The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Teen Wolf Season 3A

The Good

-The marketing. Everything about how they got people excited for the show was great.

-Lydia. She’s a banshee! Outside of that awesome reveal, Lydia might be one of the few characters that actually had a full arc in 3A. Watching her deal with and grow into her powers was great to see.

-Allison. Man I was NOT here for Allison last season but they have completely made me love the character again. She was a fully formed character, struggling with her desire to protect her friends and the demons of her past. Crystal Reed knocked it out of the park every damn episode and I am excited to see where they stake her from here.

-Isaac’s Werewolf Characterization. It’s no secret that I love Isaac as a character but I think the coolest thing they did with him was show him as a werewolf struggling with his powers. The writers also managed to find subtle ways to do this and really showed that while the moon isn’t forcing them to shift and act crazy, they still aren’t prefect visuals.

-Kali. Ah my lovely evil goddess. I really loved everything about Kali’s characterization, her back story and Felicia Terrell. She really provided a jolt of energy to this series that is in no shortage of villains.

-The darach reveal. Whew did we have to sit through some foolishness to get this but it was one of the better reveals we’ve gotten in two season. I loved this reveal and the fallout it caused.

-Derek’s final moments of the midseason finale. So I guess Derek is going on that werewolf retreat/Batman role, I’d be hoping he would. I will say that other than that flashback to Cora and Boyd ripping him to shreds, I thought the final few scenes were excellent at FINALLY showing some kind of growth for Derek. It’s amazing what happens when you take a moment to let the show breathe. Him quoting his mom was great as well as stand up to Duke with Scott. I’m still mad about how they had to get him to this point, but it was nice to see.

-The score. Love themes are a sore point for me but nothing will take away the joy that is the Teen Wolf music. I mean how awesome was that techno beat when the twins first transformed into Voltron wolf? Or that amazing chanting Lydia heard? I also loved the new theme for Scott.

-The ambition. Listen, not everything worked in this season (or else there wouldn’t be a bad or ugly section) but it was great seeing Jeff and Co. swinging for the stars with this season. A show like Teen Wolf can’t rest on it’s laurels by virtue of the network its on and the audience it’s courting so they did indeed attempt to up the ante.

Grade at MidSeason: C+/B-