by Nina Miscioscia '24 on February 22, 2023
A&E Staff

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Arts & Entertainment

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“He’s back! Voldemort’s back!” Oops, wrong franchise! But after six long years, devoid of wolfish beasts of burden, Teen Wolf is finally back along with a brand new spinoff series Wolf Pack! Unfortunately I will not be reviewing the new Teen Wolf movie just yet, as I have sworn an unbreakable oath to my sister to wait for her to watch it. C’est la vie! However, Jeff Davis delivers once again with the series premiere of Wolf Pack and the most notable star rejoining the supernatural world, Sarah Michelle Gellar. For those of you who are uncultured, that is the one and only Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but in her new appearance, she is hunting down an arsonist responsible for one of the largest California wildfires the characters of the show have seen in more than a decade. 

he Teen Wolf and Criminal Minds creator begins the series in an almost apocalyptic world. Wildfires rage throughout the state of California forcing animals onto a gridlocked highway with unsuspecting humans attempting to flee the natural disaster. However, something else is pushed out of the ominous burning woods as well, picking off the students and commuters trapped on the highway one by one. Unlikely friends Blake and Everett, played by Bella Shepard and Armani Jackson, must now navigate their recent developments of lycanthropy after being bitten by whatever mauled many of their fellow classmates on the fiery highway. But did they truly escape the beast’s deadly jaws? And as much as pre-teen Nina (me) found very little fault with the CGI of Teen Wolf’s original werewolf Peter Hale and then the later Beast of Gévaudan, I am very much enjoying the upgrade that briefly darkened the new Paramount Plus show. However, I will warn any viewers when watching Teen Wolf and Wolf Pack: this is not Euphoria or another Emmy award winning show, this is pure guilty pleasure watching at its finest. So, take your annoying critical analysis elsewhere. Some of the best movies and shows have the worst ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Do not let them keep you from great cinema! Thus, we allow absolutely horrendous CGI in this house, but so far most of Wolf Pack’s special effects have been much more developed than Teen Wolf’s smoke and mirrors. Still, it’s best to avoid the little things as Teen Wolf will always be one of my favorite shows of all time, even with the cringe worthy scenes and effects that sometimes flash onto the screen. That being said, you do not need to watch Teen Wolf prior to Wolf Pack to understand what is going on in the new spin-off series. However, you will not regret binging it if you do *wink, wink.* Although there are some beginning faults with the show, I will say if you are a fan of the Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, True Blood, or any other guilty pleasure 2010s supernatural show that would have been canceled after one season without the world’s unhealthy obsession starting with Twilight, you will most definitely enjoy Wolf Pack and it’s dramatic end-of-episode cliffhanger under an almost full moon.