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Teen Wolf 2.01 “Omega” REVIEW
Episode: 2.01
Writer: Jeff Davis
Director: Russell Mulcahy
THE ONE WHERE: Lydia recovers from her attack from the late Peter Hale, Scott and Alison sneak around to continue their romance, Derek hunts for a pack and we learn the intentions of the Argents.
VERDICT: Teen Wolf was one of the surprise TV hits of 2011 and its return sees it jump straight back into action from its epic season one finale. There's somewhat of a catching-up montage, but the team at Teen Wolf put most of their faith in the audiences' memories. The familiar faces are back, with Tyler Posey's Scott running wild in the forest during the opening few minutes. Last season, the producers couldn't seem to decide whether Scott was an awkward mess or a charming jock but they seemed to have settled on the latter for now.
The episode gets off to a shaky start, with far too much close-up, soft-focus kissing between Scott and Allison that will almost certainly put you off your dinner. We're then faced with an annoying comedy attempt from Stiles that quite frankly just seems desperate for laughs, and enough gratuitous shirtless shots to last The Vampire Diaries a season. Thankfully things start to kick into action when we witness Lydia in the hospital shower; a strange dark liquid starts to fill the tub (which is explained later on) and Lydia finds endless, huge clumps of her own hair clogging up the plug hole. A Grudge -style bloody arm reaching from the water is enough to get you interested and the rest of the episode doesn't disappoint.
With Lydia gone, the plot mainly focuses around her search party. There's some witty dialogue from Orny Adams and Colton Haynes and a bare torso or two is thrown in for good measure. Some not-so-familiar faces are hinted at, including camera-clad Matt (played by Stephen Lunsford) and graveyard worker Isaac (played by Daniel Sharman) with their importance in the upcoming season teased throughout the episode. Alpha male attemptee Tyler Hoechlin makes a good impact as the regular goodie/baddie but it's the new character of Gerard Argent (played by Michael Hogan) that really makes the episode watchable. Witnessing this new baddie performing a hemicorporectomy on an Omega wolf – with no thought for the faint-hearted – shows that MTV may be willing to cash in on a bit more bloody violence. And so they should, with the gutsy move provoking more interest than the entire episode.
Mushy romance and wisecracks aside, there's some hope for season two. The quick preview showcased at the end of the episode proves that MTV might just be able to salvage their programming reputation.
THE BEST BIT: Gerard Argent literally slicing a Lycan in two, using a two-handed silver broadsword. Let's hope there's more of this.
BEST LINE:
Scott: “Well, I've never eaten anyone's liver.”
Stiles: ‘Yeah because when it comes to werewolves, you're a real model of self-control.”
Sammy Maine
( Editor’s note: we know that we’re a bit behind with our Teen Wolf reviews, but now we have Sammy in charge, we’ll be catching up and synching with the UK pace asap)
Teen Wolf airs in the UK on Sky Living, Thursdays, 8pm
