Seems like it was a FOREVER wait to get to the second season premiere of Teen Wolf and I am so glad we got here. Season Two kicked off with a two-part, two-night premiere.
In the first episode, “Omega”, we pick up immediately after the events of the finale. Somewhere in the day or so that transpired while Lydia was still hospitalized and Jackson had been turned, Papa Argent put a cease and desist on Allison and Scott with the business end of a gun, and it was immediately ignored. So, they’re carrying on very hot and heavy and sort of sweetly on the sly while Jackson deals with his body’s rejection of the transformation courtesy of Derek, and Lydia launches herself out of the hospital bathroom completely starkers and in a fugue state (and Stiles has been camped in the hallway the whole time).
In the middle of all that, we added a few new characters to the mix. First up, Grandpapa Gerald Argent (I’m going to call him GGA; he’s played by BSG’s Michael Hogan) arrives for Kate’s funeral and he’s hell bent on dealing with the werewolves in a scorched earth way. After Scott and Derek witness him Ginsuing a werewolf, he soon makes himself formally known to Scott as the new principal of Beacon Hills High. It’s unclear what he knows aside from the fact that Scott was, until very recently, Allison’s boyfriend.
Another newbie to the mix is Isaac, who’s the undertaker’s extremely abused son. He witnesses something in the graveyard (while prepping Kate’s grave) after he’s knocked off a tractor. When Derek helps him, he queues up for a bite pretty much the same night. We get a brief glimpse of the hell he’s lived with at home just before his dad is killed by something unseen. We don’t see it again until the end of the second episode, “Shape Shifted”, when it corners Allison after she’s rather inconveniently confined Scott to a padlocked deep freezer because of the full moon.
First impression? Sort of a lizardy-looking thing. I’m guessing he’s this season’s Big Bad.
And there’s a photography buff kid, Matt, in the mix who says something or other about having been at the dance last season but I think that’s a retcon because I seriously do not remember him.
Lydia turns up safe and sound (at the graveyard, still naked, two days later) but we never get a chat between her and Stiles, and her chat with Jackson only amplifies that he’s a wannabeweredouche of the first order and, frankly, a dick. The sheriff at least gets to pop off a hilarious aside that it’s always the wrong kids that get beaten when Jackson admits he knew Isaac was being slapped around but did nothing.
All in all, a welcome return. The story, pacing, music, and character chemistry are all still spot on, which is so nice to see. No hiccups. The only minor grouse I had was that when GGA was making his “them or us” speech at the end of the first episode, the montage of everyone he didn’t give a shit about was a mite clunky and looked like it might have been truncated for time, but it hardly detracted from the rest of the hour.
I like that Allison and Scott are still united and sort of naive about how dangerous things are about to get. I hope they do still stand up for each other. I hope that Allison will come into her own as whatever and whoever she’s supposed to be as a warrior for good on her own terms and with her own (wolfy) team. I like that Stiles is still the brains of the operation and still terrified of Derek.
I loved that Jackson was so sure what he wanted but he literally can’t handle it. When he videotapes himself overnight and doesn’t transform under the full moon, it’s exactly what he deserves. It’s also telling that Scott doesn’t know he’s been bitten because he has no scent but he picks up on Isaac immediately. Not sure I felt we needed another wolf in Isaac but it will be an interesting dynamic to see whether Derek can undo the damage his dad inflicted on him as his new Alpha father. And something is seriously up with Mr. Harris so I vote that he’s the lizard (not a spoiler, just a guess).
We’ve just dipped our toe into the season with the two-part premiere. You can catch it again throughout the week on MTV and anytime on MTV.com.
Teen Wolf airs at 10 pm ET/9 pm CT Mondays on MTV this summer (8 pm ET/5 pm PT on Muchmusic in Canada).
Photo Courtesy of MTV