Teen Wolf s1 vs s2 and some issues/themes

[meridian_rose]

So a UK channel finally aired season one again, and season two – I didn't have chance to record all the season two episodes again but I made an effort to record and watch all twelve season one episodes over the last week and a half. (Season Three, already airing in the USA, will no doubt air here soon)

I really wish season one had been repeated before season two began so I could have watched the show in order. Lots of things were mysterious to me watching season two for the first time without any backstory, like who Lydia was seeing in her visions/nightmares (Peter) and why. However, let's look at what impressions I got from season one and compare them to what I thought of season two – ie backwards! (I watched excellent Canadian drama Rookie Blue this way, season two first, and when I watched season one I was impressed by the character growth that had clearly occurred from inexperienced newbies to the more seasoned officers of the second season. However it was a less confusing experience than TW)

This is going to be quite rambling, touching on characters and themes with only minimal ordering! It started out as a season one and two comparison but moved into looking at some of the themes/ideas that stood out to me, and that I've seen significant amounts of meta about.


Characters

Scott – I liked season one Scott more than season two Scott, especially when we first met him. He didn't seem as ignorant – he could correctly use adrenaline in context. He was still naive but hilariously so:

Watch on YouTube

This changed in episode seven, which we'll come to later.

Allison – I've always rather liked Allison and I had more sympathy for her seeing as her family were doing the ridiculous "keep you in the dark about your destiny" thing. (see also Nick in Grimm, Richard in Legend of the Seeker) and it helps she wasn't turning into a 'kill them all' Kate clone as she was by the end of season two.

Stiles – I think Stiles was more immature in many respects, and the relationship between him and Scott sometimes felt more antagonistic than what I witnessed in season two. He's definitely grown as a character. I don't see as much Derek/Stiles potential in season one. Season two has less antagonism between the two, including the scene where Stiles keeps Derek from drowning, and lots of "accidental" touching and bromance. Stiles is smart, but doesn't 'apply' himself and I don't know why (his mother?) or whether that might change – he certainly does a lot of research for Scott, so maybe it's a question of needing motivation. It's not as if being intelligent would make him any more of an outsider than he is (Lydia's apparent motivation for hiding her IQ)

Derek – I found Derek more sympathetic. We get to see how he lost his family and how Kate tortured him, and that he has little reason to trust anyone. His killing of Peter, though, robbed Scott of the chance to rid himself of the curse (though there were no guarantees on that score) Derek really wanted, maybe needed, to be the next Alpha to protect himself, if I understand correctly.

Also, favourite Derek moment in season one is where Stiles is parading him in front of Danny to get computer assistance.


Of course Stiles's shirts don't fit. It's not the shirtless!Derek that makes me smile - though it's where my current TW icon comes from - it's the #DEREK DOES NOT APPROVE look on his face:



However it's been pointed out that it is a problematic scene, so I'll come to that in a minute.

Kate – If she'd kept to the code she'd have been a wonderfully kick-ass character I'd have liked to have kept around. I've seen meta suggesting that what she did to Derek was a form of rape, by entering into a sexual relationship purely to gain and then abuse his trust. I agreed with her telling Allison about the existence of werewolves and the destiny of the family however.

Peter – Obviously his identity wasn't a surprise to me coming at the seasons this way around, but it did give him some back-story that explained a few things. And it's hard to hate him when you see the flashbacks of Kate and her douchebag crew burning down the Hale house with everyone trapped inside. He wanted retribution and he got it – the worst thing he did, for me, was to kill Laura so he could be the Alpha, and his nurse who'd done nothing but help him. It's not good Alpha behaviour to turn on your pack.

Danny – he's always awesome. Season two just gave him more screen time.

Coach Finstock – great comic relief, always fun to watch.

Jackson – insufferable douchebag since the first moment we see him. Even in later season one, his concern for Allison seems borne more from a desire to date her than anything else. Not that he deserves to be dated purely for being captain of the lacrosse team – I'll look at Lydia in a moment – but still. He continues to be an insufferable bully in season two.
There's also a nasty anti-adoption streak to Jackson's story; in season one it's mentioned that he tries harder as if he has something to prove because he's adopted, and in season two Derek says Jackson doesn't have a pack – only 'real' parents count? But Lydia can save Jackson because sexual love is better than adoptive parental love. Because biology or something fucked up like that.

Lydia – I liked Lydia much less in season one. Season two has her using her intelligence to help out, and while she's 'queen bee' she's not seen to use this in a mean fashion but rather to try and protect Allison, who's getting unwanted attention due to Kate's murderous ways. Season one Lydia says she's only dating Jackson because he's the captain of the lacrosse team – it's expected of her to date the "hottest" guy.
In some ways Lydia and Stiles (also smart) are a good match – Stiles understands her in a way most people don't, seeing past the shallow exterior – but I don’t really see any genuine attraction here either.
Lydia is undeveloped, especially in season one. I'll touch more on her in the themes section but this post points out that:

Lydia is consistently short changed by the narrative in both seasons 1 and 2. She’s supposed to be a kind of queen bee character but we almost never see this demonstrated. She knows all the guys on the lacrosse team but we don’t see any of her other friends. Her friendship with Allison is the only female friendship we even see Lydia have. We don’t ever see her with other girls. Even Jackson is shown having other friendships, why don’t we get that for Lydia?

And

Then when we get to the climax of her separate storyline we don’t even see it from her perspective, we get it from Stiles. And we don’t know what happened to her after she resurrected Peter, or see her reaction to seeing Peter again in the finale. The first thing we see her doing after raising Peter from the dead is cheering at a lacrosse game, and in what world does that make sense?

Sheriff Stilinksi – he really cares about Stiles, and both seasons manage to touch on parental concern, parental frustration, and grief over the loss of his wife. Season two has the wonderful scene when he's not in the least bit concerned to find his son at a gay club, but season one has the touching tipsy!Sheriff/Stiles moment.


Melissa McCall – she always seems to be doing her best to take care of Scott and her patients. I think there's more conflict between her and Scott in second season, escalating as she gets closer to discovering the truth.

Creepy Science Teacher – (as one blog called him). Even more creepy and awful. In season two he's basically just asshole-antagonist who keeps giving Scott and/or Stiles detention.

Laura Hale – why was she fully in wolf form when exposed to the wolfsbane around her grave? Was she a good Alpha? I guess we'll never know. I'd like to see a flashback with Laura and Derek in better times.

Chris Argent – the only reasonable member of the Argent family, particularly by the end of season two. He's ridiculous to think he can have a daughter who is ignorant of the family's past and yet will grow into a leader, but at least Chris believes in the code. You don't kill werewolves for being wolves. You kill them if they start murdering humans. Kate didn't get the memo.

Victoria Argent – a character we barely see in season one and by season two she's as vicious and vindictive as Kate. She also kills herself rather than risk turning (she might have died, she could have waited to see) – no attempt to find a cure is made. If the Argents were less about murder and more about co-existence I think they could work with the wolves and the vet (Deaton) and come up with more effective weapons for rogue wolves and possible cures.

Deaton – Scott's boss, the local vet. Again, in season two, he's helping Scott with his powers and we know he is somewhat of an expert on the supernatural with his protective mountain ash counter and knowledge of herbs. I thought we'd see more of this in season one, but when Deaton is helping Isaac adjust, everything he tells Isaac apparently happened off screen – I'm thinking of the 'taking away pain' trick wolves can do. It's been said that Deaton falls into the 'magical negro' trope – arguably Scott is at least half-Latino, so it's not a true representation. I did however have to google his name, which fits the trope (often nameless character of colour who has no existence beyond helping the white male hero to fulfil his destiny, usually through enigmatic advice)

Themes/Issues

Episode Seven – "Night School"
Lots of things change here. Lydia begins to show her smarts, making a self-igniting Molotov cocktail that doesn't work because Jackson's a dumbass who gave her the wrong ingredients. After this episode Lydia sometimes acts oddly – kissing Scott – but also shows she has a better understanding of situations than she's given credit for. She knows that Scott locked them in the room to protect them. This is where, aside from her obsession with jock dating, I started to see season two Lydia emerging and like her more.

Scott called out the Alpha, with no clear idea of what to do. Furthermore when he and his friends are trapped and Stiles doesn't want his father to show up and get hurt, what does Scott do? He knows the Argents are hunters and that Allison knows her father has guns. Does he get Allison to phone her gun nut dad who'd happily hunt down the Alpha? No. He blames Derek. Yes, he thinks Derek is dead, but dude, that is the stupidest decision of all time and does nothing to help you survive. This is the moment I start disliking Scott more than I like him.

This is a failing of Scott's throughout season two. He makes decisions without thinking, he doesn't take advice from those smarter or more experienced than him, and he doesn't act for the good of everyone – in fact he often puts people in danger. Derek almost drowns because Scott can't spare two seconds to answer his phone during dinner with the Argents. And people die. From the meta "Why is Derek an anti-hero?":

Scott makes much stupider decisions, with far worse outcomes, and the text continues to take his side, and position us to do so too. For example, the kanima. Protecting Jackson from the pack once it's clear he's the kanima, without actually successfully helping him or stopping him some other way, means that Scott, Stiles and Allison become a key part of the causal chain in all the following deaths. No, they didn't cause those deaths; yes, they bear some ethical responsibility for them. However, the text seems to endorse the idea that Scott is ethical and heroic for wanting to save Jackson, despite the consequences -- it gives space to his reasons, hopes, and reactions.
Derek? Does not share this particular slice of responsibility for the kanima's murders. But we also don't find out much else about what he thinks -- how does he feel, knowing his bite did this to Jackson?
This isn't to say Derek is all sunshine and flowers. His plan to find the kanima and kill it was flawed and unethical, especially given Derek's bite caused Jackson's change. Derek had a responsibility to act, yes, but going straight to killing was a poor choice. However, if he'd been successful in his chosen course, many fewer people would have died.
Both Scott and Derek chose poorly, but Scott's decision resulted in a massacre. The text, however, focuses on Scott's positives and Derek's negatives.

Which is pretty much how I feel. Scott doesn't seem to plan, he wants to be in charge but he doesn't want to take responsibility, and this would be excusable if he listened to Derek, to Stiles, to Deaton. But he seems to want to make all the decisions for himself.

Consent Issues

There's plenty of meta regarding Kate/Derek and how she sexually manipulated him. Furthermore, remember that scene I mentioned where Stiles "pimps" Derek out to Danny? Later, Derek bangs Stiles's head on the steering wheel of the car as payback.

Again, this happens before we're aware of the backstory with Kate, but in hindsight we know that Derek has been exploited sexually, that it had terrible consequences for him, and in a later episode he is canonically sexually assaulted.
Let's agree that Derek's violence against Stiles was problematic. Surely, however, Stiles exploitation of Derek's sexuality, when Stiles was in a position of power over him, is equally problematic?

I imagine the sexual assault is both in the past with Kate and that mentioned here:

In a confrontation at the remains of his house, [Kate] says that she doesn’t know whether or not to kill him or lick him. The whole time, Derek, who can hardly move due to being electrocuted, is trying to crawl away from her in terror. He cannot fight back against her because of how broken she made him. Knowing their history puts that scene into a whole new creepy light…The way she talks to him is still very sexual, and she actually does lick his stomach.

There's also a long, illustrated film theory meta that deconstructs the season two finale and how Scott abuses Derek to get his own way using both the dialogue and the choice of framing to show power dynamics.

Basically, that feeling that Scott is an asshole to Derek is designed to be induced in the audience, proven not simply by the acting reactions (which can be argued over), but by the consistent choices in camerawork and editing. You’re supposed to feel that Scott is an asshole— but you’re also supposed to see that he has heroic moments.

This is further explored here:

At the end of 2x12 Scott completely dehumanizes Derek (already an abuse victim still dealing with said abuse), using him as a tool for his own plan without Derek’s consent or informing Derek of the plan at all. The camera framing/lighting enhances this vibe on purpose to create sympathy for Derek and put Scott in the wrong along with Gerard, regardless of the eventual outcome of “saving the day” (aka Allison). This disturbing situation is made worse by Scott having joined Derek’s pack to spy on Derek for Gerard and then stabbing him in the back again by saying Derek isn’t his alpha.

In the second season, Matt stalks Allison which is considered creepy and wrong, so that's something. But there's lots of meta out there looking at how many interactions between any two characters hinge on the power dynamic between stronger and weaker, and how often that power is abused.

Women in Power
Overall the women of Teen Wolf are strong, complex characters on par with the male ones. But does this really go far enough? Do we really see women being in charge of anything?

Laura was the Alpha for a while, but we have no evidence of how good or bad she was at this.

The Argent women…in season two we're told the women are the leaders. If that's the case then (a) husband of female Argents would take her surname to preserve the linage and name. Not proven. (b) women would be groomed for power from an early age, not kept in the dark about their great destiny. Not happening. (c) women would make all the major decisions. Mommy!Argent stood around spouting anti-werewolf propaganda and baking cookies in season one and sacrificing herself in season two.

As one meta suggested, this late addition to the Argent mythology doesn't fit with what we've seen and doesn't happen in season two either. Allison isn't in charge. She's emotionally broken and manipulated into ordering what Grandfather!Argent wants. Honestly, the best Argent of the bunch is Daddy!Argent, who is the only one who seems to give a damn about the code, willing to shoot Kate if necessary to uphold it.

With the exception of Allison, every female hunter is extremely violent and aggressive, while Chris Argent, our main male hunter, is sensible and generally stays pretty peaceful. Kate, however, is downright ruthless enough to kill a house full of people, Victoria tries to kill Scott and often acts more violent than her husband, and even Allison as we already discussed is prone to violence. Her heartless treatment of Boyd and Erica surprises even her father. There is another issue, however, with the hunters’ progressive tradition of letting women lead: it never actually happens. When Kate shows up, she is ordered around by Chris, Victoria never takes on a leadership role, and there are only a few times Allison really calls the shots. She mostly follows the orders of Gerard. The ladies never actually run anything.

And this:

When the big reveal finally happens, Papa Argent tells Allison that she’s in luck! Even though they’ve been hiding this whole hunter thing from her, she’s going to get to be gr8 anyway. Because - as he intones - the men in the Argent family are trained to be soldiers, but the women are trained to be LEADERS.
Seems a little contradictory to say Allison gets to be a leader, though, if she has no choice in whether she wants to hunt werewolves or not. That’s like saying you have to eat pizza always, but hey, you can choose the toppings.

And this:

Either Jeff Davis is full of shit when he says that the women lead among hunters (possible) or he’s showing how women who have power in male-centric environments have to adapt to their situation in order to be taken seriously and not tossed on their ass. And that maybe they are given that power, and are only allowed to keep it so that the men have plausible deniability or whatever.
Even Chris’ “training" of Allison feels more like brainwashing or indoctrination: isolate her, put her off-balance, give her the perspective you want her to adopt, then give her lots of time to indoctrinate herself while escaping, supposedly through her own power thus giving her the illusion of agency and choice (bullshit; Chris GAVE her that knife). He doesn’t let her sit in on meetings with Gerard or other hunters.. the way she’d actually learn about strategy and leadership.

Also, note what happens when women are calling the shots – Kate's rampage against all wolves. Showing women in power? You're doing it wrong.

Lydia - is the queen bee type, or so we're told. Yet we never see her using her authority. She spends most of season one dumbing down her abilities to maintain her social position – yet where are her friends? She pretty much just hangs out with Allison and Jackson.

Lydia, a smart, sassy girl whose boyfriend Jackson is so emotionally distant he’s basically a shell. Lydia is, to me, the most wasted character on the show. She has the potential to be truly interesting, with a feisty exterior that masks her constantly whirring mind, but nobody ever seems to want to let Lydia in on the joke. While the super slow-on-the-uptake Scott and the hapless Derek fumble around trying to solve their supernatural mysteries, Lydia is left inexplicably in the dark.

Unanswered questions

I thought I'd get a much better handle on the mythology once I'd seen season one, but there are a lot of things still left unclear. The Alpha ideal seems to keep shifting in meaning. The wolfsbane seems to do whatever each writer wants it to. Why was Laura's body a full wolf rather than the werewolf hybrid normally seen? Why are some people, like Derek, born wolves? And are they more powerful than 'made' wolves? Can Derek turn into a full wolf like Laura? So many things that we don't know.

There are things TW does well – inclusion of gay characters, for example – and things it doesn't do well. That's not to say I don't enjoy the show! This is just a look at some of the things that frustrate me or make me think more about the show beyond the supernatural aspects and shirtless scenes.

Sources

Teen Wolf Meta – Why Derek is an Anti-hero http://cupidsbow.dreamwidth.org/389789.html

Teen Wolf and Feminism Part 2: Allison and Lydia are BAMFs
http://ladygeekgirl.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/teen-wolf-and-feminism-part-2-allison-lydia-rape-culture-and-the-female-gaze/

Teen Wolf and Feminism Part 3: Rape Culture and the Female Gaze
http://ladygeekgirl.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/teen-wolf-and-feminism-part-3-rape-culture-and-the-female-gaze/

On Teen Wolf: the Feral vs. the Feminine
http://thestrangestofplaces.tumblr.com/post/29519867255/on-teen-wolf-the-feral-vs-the-feminine

Women & Issues on Consent in Teen Wolf: A Response
http://sordidcrayons.tumblr.com/post/43880426418/women-issues-on-consent-in-teen-wolf-a-response/mobile

Lydia Martin in Teen Wolf
http://teenwolfmeta.tumblr.com/post/29860223730/lydia-martin-in-teen-wolf

epic meta reaction post: with visual and film theory
http://ladyw1nter.tumblr.com/post/43870234216/epic-meta-reaction-post-with-visual-and-film-theory/mobile

Derek’s change in demeanor and emotional health from 2x12 to 3x01
http://teenwolfmeta.tumblr.com/post/52402637407/dereks-change-in-demeanor-and-emotional-health-from/mobile

Teen Wolf Where did you get yout[sic] juice
http://youtu.be/bqD0SoaJ3tU

Teen Wolf → 8 Gifs Per Episode. S01xE09, Wolf’s Bane.
http://stilessderek.tumblr.com/post/27920073011/teen-wolf-8-gifs-per-episode-s01xe09-wolfs

Teen Wolf screencaps
http://www.homeofthenutty.com/teenwolf/screencaps/