Teen Wolf

Let me begin by saying that Teen Wolf is about a 16-year-old high school student, Scott McCall, who gets bitten and turned into a werewolf. Scott is being played by Tyler Posey. Many of you might know him better as the kid from Maid in Manhattan.

This is him now.

It doesn't seem to be fair that his good looks are so distracting.

Anyway, before I get all fangirl-like and gush about how gorgeous Tyler Posey is, let's get on to the actual show.

Not many would know that this series was actually inspired by a 1985 movie of the same name which was starred by Michael J. Fox. The inspiration for this tv series also came from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer where similarities arise in the form of a high school student getting mixed up with the supernatural monstrosity of life. In that respect, I have to give kudos to Teen Wolf since it played quite nicely into the comedy/horror aspects that the werewolf genre promised.

With the '85 Teen Wolf film, the story was closely similar to the series. Socially awkward Scott plays in an athletic sports team with his nerdy best friend Stiles as company. With his werewolf genes coming into play, he gets to high school stardom and thus the story went. While in the series, Scott does play in an athletic sports team but it differed from the movie that instead of basketball, he played lacrosse instead.

The film boasted more on the comedic side of entertainment. The Teen Wolf series had a more darker humor. In the movie, Scott's werewolf side came from his father who never told him about his werewolf identity hoping against hope that the werewolf gene would skip a generation. In the series, Scott was bitten by a werewolf.

Inspired by Guillermo del Toro's haunting creatures, they made the werewolf look, in Teen Wolf, more sinister. We all know how werewolf lore goes but I like the fact that they went back to the original concept of what a werewolf should look like instead of going with the usual man turning into a 'wolf.' About six minutes into the show, we even get to see the first casualty and the gruesome, bloody mess it showed was promising. I didn't want a series where they were cautious of showing a little blood and gore but this was Mtv. I should have known better.

Since being bitten by a werewolf, changes were to be expected of course. The way they showed it for the first time was great. Heightened senses and all that. What better way to showcase that change than the appearance of the leading lady, Allison Argent played by Crystal Reed.

(Is it just me or does she look like Rachael Leigh Cook?)

Everything that went after that was the typical boy-changing-to-werewolf montage of the things that altered about Scott. Sharpened sense of hearing, quicker reflexes as shown in his participation in lacrosse, and a surprisingly lack of an asthma attack while playing the sport. We're not a stranger to these very familiar scenes that have been shown by lots of movies and tv shows but seeing it here still is enjoyable. And of course, he gets a one-up against the high school's star jock. Never gets better than that.

I don't want to get into the predictability of how it goes from there. As far as first episodes go, this one definitely delivers. The characters were introduced really well and once you see the last scene, you can't help but want to know what happens next. Acting wasn't half bad but there were a few moments where I felt it could have been done better. Though you shouldn't take me too seriously on that one. It must be a product of one of my acting workshops in my video class.

Teen Wolf is a nice comeback to werewolf lore. At least, that's what I thought after watching the first episode.