Teen Wolf: Season 2

I'll admit, I came to Teen Wolf a little late. Not second season late, but late nonetheless. But once I spent one very late Saturday night, unable to sleep, watching the first few episodes of the first season OnDemand (via my local cable provider) I was hooked. So hooked that I dragged my mother, godmother, sister, and a few friends in with me! While some of the characters are incredibly TV/movie cliche (did anyone have a sculpted-like-stone, kind-of-a-complete-douche lacrosse - or any sport, for that matter - captain at their school?) the show seems to hit a stride with Season 2. We got a little backstory; we got more romance; we got MORE Stiles! And ***SPOILER ALERT*** it brought the return of, in my opinion, one of the most hate-to-love (but simply can't help it) villians on TV today. Oh, and lots more hotness. Season 2 introduced us to some new characters (some good and some...eh, not so much) and took us along on Derek's rough lesson about power and how you really should use it. It introduced us to a new true villian and a basic "Monster Bible" called a beastialty....er, no wait, that's beastiary. Unfortunately, some of the new characters are gone by the end of the season. Whether for good (I happened to catch the news surrounding Colton Haynes' departure so I can't wait to see how they wrap tup he great Season 2 finale - and because I didn't care at all for his character Jackson) or just temporarily, I guess we will have to wait and see in Season 3 Sure, this show is about teenagers in high school with metaphors out the wahzoo, but it does it with heart, honor, and a whole lot of action! It's a must-see for anyone looking for some fun on a Monday night (or any night)!

I love Teen Wolf. The show is so addicting, so well written and so well acted, and season 2 is not the exception. Season 2 makes this show grow so much in a good way, there's so much to see and only 12 episodes. This is my favorite Teen Wolf season so far, because it introduces us to some beloved characters (Erica, Boyd, Isaac), and you never know what's next. The things that happen to the characters makes a great balance between being a teenager, but also dealing with supernatural issues in such a natural way. Nothing feels forced. Every episode is awesome and you get hooked even more with season one. Some episodes have a "moments after" continuity, something I love about shows, and the jokes, the horror, the kick-ass fights, the chemistry, the love... everything is still there, but bigger and better. This season digs much deeper about werewolves than any other recent movie or show (since vampires have taken all the spotlight), and there's a lot of mythology, plot twists and the episodes keep you at the edge of your seat. In my opinion this is the best TW season yet! (Currently watching season 3).

I started watching this show after hearing co-workers raving about it - Since it was already in season 3 I started streaming season one episodes through Amazon Instant Video and MTV's website. I enjoyed season one but season two was so good I couldn't stop watching one episode after the other. I completely binged on this show and watched the entire season in 3 days. It was that good. And season three...even better. I was so excited to see Michael Hogan, a fantastic actor and my favorite character from Battlestar Galactica! He steals the show in season two. It also has a fantastic soundtrack; I've discovered several great new artists such as Gin Wigmore, from watching Teen Wolf. After watching the season two premiere I had to look up the song "Kill of the Night" and immediately purchased the album Gravel and Wine. This show has it all.

Still amazed that I actually like this show. The premise and the fact that it's on MTV make it sound bad, but it's probably the best show on TV that centers around high school teens. The acting improved substantially from season 1 and Stiles (Dylan O'Brien) is amazing - seriously one of the best characters on TV played by one of the best young actors today. The plot is interesting and all the characters are well written. Soundtrack is great and the cinematography still blows me away considering it's on MTV. Love the commentary by the creator (Jeff Davis) on three episodes (1 - Omega, 8 - Raving, and 11 - Battlefield). Sad that there's no cast commentary because it was hilarious in season 1.

Very entertaining and exciting without being overly graphic and full of gore. I'm in my late 50's so if it can keep me watching it has to be well done. Love this show. I'm always looking for movies to feed my sci-fy/paranormal/horror addiction. Love all of the actors. They play their characters so well. Show seems to have its fingers on the public pulse. Would like to see the werewolves change from wolfman/woman to actual wolf occasionally. Still I'm not disappointed by a long shot. Maybe it's yet to come. I can't wait for Season 3 to come out on DVD so I can sit back and savor every bite, ah, bit. I would say this show has enough teeth for the serious horror buff.

The TW gang continues their adventures. Each individual's story arc continues, further developing Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Derek, Jackson (especially), and Allison. After the end of season 1 (wherein Derek gets cuffed shirtless to a chain link fence and tortured by his ex-lover, Kate Argent, an unexpected villain), we join our teen friends as they all learn more about werewolves and hunters... and (of course) a new "big bad" appears. BSG fans (and fans of Canadian TV/cinema in general) will be pleased to see Michael Hogan show up as Allison's seemingly indulgent grandpa who harbors secrets and ambitions of his own. The adults here are less like props than they were in S1. Jackson continues to be a problem here, but in a new, completely different way. I really liked the development of the Argents' family history, Scott's continuing learning of werewolf info (and Derek's less grudging sharing of info), Stiles' continuing stalwart friendship with Scott, and Derek's development as an alpha and creation of his own pack. As usual, the motives of the more mysterious characters -- both returning and new -- remain murky until they are revealed in dribs and drabs. And Derek's pack choices are curious, kind of pathetic, and yet winningly idealistic; it really gives you a greater understanding of his character and his past when you examine who he chooses for betas this season. There are some great dramatic moments here in S2. For all the deus ex machina lazy writing, there are some genuinely gripping moments in S2, and the show has an urgency that makes you want to see the next episode right away. (Which is great if you binge-watched it via streaming Amazon Prime, as I did... no waiting for the next ep involved, lol!) Also, the group of kids (Scott, Stiles, Allison, Lydia) have more of a BTVS "Scooby gang" feel to them here in S2. They've become really cohesive as the local supernatural troubleshooters while also simultaneously hiding it all from the parents who absolutely can't find out. (Aside from the parents who already do...) The show is also refreshingly gay-friendly, which is great for all the gay teens out there. My nephews tell me it is no longer a big deal if you're gay in high school. While I hope that shows like this have contributed to that level of acceptance and lack of persecution, I think my nephews don't realize that how acceptable it is to be gay in high school is highly dependent on where in the US that high school is, and how urban or rural it is. Let's just hope that Stiles' continuing statements that leave viewers in the dark as to whether he will ultimately be hetero or bi continue to leave room for a wider spectrum of normal sexual behavior in a demographic that is notorious for experimentation. (And lets hope the kids watching understand the importance of barrier protection for prophylaxis of both pregnancy and disease transmission...) Now, a word about the eye-candy/gay iconography factor to this show... It's a sexy show, all right, full of largely male eye candy. And normally I would find this to be a fine reversal of the mainstream entertainment tendency to show tons more female flesh to "sell" a show/product. But... I have some qualms about this, actually, no matter how much my mind delightfully descends to the gutter whenever they show Tyler Hoechlin shirtless in low cut jeans onscreen. I came to Teen Wolf cold, knowing nothing about it (I ignored all the hype when it came out; I was too engrossed in Vampire Diaries at the time, which was just starting to get good before it crashed and burned, and I had also gotten into Lost Girl, which is much more adult in theme than TW or TVD can ever be). But the gay visual aesthetic was there from day 1 of this show and it just grows stronger in S2. If you aren't familiar with it (I am, as I have gay friends of 25+ years), you might not notice it or you might think it's just "teen heart throb" based. Yes, Teen Wolf is theoretically aimed at a teen audience (being on MTV and all). But by the third or fourth episode of S1 of TW, I was asking myself why the visuals seem dominated by gay iconography. I've heard the argument that "teen age girls don't like body hair on men." While in general that's true (I remember being a teen girl and being vaguely fascinated by yet simultaneously grossed out by male body hair -- that is, until I dated a guy with chest hair and was like, wow, COOL! yay, chest hair!), I have to say that the visual aesthetic of Teen Wolf seems very gay to me not because everyone is hairless but because only the young males are allowed to be shirtless. The character of Derek is supposed to be in his early or mid-20s -- and he's the *oldest* of their gang shown shirtless (and hairless, of course). Older men (i.e. over 28 years old...) like Stiles' and Allison's dads, are not allowed to show flesh at all and the costume designers keep them completely buttoned up. The only exception is Ian Bohen, who is also completely waxed, but he only gets like one or two scenes where you see more of his flesh than what peeks out of the collar of his shirts. This is not opinion. That's just a factual observation. Watch the show if you don't believe me. So the visuals on this show seem pretty gratuitous at times (and I say that as a post-40 cougar-age woman who's happy to get an eyefull of sexy, half-naked men). I get that there is an eye candy factor -- but it gets a bit ridiculous sometimes. After binge-watching the first season and a half, I finally went online to do some research because I just wanted to fact-check my observations. To my total lack of surprise, I discovered that the show creator (Jeff Davis) is gay and that one of the frequent directors (Russell Mulcahy) used to direct Queer As Folk. It all makes so much more sense now! But I still find it a little disconcerting. I get that there is a youth demographic to be entertained here. But the demographic this show seems to be aiming at is young women and gay men of all ages -- especially those who want to see hairless twinks half naked much of the time. There are a lot of voyeuristic-feeling guys' locker room scenes and the lingering camera work is, I don't know, a little disturbing. So is the fact that the casting directors seem to have deliberately cast younger looking actors of 18 and over. It seems like they really wanted to use underage boys in these exploitative ways but knew they couldn't get away with that, so they figured they'd use the youngest looking, most jail-bait-appearing actors of legal age. (This becomes even more pronounced in seasons 4 and 5 with actors like Dylan Sprayberry.) Now, I get that for a show on a teen network, aimed (ostensibly) at teen audiences, you want actors who appear to realistically portray teens in high school. I totally get that. But you know what? Buffy The Vampire Slayer managed to do that without all the gratuitous shirtlessness and scanty clothing for either gender (with the exception of the low cut pants Faith and Buffy wore, which often threw me out of the story as I wondered if they were going to accidentally show butt crack on a teen show, or if all those bloopers had been edited out...) So all the half-naked, hairless, barely-legal looking boyflesh on Teen Wolf just seems... a little questionable, given the youth-oriented network producing the show and the supposedly intended demographic. If this were an HBO or other premium cable show, which is clearly aimed at an adult audience, I'd question it less because we would expect a certain level of fearless flesh-showcasing on anything on HBO or Showetime (or Skinemax). But you know what? Even if it *were* on HBO or Showtime, I would still question it. Just somewhat less.

I'm not much of a MTV fan, but I got caught up in the first season of Teen Wolf, and I watched the second season last year as well. With quirky characters, and a strong plot line, even though I'm not the target audience, I enjoy the show. It can be funny, serious, and campy all in one shot. I expect the upcoming third season will be just as good. I recently received the DVD set, and watched through the second season again. The only negative thing I have to say is that the music has been edited in this release. The same thing was done in the first season set, and I can't really understand why. I know clearing music is hard and expensive, but given the show had already used the songs in the televised version, shouldn't that earn them the right to keep them in the set (when it's released to the public)? Did the music licenses expire? In any case, with the exception of the shirtless montage (come on, really? I like hot guys, but I don't need to watch a full clip of them half naked), the extras are excellent. The commentaries in particular are very interesting (the producers have much to say on the goings-on of the show), and the gag reel was quite fun. If you ask me, June 3rd can't come soon enough.

It is my favorite show! Since I came across it in Amazon video app, I've watched every episode in 1 week! It is THAT great! I hesitated at first when I saw the title, thinking it was like twilight, but it is nothing remotely close. This series is by far the best story of supernatural werewolves and creatures I've ever watched/read/ or heard! It is dark but light, and I've loved learning about the characters as they learn their powers (although Lydia's took awhile). Stiles and Scott are by far my favorites, but the rest of the cast are so phenomenal too! MTV rocks with this show!