Rules and strength in Teen Wolf

Spoilers for episode 5x05 - A Novel Approach

Two things stuck out to me in this episode.

1. Rules for supernatural beings - Kira, Scott, Stiles, and Lydia go to Eichen House to visit Dr. Valack. One of the defenses in the building is that areas are lined in mountain ash, so Scott and Kira can only go up to a certain point. But Lydia and Stiles can go anywhere in the building because they are human. Supernatural beings have to follow rules but humans have free will. Supernatural beings gain power but lose some freedom.

2. Strength and vulnerability - Stiles and Lydia have strength of character (bravery, intelligence, loyalty) but physically, they are more vulnerable than Kira, Malia, and Scott. But then, supernatural strength still has vulnerabilities. Kira isn't completely in control of her power and we see how that's dangerous to people around her. Malia has flashbacks of the car crash from her childhood and it distracts her from her surroundings (she crashes the car she's driving). Scott's downfall is how easily he trusts people, so despite his strength he sometimes lets people get close to him who will hurt him.

The scariest thing about Kate Argent

(Spoilers for 4.11 "A Promise to the Dead")
A few things are unsettling about Kate Argent this season—her were-jaguar abilities, the Berserkers she controls, whatever she did to Derek—but the scariest thing she has done so far is turn Scott into a Berserker.

The scary part isn't that Kate turns Scott into a monster. We could say that Scott was physically a monster already, even if he chose not to hurt people with his werewolf abilities. The scary part is that Kate turns Scott into the polar opposite of what he wants to be. She shatters the heroic part of him, everything he has worked for and fought for, and she is calm about it, calculating. That gave me chills.

Worse, earlier in this episode, one of Satomi's werewolves talks to Liam about how amazing Scott is for earning the power to be a True Alpha, for his leadership, for the way he protects his friends. So just in case anyone in the audience hasn't been paying attention, we have these reminders of everything good in Scott McCall. Over four seasons of the show, we have seen Scott:

• Choose to use his power for good, over and over, even when others try to force him into violent situations.
• Lead others into action and give them hope, even when the odds are against them
• Give everyone a choice in getting involved with the supernatural world, and not judge them for choosing safety

Kate inverts all of that.

She forces Scott to become a Berserker and she controls what the Berserkers do. It seems like she will force him to fight his friends in the finale, so she takes away his power to decide what he does with his power and his desire to protect his friends.

The scariest thing is that Kate is able to unmake Scott the Alpha, turn him against his friends, and use him however she wants.

Teen Wolf: Deucalion wants Scott

Spoilers for Teen Wolf episode 3.04 "Unleashed."

Up until this week's episode, I thought Deucalion wanted Derek to join the Alpha pack, but I don't think that's the case anymore. Instead, I think Deucalion is going to use Derek to get to Scott.

In the first episode of this season, the woman who saved Isaac said that Scott is a threat to Deucalion...not so much teenage Scott but rather who he will grow up to be. There are two ways to deal with a threat: eliminate it or find a way to use it for your own purposes.

The Alpha pack is strong enough to kill all the werewolves in Beacon Hills, but they haven't done that yet. Why not? Because Deucalion doesn't go for the quick fix. Maybe his end-plan is getting Scott to join the Alpha pack. That neutralizes Scott as a threat and actually adds to his own power.

We've seen Scott fight forces that are stronger than him and win, so it's possible that Scott could kill an Alpha, especially if he has a chance to prepare for the fight.

The question is, does Deucalion want Scott to kill Derek or one of the other Alphas?

I see a couple possible situations.

1. Deucalion manipulates Derek into killing one of his pack (Boyd or Isaac) so that Derek absorbs the beta's power. Deucalion said that after the first kill, Derek will want to kill the rest of his pack—he won't need any more persuasion. That's where Scott comes in to stop Derek. Their confrontation ends in Derek's death, and Scott becomes a stronger-than-normal Alpha.

2. Scott fights one of the other Alphas, kills him or her, and then becomes an Alpha.

Scott knows who Deucalion is, so I don't know why he would want to join the Alpha pack, but either of these situations would set him up to do that.

The main catch is, Scott doesn't want to kill anyone unless there's absolutely no other option. Things will have to get pretty messy for him to take on an Alpha.

Pilot Study: Teen Wolf

I noticed that the storytelling and degree of detail varies in pilot episodes of shows, so informally, I've been watching pilot episodes and keeping track of everything we find out in that episode. (Sometimes I also watch and take notes on episode 2 to see what the pilot episode set up and how it's resolved.) These "Pilot Study" posts come from my notes.

Teen Wolf on MTV.com

Teen Wolf - "Wolf Moon" (41 minutes)
Original air date: June 5, 2011

Setting

Modern day, Beacon Hills, CA

Opening

Woods - police cars, policemen with flashlights and dogs, Sheriff
House - music playing, teenage boy (Scott) fixing a lacrosse stick, doing pull-ups, brushing teeth. He hears a noise, grabs a baseball bat, and goes out on the porch. Scott's friend, Stiles, startles him and tells him he heard there's half a dead body in the woods. They go looking for it. The sheriff, Stiles's dad, finds him and walks him back to his car. Scott walks through the woods, finds the dead woman, and gets attacked by a wolf.

Characters

Scott McCall

Main character. After the wolf bite, his asthma goes away, he has better reflexes and agility, and enhanced senses. Love interest: Allison.

Stiles

Scott's best friend. Researches lycanthropy and werewolves after Scott's attack.  Love interest: Lydia.

Allison Argent

New girl in town. Her dad is one of the hunters in the woods that find Derek and Scott.

Lydia Martin

Popular girl, dates Jackson.

Jackson

Popular, rich, jock (captain of the lacrosse team), dates Lydia.

Derek Hale

Werewolf. A few years older than Scott. His family died in a fire ten years ago.

Sheriff Stilinski

Stiles's dad

Scott's mom

Allison's dad

One of the hunters in the woods

Lacrosse coach

Plot

• A werewolf in the woods bites Scott. The wound heals quickly and afterward, Scott has enhanced senses (hearing Allison's heartbeat, smelling the gum in Stiles's pocket), strength (shoving Stiles against the wall), agility, and speed (scoring goals at lacrosse practice).
  
• Police are investigating what happened to the woman's body they found in the woods. Tests revealed that the hair samples on the body are from a wolf. (But there haven't been any wolves in California for decades.)
  
• Scott and Stiles see Derek in the woods, after Derek hasn't been in town for a few years.
  
• Allison accidentally hits a dog with her car and takes it to the veterinary clinic where Scott works. The dog calms down when Scott touches it, and he makes a splint for its broken leg. He asks Allison to go with him to a party on Friday night…
  
• …but Friday night is the full moon. Derek is hanging around in the background of the party, watching Scott. Scott feels sick and goes home. He transforms into a werewolf. Stiles tells him that Allison left the party with Derek, and Scott takes off, believing that Allison is in danger. Stiles goes to Allison's house and sees she's there and safe. Scott finds Derek in the woods. Hunters find them too, and one shoots an arrow into Scott's arm. Derek saves Scott, and Stiles drives Scott back home. The next day, Allison's dad picks Allison up from school, and Scott sees that her dad is one of the hunters from the night before.

Nice touches

• In Scott's English class, they're reading Kafka's Metamorphosis, which connects to Scott's transformation intoto a werewolf.
• Scott's mom says she doesn't want to end up on a reality TV show with a pregnant teen (something like 16 and Pregnant…which airs on MTV, the same network at Teen Wolf).

Stiles is not a sidekick in Teen Wolf

Even though he's set up to be just the sidekick. Take a look at the core group of characters on Teen Wolf:

Scott - the teen wolf
Stiles - Scott's best friend
Allison - Scott's girlfriend whose family hunts werewolves
Derek - another werewolf/mentor figure for Scott

Out of these four characters, Stiles is the normal one. He doesn't have superhuman abilities and people in his family do not lead double lives. Stiles is intelligent, socially awkward, and loyal. He could easily fall into a sidekick role. where he's just around to help Scott.

Stiles could be a minor, underdeveloped character, but instead he's often the one to figure out what's going on. Stiles solves problems that come up. He investigates on his own, and he calls the shots. Instead of following Scott, Stiles is equals with him.

It's good to see a show with supernatural elements that can ground itself with an ordinary, competent character.