Teen Wolf: Perishable review

This Teen Wolf review contains spoilers.

…And then there was the time the cable company failed me and I missed discovering the identity of the Benefactor because I was informed that Monday’s episode of Teen Wolf was a repeat. Guess what? IT TOTALLY WASN’T AND MEREDITH IS THE BENEFACTOR AND ALSO NOT DEAD AND EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS EPISODE WAS AMAZING. Okay, I need to calm down, remove my magical hat of pure fandom, and, in its place, don my serious-critical-but-still-stylish review’s hat. I own a lot of hats. They are expensive.

This week, the show went a little noir-y on us in the best way possible. From the very beginning of the episode, there was a hint of the old school crime drama. Deputy Parrish was strapped to his own steering wheel while a co-worker tried to murder him in order to get the millions promised on the dead pool. It was a harrowing, sparsely shot scene that seemed almost unreal in its intensity. For a moment, I thought the whole thing had to be a dream. Cut to Parrish, nude, charred (Sexy as hell, I mean…who said that?), and beating his would-be murderer in the police station, and I was forced to reassess my earlier judgement.

While Scott, Malia, and Liam were having their wolf-sense assailed by terrible house music at a bonfire that nearly killed them, Lydia was explaining the origins of her grandmother’s story to Derek and Stiles. It was really beautifully rendered flashback stuff, where the past and present kind of seamlessly merged. In fact, it was so pretty to look at that we can overlook the eye-roll worthy aspects of the story Lydia shared: Her mother’s lesbian lover drowning in a tragic yachting accident, her grandmother working at IBM, Lydia’s obsession with Ariel from the Little Mermaid.

By the end of the episode, we knew exactly who the Benefactor was, and, thanks to Lydia’s explication as to how her grandmother’s hunt for the supernatural damaged Meredith to the point of near insanity, we kind of understand why. Obviously there are more dots that need filling in, but I have no doubt those are soon to come. I whooped in anticipation when Meredith (dead no more) rounded the corner of the basement to reveal herself wearing a kicky black jacket and a somber expression.

There are many interesting ways the season could progress from here on out, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t vaguely nervous. While Lydia is a favorite of mine, and the story of her grandmother and the paranormal room in the lake house are compelling, they are currently being presented as if they are things we should already know. That’s problematic, because we don’t. I’m saying this because the writers have something really interesting to play with, a whole new brilliantly wrought world to explore. I just hope they don’t give it short shrift.

Before I go, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that Derek re-learning how to fight as a human has been pretty exceptional to watch. In closing I would like to say that #wisederek is my new favorite hashtag, second only to #ohmygodIlovethatultimatelyscottisreallynotthatintelligentinatraditionalway.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!