This review contains spoilers
2.4 Abomination
The newest monster from the bestiary to hit Beacon Hills is a pretty disturbing, troublesome critter. No one really knows what it is there for, except for the local veterinarian. As it turns out, Dr. Alan (or Allen) Deaton (Seth Gilliam) is more than just a vet. He's the key to pretty much every mystery. The first season established that he knows all about werewolves, and now it turns out that he also has some sort of past history with the Argents as well. While he's not exactly clueless about the lizard monster that's stalking Beacon Hills, he doesn't know what it is.
No one knows what it is, but the one thing you can say is that it's pretty dangerous. Stiles finds this out the hard way. As the damage to his Jeep gets repaired at the local car mechanic, Stiles finds some gross fluid on the door handle and mashes his hands into it. That's the worst way to find anything gross, honestly. Then, things get weird. Stiles' hands go numb, he loses his ability to make sarcastic quips, and worst of all, he drops his phone. Oh yeah, also, the mechanic gets paralyzed by a lizard man and crushed to death by a hydraulic lift.
Everyone's after this lizard thing, apparently called a Kanaima. Scott and Allison are trying to find out what it is, the Argents are on the hunt for it, and Derek and the wolfpack are also on its trail, trying to prepare for the myriad of threats. Everyone is everywhere, and they're all seeking the same end: to not get killed by the refugee from V.
This is the most we've seen of the lizard this season, and it has to be said that the creature looks really, really good. Some of the movement effects are a little dodgy (like when it leaps onto the ceiling), but when you see it facing off with Scott or intimidating the Hale pack, it looks awesome. It's almost as if the lizard is a blend of movement CGI and practical special effects. One of the things I found particularly good about the lizard was its fingernails; they have that opalescent whiteness of actual animal nails and are very impressive. Subtle details like the claws and eyes are what make creature effects work, and this lizard works.
This week's episode also displayed much better focus than last week's. The script, from Christian Taylor, is sharper and funnier than last week, and there's more subtle moments of comedy that have made the show such a hit. Gerard gets some fun things to do, and there's some actual explanation of the lizard monster that's this season's big-bad courtesy of Alan the vet (we actually get the vet's first name finally!) and the Argents. The direction, from series regular Tim Andrew, is also very sharp this week. The opening kill at the garage was spectacularly shot, and very tense. It was also very inventive, as it emphasized what would later be said about the creature: it is designed only to kill, and it kills because it loves to kill.
This is really a stand-out episode for Michael Hogan, especially at the end of the episode. He gets to really work this week, playing all sides of Gerard's character. He's excellently manipulative in the role, and it's fun to see Gerard playing up the doddering grandfather role to lull Scott into a false sense of security before laying the hammer down. It's very effectively done, and I really like Michael Hogan as an addition of the show.
I have to wonder just how they're going to knit all these various groups together. There's obviously not a lot of love lost between the three factions searching for the lizard, and there are also outliers like Jackson, Lydia, and all the stuff going on with Jackson's attempts to become a shape shifter. It all has to come together sometime, and I'm interested to see just how they all put aside their differences and work together (if they even can now).
Read our review of last week's episode, Ice Pick, here.
US Correspondent Ron Hogan enjoys the addition of other shape-shifters to the Teen Wolf universe, but I hope they refuse to admit vampires into this world. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi.
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