Jeff Davis is a writer-producer-director who created the series Criminal Minds for CBS, Teen Wolf for MTV, and is currently Showrunner for the Sarah Michelle Gellar starring series, Wolf Pack, on Paramount Plus.

Like the audience it targets, Davis’ new show is open in discussing and depicting the generalized anxiety disorder that affects lead character Everett Lang (Armani Jackson). Before he witnesses a catastrophic wildfire and receives a mysterious and gigantic animal bite, Everett deals with the everyday trials of surviving high school. The series opens with him on a crowded school bus, covering his head as he attempts breathing exercises and talks on the phone to his therapist. Some advice from Davis’ brother —“Anxiety is basically evidence of your body working at peak condition” — is even referenced in the scene.

“The rule in writing is always to introduce a character by what they want,” Davis says. “So what he wants is to get rid of his anxiety. What he needs is to learn that anxiety is a tool and that you can’t get rid of anxiety.”