Teen Wolf 2.08 Raving

Raving was all about raising the stakes. Things were chaotic enough already, but now it feels like there’s that much more to be afraid of, and even more for these guys to lose. Not only that, but this episode also toyed with the, up until now, opposing sides in this war against the Kanima, at least where the wolves are concerned.

Equally as nuts as Restraint, Raving continued the show’s tradition of kicking things off as quickly as possible. Every episode this season has been pretty instant, and we were thrown into the thick of things again, here. Jackson’s role as pet murderer is one that I genuinely love. It’s bad enough that they’ve got someone unwittingly doing all this killing, but it’s even worse when the dirty work is at someone else’s request. It’s something that makes their task of saving him even more difficult, and that’s not even considering the fact that everyone else wants his head on a stick.

Another aspect of this whole story I like is the fact that the Kanima is made up of not just part of Jackson’s fears and traits, but the master’s as well. It’s these personal touches that are keeping things grounded amid all this craziness. Not that I’m not loving the craziness. I mean, the revelation that the Kanima might actually be after revenge itself is even more exciting, but there’s still so much to learn, so I’m not even going to try and make a story out of this yet.

Things got even weirder when Allison’s mother kidnapped poor Scott. She’s pretty much the definition of scene chewing hamminess, but she’s one of the most fun parts of this whole witch hunter thing. Now that she’s been bitten, there’s even more to like about how well the writers have developed such dull-ass b-characters. It’s rare that I enjoy almost every single plot in a series like this, but there isn’t really any part of Teen Wolf that I want to miss right now.

The rivalry between Scott and Derek’s pack has been fun to watch, but I really enjoyed seeing then finally band together against their common enemy. They may not share similar views, but their goal to stop the Kanima really united them here. It’s strange to think that this group started out as Scott and Stiles running around the woods like idiots. I even liked Derek being the one to save Scott from Mrs. Argent. Maybe he’s not that much of a tool after all.

I like that Teen Wolf always makes normality a part of its plots. Even in the midst of the raving massacre, there’s still a touch of humanity about all this. Stiles has always been a bit of a pain in his Dad’s eyes, but now that he’s cost him his job, I think that will finally force a change in our favoured turbo-awkward sidekick. Whether he’ll stop helping Scott, or just grow further apart from his father, I’m not sure; but I’m up for any bit of a continuation in this story. There are always consequences, especially if you spend your after-school time trashing libraries and smashing sinks, and it’ great that this show doesn’t forget it.

Things seem even more exciting now that we’re nearing the tail end of the season (already?!). And with hints of even more to come, I’ve never been happier to be a fan of this stupidly fun TV show.

9/10

No comments:

Post a Comment