Everything You Need To Know About MTV’s Teen Wolf

BY SARAH SHARPE

Chaos. Strife. Pain. These aren’t just what the Nogitsune (Aaron Hendry), a dark Japanese fox spirit feeds off of, they’re the only words that can be used to describe the second half of the third season of MTV’s Teen Wolf. Teen Wolf premiered during the summer of 2011 and quickly gained a loyal following of over 2 million viewers. Loosely based off the 1980’s Michael J. Fox movie of the same name, MTV’s series is a whole lot more darker, sexier, and action-packed. Following the life of bitten werewolf, Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) and his friends, Teen Wolf never fails to deliver to it’s fans a whirlwind of emotions, ending almost every episode with a major cliffhanger.

Over the course of its existence, the series has had its share of villains. Matt Daehler (Stephen Lunsford) plays a student at Beacon Hills High School with a vendetta and Kanima (Colton Haynes) does his dirty work. Jennifer Blake (Haley Webb) is an English teacher who was revealed to be the Darach, a ritual human sacrificer, and Kate Argent (Jill Wagner), is a werewolf hunter and the aunt of Scott’s ex-girlfriend, Allison (Crystal Reed), who will now be returning in season four as a “were-jaguar” after rising from the grave. This season, Teen Wolf took a major risk by turning one it’s main and most beloved characters, “Stiles” Stilinski (Dylan O’Brien), into the resident villain. After being possessed by the aforementioned Japanese spirit, Stiles began wreaking havoc across Beacon Hills, causing harm to the people he cares most about. Up until this season, Stiles has been the “Robin” to Scott’s “Batman” and his only defenses have been sarcasm and a baseball bat. O’Brien took on Stiles’ villainous side so flawlessly, it was hard to believe that he had been the comic relief for the first two and a half seasons. Seeing Stiles slowly lose control over his own mind was truly heartbreaking.

Upon the Nogitsune’s release from it’s cage, came the arrival of Scott’s new love interest, Kira (Arden Cho), and her family. Kira and her mother (Tamlyn Tomita) are Kitsunes and even though they’re called “trickster spirits”, their only mission was to end the Nogitsune’s reign of terror once and for all. Cho has been a fabulous addition to the cast. In one episode, she even pulled double duty, also playing a younger version of her mother, a very impressive feat. Another new face this half of the season was Malia Tate (Shelley Hennig), a were-coyote who accidentally murdered her mother and sister on the night of a full moon 8 years ago. Scott’s howl transformed her back into a human, however, and since then, we learned that she’s the illegitimate daughter of Peter Hale, Rounding out the new cast was Deputy Parrish (Ryan Kelley), a dreamy-eyed police officer who fans instantly fell in love with.

Creator, Jeff Davis, has certainly raised the stakes for the latter half of this season.  Kira’s mother summoned The Oni, a group of demon ninjas to defeat the Nogitsune. This made it very difficult for Stiles’ friends to try to exorcise the Nogitsune out of him, as the Oni didn’t care that it’s host was an innocent teenage boy. In the fight for Stiles’ life, two very brave heroes fell. Aiden (Max Carver), a werewolf who arrived in Beacon Hills with his twin brother (Charlie Carver) as part of the Alpha Pack in season 3A, and Allison, the fierce huntress who fans have grown extremely attached to since Scott gave Allison a pen on her first day of school at BHHS, were two of the many victims that were killed by the stab on an Oni sword. It won’t be the same without them next season, as Reed has been a main cast member since episode one, but many new faces are set to arrive in Beacon Hills, including three new freshmen and a new deputy. Season 4 will premiere on June 23, 2014 and return to the series’ normal 12-episode regimen.