Teen Wolf Season 1

Teen wolf is a drama/horror show that first aired in 2011, but of course I am just discovering it now a good 10 years later. I just finished season 1 and I can already say I am obsessed with this show. I was pretty much in love with the show after the first 10 minutes though. The show opens with Scott and Stiles, two best friends going on a mission to find a dead body in the woods. Stiles’ dad is the sheriff in town and so he’s developed a young detective kinda persona. When they get caught in the woods, Stiles and Scott get separated and thus begins the whole teen werewolf dilema.


I love these characters, they are so fun and easy to connect to. All the characters have a lot of depth and background that is hinted at throughout the show. I assume in later seasons we will see more of this and they will go deeper into these issues. Even smaller characters like Lydia and Jackson, who I see as becoming more of the main cast have their own problems and secrets. My favourite character is Stiles, the comic relief of the show. He has a lot of these zaney one liners throughout the season and is definitely the most fun character to watch on screen. He steals the show, he makes this drama/horror show really funny and you are always waiting to see what he says next.


The cast does a remarkable job and I really like how close Tyler Posey (Scott) and Dylan O’brien (Stiles) are in real life. I think it brings even more dimension to these characters who are so close and have this brother like friendship in the show. Other than Dylan O’brien I haven’t seen any of these other actors in anything, so it will be interesting to see their roles play out in the show and seek out what other acting work they have done since. I’ve always seen Dylan O’brien in much more serious roles, so since Teen Wolf was his first real acting gig it's cool to see how he’s changed as an actor and see him take on a much more fun role.


I also really like Scott McCaul’s character and how he goes from being this awkward kid who isn’t really able to fend for himself, to being a werewolf as a high school student and navigating how to deal with it. There is also that Spider-Man like secret identity to it, where he's still an awkward teenager and its very light hearted but he can also hit a few bad guys.


Visually, I have to give them a break for effects given this was 2011 but I’m really not a fan of the werewolf prosthetics and overall look. I feel like I have never seen a human-werewolf form ever done right on screen, it just never works. For example, Harry Potter, Wizards of Waverley Place, and Twilight to name a few. I do like that he looks more human than wolf because it humanizes them and reminds you that they all have a human side to them. Whereas, when they do the full wolf transformation, it is more like a rabid dog and hard to root for or feel a personal connection with them.


The dialogue in this show is surprisingly brilliant. I did not have high hopes for this show in terms of story or dialogue, given the show falls into this supernatural teen drama category which usually has shows like Riverdale, Charmed, and Vampire Diaries, which tend to be not very well written. The show has a lot of plot twists and you get really invested with the characters. There is a lot of drama and I like how every character has a small role in the big picture. For example Scott gets bit by the alpha, who is connected to Derek who is connected to the hunters like Kate, who is Alison’s aunt, and Alison is dating Scott. It’s like one big circle.


I’m going to continue to watch the show through to season 6. I was putting off watching the show for so long and finally watching it now, it's really surprised me. It is a lot better quality of a show than I was expecting. I highly recommend watching this show or at least giving it a try. I find it really enjoyable, I like the world they have created, and I am curious to see what happens next.