By Taylor Plume.
I love Teen Wolf. I say this without any sarcasm or shame. It is one of my favorite TV shows, right up there with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It has that special mix of absurdist, tongue-in-cheek humor and horrible people being horrible to each other. It is blissfully self-aware of how campy it is. Teen Wolf delivers what it promises, and has been a ridiculous show since episode one. It is still a ridiculous show. It will never disappoint me by becoming something logical.
In the immortal words of Oscar the Grouch, I love it because it’s trash.
[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxgWHzMvXOY” title=”i%20love%20trash”]
But enough about me. Let’s start convincing you to join the madness:
7. You Get a Lot of Music Per Scene
As the show airs on the MTV network, it only makes sense that they’d cram in as much music as they possibly could. At first the musical interludes may seem jarring. Unnecessary, even. But over time, you grow to expect them, anticipate them, perhaps even love them.
One thing is certain. You will always be up on what sort of pop music the kids are listening to these days. Even if you are completely unhip like me and spend your days crying about 90’s grunge bands.
6. The Female Characters Occasionally Behave Like Actual People
Lydia Martin is a beautiful, ruthless queen. Upon first glance, she seems like your average bitchy ‘popular girl’ stereotype, but upon further examination, she does indeed have a soul, and is the smartest character on the show. Granted, that’s not a very high bar to meet, but still. It’s pretty awesome to have someone in high heels and bright red lipstick portrayed as a genius mathematician.
Allison Argent spends most of season one being a pathetic damsel in distress, however, come season two and three, she becomes a total, bow-wielding badass (petition for more ladies with firearms in general, but that’s besides the point). She’s not only awesome when she’s shooting things. In season two she has a stalker, and instead of treating the ordeal as ‘romantic’ the show calls it as it is—super creepy—and Allison forces the dude to fuck right off. Allison also comes into a position of power in her family, and not gonna lie, it’s satisfying to see a seventeen year old girl command a small militia. She even gets to break up with her boyfriend, and date another guy, which might not sound like a big deal, but it kinda is when the first relationship was portrayed as a Romeo and Juliet whirlwind. I think it’s important to show characters entering new, healthy relationships after breakups, instead of fixating on all that ‘one tru love’ bullshit.
Our leading ladies of later seasons are no less awesome. Kira Yukimura and Malia Tate are both creatures of the night, that could fry your brains out or rip your head off respectively, and they take exactly zero shit from anybody. They are equal parts badass and feminine in the way of Buffy. That’s a hard thing to find.
Not to mention all the beautiful side characters. Scott McCall‘s mother Melissa is a precious angel that must be protected at all costs. Kate Argent is the sort of insane, murdery psychopath you don’t often see a female character get to be. Braeden and Marin have no problem kicking tons of ass while still being human.
Basically, I want every single lady on Teen Wolf to step on my heart with their stiletto heels. But I will settle for drooling from afar.
5. It’s Not Just White Dudes
(Photographs from MTV.com).
The Main Character, Scott McCall is played by Tyler Posey, who is half mexican.
Melissa Ponzio, who plays his mother, is Sicilian and Native American.
Deaton, the vet/mentor/father figure played by Seth Gilliam, is black.
Braeden, the badass mercenary played by Meagan Tandy, is black.
Marin Morrell, the school psychiatrist and shady druid played by Bianca Lawson, is black.
Vernon Boyd, played by Sinqua Walls, is also brown and beautiful.
Danny Mahealani, the loveable goalie played by Keahu Kahuani, is Hawaiian.
Arden Cho, who plays Kira the Teen Fox, is of Korean descent.
4. There Are Actual Canon Queers
Danny, one of the above mentioned POC is also openly gay. Though there are a few jokes about his sexuality, they are all fairly tasteful. One of the running season one gags involves Stiles asking Danny if he’s attractive to gay men (and let’s be real, Stiles is the twinkiest twink). It’s more a joke at Stiles’ expense than Danny’s. All the other characters treat Danny very well. He is popular, liked, and respected. In season three he starts dating one of the other side characters, and their relationship is so adorable I can’t even. We get an actual on-screen gay kiss that’s just as steamy as all the het kisses that happen in the show.
Also, there are gems like this, where Scott and Stiles accidentally end up at a gay club while chasing the monster of the week:
[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0VkwVXOkkk”]
If that’s not great television, I don’t know what is.
3. Ian Bohen’s Twitter
I will not lie to you. I might have a slight (unhealthy) obsession with Ian Bohen and JR Bourne’s social media bromance, but that doesn’t make this twitter any less of a goldmine.
2. The Cast Members Don’t Say Horrible Things That Often
To be fair, I might not know if they are saying horrible things because I don’t read many interviews. I like to keep the characters and actors separate, and I honestly don’t care what most of the actors are doing if it isn’t related to the show. I also know that on a long enough timeline, everyone is bound to say something that will piss me off, so I’ve learned not to go looking for it. But the point is, anything racist, sexist, or homophobic that the cast members may or may not be saying is avoidable.
This is a big change from any fandom I’ve been in previously. In the Sherlock fandom, a show creator or cast member was doing something very awful, very loudly, every other week. Same with Supernatural. (Yes. I am recovering superwholock garbage. Forgive me.)
It seems, for the most part, that the people involved with Teen Wolf make an effort to be nice to their fans. It’s not on level with Hannibal, but we can’t all be Bryan Fuller. At the very least, the cast members are usually polite. And despite all the things the show itself gets wrong, it does a lot better with representation and not enforcing harmful stereotypes than most anything else with a large fandom.
1. Every Single Actor is Very Pretty and Spends a Good Portion of the Show Half-Naked
I won’t front. The main reason to watch the show is to stare at the beautiful people. I can’t make a better argument for why you should ruin your life with this trash than their stupid attractive faces and bodies.
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