Genre: Sci-Fi | Action | Drama

Creator: Jeff Davis

Writers: Jeff Davis, Nick Antosca, Ned Vizzini

Directors: Russell Mulcahy, Tim Andrew

Cast:  Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, Dylan O’Brien, Holland Roden, Tyler Hoechlin, Colton Haynes

Summary:

“Teen Wolf” jumps full force into season two with even more suspenseful drama than season one. Scott McCall, a teenager with a wild secret, continues to find himself caught in a supernatural war between hunters and werewolves. Scott must keep his forbidden romance with Allison a secret while keeping his friends and family safe from new Alpha wolf Derek.

Trailer: Teen Wolf – Season 2 Official [HD]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/sdgltcCbbmU[/youtube]

I love this show. Like many, I rolled my eyes at the whole idea when I first heard of it; the movie wasn’t really my thing. But when I found myself sitting through their Comic Con panel before Season 1 had aired, I was convinced, and have made it one of my missions to convince others, that this is nothing like the movie. It is, in fact, a great show that features characters and actors that are fun and engaging to watch, in action-oriented episodes with some excellent twists and creepiness and cliffhangers.

It was all of those things in Season 1, and it is all of those things and more in Season 2. It is darker. It also keeps us guessing about more than one mystery, some of which may be carried over into Season 3, which premieres June 3 (yes, the same date as Season 2 in 2012). It is a perfect summer show, although with Season 3’s double-the-episodes order, I’m looking forward to watching it during other seasons as well.

What I’m really looking forward to doing, to start off my Summer 2013 right, is to marathon my Teen Wolf Season One DVD (Five Out of Five Stars when I reviewed it here last year, by the way) followed by this Season Two DVD before the Season Three broadcast premiere. It is the perfect scary, funny, creepy, fun, sexy, addicting show to set the tone for your summer.

My favorite part of this Season 2 DVD set, beyond the joy of watching great episodes without the need to fast-forward through commercials, is the commentaries. This is a three-disc set, with four episodes per disc, and each disc has “extras”, including a commentary for one of the episodes. For behind-the-scenes junkies like me, this is golden, especially when the commentaries are by the showrunner, and really especially when the showrunner has another person to talk with, in this case, producer Christian Taylor, which is the case for each of the commentaries on this set.

We learn all sorts of cool things about what went on during the production of the episode, which makes watching the episode even more fun, AS LONG AS YOU’VE ALREADY SEEN THE ENTIRE SEASON. This is in fact a good rule of thumb, and is presumed by everyone on every commentary ever: do not watch the commentary until you have seen the entire season (or entire movie) at least once already. In this case, the commentary on the first episode of the season spoils the finale. Fair warning.

Jeff Davis and Christian Taylor were very involved in the production of each episode, although not always together, so they sometimes have different stories to tell, but they clearly have a great time talking about it, and it’s a treat to listen to. The other reason you’ll want to have seen the episode beforehand is because they have so much to say, that you’ll rarely if ever actually hear the dialogue of the show during these commentaries.

Here’s the list of other extra features:

Teen Wolf Season 2 DVD Special Features

• Teen Wolf Season 2 at Paleyfest – celebrate Season 2 of MTV’s critically acclaimed series Teen Wolf with a panel discussion featuring the show’s cast and creative team
• Teen Wolves: Meet the New Pack – meet new cast members Sinqua Walls (Boyd), Gage Golighlty (Erica) and Daniel Sharman (Isaac) and get their take on their roles in Season 2
• Alternate, Deleted and Extended Scenes
• Alternate Stiles Takes
• Teen Wolf CGI Reel
• Fight Choreography
• Shirtless Montage 2.0
• Gag Reel
• Commentary featuring Jeff Davis and Christian Taylor

The Paleyfest panel is terrific, once you get past the distracting stretch screen. I would much rather have that in standard format; even the prettiest people look pretty bad when you stretch their faces like Silly Putty to fit a wide screen. The panel took place before Season 2 had aired, so you’re fairly safe to watch it before you’ve seen the episodes, if you like. The entire main cast is there, along with showrunner Jeff Davis, and they do a nice job of setting up the season.

“Teen Wolves: Meet the New Pack” is a great featurette with the new-to-Season-2 cast members. It illustrates with clips, so if you haven’t seen the season you might get a little spoiled, but no more than a trailer spoils, and the cast gives some nice insights into the new kids in Beacon Hill.

The alternate, deleted, and extended scenes aren’t extensive, which I appreciate. When too many are included, my eyes start to glaze over. No glazing here, just some nicely interesting bits.

But the “Alternate Stiles Takes” are golden. I think he must be everyone’s favorite character; Dylan O’Brien owns the role and is a gift to us, as are these alternate, and all too brief, takes.

The “CGI Reel” and “Fight Choreography” are also interesting bits, revealing a lot of talent on both the CGI team and the stunt team. Of course, “revealing a lot of talent” is also what happens in the “Shirtless Montage 2.0”. Sorry, sometimes those lines just beg to be crossed.

The “Gag Reel” is not unexpectedly a hoot, and I wish it was longer, though we do get a fair amount of shenanigans, and it’s definitely a better gag reel than a couple I’ve seen recently.

Again, though, my favorite bonus feature is definitely the commentaries, and if you love those making-of peeks into a favorite production, the three included here are definitely worth the cost of the set on their own.

So whether you’re already a fan or you’re just intrigued, get this set, along with last year’s Season 1 if you don’t have it, and give yourself the gift of a wonderful start to your summer.

I give Teen Wolf, Season Two on DVD, Five Out of Five Stars.

 

 

Teen Wolf, Season Two is available to ship from Amazon starting today! Here’s the link:

[AMAZONPRODUCT=B008X6N8KW]