I’m always impressed that Teen Wolf can reboot seasons with not only a new arc but sometimes a whole new feel. “Anchors” isn’t a season premiere but it was a mid-season/winter launch and it kicked off with the spooky boogedy amped all the way to 10 a few months after the action in “Lunar Ellipse,” as Scott, Stiles, and Allison realize they didn’t come back alone.
We spend the most time on Stiles, who has nightmares within nightmares and fears for his sanity when he loses the ability to read and is never quite sure whether he’s awake.
Allison’s hallucinating Aunt Kate, throat slit, and still batshit crazy.
Scott can’t control his metamorphosis, and he’s having to hurt himself to snap out it; he’s also having visions of a wolfy shadow self.
Add to this that the Sheriff is newly motivated to solve old cases, partly because of what he now knows and partly because Scott’s dad has been ordered by his federal higher ups to investigate him. The Sheriff asks Scott and Stiles for help after he re-opens a cold case that was always presumed accidental and now might be murder, and in the process Scott confirms the accident was caused by a werewolf, and finds out the victim, a young girl, is now a werewolf (if I followed that correctly).
There’s also a new teacher, with a hot but awkward daughter, Kira, who’s catches Scott’s eye (and whom he eavesdrops on in a throwback to how he met Allison). Also, Isaac comes clean to Scott that he’s interested in Allison and Scott responds by flinging him against the wall (twice).
And somewhere in the world, Derek and Peter have been captured by somebody unseen and both agree that whatever happened was Peter’s fault.
So there’s a lot to process right out of the gate.
Things I liked in the episode:
- When Stiles has his first nightmare, Lydia is the voice of reason in his bed (and his head) telling him not to pursue whatever is lurking in the dark.
- While on the surface, Scott tries to be cool that Isaac and Allison might be getting closer, he’s conflicted about being angry because Isaac is his friend, and in his pack, and he and Allison haven’t quite sorted out what they are. The boys have a hilarious exchange where Isaac asks Scott if he’s mad at him, and Scott says no. When Scott asks if he’s sure, Scott says no again (before flinging him against the wall).
- Scott’s mom has to keep reminding Isaac and Scott to take whatever they’re doing to her walls outside.
- Lydia is the one to identify that Stiles, Scott, and Allison are in shit shape and need an intervention.
- Scott’s mom is the one who talks him down from his automorphosis, telling him that he needs to be his own anchor to humanity now that he’s no longer with Allison, and that he will fall in love again.
Here’s a sneak peek of “More Bad than Good,” which airs on MTV and MTV Canada Monday at 10 pm E/9 C.
Photo courtesy of MTV.