Here are my ups and downs from Wolf Pack Season One - episode 103 - "Origin Point".
Credited writer is Crystal Houghton Ziv,
directed by Joe Genier with Dave Daniel as Director of Photography.
Again, if you didn't see last week's installment, this "ups and downs"
thing is a direct rip-off from another channel I like a lot called TrekCulture.
And this video contains spoilers for the first three episodes of Wolf Pack so go
over and watch the show on Paramount Plus before joining me back here.
I'm giving a major up for this entire opening sequence.
It's beautifully conceived and executed. The dialogue here is all explication but
it's rendered naturally and believably in "teen speak".
Cyrus: That's the fire line over there. they contained that part.
You see the stone ridges? That's where they're saying the origin point is.
And there's a sense of genuine menace up here even before our big wolf shows up.
There are some minor issues with the CGI lighting but that could just be my monitor. I don't know.
Anyway, it doesn't detract because this is just a gorgeous sequence and worthy of a huge up.
That's followed by an early down.
Cyrus: We were just here to see fire.
This cardboard cutout bad cop - y'all, I'm telling you, it is an overused trope.
This is lazy writing shorthand for when you don't want to give your character genuine motivation.
You just slap a uniform on them and hope the audience will go "Well,
you know how THOSE people are."
This "police bad" thing is pervasive in current media and, at this point, it's just boring.
So a major down there for me.
You know what? I'm going to give this a down for the series to date.
I mean Lanny Joon's character is literally described as a
"blunt instrument" in the pilot episode.
Officer Jang: No talking!
But he's just mean without any provocation or motivation.
Officer Jang: Whispering is talking.
Just a mean guy, and this guy would not be able to survive in any real
world working environment anywhere for very long.
Look, I understand there are genuinely mean cops. I've met some, but it's not really
interesting to watch without giving even a tiny bit of depth to these characters.
Okay, let's clean the palette with an up for the week - the chemistry between the pack of four.
And the very genuine friendship we see growing between Blake and Everett.
Blake: No no no, like this.
An up for Armani for another beat-perfect
depiction of someone going through an anxiety attack.
There's also a sense in this scene of the strong supernatural bond
that already exists among these near strangers.
And that leads me to my "up above all ups" this week - the shared hearing thing.
Everett: I took an edible
Harlan: Did you hear that? Everett, can you hear me?
Everett: Yes.
Luna: I can hear you too.
Blake: So can I.
Luna: Oh my God this is [ __ ] amazing!
I initially mistook this for telepathy and there is some mental component to it obviously,
but they're all sharing Harlan's enhanced hearing.
Another up for them actually explaining this point later.
Luna: We could all hear each other.
Briggs: You mean the way Harlan can hear?
Harlan: It's like we were sharing it.
Luna: It's because we're a pack, we're connected. Harlan: We're not connected.
I love it when a show manages to naturally work in canonical rules on screen.
The way Jeff Davis has set this up - with Harlan and Luna just as confused by what's
happening as the newly bitten - it just leaves a lot of room for easy explication.
And the relationship between the twins and their dad makes
all the explication just flow really naturally.
Briggs: Are you the one in charge?
Kristen: Kristen Ramsey, we're very glad you're okay.
Briggs: You're not talking to my kids without a lawyer present, my lawyer.
Officer Jang: Fine call him then.
This was a close second for my "up above"
this week - the first meeting between Scully and Smolder...
I mean Kristen Ramsey and Ranger Briggs of course.
It's too short, but the chemistry is there for future close encounters.
Also a big up for Bailey Stender as Phoebe. I love her in this so much.
Blake: What'd they ask you?
Phoebe: About the fire. You know they think it's one of us.
Blake: What'd you tell them?
Phoebe: That I think it was you.
I mentioned backstory being important to deepen unpleasant characters. In just the
few short scenes that have featured Phoebe we learned exactly why she's a C U next Tuesday.
In addition to being privileged and wealthy,
this girl's had some recent personal setbacks that will color her outlook.
Phoebe: Hey Harlan, steal anyone's
boyfriend lately? Harlan: Just yours.
And it took all of 30 seconds to make her a well-rounded character.
Let's talk about the big werewolf. It's presence
in episode three is a mix of a couple of ups and one slightly annoying down.
Up for overall design.
We've now had good looks at this creature several times and I absolutely love it...
right up until it's extreme close-up.
This scene of breaking and murdering the cardboard cop is an up - suitably scary and gross.
This scene is a huge up for me because of the way Armani plays it.
I understand the director, producer,
and editor wanting to linger on this increasingly terrified face.
It might have gone on a trace too long for some viewers, but I was completely there with him.
Then we finally get some snout.
It starts out fine but then it just misses and lands in the Uncanny Valley for me.
So, for me, that's a down. But it is still menacing and Armani Jackson is
selling this so again it's an overall up for me on all the monster stuff this week.
And one final emotional up - Ranger Briggs admitting the silver bullets
are for his children if they ever lose control.
Harlan: You made these. Briggs: Yes.
Harlan: To kill werewolves. Luna: To kill us?
Briggs: Yes.
This is just spot on perfect performance for all involved.
Okay let's head over to Canon Observation.
We get a lot this week as Harlan and Luna struggle
with how different their lives have become since meeting the bitten.
We've mentioned before that all the bites are not healing the same.
That's now a plot point.
It looks like Austin healed completely similar to Blake and Everett, but he's not connected to
them for some reason and is apparently in denial about what he saw in the traffic jam of death.
The eye-glow thing is completely new for the twins, so not a regular werewolf thing or
maybe - as their father hints - it's just not how it works for werewolves without a pack.
I mentioned the shared abilities. We saw hearing and smell shared in this episode.
That is going to be fun going forward.
Also these werewolves can smell emotions as they picked up anger from the officer.
The general loss of mental control and the
lust-filled hallucinations on the full moon continue.
Again, this and the ability enhancement is something new for the twins as well.
Silver is apparently a deterrent - maybe.
We need to hear more about it.
But Ranger Briggs certainly thinks it can stop a werewolf.
And the big wolf's motivation seems to have
shifted. It no longer seeks to kill Everett and Blake.
But many of the other teens still seem like they are fair game for our big antagonist.
Again,. canonically we're learning how werewolves work in this universe right
along with the characters, which in my opinion is always the best way to do it.
Wolf Pack streams new episodes Thursday on Paramount Plus.