What They Say:
Tattoo – A new alpha pack wreaks havoc on Scott’s life; Derek and Isaac try to locate Erica and Boyd.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With a strong second season that took some curious turns along the way that really made it even better when you looked at it in full, particularly with Lydia, the third season has a lot going for it out of the gate, even if it’s lost one of its characters since the actor left. But the season had its fair share of bloodshed along the way as well and having Allison’s mother get taken down works really well to change her motivations a bit, never mind all the issues with her grandfather. But when you add in the hints placed towards the larger stories that can exist because of what we’ve seen from the “vet” and the hint before about the pack of alpha’s, well, it just got me excited for thise longer season with the potential to tell even more interesting stories.
Those alpha’s are given a good look right from the get go when we see how Isaac is being rescued from them and the thing turns into a pretty intense chase sequence, one where we see the skills they have when it comes to speed while still in mostly human form and how they’re toying with their prey. But there’s also some really fascinating twists to it as well as we see the way they can go even further than what we’ve seen before as two of them combine into one in order to make a beefier and more dangerous predator. It may be handled with a bit of a trick int terms of how Isaac and his partner dealt with it, but the foundation is laid down well here and it’s likely only going to expand on the wolf lore even more as it progresses.
With the series now moving forward four months minimum since the end of the first season, there’s been a few minor changes here and there. Allison has spent her time in France where she’s gone through her own things while Scott is trying to make some changes of his own, such as getting a tattoo in order to define himself better. Of course, his healing ability keeps him from actually keeping it, which is comical. We get to see that all of them have grown in different ways, such as how Stiles and Lydia have kept things cool since things went down while the Scott and Lydia haven’t talked at all, giving it a severe break. So much so that when they accidentally stumble on each other while out, it turns into a truly awkward moment.
With the new school year underway, there’s certainly a lot of fun going on there, especially as everyone settles into the routine and some new discoveries are made that hint at future impacts. In particular, we again get the reinforcement as to how the girls are coping with things where Allison is just trying to get personal time so she can figure herself out, which really does have some justification considering everything that happened before. When it comes to Lydia, you do have to laugh as she’s continuing to fill a void after what she went through by sleeping around a good deal, which has her eying all the freshmen as fresh men, though as Allison points out, they are just fourteen and kind of young even for her and the way she thinks some are more mature than they are. So when the twins arrive and walk in while wearing their biker goods, you can just see both young woman really taking notice.
The presence of the alphas is all around the edges for a lot of the episode, but one of their prime motivators is acquiring Isaac, which leads to Scott eventually coming across them there since he was called in by his mother for some help. That has him seeing the alphas working their rather roundabout way of getting a hold of Isaac, which gives them the first chance to go against each other in at least a simple way. But it also allows Derek to show up and save the day, which is a lot of fun since Derek has truly come into his own and established a rather amusing relationship with Scott. He’s still got the superior attitude, but he also recognizes that Scott has grown and has a place of his own with those that he’s aligned with. Derek continues to be useful just for cluing them all in to some of the other wolf lore that they need from time to time.
In Summary:
The return of Teen Wolf has been my second most anticipated thing for 2013 simply because the first two seasons did some great stuff across them with the characters, the mythos and reworking what the original was. This season starts off slow, which works to its advantage since the previous season ended on such a high, that it needs to recalibrate and adjust to what happened and to show what’s gone on in the months since. The introduction of the alphas here seeds them into the show well, leaving us with far more questions than answers and even questions about the questions. But it provides for some good action and shows how it can twist things around a bit by opening them up to the larger world. One that Derek is rather interested in keeping them away from. But it’s not something Scott can do, no matter how much he wants to do the right thing with his life for all those he cares about. That will be one of the challenges for him this season and it’s laid out well here, even if it is a bit heavy handed.
Grade: B+
Get More:
Teen Wolf, Full Episodes
