The sixth and final season of the hit MTV series based on the Michael J. Fox movie of the same name hits USA screens this month. We’re a little behind over in the UK with the fourth season now available on DVD thanks in no small part to the passion of the show’s hard-core online fan base.
The series hasn’t quite taken off on our shores in quite the same way as it did across the pond so for anyone with a hankering for some wolf-esque adventures allow us to recap.
The main character is still a teenager named Scott (Tyler Posey), and he’s still a werewolf. That’s pretty much where the similarities between the film(s) and television series end. Basketball has been replaced by the frat-bro favoured lacrosse and Scott’s transition from ‘normal teenager’ to ‘normal teenager hiding a furry secret’ occurred following a werewolf bite rather than a hereditary inheritance from his father. The most significant difference is one that affects the series overall, and that’s the tone. The movie was a comedy but Teen Wolf 2.0 is a wittily written drama that stands alone from its parent film and lives within its own mythological universe that includes species like Banshees, Druids, and Kitsunes, all of which have been deployed to great effect in the previous series.
Season 4 picks up two months after the tragic events of the third season finale (read: big showdown fight, numerous main characters killed, including Allison, Scott’s love interest). Scott and his depleted pack (including best pal Dylan O’Brien who provides much of the show’s comedic moments) rock up in Mexico hunting for a missing Derek who they quickly discover has been taken by Kate Argent (Allison’s aunt, a previously recurring character). En route to a second rescue attempt, a creature with bone-like armour, later revealed to a Berserker, attacks the gang, and they barely escape with their lives.
The start of high school waits for no wolf so the small matter of a missing ally and newfound enemy are temporarily put on hold as Scott begins a new semester. New student Liam (Dylan Sprayberry – who played a young Clark Kent in Man of Steel, fact fans), quickly joins Scott’s pack and becomes his first Beta, which adds a new dimension of responsibility for our hero who up until this point has been a little wet behind the ears. With new enemies circling in (watch out for a gang of teenage serial killers called ‘the Orphans’) and friendships tested at every turn, the stakes have never been higher for Scott and his pack.
The series consists of just 12 episodes and benefits from a sharper and more focused narrative as the Teen Wolf-verse continues to evolve with all the twists and turns fans expect and enjoy. Netflix has made the first two seasons available for UK viewers so you have the chance to binge online before swearing allegiance to the new Alpha of the supernatural genre.
TEEN WOLF: SEASON 4 / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: TYLER POSEY, DYLAN O’BRIEN, HOLLAND RODEN, LINDEN ASHBY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
