Werewolf Winter: MTV's Teen Wolf (2011)

So far, the attempt to connect werewolves and teens has been fairly disastrous. Characters have often lacked arcs, and story plots have often lacked much sense.

But then Twilight came out in 2008, followed by a resurgence in the teen vampire genre which included hit teen shows like The Vampire Diaries on the CW. Since many fangirls were on Team Jacob as opposed to Team Edward, it makes sense that someone would jump on the attempt to make yet another teen-based werewolf project. That "someone" was MTV, and the result is the Teen Wolf television series, which keeps many of the same names as the original 1985 movie, but bares very little resemblance otherwise. Let's check out the pilot episode and see how this Teen Wolf stacks up to it's namesake.

Slightly different tone... and chest reveal.

This MTV show, as I mentioned previously, is actually the second attempt at a Teen Wolf show. The first was a mediocre-to-terrible cartoon series released not long after the film. Oddly, the MTV show seems to owe just as much to the cartoon as the movie; the wolf character design is almost identical to the wolf in the show, which resembled a less-hairy version of the wolf in I Was a Teenage Werewolf more than Michael J. Fox's Teen Wolf. It is a subtle detail, but an interesting one. There are also some plot points that the cartoon addressed that the film never did, but that is jumping a bit ahead... let's start at the beginning.

Once again, our protagonist is a teen boy named Scott who is a bit of a dork and social outcast, but who likes to play the most popular sport at school. In the twenty-six years in between the movie and the show, however, which sports seem "cool" has changed a bit. Now, our protagonist plays lacrosse instead of the more classic basketball.

Like the film, Scott also has a best-friend named Stiles, who is more of a natural trouble-maker than he is. However, this Stiles is less of an 80s-stoner stereotype and more of a daredevil (who is also the son of a local policeman).

That is where many of the basic similarities to the 1985 film end. Plot-wise, the movie owes more to films like the 1940's The Wolf Man, as Scott is bitten by a wolf-like creature out in the woods and slowly starts to change: he starts to have super hearing and smell, have faster reflexes on the lacrosse field, and get rushes of anger and adrenaline which can lead to strength and bouts of rage. This slower transformation and reveal of "powers" is more typical in a vampire story than a werewolf one, and it was neat to see Scott have "changes" and effects even before a full-moon. Like the 1985 movie, this new werewolf-status helps Scott in sports, and he makes the first string on his varsity team for the first time.

While some plot points are similar, the MTV show is much more "high stakes" in terms of drama. Like in most werewolf films, the transformation into a werewolf brings higher aggression and a lack of control. When Scott's werewolf state becomes clear, the main conflict is whether or not he will harm those around him.

This concern about harming others adds significance that the 1985 film did not have. The main concern of the Michael J. Fox film seemed to be only that, as the wolf, he looked hairy and silly. However, that is also one downside of this show; the wolf does look silly. As I mentioned previously, the design for the werewolf is almost identical to the cartoon show, which gave Scott claws, sharp teeth, pointed ears, and more hair on this head, arms, and legs. However, otherwise he just looked like a normal human. That's essentially the same design we get here as well.

However, the show does a nice job of balancing the silliness of the wolf aesthetic with character and drama. The first night he changes, Scott is "attacked" by another werewolf (presumably the one who bit him) named Derek, who seems like he will be the enemy. After some nice tension, it is revealed that Derek is not there to harm Scott, but to offer himself more as a mentor and protector since Scott doesn't "know how to control it," suggesting that (in this universe) the wolf transformation can be controlled to some extent.

This scene is interrupted by an attack by a team of werewolf hunters. Having this occur in the pilot episode was fascinating to me, as many werewolf movies in general, let alone teen ones, focus only on the emotional turmoil and effect of the protagonist's werewolf transformation; bringing in werewolf hunters early helps with longer-term conflict and drama so that each episode is not exactly the same. Interestingly, the Teen Wolf cartoon show also introduced a werewolf hunter in an episode:

However, while the hunter in the cartoon was played for comedy, the werewolf hunter's in MTV look a tad more serious:

In general, a lot happened in the pilot episode:

• We meet Scott and Stiles.
• A body is found in the woods.
• Scott and Stiles decide to go look for the body.
• Scott is bitten by a werewolf.
• A new transfer student, Alison, comes to school.
• Scott starts to go through strange changes.
• Scott makes the lacrosse varsity team.
• Scott gets into a conflict with the captain of the team.
• Stiles realizes that Scott is going to turn into a werewolf.
• Scott connects with Alison and asks her out on a date (a party).
• Stiles realizes the date is during the full moon and tries to tell Scott.
• Scott doesn't listen and goes on the date. There is dancing.
• Scott almost kisses Alison, then starts to turn into the wolf at the party.
• Derek whisks Alison away (turns out he just takes her home).
• Scott changes into a werewolf.
• Scott and Stiles think Derek is the wolf-killer, so werewolf Scott runs after Derek.
• Derek turns out to be... fine? Not the main villain anyway. He offers his help to Scott.
• Werewolf hunters appear.
• Scott and Derek get away.
• Scott has to try and apologize to Alison about ditching her at the party.
• Twist/reveal at end of episode (No, I won't spoil it)

That is a lot in less than an hour! The pacing of this show is actually really nice; at no point did the story drag or allow the audience to disconnect from the trials and conflict of the character. Plus, there was a nice balance of "normal" teen problems with the werewolf storyline. I was honestly interested the whole way through the episode, and the reveal at the end was a great way to hook the audience for episode 2.

That's not to say that Teen Wolf is a perfect show. As perhaps the name suggests, it is definitely a "teen" show, and if you've ever sat through anything on the CW, you know how trying that can be at times. Bad music playing over dramatic scenes, spotty acting, and references to Tumblr and Facebook and Mountain Dew just... because. However, while on the CW's shows it can be a too much and thus a deal-breaker, these details weren't too heavy-handed or overly distracting in this MTV attempt. The acting is also not quite as bad as some other teen shows. Sadly, our protagonist is probably the worst actor of the bunch, but he is still likable. And the actor who plays Stiles is hilarious and brilliant, as is Arrow's Colton Haynes who plays the captain of the lacrosse team (and our required teen-show bully).

Ultimately, if you're looking for a fun-paced and actually dramatic werewolf story that spans at least three seasons, everything in the pilot indicates that Teen Wolf is a good place to start. As long as you can handle the "teen" tone and themes, the show seems like a fun and dramatic ride. If nothing else, it certainly breaks the trend of terrible teen werewolf stories and proves that pathos, drama, and likable characters can go a long way.

Rating (based on the pilot): 3.5 out of 5 bites