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Friday in Review: A Goodbye to Teen Wolf

Ahh Teen Wolf... it's been a wild ride. This hurts me almost as much when TVD ended because just like TVD, Teen Wolf, Scott and Stiles, helped me through a pretty not great time in my life. I was suffering from severe anxiety and depression when I started Teen Wolf. TVD gave me hope and a world to escape from. It gave me Stefan and Elena and Damon, three people who have been through hell and back and gave me hope and a release. But Teen Wolf gave me more than TVD ever could.
Their theme sequence puts a smile on my face every time!

The writers crafted characters that were so human. Living in a house with two asthmatics I warmed up and related to Scott when he pulled out that inhaler as he ran through the woods, saying how it wasn't a good idea to drag a severe asthmatic out into the woods for a run. I could be completely wrong and this is just my own personal interpretation, but I feel like, as the show went on they dealt with a lot abstract mental illnesses, not unlike Legion. It was an undercurrent thing.

Stiles suffered from panic attacks. The first time he had a panic attack on screen it touched me in a really deep way and I related to him on such a deeper level. I think that's why he will forever be my favorite character on that show, not only because he's funny, but because throughout the whole show he's had several panic attacks, suffered for anxiety, takes medicine to help with his hyperactivity. I saw those severe panic attacks and the anxiety and saw something that I used to go through on a daily basis. Lydia took a little longer to develop, but by mid-season 2 she was characterized as a banshee or someone who saw things and saw death. She often drifted off into her own little world and saw horrible things or just... images and visions in general. I don't know a ton about schizophrenia and I don't have any friends or anyone that I know how has it, but I feel like if an outside person who didn't know about the supernatural world met Lydia and saw her go through one of her visions, would probably think she was schizophrenic.

 Even the great True Alpha Scott McCall had panic attacks and that just made him even more real and human to me.

Sorry, I just kind of dove into the deep stuff without easing into it. But I just felt that, that was the first, most relevant thing to me to talk about because the anxiety and the panic attacks was what stood out to me. Not a lot of shows get panic attacks right. Not a lot of shows let their characters have anxiety disorders or any sort of mental illness. Writers don't want to touch on that subject because they can be hard to understand unless you've been through it yourself and because it can be a touchy subject in general, so I really commend the writers for writing realistic panic attacks and anxiety. And I, of course, commend the incredible actors of Teen Wolf for acting all of those scenes out so perfectly. It meant and means a lot to me. The only other show I can say that I see my insecurities and mental illness, my anxiety and depression in is Legion and I think both shows did them so well, even though I'm sure to the Teen Wolf writers they were minor scenes. So, thank you for that, for letting me know that I was not alone in the struggle.

Now, deep breath, Ok! Onto the fun stuff. I think I'll do what I did for my TVD post and just go through one character a time.

Scott McCall. The ultimate good guy. He really is the True Alpha, the hero. Scott is, just, the true essence of what a hero is. He's kind and sweet and adorable and brave
Tell me that isn't adorable

 and becomes a very strong and wise and powerful leader to his pack. I mean, the fact that he's called the True Alpha says it all. I for real cheered him on during those epic lacrosse games. I cheered him on when he beat up or fought other werewolves or the bad guys. I cheered him on all the way because Scott has never done a single bad thing. He's never really made a decision that has erked me or upset me. Even when Allison and him broke up, I was upset, but... it felt OK. Scott has just always been pretty mature. He's always been alpha material from season one and there aren't a lot of characters that I can say has never bothered me with any of their decisions, but Scott is one of them. I think I like him so much because true protagonist/hero type characters are hard to come by. Characters that strive to do their best, to make good choices and not hurt, but save and forgive are rare to come by. Scott's really something special and he'll forever just be this adorable werewolf alpha to me.

The true alpha!

Thank you Allison Argent for not turning into the one thing I dread. The sweet good girl turns strong and powerful warrior woman. It happens more often than naught on TV shows. Allison wasn't like that at all and I loved it. At the beginning I fell in love with her. I can't really pin point an exact reason why... but I just liked her in general. She was a really good female character/protagonist. As the seasons went on she grew and changed, but never felt out of character or had left behind the girl she was in season 1. I loved her even more, when she realized the family legacy and became a hunter and an awesome archer. She still wore floral pattern and dresses and looked beautiful and still acted girly and fun,
Awww!

 but she also carried around a bow and arrow and fought along side her pack, her Scott and her friends. She didn't really change, she shifted into someone who could fight and was seriously awesome with her bow and arrow, but never left turned into one of those annoyingly selfish strong and powerful female protagonists and I am so thankful for that!


I already talked some about Lydia, but she's just so awesome. She isn't as physically involved and "powerful" so to speak as Scott or Allison or the others. She's a lot like Stiles in that way. They sort of do the behind the scenes stuff (most of the time) and without her and Stiles there wouldn't be Teen Wolf because between the two of them, they have introduced so many antagonists and plot points and character development for the rest of the cast. At first I was iffy about her but she grew on me. I honestly liked her sort of stuck up, queen bee bravado.

 I also really liked how she instantly attached herself to Allison and just sort of declared they were going to be best friends without having to say a word.

 Jackson and her were a little weird together, but I think they complimented each other and attempted to bring out the best in one another. By the end of their relationship they were sweet together. I think the scene that has stuck out the most of me throughout all the seasons is in season one after Jackson and her were confronted with the alpha Peter and she had had waaay too much stress relief medication and is just a complete mess. And then, I'm not sure if this was in the same episode or not, but when she was crying and her makeup ran down her face. She took a deep breath and wiped it all away and put on her brave face. I do that too and I used to do it more often. After crying I would say Ok, I'm done. I got it out and then I would wipe it away and redo my makeup and put it behind me like Lydia did in that one scene.
Plus I mean, she's one epic banshee!


Stiles Stilinski! Everyone's favorite guy. The blue Jeep, the hair, the hyperactive crazy behavior. His obsession with Lydia, his bromance and brotherhood with Scott. His relationship with his dad. All of it. I love it all. There is no one word, no way I could possibly explain how awesome Stiles is.
Best. Line. Ever.

 He's hilarious and Derrick and him played off each other so well! I loved them to death when they were together!

Scott and him made me cry at times at how much they loved each other like brothers.
How they never leave each other.

Stiles is strong with his baseball bat and I love how more or less (besides the nogistune storyline) Stiles is kind of like the Matt Donovan of the team. He's just... Stiles. The human. The sheriff's son who is ridiculously good at solving crimes. He has a crime board in his room and is a crazy person about researching. Without Stiles, there would be no Teen Wolf. Without Stiles, Scott wouldn't have become a werewolf and the show would have never happened.
I love how he's always had that baseball bat.


I love Derrick. He's just... wonderful. I love how gruff and brutally honest he is.
One of my most favorite episodes haha

He's so funny with Stiles, but his character plays off everyone else too. He's funny with everyone and he has some of the best fighting scenes.
Another one of the best scenes of the whole show

The only reason Scott was such a good alpha, werewolf and pack leader, is because he had Derrick as an example.

I liked his tragic backstory and almost every scene he's in is just epic. In last week's episode when he showed up kicking butt and beating people up and then zooming out in an awesome car, it was just the best thing ever. And so Hale. The Hales are such drama queens. They like their fancy stuff, they like their money and they make a big deal out of most things.
And he makes a pretty awesome werewolf

Speaking of Hales, Peter. He's the antagonist you love to hate, and sometimes you just love him to love him. Again, he plays off Stiles and Derrick in the best possible way. Those three characters are just hilarious together.

 He was just so stylish and a real hardcore werewolf. He never died. Seriously. Never. Died! He just kept coming back for more
Nope

 and I honestly really like how the writers never tried to change him. They didn't try and make Peter the Damon of the group. Peter was selfish and cruel and sarcastic and season 1 and he is still selfish and cruel (maybe a little less cruel) and sarcastic in season 6.
Nope


I really loved Sheriff Stilinski's relationship with Stiles. They were so close and he loved his son and accepted his son for the sometimes crazy person he was

 and when he found out about the supernatural he didn't turn away from Scott or Stiles.
 He helped them. He's always been on their side, not unlike Sheriff Forbes on TVD. Only Stilinski is still alive and well. Thank goodness! Even to the end, if he had to pick sides between the supernatural and the human he would pick the supernatural. His son and Scott, who I think he feels is like his son.

One more! I'm sorry if I've skipped so many characters. I'm just shooting for the core characters that have been here since the beginning. Plus Malia. Who again, is so funny and adorable!
I love how she adopted Stile's method of studying haha


I've always loved her straightforwardness.

 I was just saying the other day to my mom, (who is a huge Teen Wolf fan too) after last week's two episodes how at least Malia knows what she wants. If she wants something she just comes out and says it. She doesn't mince words. She just comes out and says it without any regard for hurting someone's feelings. Her and Stiles were perfect and adorable together and I honestly really liked them together. (Not as much as Stydia though). And now... I am growing fond of her and Scott.

Liam bothered me at first, he wasn't my favorite, but he's grown on me. He's part of the pack now and I like him.
Plus he's just adorable haha

 Theo. Hate him. Always have, always will. But I guess it's an interesting twist that he's sort of become part of the pack.

 Melissa McCall. She's just the best, most awesome mom ever!
She put up with so much

 Argent (I can't remember his first name... everyone just calls him Argent so I just call him Argent) is pure awesomeness too. He is and forever will be the ultimate hunter to me.

Jackson. I... didn't like him at first. He was never my favorite character. He still isn't. Jackson never really grew on me like some of the other characters did... he just wasn't my favorite.
Another one of the best lines in the show haha

And to all the epic antagonists they've had all the years: they rock! Especially the nogistune and Ducalean storylines.

Ah, and of course, to my favorite werewolf he didn't last forever on the show: Isaac. I love him and I loved his romance and relationship with Allison. I felt like it was more real and more... passionate then her's and Scott's. Isaac just brought out something different in Allison and I really liked it. I just thought Isaac was so funny and straightforward and quirky in the best way possible. Don't get me wrong, Allison and Scott's relationship will always go down as one of the greats, but I really did like her with Isaac a lot. And when she died? I cried... I cried hard. That was horrible and painful and I really didn't want her to leave!! And I mean, I liked Kira and all, but after what Scott had with Allison even in a friendship, nothing could really compare. Kira felt more like the in-between girl. Between Allison and Malia. But there really has been some epic couples and ships throughout the years. Scott and Allison. Scott and Kira. Scott and Malia. All of them good in their own way. Stiles and Malia, which I loved so much! Stiles and Lydia, which I love even more!! Lydia and Jackson. I feel like Lydia had a thing with one of Ducalean's twins? But I'm not exactly sure. Derrick and well... there wasn't really anyone for him, which I commend. It was kind of refreshing to have a single character that has stayed single throughout an entire show! I'm sure it takes quite a bit of restraint from some writers to keep that up.

Then there's the familial bonds. Teen Wolf has so many kinds. Scott's sweet and endearing relationship with his mom. I loved when Scott was lying in that library after Theo beat him half to death and Melissa just screamed and shouted for him to get up. That was he was powerful and an alpha and he couldn't be dead. She wouldn't let him be dead. I think, she really has been his rock and his biggest supporter, just like every mom should be. Stiles and his dad. They are just so quirky and great together. I love how stern Stilinski is with Stiles and how Stiles just goes at him with sarcasm. Their mutual disdain for Scott's dad was pretty great too. And when Stiles was being forgotten this season and went to his dad and Stilinski didn't recognize him? That was brutal! Stiles and Scott? I don't know if there are words to describe the love and brotherhood between them. Much like Stefan and Damon. How can you describe a relationship like that? Where they both stick together no matter what. Forgive no matter what. And when they don't forgive and go through a rough patch they always end up back together. And then there's Malia and Peter. Daughter and father... I can't say it's sweet or loving or kind. I think it's built more upon mutual respect (some of the time) and willing to acknowledge that they are blood and therefore they have to put up with one another. Or at least that's how Malia sees it. I think Peter honestly wants to try and be a good father to her, but he's still so wrapped up in himself that it's hard to pull away. Though, it was very nice to see how they showcased his selflessness when he protected Malia time and again this season.

This gif is the first thing I thought of when I thought of family and Teen wolf.


I have to say, it's pretty amazing to get to have watched that pack form. Really amazing. It started out small. Just Scott and Stiles and Lydia and Allison. Derrick came and went. Back then Scott wasn't even an alpha. He was just a beta. They went through sort of an awkward phase. I feel like the pack was kind of finding their footing and their place within this team, this family, of people in the middle seasons and now it has grown and become a real pack.

A pack like Ducalean had, which is pretty cool and interesting to think about. To think that Scott is the alpha of a massively powerful pack, much like Ducalean was.

It's been a wild ride. Full of laughter and crying and screams. Scares and creepiness and goriness. But also smiles and fun times. Thanks for the epic lacrosse matches that have made me a fan of the game. It's one of the few sports now that I actually know quite a bit about. The upbeat music that went with those games... it just made it epic.



 And how can I forget Coach?! I almost forgot!!
His distain for Greenberg throughout the whole series was one of the greatest things haha

Thank you for Coach cuz he's just the best and hilarious and after these past few episodes I have a sneaking suspicion that he's known about Liam and Scott being werewolves or at least something more from the get-go. And when he shut down the massive beat-down Liam was getting, said how he was disgusted to look at them for cheering it on and helped Scott get Liam up, I was just like yep, Coach is the best. Thanks for the epic dance scenes. For the raves and the high school parties and the club scenes full of wild music and dancing and funniness and romance. Thank you for those romances and for introducing me to the supernatural world of werewolves.


For being my werewolf equivalent of The Vampire Diaries. And for being original and not putting vampires in a show with werewolves. Just goes to show that there can be one without the other and they can still succeed. For giving werewolves their own show and their own spotlight without having the vampire heartthrob take it over.

So, thanks Teen Wolf. For being awesome and epic and dark and funny. For all of it. The ending was perfect and it was all wrapped up. It was so satisfying and I am so happy that it ended well and got a ending that the show deserved.

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