Teen Wolf season 2 episode 8 review: Raving

It was a busy week for Teen Wolf, with plenty of twisting plots in the lead-up to the series' next big revelation. Here's Ron's review...

This review contains spoilers.

2.8 Raving.

Actions have consequences. When you’ve got a lizard monster running around killing people, there are going to be repercussions. When you’ve got the son of the sheriff stealing police equipment, kidnapping the son of a powerful attorney, and generally breaking every law imaginable in the pursuit of the greater good and health of the community… well, you’ve still got someone breaking a whole lot of laws, and that has to be dealt with.

In this case, Sheriff Stilinski (Linden Ashby) appears to be suffering as a result of his son’s antics, and the kanima keeps on killing. Still, before Stiles Sr. loses his job, he and Stiles show off their smarts in a scene in which the Stiles clan researches the kanima’s killing pattern to search for clues. The victims have all been 24-year-olds, Class of 2006. And, curiously enough, they all have the same teacher: Mr. Harris (Adam Fristoe) the creepy chemistry teacher. Is that a red herring? That remains to be seen.

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There were a lot of things happening this week. Argent is pressuring his daughter; Scott and the wolves are trying to capture Jackson before he kills the next victim on his master’s list; Scott and Allison are having relationship problems; even Dr. Deaton (the vet, played by Seth Gilliam) has some sort of relationship going on with the guidance counsellor (Ms. Morrall, played by Bianca Lawson). I’m leaving out a few things, but long story short, everyone is busy. It could very easily be crowded, but the script from Jeff Davis seems to keep everything balanced well. You get just enough of every storyline to keep them all sizzling, and not too much of any one thing. The main action stays in the focus, and the multiple story lines all come together at the underground concert in a clever bit of writing. It can get a bit confusing if you’re not paying attention, but the show does a good job at making it easy to pay attention to.

Interestingly, we get Argent’s first name this week; Gerard calls him Chris, which I think might be the first time we’ve heard his actual first name on the show. Thus far he’s been Mr. Argent or Argent or some variation of that, but apparently his name is Chris, and while he has one great face-off with Derek and Boyd, this week is the Eaddy Mays show.

Mrs. Argent stole the show this week, displaying some clever cruelty and oddly funny comments on how weed was smoked in her day versus how weed is smoked these days. It’s interesting to see that character go from just the woman who looks really creepy as she spies on her daughter to having some more definition. Granted, she’s still obviously a danger to Scott (given the way she treats him this week), but apparently she also used to party, so she can’t be all bad. As one of the more underused characters, it’s fun to see her get more face time and not just threaten sexual violence to Scott via pencil sharpener. Her first major stunt scene in the show – a brilliant fight with Derek – was a whole lot of fun. Quick, but hard-hitting and well shot by Russell Mulcahy, who knows how to play in light and shadows, even if those shadows are strobes.

To the credit of the crew of Teen Wolf, the show seems to know where it’s going when it introduces potential solutions to its various problems: who was the alpha, who is the kanima, who is controlling the kanima. The show is great at creating suspects, and giving them just enough rope before pulling them back in from suspicion, leaving only the culprit. We are going into the ninth episode of the show, and I have no idea who the puppet master for the kanima is, I only know who it is not. There’s a list of suspects, a speculative reason behind the controlling, but nothing solid yet.

Personally, I can’t wait for answers.

Read our review of last week’s episode, Restraint, here.

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US Correspondent Ron Hogan finds Eaddy Mays strangely attractive, even though the show portrays her as the most evil person in Beacon Hills. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi.

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