Teen Wolf review – 3×02: ‘Chaos Rising’

Courtesy of MTV

With the exposition addressed in last week’s premiere, we’re free to begin digging into the season proper. This second episode shifts focus to Derek’s (Tyler Hoechlin) missing pack members, though it appears by the end of the hour only one will be found alive.

Let’s bitch it out…

It seems as though Teen Wolf is adopting a Lost-style mentality when it comes to parsing out secrets. For every answer we get, another half dozen questions arise. Tonight, for instance, we learn the secret location where Isaac (Daniel Sharman) located Boyd (Sinqua Walls) and Erica (the husk of Gage Golightly*) in the premiere, but all the reveal really does is make me wonder what he was doing undercover in the first place. And why didn’t Derek know where he was? And what the heck did Peter (Ian Bohen) do to access his memories and why doesn’t it leave a mark?

*I’m guessing that the body in the supply closet really is meant to be Erica since there is no other sign of a blonde in ‘Chaos Rising.’ Of course the timeline may be off and the body actually belongs to Stiles’ potential boink buddy, Heather, who we saw kidnapped in the cold open. But that seems like a stretch, so this may well be the last we’ve seen of Golightly

Questions aside, we’re still very much in set-up mode. We may know that several months have passed, that there’s a new Alpha pack in town and that Scott (Tyler Posey) and Allison (Crystal Reed) are still feeling each other out, but aside from that nearly everything is in flux. It isn’t until Scott spots the twins (Charlie and Max Carver) leaving the school that I even realized our heroes don’t even know who’s part of the Alpha pack. Man, we’re only just getting started!

Not that it matters, because the search for Boyd and Erica is priority. Well, that and teenage hormones. While I can appreciate that the party scenes at Heather’s establish that the boys are still teenagers and want to get their party on, this opening feels disjointed. I’m all for in medias res openings, but we’re just kind of plopped down in the middle of a mid-week birthday party (sans parents, naturally) in which the host goes missing after trying to put the moves on a guy she seemingly hasn’t seen in awhile. It feels forced, as does Stiles’ (Dylan O’Brien) suggestion that he simply thought that she had hooked up with someone else. I get that the wine-aggeddon we witnessed moments before has been mysteriously cleaned up, but in Beacon Hills when weird shit happens, it’s usually because there’s malevolent forces at work. I mean, after Mystic Falls and Sunnydale, this has got to be the murder/danger capital of the US for teenagers, no?

So clearly we’ll come back to slutty Heather at a later date. In the meantime, we’ve got bank vaults to break into. In terms of best laid plans, it’s clear that no one should leave the brainstorming to Derek, who goes off with a half-assed plan that immediately goes to hell  (Side Note: if Scott calls you out for hatching a crappy plan – even the new and improved Scott who knows business terms and sh*t – that’s when you know you’re in trouble).

Not that Allison’s plan of stumbling onto the premises with bolt cutters is any better. After all the madness of last season, it seems as though Allison has slid back into “needs saving” mode*, as she’s almost immediately set upon by…Mrs. Morell (Bianca Lawson)? Who the heck invited her back to the party? And why is she decked out in leather and acting like a seeing eye-dog for Alpha baddie Deucalion (Gideon Emery)?

*Perhaps it’s Derek’s repeated prompts to ask Scott about her dead mother’s plans that’s  throwing Allison off? Reminder: Mom was planning on murdering Scott – and very nearly succeeded – when Derek bit her, prompting her suicide in the following episode

Questions, questions, questions!

Courtesy of MTV

Other Observations:

• Just because Jackson defected to Starlight City London doesn’t mean we’re done with Danny (Keahu Kahuanui) who shows up to make eyes at the gay twin (whichever one that is). I definitely do not approve of the idea that the only two gay kids at school should hook-up…at least until it happens, at which time I will offer my blessing and bestow upon them a Pride wreath. Perhaps we’ll get a chance to revisit the club we saw in 2×08 ‘Raving’?
• Speaking of LGBTQ, where do we sign up to begin shipping Stiles and Peter?
• On the less joyous front: Coach Finstock (Orny Adams) is back. Yay! <sarcasm> I get that Teen Wolf uses this character as laughter fodder, but he’s far too caricaturish. When a high school teacher is less of an authority figure than Valerie (Awkward.‘s Desi Lydic)  that’s saying something. Plus, why do we need him to bring the funny? That’s why we have Stiles
• The shocking reveal that Derek’s sister, Cora (Adelaide Kane), is alive only shocks if we know who she is. Soooo…I’m gonna say that that one didn’t really work for me
• I read an interview with creator Jeff Davis advising viewers to keep track of wolf eye colours (FYI Peter’s are blue, Isaac’s are gold). Apparently this will be explained at some point
• Too bad Alison can’t spell. There’s no apostrophe in logos, sweetie
• All I can think about is how much it must have sucked for Daniel Sharman to film the ice bath scene – not that I really believe that the tub was actually filled with ice cubes or anything (Side Note: If we’re being honest, wouldn’t Isaac have taken off his pants and not just his shirt when he gets in?)
• Things I don’t like (fashion edition): Scott’s skinny pants, Derek’s suddenly skinny arms, Peter’s atrocious facial hair and Alison’s weird new weave
• Finally, Lydia’s new plotline = randomly screaming in bed? Haven’t we seen this before? Poor Holland Roden – her role on this show sucks

Best Lines:

• Lydia (staring at the twins): “I want one.” The fact that she then seemingly teleports over to “the straight one” (obviously) in a heartbeat is hillarious
• Peter (as Stiles ruminates on the Alphas’ plans): “They’re werewolves, not Bond villains.”

I’ll flip it back to you: did this second episode make a believer of you? Who’s more dangerous on the prowl: Boyd and Cora or the Alpha pack? How long until someone figures out the twins are evil? What happened to Heather and how did her attacker magic-vac the wine cellar so quickly and efficiently? And what the hell is Lydia screaming about now? Comment away below

Teen Wolf airs Tuesdays at 10pm EST on MTV