Wolf Pack

Three episodes in, there's a lot to like about this series. The production values are high, and some of the visuals are stunning and a cut above what you expect to see in this kind of a series. Most of it so far takes place at night and it's some of the best night photography I've seen in a TV series. You have to wonder why a huge wildfire taking out the mountains in Southern California is necessary for the plot, but it's very moody.

But it's been too slow to the point of being a slog at times. Yes, we get it, there be werewolves out there. But what's the point of Sarah Michelle Gellar's character? How much does she know? How much does the twins' father know? Who's the mysterious voice on the phone and how does it know who the kids are (it's the dumbest part of the series so far)? How long are we going to spend on the same few nights around the fire?

At this point we need some answers. What is the werewolf doing when it tracks down the teens? Is it protecting its pack and why does it need to do something to them before the next full moon? Who is the werewolf when he's not a werewolf? How many of the teens on the bus were bitten? So many questions and at this point not many answers. Holding back the answers to try to keep the audience engaged can only go so far. Get on with it!

First episode, I wasn't sure I was going to continue on. However, I was bored enough to watch the second episode and then follow on through till the end. Even though it is a teen driven show I loved the slow burn of the relationships. Nothing is the instant love or gratification that we often see in teen flicks and it's kept me wondering how the villain will be revealed. The acting is to be expecting with young inexperienced and the boys are a little too good looking for reality but I love the adult actors. Rodrigo and Sarah Michelle are awesome. Worth the watch. It is dark and moody but entertaining nonetheless.

Is this a masterpiece? No but it does build up with some potential. Is Sarah Michelle Gellar used to lure people in? Absolutely, but after that brief cameo in the first episode she is just as prominent a character as the four teenagers.

Yes this might be a teen drama at times, the main characters are in high school after all, but it is more palatable than Teen Wolf was.

If you are going to try this sit through until at least episode four. At that point the story really starts to play out and build up. Having watched the eight episodes I'm curious how much they wandered from the original book series by Edo von Belkam.

There are a lot of good things about this show.

The four core characters all have their individual personalities and issues that are very common among that age group but not always highlighted very well, so points for this.

The parental struggles of wanting to protect your children but not sure what to do and completely winging it.

Sara Michelle Gellar was my reason for giving this a go and I'm glad I did, her performance is great as is the rest of the cast and the storyline has a lot of potential so I hope the writers do it justice going forward. When I began watching I was on the fence and found it slow at first but I kept going and I was hooked by episode 4 and each episode since has gotten better and better.

For starters I haven't watched the producers other series Teen Wolf outside of a few clips though unlike some I don't think Wolf Pack is meant to be a spin off of the other series though they do share similar elements.

Overall I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed Wolf Pack given the poor reviews from many online critics.

The acting was decent, nothing spectacular but then again I doubt this series is trying to win awards. It's just trying to be entertaining and it delivered on that front. The story was nicely done though I felt some of the things surrounding Sarah Michelle Gellar's character were quite obvious. Then again I think would be unlikely you'd cast SMG in a werewolf series and have her play a mundane investigator.

The special effects weren't the greatest (I wish more supernatural TV shows used more practical effects, especially ones featuring werewolves) but overall it wasn't too bad and I liked the mix between horror and teen drama and I liked how it took time for the pack to come together given there circumstances.

I felt that the pacing was good given that the show was only 8 episodes I didn't find the series boring. In fact I feel like they could have given the series at least 10 episodes to help flesh out the characters some more.

The series does end on a cliff hanger and it is far from a happy ending so I would like the show to have a second season to see what happens next.