Demonic ninjas. Yes, the twins are right. It’s best to play this safe.
What They Say:
Silverfinger – Scott’s friends search for a way to protect him from the demonic ninjas, while Stiles enlists Melissa’s help in figuring out exactly what’s going on with him.
The Review:
Teen Wolf is walking a delicate line for a certain segment of their fandom, which I’m sure is fairly small, in that you have the anime/Japan fans who are curious about how they’ll handle bringing in those particular tales into the show. It’s been minor so far with what they’ve been doing, mostly in giving us a bit of the kitsune spirit with Kira, talking about her mixed heritage a bit and some intriguing aspects to her mother that hints at bigger things. While the show has added in more than werewolves in the previous episodes, this moves us a bit forward in a new direction, adding more to the world. And it does so in a big way right from the start as we see a flashback story told by Chris Argent about when he was eighteen and in Japan for a trade that was going on which revealed the dark clad figures they just fought off in Beacon Hills. It’s a dark, brutal and simple piece that paints a violent world that’s similar to what the werewolves are like in a way, but with a very controlled kind of violence that’s simply intriguing.
But seriously, young Argent is awesome and deserves his own series.
Anyway. What he ends up revealing is that one of the Japanese that survived that fight from his past was a man named Katashi who had a prosthetic finger that earned him the name Silverfinger. Argent’s been aware he’s been in the country for some time now and figures he may have some answers, but also potentially involved in all of this some way. With Argent having been on the sidelines for a number of episodes recently, it’s nice to see him come back into play while also expanding the Teen Wolf universe, making him an interesting player alongside the pack that Scott has formed. It’s also nice that they take this darker material at the start with the swords, the blood and the bodies falling with some lighter pieces, which is focused initially on Kira really finding herself even more attracted to Scott now that she knows his secret. She’s actually interested in it all, not in a kind of thrilling way, but a natural curiosity that has her drawn in a lot. The time between her and Scott is utterly charming.
While there’s a lot of general concern about the black clad disappearing ninjas out there, a few things are playing out in the daylight hours as the twins do their best to protect Scott. The first one is that we get Argent securing a meeting with Katashi, but there are complications along the way, including having to start off with both Isaac and Allison tagging along since they want to be completely careful when it comes to him and what’s going on. Stiles is getting some decent time here as well, initially talking with Scott about the handwriting thing he found that makes him feel like he’s the one guilty for setting an attack on Kira. The panic he’s having is natural to be sure and it’s good to see that he goes to Scott’s mother for a little medical help on it since there’s concern that it could all be in his head. And she’s at least aware of some of his issues to help him with it in some way. The killer is that as he drifts away to a sleep, he ends up calling her mom. You know that definitely has a lot of meaning considering the way he and Scott have grown up together.
Sidebar: Isaac is certainly a lucky guy for having Allison ensure proper hand placement across her backside.
The show has some interesting moments as we get Isaac all dressed up and playing the adult part to try and make the gun sale in order to gain the information they need, and that doesn’t quite go as planned since they have a werewolf on their side and know the deal that’s going on, which makes the whole mess quite complicated. But it does take an interesting twist as it goes on and you have Allison coming in to back him up, whip in hand, and looking pretty damn good in that role. This sequence is very well balanced with problems Scott’s having at home as his father has arrived and has confronted him – and Kira, who was there – about their break-in at his office. But the sun has started to set and they’ve got one of the demonic ninjas appearing which causes a whole host of issues for Scott’s father as he tries to grapple with what he’s seeing. It’s pretty amusing to watch the kind of chaos that goes on there, especially with the twins arriving and doing their best to help out. Throwing Derek into the mix is even better since he’s been stalking Scott the whole time as well to protect him.
The situation is definitely intriguing as it starts to unfold as we get the real element of danger with the demonic ninja waiting outside the now sealed doorway, Scott’s father potentially moving towards a collapsed lung because of the attack and Derek revealing what Kira is. Derek is definitely a font of knowledge and having him reveal that she’s a kitsune, one that probably isn’t even aware of what kind of the thirteen there are she is. That has Scott feeling like he knows that he can trust her since he can see the kitsune spirit around her, something that she’s not feeling confident of herself, and getting these pieces of information at the same time that we get a few more nuggets out of Katashi as he talks with Argent helps to flesh out the larger picture with intriguing character details. The past the two share is something that Argent hadn’t read right and seeing it come through in such a solidly honorable way works very well.
In Summary:
Though the first half of the season worked well and I enjoyed the story, things in the second half are becoming a whole lot more engaging and interesting. It feels like it’s working on a very small and personal level but has a large and epic scale to it because of the bigger world picture and the expansion of what myths and folktales are being brought into it so that it’s not just werewolves. Just avoid vampires is all I ask. With the expansion on the demonic ninjas and what Kira is, as well as the growing relationship between Scott and Kira, Teen Wolf is expanding things well while providing a hugely engrossing story that is drawing in so many of the characters in a really great way. With the twins being protective but unsure of how far they’ll go, Derek showing up in the nick of time with some good information and Argent providing some key pieces along the way, there’s a ton to like. Bring in the small teases about Stiles and what he may be going through and everyone is getting attention, which isn’t always easy in a growing ensemble show like this.
Grade: B+
