Teen Wolf: Orphaned review

This Teen Wolf review contains spoilers.

This week’s installment of Teen Wolf was frustrating and hard to watch. Each episode tends to try and accomplish a lot, story-wise. They succeed in this without harm to the central narrative I’d say at this point, 45% of the time.

This season had been an exception. Minus a couple of jolts here and there, the story seemed well-paced. The stakes were high, of course, as they should be. But nothing felt rushed. That is, until this week. The show seems to be confusing dramatic tension with all-the-content-you-can eat. It just isn’t necessary, especially when you’ve got a cast of talented actors being WASTED from week to week (*cough cough* Dylan O’Brien *cough cough*).

A lot happened this week: the mysterious Buddhist pack of werewolves were found murdered, Violet was found murdered, Meredith took her own life, Liam nearly died, Scott’s dad nearly died, Kate’s Bezerkers nearly killed Hot-Dad Argent — and those are just a few highlights. It was all just….too much. The mass murders meant to shock seemed arbitrary and unearned, and every single scene between Lydia and Stiles as they tried to find the final cipher to decode the death pool (which has been set up as the central mystery of the season) felt rushed. It was an unsatisfying watch, because even though yes, a lot happened,  even the most major moments (like Lydia’s prediction of Derek’s death and Peter and Kate joining forces) felt lost in the hectic scramble to tell every single story possible every week.

That said, what it lacked in cohesive, non-frantic, story-telling, it more than made up for by setting fans up with the greatest opportunity to ‘ship characters ever. That’s right, y’all. I’m talking about Scott and I’m talking about Liam and I’m talking about alllll the GIFs that will be born this evening. Because, you see, when an Alpha loves a Beta very, very much, and saves him from drowning in a well and dying from a rare strand of wolfsbane poisoning, he hugs that Beta. He hugs him long, strong, and good.

My joking aside, the bond between Scott and Liam is actually exceptionally touching. Scott’s had to grapple with his identity as an Alpha for a while now, and while watching Derek tutor him has been fun to watch up to a point, this is the first time we’ve really seen Scott embrace his role as leader. Liam, with his rage problem and his youth, make him an ideal foil for Scott.

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