be the hot cast? Because there is seriously a lot of hot! With only 3 female leads on a show compared to 5 good looking men, TW brings the beefcake each week. Characters seem to lose their shirts for no reason. Sometimes they are working out, as seen here.

Feel the burn? I do!

Other times they are sleeping. Changing after Lacrosse practice. Morphing into a wolf. Whatever works! Point is, the hot trifecta of Tyler Posey, Colton Haynes, and Tyler Hoechlin keep me glued to the tube. They may play high schoolers but all three guys are of age (I checked) so from a purely dirty level the show delivers the goods. Add to those three the adorable Dylan O'Brien as Teen Wolf Scott's quick-witted sidekick Stiles and there isn't a scene that doesn't work. I'm sure there are a million slash writer girls (why are so many gay slash writers girls?) going nuts combining these 4 guys into pairs and threesomes. You could even throw in Jackson's (Colton Haynes) gay best friend Lacrosse player. He's pretty cute too, with the three lines he has been given.

Derek stalks Jackson in the locker room. Sweaty towels and all!

As far as characters, "Teen Wolf" follows the angsty life of Scott McCall. Scott is a somewhat typical teen TV creation. A "loser" who looks like a GQ model. We know he is a loser in the first episode because he uses an inhaler and cannot play Lacrosse. Fun fact here. Both of those things apply to me so I am officially a loser in MTVs eyes! Darn!

With werewolf powers comes Lacrosse responsibility

Scott and Stiles go snooping and of course Scott has a run in with Bitey the werewolf. Suddenly he can hear what is going on a block away. He doesn't have asthma. He can play Lacrosse. Hair is growing in strange new places. Thankfully it doesn't take Scott long to realize he is a full-blown werewolf.

First Werewolf rule. Lock the bathroom door!

But not the alpha wolf, it turns out. His werewolf frienamy Derek fills him in on this soon enough. Derek is a cocky fellow wolf who LOVES to flaunt how smart he is. I would totally hate the character if not for the fact he looks like this!

Dude loves to exercise!

So Scott, Derek, and Stiles are on a quest to figure out who the "alpha" wolf in town is. Could it be the creepy science teacher? The vet who Scott works for who seems to be neck-deep in werewolf sightings? Or maybe one of Scott's classmates.

Speaking of Alphas, that brings up the schools alpha male Jackson (Colton Haynes) who thankfully is written as a bully with a little depth. He hates that Scott has taken over as the star of the Lacrosse team but instead of giving him swirlies and throwing punches Jackson wants to know how and why Scott is suddenly the cock of the walk around school. Assuming steroids, Jackson gets messed up in the werewolfs biznas pretty early on as well.

Totally not gay boy-kissing XY model Colton Haynes as Jackson

You'd better get that looked at!

Then we have Scott's love interest Alison (Crystal Reed) whose family also happen to be werewolf hunters with a garage full of silver-bullets. Alison is clueless to all of this and has the unenviable role of being the only clueless character of the show (so far). Alison is another "nerdy teen" who looks like a model. With a family that moves once a year she is supposed to be deep and brooding. It is a little hard to buy that such a "moody" girl would fall in love with the most popular guy in school and be best gal pals with Jackson's ditzy-bitch girlfriend Lydia (Holland Roden) after a week in class. Aren't we supposed to pick on the new girl? Anyway, she gets Scott hot under the collar and this leads to a few "wolf-outs" early on as Scott cannot control his heart-rate when she is around.

From teenage hormones

To this! Maybe try Proactive?

The plot is fun. It is a nice blend of serious drama mixed with lighter moments. It seems each week that Scott has to wrestle with how to live a normal life when something paranormal is going on around him. The character Stiles steals the show with his one-liners and hyper energy. It has been said all around that the show makes Stiles a little TOO obsessed with Scott. Like in love with him obsessed. Even this makes for a fun layer of subtext in my opinion.

So? Wanna hit the showers orrrrr...

Did you just whisper I love you?

"Teen Wolf" is escapist fun. I'm glad MTV is trying their hand at scripted series again. More shows like "Teen Wolf" would be great. While I don't ever see it gaining the fan base or depth of "Buffy" it is carrying on the tradition of recycling something old and silly into something fresh and edgy. Check it out!

Plus none of this mess thank goodness