SiftPop

by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer

Welcome to Cross-Platform Partners! In honor of a new movie release, I have selected a TV show to watch to pair with the movie. Think of it as a way to get hyped for the new movie, a preview of things to come, a means to tide you over if the movie won’t be released where you live for a little while, or a change of pace if you’ve run out of related movies or sequels.

January is historically poor for the box office. On top of only a small number of movies coming out in January, it’s also a wasteland of movies that studios don’t have a lot of faith in. I struggled to find a movie this month that could be paired with a television show. In 2023, I committed to try and watch shows I’m interested in watching, in addition to broadening my television horizons. January was challenging to find something, but luckily we have a movie based on a TV show, so I selected Teen Wolf, to pair with the film coming to Paramount+.

When I first heard that Teen Wolf was being rebooted by MTV, I honestly laughed. I liked the 1985 movie with Michael J. Fox just fine, but I didn’t think there was more to mine from that franchise. Teen Wolf Too is laughably bad and lacks the charm of the original. There was no talk of werewolf packs, or how people turned into werewolves. In the movie, the Howards are cursed with the werewolf affliction. 

Teen Wolf the series drastically changes a lot about the movie, but for the better. Scott (Tyler Posey) is bitten by a werewolf, which then gives him werewolf abilities. The movie treats being a werewolf like it’s all fun and games, but the series treats it like you are superhuman. Gone are the days of playing an excellent basketball game, attracting the hottest girl in school, and being able to ride on top of a car with ease. The series goes to great lengths to let you know that being a werewolf gives you abilities such as fast healing, heightened senses, enhanced speed, and increased strength.

One of the best things going for Teen Wolf is the talented and young cast. Posey is a great lead, and Scott is a strong character. Posey evolves from a nobody in school to a dynamic leader and werewolf. Like a lot of typical high school students, Scott deals with issues with sports (he plays lacrosse instead of basketball), school (he’s a pretty terrible student), and significant others (more on that later). This was Posey’s first chance to be a lead in anything, and it is by far his strongest performance.

Posey isn’t the only one that has a chance to shine. Like in the movie, Scott’s best friend is Stiles (Dylan O’Brien). Both versions of Stiles have some things in common. They’re goofy and extremely loyal to their friends, particularly Scott. However, in the series, Stiles, in my opinion, is the MVP. Props go to O’Brien for making the most of his chance and turning Stiles from a goofy, lovable doof, to a shockingly important character that has some of the best emotional moments of the show. Stiles is extremely smart, which comes in handy when solving problems. The best part of his story, though, is his relationship with his dad Noah (Linden Ashby), the sheriff of Beacon Hills, where the story is set. Stiles is my favorite part of the show, and Posey and O’Brien are amazing.

The primary thing that sets Teen Wolf the series from Teen Wolf the movie is that it steers full steam ahead into the supernatural. Yes, it’s already skewing towards the supernatural with werewolves, but with each subsequent season, there are more and more elements added. I sometimes lost interest when the show gets very supernatural. It was hard enough to keep track when there were various levels of werewolves to get to know. Season One’s focus on the werewolves was a solid start to the show because it didn’t overdo it that much with other ancient and supernatural creatures.

One of the focuses of the werewolves is the emphasis on being part of a pack. This causes more people to be turned into werewolves and see legacy werewolves. The first actual werewolf we meet is Derek (Tyler Hoechlin). He’s our introduction to the werewolf world, and he helps explains everything that happens when people become werewolves, as well as the pack mentality. Each pack has a few different types of werewolves: omegas, who are bottom of the chain; betas, who are followers and strong warriors; and alphas, who are the leaders. Each season, something comes up to expand werewolf culture. It’s why sometimes I struggle with things like magic or anything Star Wars related: Something can always come up to help save the day.

On the flip side, there’s also a group of hunters who strives to rid the world of creatures. The Argent family is the head of this hunting family in Beacon Hills. The main focus of the Argent family is Allison (Crystal Reed). She’s a new student at the high school, and instantly catches the attention of Scott. Reed and Posey have amazing chemistry together, and once Stiles becomes friends with her, the trinity is really strong together. Allison’s family makes appearances throughout the series, with a focus on her father Chris (JR Bourne). In addition to hunters, other humans help out too. The most prominent of these other humans is Dr. Alan Deaton (Seth Gilliam), Scott’s boss at a veterinarian clinic. He’s a bit of a mystery at first, but as the show progresses, his background and story become more clear. He becomes a vital part of the show, but his character is complicated.

Dare I say, Teen Wolf might be MTV’s best scripted show. It sports an amazingly talented cast and constantly evolving stories. The fact that this is considered a horror series shows how different the tone was from the original. The show is surprisingly violent, and no person is safe (to a point). Each season, the stakes are ratcheted up to the point where the end of the town becomes standard. 

Teen Wolf: The Movie has a tall task explaining what happened with the story from the end of the series to the beginning of the movie. I’m looking forward to awesome action scenes, killer performances from legacy characters, and some type of resolution as to why most of the threats are neutralized. I’m glad I watched the series before the movie because I assume that it’s extremely helpful so you won’t be lost. I’m also a little nervous. Teen Wolf wasn’t shy about killing cast members off, so I’m anxious to see if everyone makes it out alive. Until then, Teen Wolf is shockingly great and will for sure be a guilty pleasure moving forward.

You can read more from Mike Hilty, and follow him on Twitter, Letterboxd, and Serializd