by Jesus Ibarra

If you had told me before last summer that MTV would start making great scripted shows, I would have laughed at you. If you had told me that that show would be a re-imagining on the popular Teen Wolf movie from the 80s that featured teenagers and lacrosse, I would have told you that you have no idea what good television is.

Well, last summer came and this re-imagining of Teen Wolf came, and man it was good. This new take on werewolves (aren’t you tired of vampires and zombies yet?) features a young cast led by Tyler Posey as geeky Scott McCall who becomes a werewolf against his will and must deal with the aftermath. Through love interest Allison Argent, played by the beautiful Crystal Reed, and an ordinary best friend, Stiles Stilinski, played by the hilarious Dylan O’Brien, add a murder mystery and you have yourself a good show. The first season revolves on figuring out who bit Scott, who the alpha murdering all the people is, and what exactly Allison’s family is hiding.

When I put this show on I was ready to hate on it, decrying it as a tame version of True Blood and a knockoff of The Vampire Diaries, but after the credits rolled I was actually quite impressed. For a cast so young, actually closer to my age, these guys can act and the writing and pacing was surprisingly good. As each episode came out I just kept getting hooked. The show excels in setting up an atmosphere, whether it be romantic (it can get quite sexy for a show on basic cable, no nudity of course but still), comedic, suspenseful, or horror. This may be a teen drama, but man does it kick ass!

Some episodes were weak because sometimes they spent too much time or energy on the high school aspects of the show, but, hey, at least they still show that these kids go to school amid all the weird stuff that’s going on. My favorite episodes are when they focus on the main character relationships and the strained relationships the kids have with their parents.

It doesn’t reach The Vampire Diaries level of twists and turns, although it does have them, but it does do death and impact better than just plot twists for the sake of them. The show is in the stages where all this crazy stuff hasn’t become the new normal.

And by the looks of the new trailer, the crazy stuff is just going to get crazier, and I am so in and so should you. So catch up with season one now and tune in to MTV on June 3 for the two night premiere of the show’s second season. Learn more on the show website.

Jesus Ibarra is 19 years old and an ongoing contributor to our Teen Talk section; with a love of all media, he’s always on the lookout for the best finds.