https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghMQjwLPDCc
Season 1 |
Episode Guide
Sometimes Monsters Win
White Like Snow
Even If You Were Ugly
Neighborhood
Footsteps of Apocalypse
End of All Good Things
In the years since I started reviewing TV shows, one of the things I learnt very early on was to never base the credibility and quality of a series on its pilot episode. Far too often shows change their tone, pace and style across the breadth of a series’ run time and in this respect, Turkish series Wolf is the perfect example of this. The pilot episode opens with explosive action, rife with cheesy one liners and melodramatic characterisation. If you can get past this opening hour however, Wolf settles down, becoming a much deeper and hard hitting series than it first appears to be. While Wolf is not without its flaws, the accurate portrayal of soldiers and their personal and professional struggles in life are perfectly captured in this feature length 6 episode series.
Wolf takes place across several years of Turkish history, beginning in 2014 and skipping ahead to different years to focus on specific military campaigns with each passing episode. At the heart of the series is a team of specialized operatives, the self proclaimed Wolf team. Their missions are dangerous, full of gunfights and regularly mired in controversy. Placed around these action set pieces are individual stories about each of the soldiers as well as an overarching story involving the entire army squadron and other military factions. These all develop over time with some character vendettas and stories bleeding across into the overarching plot and vice versa. It’s a nice set up and while it does feel a little Americanized and Hollywood-esque at times, for the most part the show does well to prevent this occurring too often.
At over 70 minutes per episode, Wolf is quite the time demanding series but if you can get past the admittedly lacklustre first episode, Wolf opens up and rewards your patience with some beautifully shot scenes and tense moments. One such scene shows bullets ricocheting off the ground like silent raindrops before panning up to show all hell breaking loose and the sound kicking back in. Another uses low-lying cameras to pan across cover as if you’re really in the thick of a gunfight. It’s subtle moments like this that give Wolf a really gritty feel and as you grow more attached to each character, these scenes hold far more gravitas toward the end of the series.
When it comes to the characters themselves each have a distinct personality and role within the team. The usual cocky alpha male, over-enthusiastic rookie and cool headed sniper tropes are all here but they’re handled quite well, with each evolving over time in a decent enough manner. The usual camaraderie humour and machismo egos rife within the squad are typical for army squadrons but those not accustomed to this may be taken aback by it slightly. Still, the inclusion of a female in the ranks does go someway to balance this out and is actually a smart move from the writers, adding a touch of sensibility to the squadron.
Wolf may not be as devastating as Saving Private Ryan or as hard hitting as Band Of Brothers, but what it lacks in star power and budget it makes up for with action and character drama. Sometimes the most horrific moments in war occur off the battlefield and seeing these men and women break down under the stressful situations is something Wolf pulls off very well indeed. If you can get past the first episode and look past some of the tropes, Wolf really opens up and while it may still be a little over the top, it ticks the right boxes making it an eye opening slice of Turkish drama.
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Verdict - 7.5/10
7.5/10
Excellent series dealing with the horror, fear, psychology and corruption of hard core counter insurgency.
Well cast, well acted. Bring on Series 2
Nice Turkish series and certainly a great and mind opening break from Western TV.
Hey folks, (Wolf)Börü’s episode system is a little bit confusing. Börü Season 1 is total of 6 episodes which are approxemately 70 minutes long. After that there is a movie which you can find with searching Börü Movie. And after that scenerio writer Alper Çağlar (youtube CaglarArts) left the series for a while but last week he anounced Börü 2039 which takes place in 2039 :D. You can find the teaser and information video in his youtube channel. There is a english one. Hope I informed you enough to catch up with the series. See ya
Serie molto bella, ma tutto si è perso nel finale.
Se questo è il finale avreste dovuto pianificare subito una seconda stagione… Ho visto tutti gli episodi, arrivato al finale, la serie ha perso completamente di significato, me ne pento di aver sprecato del tempo per vederla.
I am enjoying Wolf but episode 5 lost me
Can someone explain: who is the suspect whose hands Kemal broke?
And who’s the soldier in hospital?
I suspect everyone being the rat!
Don’t get why they faked the older man’s death
Their personalities are similar to the Israelis
I liked it so much but I didn’t understand the finale.
Hoping to get season 2. Loved the season 1. Great actors. Great story and direction.
Just started watching Wolf am loving it. It is so well done and as it’s based on a true story makes it all the better.
I thought WOLF season 1 was great ,and glad it is also in English . I hope there is a season 2 .
I also look forward for Fauda to return to Netflix
Helρful informatіon. Lucky me I discovered your site by сhance,
and Ӏ’m surprіѕеd ѡhy this ⅽoincidence didn’t
took ρⅼace earlier! I bookmarked it.
copycat of Fauda
most important thing you have not mentioned is that it is based on a true story.