MTV’s hit series Teen Wolf is back for another twelve action-packed episodes. The fourth season picks up shortly after the shocking events of the third season. Scott (Tyler Posey), Stiles (Dylan O’Brien), Lydia (Holland Roden), Kira (Arden Cho) and Malia (Shelley Hennig) head to Mexico in search of Derek (Tyler Hoechlin). Over the course of the season we get some terrifying new creatures and villains. Kate Argent (Jill Wagner) is back, but she’s not quite human, and she’s out to get the Hales. To aid her in this pursuit, the werejaguar has raised an army of Berserkers—large, deadly, fast-moving humanoid creatures that wear animal skulls over their faces and have razor-sharp claws. Meanwhile, cannibalistic shape-shifters known as Wendigos have also taken up residence in Beacon Hills, along with a mouth-less, murderous axe-wielding psycho. And if that wasn’t enough, a mysterious person known only as The Benefactor appears to be hiring assassins to kill off all of the supernatural beings that reside in Beacon Hills. With all this trouble headed their way, the pack is going to be forced to make some new alliances—even with those they once considered to be enemies.
I thoroughly enjoyed this fourth season, right from the exciting opening sequence where the pack infiltrates the Calavera’s club—I can’t watch this scene without being reminded of the opening of Return of the Jedi at Jabba’s palace in the desert.
In its fourth season, the series is better than ever and once again finds that perfect balance between action, drama, horror and comedy. Each episode brings a roller-coaster ride of emotions that will have you laughing one minute to nervously sitting on the edge of your seat the next, and then feeling sad for the loss of a character you’ve grown to love. One of my favorite episodes this season has the pack dealing with a young version of Derek (played by Ian Nelson)—this was such a fun series of events, I wish it could have lasted all season! But for every comedic scene, there are are some really dark and scary scenes, which constantly have you worrying about the lives of your favorite characters—the series creators have proved that no one is ever truly safe!
This season, the show expands both location and character-wise. While much of the action takes place in Beacon Hills (why don’t these people move away from this town!), the pack also heads to Mexico several times to deal with issues regarding the Calaveras—a family of hunters who reside across the border, led by matriarch Araya (Ivonne Coll, giving an amazing performance). This season also sees the return of former US Marshall Braeden (Meagan Tandy) who had appeared in a couple episodes last season. Plus some new characters, including new student and member of the pack Liam Dunbar (Dylan Sprayberry), gay athlete Mason (Khylin Rambo), and Freshmen couple Garrett (Mason Dye) and Violet (Samantha Logan).
For our favorite pack of supernaturals (and human), this season means getting over the death of Allison, exploring their own romantic relationships, Scott dealing with the consequences of creating and mentoring his first Beta, and learning to trust (for better or for worse) those who have done them harm in the past.
This DVD is great because viewers don’t have to wait a week inbetween episodes to see what happens next. Each action-packed episode just flows into the next, and you’re going to want to watch all 12 in one sitting! (at least you will be force to stretch twice as you change discs in the DVD player!)
The series airs in HD on MTV, but as with other seasons, season four is only being released in SD on DVD. However, the picture quality is for the most part really good really good, just not quite as sharp as in its original airing, and some of the green screen effects are a little more evident. As for the audio track—all of the dialogue is clear, the music sounds great and the surround channels are utilized, though sparingly. The bonus material on this release amounts to about 16 minutes of features including gag reels, a shirtless montage, a visual effects montage and some cast/crew interviews. While this is a step in the right direction when compared to the last couple DVD releases for the series, I wish there was more. I miss the days of deleted scenes and audio commentaries with the cast. However, this is an easy recommendation based on the quality of the episodes alone.
One thing to note, this is the first season to not have the disclaimer “This Season is Musically Edited” on the back. I’m not sure if that means all of the original music is in tact this time around, or if the warning was just omitted.
What’s Included:
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Episodes: (8:28:25):
- All 12 episodes of the fourth season:
“The Dark Moon”, “117”, “Muted”, “The Benefactor”, “I.E.D.”, “Orphane”, “Weaponized”, “Time of Death”, “Perishable”, “Monstrous”, “A Promise to the Dead”, “Smoke and Mirrors” - 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
- Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
- Closed Captioned
- The Visual Effects Behind “The Dark Moon” (1:47)
A montage of scenes from the season premiere, depicting the scenes before and after the special affects were added. While each scene is playing, viewers get to see the layers of effects slowly being added to produce the final result. - Shirtless Montage Strikes Again (1:35)
The montage is back—the traditional montage of the season’s shirtless moments, this time set to Lizi Kay’s “Do You Like What You See”. - Gag Reel 1 (3:01)
Really fun gag reel with the cast flubbing and forgetting lines, dealing with prop malfunctions, cracking up, improv-ing, and just having fun on set. - Gag Reel 2 (3:09)
More of the same, with lots of fart jokes. - The Beasts of Beacon Hill (6:56)
Executive Producer Jeff Davis and the stars talk about this season’s new creatures—wendigos, berserkers, The Mute and werejaguars— as well a season 3’s Oni and the bestiary. Includes clips, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with actors Tyler Hoechlin (“Derek Hale”), Ian Bohen (“Peter Hale”), Melissa Ponzio (“Melissa McCall”), Shelley Henning (“Malia Tate”), Tyler Posey (“Scott McCall”) and Megan Tandy (“Braeden”). - Collectible Bestiary Book
Inside the DVD case is a beautifully-illustrated 32-page Bestiary that describes the supernatural creatures of Beacon Hills. This is a scaled-down version of the book handed out at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con. This is only available for a limited time—copies including the book will have a sticker on the front noting this.
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
The pack is back and better than ever. The fourth season of Teen Wolf is another action-packed season with lots of thrills and humor. There are some fun new characters, interesting and scary new villains and threats, and lots of excitement. The DVDs look and sound great, and contain a small but solid collection of bonus features. This season (and series) comes Highly Recommended!
