Seems a good way to keep my blog consistent, reviewing episodes of Teen Wolf and Bedlam each week, although for now I have three episodes to catch up on. Enjoy!
I have to say, I can't think of many better ways to start your season than with shots of a soaking wet, almost completely shirtless Colton Haynes. Jacob Black, eat your heart out. I would question why Derek bit him on the side considering Derek was standing in front of him when he lunged but whatever... parallels and so on. At least now Jackson and Brett have had this weird crossshow continuity meet. I guess Haynes just really loves playing werewolves. I mean he had like one major role before this and he's already been typecast as 'the jock who is also a werewolf?' how the fuck does that happen? And wait was that black goo coming from his nose? What is he a Leviathan now? Oh well, dramatic nosebleed montage! Check out how dramatic it becomes when I up the musics tempo and add a shaky cam, oh yeah. Basically his body is rejecting the bite and this scares Derek...for some reason because he doesn't know what Jackson is.The episode is a special effects nightmare, stupid over editing camera work, overuse of bad CGI, overuse of crappy filters - the first season had its moments of shittiness but this episode just looked awful.
Oh also the show finally got proper credits - and mother of God this may well be the most sexy opening credits I've ever seen. And there is something for everyone. Topless men, naked men, topless ladies, naked ladies - ladies covered in mud. Holy crap, I like how before the sexiness of everyone just sorta stuck out, now they're using the sexiness directly in the shows aesthetic. And hey to get Crystal Reed in her underwear within the first few moments of your show, I ain't gonna complain.
And just to make sure no one has been left out, Holland Roden gets a shower scene right after. You know I love fanservice like this and the cast are attractive and so on but practically the first quarter of the episode is just fanservice and that basically makes quarter of the episode filler and sure it's sexy but this isn't really a great way to start your story. Unless you don't plan on having one, which I'm not sure you ever did.
When the plot finally starts our first port of call is 'what the fuck is Lydia?' this was a question raised at the end of the last season when she was bitten and slashed by the werewolf but didn't heal up like Scott did. So it means she certainly isn't human, but what is she? Well who the fuck knows, the episode doesn't bother answering this, she certainly has alopecia now though. Leading to an insanely goofy sequence of Scott sniffing Lydia out while she is apparently running around and screaming in the nude.The show also introduces new 'villains' who declare war on Werewolf kind for killing Kate. These are known as 'Others' for most of the episode. OMG NO IT'S LOST AGAIN, RUN, EVERYONE RUN! As it turns out The Others are Shield agents lead by Agent Hogan from Battle Star Galactica. Okay...this isn't 100% true. Michael Hogan plays Gerard Argent, Allison's grandfather.
We also get the fallout of Kate's death and her connection to the fires, with the real conflict being that people are now turning on Allison and her family due to Kate's actions. It is nice to feel that the events actually have a knock on effect, it gives them a sense of impact. Often when a big battle ends, shows tend to skip forwards months in advanced so we never really get to see the shockwave.The rest of the episode is mainly centred on Lydia's apparent rampage, randomly taking peoples body parts and quickly escalating. As it turns out, Lydia and Jackson aren't the only new wolves on the block as we're introduced to the 'Omega', a wolf without a pack. The weakest kind of werewolf.
Wait, less than 40 degrees outside? Really? That is the main conflict of the episode? It never gets that hot in England so why are they so scared about it getting 'cold'? Am I making a really retarded mistake here and misinterpreting this? Or was this a mistake on the shows part?
For other weird moments which may have been mistakes, why is it daytime when Stiles and Scott are at the funeral but then night time when they go to the ambulance? I mean I guess this could be at like seven in the evening during winter or whatever but why would you have your funeral so late in the day?One part of the episode that really did stay consistent were the romance sections, Posey and Reed have great chemistry and the writers write a teenage romance well. Often romances like this can feel odd because they are written by people 3 times the age of the characters banking on their own nostalgia but it feels natural here, it feels convincing.
Overall the episode was pretty awful, there is a lot in place that seems to point to this season getting very, very interesting but the episode just never really felt like it got going. There was some nice fanservice despite it perhaps being a little over done, some good character moments and some interesting horror elements but the episode never seemed to come together too much of it was filled out with shit and pointless fanservice.
Pros;
- Come on, we all love a bit of fanservice.
- I enjoyed the resonance from Kate's death, since it seems to be set as a central part of this season rather than just being pushed under a rug because Kate's arc has finished now.
- More exploration into the shows personal werewolf lore.
- The romance of Scott and Allison is still great.
Cons;
- I love fanservice as much as the next guy, but there can be too much of a good thing.
- Terrible special effects.
- The fact that the episode doesn't really have plot, it just has scenes with plot in them. The plot never all comes together as a whole.
- There is some bad writing and really spotty quality overall.
Think About it!
-Locke
No comments:
Post a Comment