GeekTV Summer Edition

Summer, while also a time for amazing blockbuster films, unfortunately means time for lots of shows to go on hiatus. Luckily, between the epic season finales and ticking fandom countdowns until the openers, there’s still plenty of geek television out there to splurge over as other shows return or make their grand debut. Whether it’s werewolves, zombies, rebels, space bounty hunters, or just some old-fashioned slashers, summer television has an interesting group of old and new faces. Here’s a sample of GeekTV this summer.

Teen Wolf

Teen Wolf returns to MTV on its fifth season after a lengthy, almost year-long break. What started as a television remake to an 80’s cult film turned into a deeper mythology of werewolves and its own unique story filled with dark twists and heavy tension ranging from the Scott and Peter fight to the introduction of more shape-shifters. Season Five promises just as many new developments with different characters such as new werewolf Theo, new villains in the Doctors and the mysterious Slaugh, and all the emotional, attractive works of the Alpha werewolf Scott and his human friend Stiles dealing with the supernatural in Beacon Falls. For what it’s worth, this is probably the sure show of the summer that will leave people demanding answers in all-caps moments after the credits begin.

The Strain

Guillermo del Toro’s new FX series following the spreading of a vampiric virus and a notably eye-averting poster returns this year with a second season. Following the end of the first season, there are still plenty of vampire-like threats to the world following the deaths of many humans and some interesting acts of deceit both good and bad. There are plenty of characters to follow whether it’s the CDC doctor Ephraim Goodweather seeking to protect the city and his son or Gus who joins the battle in the end to avenge his family. Considering the series is based on a thick trilogy of books, they will probably be plenty of material for this year and the years to come. Of course, there would probably still be a gap until July of next year, but, like this year, it will likely be worth the wait.

Fear the Walking Dead

The companion series to the hit show The Walking Dead is set to premiere this summer on AMC with a second season already planned for next year. Set in Los Angeles, the series revolves around a new set of characters ranging from a divorced teacher to a single mother and her children trying their best to, as expected, survive the same zombie apocalypse. Being outside of The Walking Dead’s setting in Georgia gives the new series a great opportunity to explore different angles of the apocalypse from new personalities and contexts not yet done for the universe. Also, the second show better presents the idea that this is indeed a far-spread, near-global situation that people beyond the beloved characters are forced to navigate. Either way, there will still be plenty of walkers all year long.  

Star Wars Rebels

The beginnings of the Rebel Alliance also return this summer on Disney XD with a second season in light of the newest Star Wars film to premiere this December. This year’s expected to contain twice as many episodes for a full 26-story season as well as appearances by some characters from the long-preceding series The Clone Wars. Things already started off with a bang thanks to the two-part movie opening in The Siege of Lothal and the reappearance of Ahsoka in discovering Darth Vader’s identity, and the rest of the season is sure to follow through until the end. After all, there are still a few years before there’s A New Hope for the rebels. However, with no real release date yet, the most we can do right now is just speculate on what’s next for Ezra and the rebel crew. With Vader on their trail and a group of familiar characters set to return, almost anything could happen.

Scream

Scream’s the newest MTV adaptation of a popular film likely brought about by the popularity of Teen Wolf. This time, however, the show’s retooling the setting, the characters, and even the mask for a modern setting while still following the basic premise of a mysterious masked figure known only as Ghostface killing small-town teenagers one by one as if they’re in a horror movie…even though they really are. With the way things are looking, the show appears to be keeping its dark meta-humor in the midst of its love of slashing. Now they’ll be ten episodes to explore the mystery, history, and deadly violence that make the films so infamous. Perhaps with the buildup sure to come week after week, there may be a few twists allotted to the series normally reserved for the final acts of the movies. This is still horror project, after all.

Killjoys

ScyFy’s newest project is another installment that takes place in the distant future of space. In a clustered space-system known as the Quad, Dutch, John, and D’avin work as members of the galaxy’s bounty hunters known as the “Killjoys,” tracking down targets for lucrative warrants. As the series goes on, however, there are deeper consequences in their work such as the conflict behind tyrannical Company that runs the Quad as well as the Level 5 and lead badass Killjoy Dutch’s mysterious and murderous background. With spectacular action scenes and a sci-fi mythology waiting to be explored, Killjoys could probably be the action piece of the summer. Just remember that the warrant is all.

That’s just a sample of new GeekTV this summer with plenty of others for the picking. With the multitude of shows returning this year, now’s probably the best time of the year to try something new while still finding time to sleep. Go ahead and find a new obsession for the next three months!