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Letters; we get letters! As we get letters about a review, we like to link to some of them. Here is the top of the e-mailbag for this review:

"I would like to ask the hell did [they] cancel Wolf Lake? It was a great show and I know because all my friends in Alaska watched it, it was one of the best shows I had ever seen."

"How 'Twin Peaks' should a Twin Peaks clone be...?" This series irrefutably takes most its ambiance from Twin Peaks, with its story involving a little town of nowhere, USA that hides a big secret of supernatural origins. Still, where should the line be drawn, to keep this series from inevitably making the same mistakes as that series did? Well, for one thing, have seasonal scripts like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with a clear goal at the start of each season, and a clear victory near the season finale. Always keep the plot fresh. Twin Peaks lost its freshness, after agent Dale Cooper spent one too many days/episodes on the exact same murder case. If this series is going to be year after year of John searching for Ruby, this story will get old fast.

Wolf Lake

A Techtite Review

On the one hand, there iss X-files, with its numerous stories, never concentrating on any one case for too long. Before that series, there was Twin Peaks, with its Agent Dale Cooper obsessed with one case, with ONE murder mystery being the plot of the whole series. Then there's a whole lot of grey area, including top-notch series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where the series mostly (mostly) concentrates on vampires, yet has a new villain practically every week. Somewhere in the middle is Wolf Lake; a series with the occasional homage to all the above. The end result is one of my favorite new series this season.

The story begins with the likeable police detective John Kanin (Lou Diamond Phillips) proposing to his girlfriend, Ruby (Mia Kirshner). No sooner does she say yes, then she is apparently abducted on her way back home. What's even stranger is the crime scene of the apparent abduction; her abandoned car included few clues other than the hand of her attacker, and no sign of Ruby. Did Ruby remove the attacker's hand somehow, before disappearing into the night? This is all very bewildering to John, yet he's obsessed to find out the truth, as well as fiancée Ruby.

Fortunate for John, an anonymous caller claims to have seen his "missing person" poster, and recognized the face as someone he saw at Wolf Lake. John goes there immediately, yet is in over his head; this small town is filled with shapeshifters, otherwise known as werewolves, who can use their canine attributes at will. Even "regular" folks, like town Sheriff Matthew Donner (Tim Matheson) seems like he's trying to either get John to leave, or to keep him safe from possible harm (the series has yet to fully explain which). Meanwhile, Ruby's parents, Willard and Vivian Cates (Bruce McGill and Sharon Lawrence), seem a bit unaffected by Ruby's alleged disappearance. Is she really "gone" at all...?

John is not without some helpful hands, however. The sheriff's daughter, Sophia (Mary Elisabeth Winstead), is a waitress at the local diner, and seems to like John enough to help him once in a while. On the other hand, Sophia is handing a mystery of her own --is the strange attraction she has for Ruby's teenage brother typical of a 16-year-old girl, or is she a werewolf, too?-- and she can therefore only help John once in a while. Meanwhile, a strange Native American (who is actually the anonymous caller who led John to Wolf Lake) seems to be both a helpful guide for John through the town, yet still seems to keep him from getting too close to the truth. Somewhere in the woods is Ruby, who seems to be helping John get close to her, regardless of others trying to make sure they never meet. Is she "forbidden" to be with him, for some reason? Such is one of the many mysteries of Wolf Lake.

Of course, the overall mystery here involves the "wolves" that give wolf lake its name. John is pretty sure what is going on, yet has still been unable to find adequate proof. In the dead of night, he helps a woman from an apparent date rape, only to see her seem to "growl" at him to keep his distance...all while bearing almost canine fangs. Meanwhile, a mysterious white wolf appears to John on occasion, in an apparent desire to keep John from getting hurt. The apparent "leader of the pack" --in charge of things in town-- is Ruby's own father, who has contracted some sort of terminal disease...with the other "wolves" in town circling to take his place. Meanwhile, there do seem to be the occasional "human" civilians of Wolf Lake, including the Sheriff himself...who, after one too many threats from one of the more troublesome "wolves," decides to deputize John into the local law enforcement after all. Will he help John find Ruby...?

The end result is a well-thought-out mystery series, with some very intriguing potential. If they take a cue from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and have John deal with new wolf adversaries every once in a while, this series could be great. Regardless, the overall quest for Ruby, in addition to the eeriness of Wolf Lake, make this series a pleasure to watch every Wednesday night. The werewolf undertones are intriguing as well, as are the almost canine, working-in-packs attitudes of the town inhabitants. This is perhaps one of the better series offered this season, and if I have chosen to review it before other, more critically-acclaimed new series (like ABC's Alias), it's because this series had less publicity, and therefore deserves more viewers than it currently has. If you love werewolf tales, you should definitely give Wolf Lake a chance.

 

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