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Teen Wolf (or, "I Finally Found Out What Fandom's Up To These Days")
I wanted some crack, and I heard Teen Wolf was good for that. So I watched both season in under a week.
Scott
I like:
1) His face. Sometimes this actor is really endearing, but sometimes Scott is unbearably annoying. I can't figure out how much the actor contributes to this.
2) "How can I think about a stupid game [when there's all this other stuff going on]" is a vast improvement on the first season sentiments of this character. While I don't really care about this character, I'm interested in the arc from self-involved teen to selfless hero.
I dislike:
1) Almost everything about him in the first season.
2) I mean, how many times does he put people at risk while he's thinking only of his girlfriend? Sometimes she's actually in trouble, but other times he risks people's lives just because he doesn't want her to lose interest in him. And even when she is in trouble, sometimes lots of other people are too, but she seems to be the only one that matters. This is not problematized.
3) His stalkery behavior is also not problematized. And Matt's, in the second season, is. IT'S ONLY ALRIGHT IF HE FOLLOWS YOU AND WATCHES YOU AS YOU SLEEP ALONG IN BED IF HE'S YOUR BOYFRIEND.
4) How he treats Stiles. Sidekicks don't often get great treatment from heroes, but at least you can usually understand it's because the hero does a lot of heavy lifting. Especially in the first season, Stiles does a helluva lot of heavy lifting, which Scott doesn't even seem to notice or appreciate. It's better in the second season because Scott does more, but he still never says, "Gee, thanks for putting your life constantly in danger."
Allison
I like:
1) Her face. And I think the actress is fine, though she pouts too much. By which I mean all the time.
2) That she didn't know what she was good at.
3) "I don't want to be that girl." She wants to be strong; she doesn't feel she is; she understands there are gender stereotypes and she doesn't like feeling as though she contributes to them. I'm interested in this; I like to write about girls who deal with this; I feel like I rarely see this meta aspect of girl power addressed in text.
4) If she and Scott have a baby, the baby will look like Niobe from Rome.
+ 
= 
I dislike:
1) "I don't want to be that girl" juxtaposed against the broader context of how the show handles feminism. Due to the feminist!fail elsewhere, these moments can easily be read as validating the stereotype. It suggests "those girls" exist, that girls act that way and not boys, that they act that way because they are girls, etc.
2) Her constant obsession with Scott.
3) Her turn-around at the end of season 2 wasn't really believable to me. I understand that her mom died, but I didn't get to see enough of what Allison was really thinking to believe her actions.
Stiles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111!111one111!!!
I like:
1) Everything.
I dislike:
1) Nothing.
Okay, but seriously. Seriously? This character is perfect. I used to think I must just not care that much for side-kicks--partly because Xander just doesn't interest me at all, but Stiles. Stiles! (And Sokka. He and Sokka should hang out and shop or something.)
I like:
1) His mouth.
2) It's always hanging open.
3) Or he's shoving food into it.
4) Or stupid things are coming out of it.
5) And he's all hyper-active.
6) These things remind me SO MUCH of people I knew in high school. With the hyper and crazy and really freakin' annoying, but also nice and loyal and brave and really smart. One of my brother's bff's in highschool was like that and we were pretty good friends. He was insane, and nothing like Stiles, and yet all of these things just feel so realistic.
7) Also Stiles's hair is realistic for a high school kid. Though I wonder what it looks like if he lets it grow out.
8) HE'S SO CUTE.
9) His eyes!
10) AND HIS DAD. OMG his dad. Guys, where is all the Stiles-and-his-dad gen?
11) AND HIS MOM.
12) I just love how worried he gets about his dad and how he wants to protect him and keep him safe and make him proud and happy. There are so many dadddy issues; I love it, but he also has a good relationship with his dad and I just. Have so many feelings.
13) And how he worries about his dad having to raise him alone and worries about his dad being lonely.
14) Like that time his dad said he missed Stiles's mom and how Stiles got all teary-eyed.
15) And that other time when Stiles was hallucinating by the pool and imagined his dad saying all those awful things about blaming Stiles for her death and having to raise him and him being crazy and hyper like Stiles knew he was and that he's annoying little shit and he doesn't know how to stop.
16) Except Stiles isn't really an annoying shit.
17) And his undying idiotic passion for Lydia!
18) And his utter devotion to Scott. That guy would do anything for Scott, seriously.
19) And his terror of Derek.
20) But Stiles always wants to do the right thing.
21) Except when he loses his shit and starts rambling. (Wow, I really love him. And really want him to hang out with Sokka.)
22) And I love how he wants Scott and Allison to be together, not because IT'S SO RIGHT OMG but because it makes Scott happy.
23) This actor is AWESOME.
24) I love how smart Stiles is!
25) And how he knows Lydia is smart.
26) I love how he reads bi.
27) I hope they go there, because it could be totally believable. And while the treatment of homosexuality on the show isn't perfect, it's a lot better than most shows of this nature I've seen.
I dislike:
1) The idea that they won't make him bi. COME ON LET US HAVE A BISEXUAL MALE CHARACTER.
Derek
I like:
1) His scenes with Stiles.
2) His complete failure to put a pack together and make them follow him. His guilt over this.
3) His familial angst, including his guilt that he couldn't protect them.
4) His guilt and feelings of responsibility toward Jackson.
5) He's just a failure in general.
6) Also he's not that bright.
7) He looks like a cross between R Pattz and Rufus Sewell.
+ 
= 
I dislike:
1) He's boring.
2) Seriously, what does he do with his free time? The only thing I've seen is chin-ups.
3) He doesn't appear to have a sense of humor. Derek is pretty funny when you put him together with Stiles, but it's not because Derek is all, "I'm gonna crack a joke now!" Stiles is funny and then the writers are funny at the expense of Stiles, but Derek himself never appears to willingly bring levity to a situation.
4) Everything I dislike about Derek are all things people say of Angel, but to me the characters are completely different in essentials. We enter Angel's story at a point when he wants to make a difference in the world. We enter Derek's story at a point when he wants revenge. I find revenge far less interesting (I know other people don't share this view). It sort of turns me off. As does Derek.
5) I feel like Derek's intentions and motivations are unclear to the viewer, to the extent that I feel like the writers haven't decided who he really is yet. This was a problem with Angel in S1 of BtVS, but by S2 of BtVS, they've decided. In S2 of TW, I'm even more confused about what Derek wants, what his goals in life are. I just don't understand why he does the things he does. I love this sort of dark, broody, guilty, sometimes questionable, sometimes violent character, but I have to understand what he's thinking, or else he just kind of meh.
6) Derek seems kind of meh.
7) Not terribly impressed with the actor. He constantly looks like he swallowed a fart.
Lydia
I like:
1) Her face. I feel like I'm watching a cartoon character. I think she's great for this role.
2) How smart she is.
3) Her myriad of masks and shields and shells she uses to face the world.
4) The way she uses Jackson for her own social status, but really has feelings for him at the same time.
I dislike:
1) How they tell us she's smart, but when they try to show her actual smarts, it . . . doesn't sound smart. The part where Lydia explained vertigo using an elevated vocabulary didn't have anything to do with what was going on. They were trying to remind us she's a genius, but it didn't come off right.
2) If she's so smart, how come she didn't figure out what was going on?
3) Her arc in season 2. I loved her going crazy, but I didn't like how this made Miss Smart Girl Popular into the victim for a whole season solid.
4) I also don't really enjoy her "immunity". I can't think of why the writers wouldn't make her a werewolf, other than the fact that she would obviously kick everyone's ass, and they wanted to keep the fights strictly between the boys.
Jackson
I like:
1) His face. He had to simper a whole lot in S2, but I think this actor does a great job of being a jackass and then turning around and making you feel sorry for him, and sometimes feel sorry for him while he's being a jackass, which I think is difficult.
2) ALL THE ISSUES.
3) Such as his being an orphan.
4) And needing to prove himself. Especially those scenes with him at night trying to hit the ball into the goal or whatever. Cheap, but effective.
5) And wanting to turn into a werewolf so he can finally be the "best".
6) And being such an arrogant asshole that he's gonna tape himself changing.
7) Being so, so disappointed when he doesn't change.
8) His hair sticks up like Angel's.
hair = 
hair
I dislike:
1) The handling of him being an orphan. At one point, I think it was Peter who had Derek figure out that "orphans don't have packs." Uh. Excuse me? Jackson has two parents who appear to care about him very, very much. I can understand if Jackson feels alone; I can understand him not taking the news that he is an orphan very well; I can understand him feeling like he's not connected to anything, that he has to constantly prove himself because he thinks he doesn't have "real" parents or family. Know why I can understand that? BECAUSE THE FUCKING MEDIA KEEPS TELLING ORPHANS THAT ADOPTED FAMILY ISN'T REAL FAMILY. STFU.
2) His arc in season 2. Jackson getting what he wanted but not in the way he wanted it could have been interesting. But the idea that he becomes a snake because he was a snake inside? Seriously? What, does that mean all the werewolves who are wolves are just great people?
3) I also like the idea of Jackson wanting/needing a master, and that manifesting in his other form. It plays into Jackson's family issues and needing to prove himself. However, the handling of him being an orphan made all of this read wrong for me.
4) I guess there was something about the snake-man plot that felt like some kind of sick revenge fantasy, where the jock bully from highschool who controlled you is finally your bitch.
5) Also I didn't really get his break-up with Lydia. I thought I got it: he had always known she was just using him socially; he knew it was false, but felt like he needed her in order to be Prom King or whatever. When he thought he got changed into a werewolf, he thought he finally didn't need her. But later, it turns out it wasn't false; they weren't just using each other. I guess I would have liked to have seen more of a lead up to their kiss when he asks her for the key, or more aftermath--him dealing with his realization that he loves her, he needs her, he's vulnerable to her, etc.
6) His friendship with Allison. I really believed he cared about her, but then they made it seem like he was just using Allison to get to Scott. This would have been okay if they had just decided he was evil.
7) But they didn't decide he was evil. This is my main problem with this character. I feel like they wanted him to be complex: he's a bully because he's also secretly vulnerable; he's cruel and arrogant because he has confidence issues. At some points this was really well done. At other points, I feel like the writers just couldn't decide whether they wanted us to hate him or have sympathy for him. We really should have felt both at the same time, and sometimes I did, but other times as a viewer I just felt jerked around. I would have appreciated a more balanced and even-handed treatment.
The Argents
1) I found the actress who played Allison's mother lacking. I feel like they tried to make her creepy, and she tried to be creepy, and she just came off like the poor man's Annette Bening.
or 
2) I don't understand why Allison's mom had to kill herself. Isn't the "code" a werewolf has to be old enough and hurt someone in order to fall under the Argents' death sentence? I don't know; I don't feel like this was handled well at all.
3) Gerard seems kind of one-dimensional and therefore uninteresting. On the other hand, he's Saul Motherfuckin' Tigh, who is always interesting.
4) I'm interested in Allison's dad, and I like the actor. However, like Jackson (and to some extent Derek), I feel like his character get jerked around by whatever the writers/plot dictate for a given episode. Sometimes he's sympathetic; sometimes he's an incomprehensible jerk. I'd be alright with all these characters being changeable if I felt like there was some internal consistency, but there's not.
5) Kate was pretty one-dimensional and uninteresting. Also her going on and on about all the hot guys Allison should get was kind of creepy. Derek/Kate could have been interesting. And wasn't. Why was that even in there?
6) The thing I dislike most about the Argents is the whole, "women run the show" deal. I feel like it's an attempt by the show to give females some empowerment, and that's exactly what it is--a "gift". In this text, women don't have the strength and leadership skills to earn a place as leader; they are given a place because of male guilt, because men start wars and women--what, women are arbiters of peace? Women are angels? They are men's "better halves"? If this tradition was around because Argent women just had a habit of kicking ass, I'd be all over it.
7) Well, I still wouldn't be all over it if the idea is we're gonna give a 17-year-old the power, have her manipulated by her grandpa into being crazy and an awful leader, thereby proving Allison is an impressionable incompetent young thing who shouldn't be leading anything at all. If you wanna do female empowerment, have Allison step up and take power, even if she's doing the wrong thing. She can do this without the stupid tradition and without Grandfather fucking with her brain. If you want Grandfather to fuck with her brain, that's just fine, but don't act like that's empowerment either.
The Pack
1) Isaac's backstory makes him interesting to me, but I'd like to see more of an explanation for why he acts the way he does once he becomes a werewolves. Plenty of abused children become bullies, but I wanted to see how what happened to him influenced what he became. Instead I feel like the abuse is just kind of this exploitive thing, as though to gain our sympathy so he can do what he wants.
2) I also felt like Erica's epilepsy was exploitive. Not the fact of her epilepsy--how it was handled.
3) I actually really like the idea of Derek taking these "maladjusted teens" (as I believe Peter calls them) and giving them this chance. I like that it doesn't work out like Derek wants it to or like he expects, that they're more fucked up than he realizes and that that fucked-upedness doesn't go away. But I feel like their personal stories aren't handled with enough care to show why Isaac and Erica act like they do once they get turned, and that Derek's motivations aren't explored well enough to show why he did what he did, or that he failed.
4) Erica's transformation was very She's All That. Just like She's All That, Erica was not at all unpretty before she was bitten. I felt like they were trying to make her unpretty.
5) I don't get why she started curling and blow-drying her hair and started wearing tight clothes just because she got bitten. I feel like confidence will do wonders for you, but this circles back to the epilepsy thing. If she didn't wanna wear tight clothes and short short skirts and curl her hair and wear make-up just because she had epilepsy--let's talk about that and what it means. Instead I feel like this was all just a cheap thrill.
6) I mean, why does Erica decide sex is her weapon? None of the others do.
7) Erica's face kind of reminds me of Eliza Dushku.
8) I don't really understand Erica's motivations at all.
9) Boyd is my favorite, because of what he said about wanting to be like Scott. Scott thought he was trying to "save" Boyd at the time, so I read it as Boyd seeing Scott as someone who used his powers for good. I really liked the idea of Isaac and Erica having these painful reasons for wanting to be turned, but Boyd having a noble reason.
10) So why the fuck is it Isaac, then, who turns to Scott in the end? Why is it Isaac who wants to follow Scott because "you always seem to try to do the right thing," or whatever it is Isaac says to Scott? I'm okay if Isaac gets a redemptive arc after being kind of a jerky werewolf, but I wanna connect the dots--why did Isaac go from wanting to be a badass to wanting to do "the right thing," and why did Boyd appear to forget about it altogether?
11) I don't understand the plots where Peter is concerned. What happened to him when he got burned? He was slowly healing for 6 years, okay. But Derek knew he was still a werewolf--what did Derek think was happening with Peter? What did he think happened to Peter on full moons?
12) I also dislike the horror with which Peter's wounds were treated by the text. I get if Peter is horrified by what happened to him, but there was this big "dun dun dun" moment in the text when we first find out Peter has been disfigured and--no. Just, no. Some people have huge scars on their faces. It can be terrible, yes, but it doesn't mean they've been forever ruined. It's the fact that he was unable to live his life that was awful.
13) And I still don't get how Peter healed himself.
14) Or how he came back to life.
15) I also don't get Peter's motivations for seeming to help out Derek at the end of S2. Derek killed him. Isn't he angry about that?
16) That said, I like the actor who plays Peter. I think it helps to have an older, more experienced werewolf balance out the pack. However, character-wise, it makes absolutely no sense that that should be Peter.
Other characters
1) Stiles's dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111111111111111oneeveleventy111eleven11!1
2) Wow, this show hates high school teachers.
3) I'm interested in the guidance counselor.
4) Stiles's dad!!!!!!!1
5) That's a legit one in 4). I LOVE HIM THAT MUCH. ALMOST AS MUCH AS STILES.
6) Okay, I'm not a super huge fan of the coach, but I loved him giving the Independence Day speech right before the big game. That speech made a big impression on me when I was 13 and I recognized it right away.
7) Matt could have been interesting. Too bad he wasn't.
8) Carver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1one1111!!!!!one!11 from The Wire. Is the veterinarian. I'm so happy to see him again, and he's still awesome. And I like this character.
13) Scott's mom doesn't seem all that bright or helpful.
14) I like Danny. I feel like, as part of Jackson's clique, he can come off kind of like the douchey jock, but when you deal with him on an individual level he's just really nice and good-old-guy.
15) Stiles's dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Race
1) Out of the three new werewolves, Boyd really got shafted. Both in his origin story, and with what happens with Isaac at the end. I felt like Isaac really took the actions that were most logically Boyd's, in the end. I'm putting this in the "race" subheading because this is a really white show, and it's sort of upsetting that one of the only characters of color gets shafted this way.
2) Dr. Deaton (I guess he has a name. Just no first name) reads as "the mysterious mystic." I have a problem with this, especially since before Boyd, he appeared to be the only regular character of color. And then Boyd showed up, and he's not handled well either.
3) Not that Dr. Deaton and Boyd are the only actors of color. There's Tyler Posey, whose mother (Wikipedia tells me) is of Mexican descent. The actress who plays his mom (according to imdb) is of Native American, Sicilian, and French descent. There are plenty of people of Mexican descent (Posey included, obviously) who don't have obviously Latino surnames, who don't speak Spanish, who don't participate in culturally Mexican holidays etc. However, I do feel that casting the lead as someone of mixed race presented a rare opportunity that the show missed. They didn't have to make a big deal of his race; just suggest that he is, in fact, Latino. Instead I feel like they white-washed Scott McCall.
Sexuality
1) Overall, I'm really pleased with the treatment of Danny. I like how his sexuality seems accepted by everyone. I love how Jackson is many things, but not a bigot, and that he's bff with Danny. I loved the suggestion that Jackson and Danny had discussed Danny's sexuality, and it's not an issue for them. (When Danny says, "I told you you're not my type.") I liked how Danny brought a boy to the dance, and how we see a little more of his relationship status at the gay club.
2) I disliked when Scott danced with Danny to avoid reprimand from the coach. Yes, in some schools, being accused of gay-bashing will totally get you in trouble, but in many schools, being accused of being gay will get you in even more trouble. I feel like what the show did plays into an argument that a lot of bigots make: that minorities can get away with anything, because if you say a word against them, you might be accused of prejudice. Because Scott isn't gay, and because he does "get away" with something by "acting gay," I feel like this incident just builds the opposing argument. The show doesn't need to show us gay-bashing so that we can understand what being gay can be like--I think the viewers already understand that. But a show who shows gay people being treated just like any other human beings might be nice.
3) The show has made some rather obvious suggestions that Stiles could be bisexual. These can easily be read as a completely heterosexual guy just being hilarious, because for some reason people find straight guys worrying about whether they're hot to gay guys really funny. I think it is perfectly normal for a heterosexual male, but I don't find it that hilarious. I see it as evidence that sexuality is fluid. I don't mean wondering about whether the same sex finds you attractive automatically means you're bi; I mean that sexual feelings are complicated, and trying to shove them into a binary or even three slots isn't necessarily useful.
4) Furthermore, Stiles-acting-sorta-gay is a little bit more persistent (and insistent) than this sort of treatment is in some other shows. Partly it's the actor: falling out of the chair, and he looks genuinely concerned about whether he's attractive to gay men. Partly it's that it just keeps coming up.
5) But also I heard that the creator guy is not unwilling to make Stiles bi, which excites me.
Shipping
1) Scott/Allison - boring. Does anyone even bother shipping this?
2) Lydia/Jackson - I still don't really get why he broke up with her. I like they're perfect-on-the-outside/damaged-on-the-inside vibes, and the way that makes them work with each other and be bad for each other at the same time. I sort of wish they could each be with someone healthier, but that would probably destroy them.
3) Stiles/Lydia - I really only like Stiles's hopeless devotion. I feel like Lydia would have to change a lot for this to be at all satisfying for Stiles.
4) Derek/Scott - I feel like this is the most obvious slash pairing. Too bad they're both so uninteresting.
5) Scott/Stiles - This feels like an obvious slash pairing too, but it's sort of like Harry/Hermione. They're bff's, and I really like that dynamic. Plus, Scott being so attached to Allison means you have to deal with plot stuff.
6) Derek/Stiles - I actually totally get why everyone ships this. For one thing, they're the only two main characters without obvious pairings, unless you count Stiles/Lydia, and Lydia has another obvious pairing which she seems more invested in. For another thing, their scenes together are great.
The sad part about this is I just don't find Derek interesting. That said, Derek is sort of a cipher. While his outward personality is pretty well-established, what he actually thinks and feels still seem really unclear, which means you can make him anything you want. In a way, he actually reminds me of Draco Malfoy: he has some really compelling characteristics that make no sense on the page; he's full of fail, and no one likes him. His personality is obviously different than Draco's, but the fact that he's sort of a moody, bitchy dude, whom you can mold to be anyone you please, is just like Draco.
Also, this is one of the few pairings that fandom adores that I would actually love to see become canon. So many pairings (slash, het, and femslash) that I love to read or write about, I don't actually want to see become canon. So often I love the impossible aspects or the family vibes; I write/read fic because I want to explore things latent in the text. If they were blatant in the text, I wouldn't want the fic. And in other cases, the ship just doesn't fit the plot or characters-as-they-are-in-canon, and I don't want it to. But I think Sterek is perfectly plausible for both Stiles and Derek, and as a secondary ship on the show. Man, they should go for it.
That said, it's a lot lot lot more important to me that they make Stiles bi and address it; I don't want that for a shipping agenda. I care about Stiles SOOOOOOOOOOOO much more than Sterek.
7) Stiles/Erica - Okay, I was happy when she said she liked him. I just--Stiles is so attractive! I want the show to realize that and acknowledge it, and I also want him to understand that; I want him to feel wanted, and like he's special. Especially because he's not super mopey as the "unspecial" sidekick. But I also liked how it showed that Stiles isn't the most thoughtful person; he ignored her before she gota good bra bitten. Of course, he probably ignored her because she lacked the self-confidence to talk to anyone or ever approach him, so you can't really blame Stiles. But he's not exactly a font of sensitivity, which I think is great. He's so loyal and loving that it's nice to see his flaws as well. I'm interested in this ship, and would like to see it go somewhere, but I'm more concerned with getting a positive portrayal of a bisexual dude discovering he's bisexual, so it's not at the top of my list.
8) Stiles's dad/Scott's mom - Am I the only one? And is it wrong to want it just because they're both single parents and their kids are BFF?
Plot
1) THE MATT PLOT WAS STUPID. I feel like they really didn't know what they were doing, or how to pull all the threads together. What happened to Matt (being nearly drowned) felt like something they pulled out of their asses.
2) On that note, plotting felt much tighter in season 1.
3) I feel like there are a lot of plot holes in this show.
Look and feel
1) This show is very pretty. All the people are beautiful. Sometimes I feel like shows think everyone is beautiful, and instead all the actors looks like cardboard cut-out ideas of beauty--buff and slick and shadowed in all the right places, but really fake as well. But on this show, I feel like people are really beautiful, but it's also really real. Jackson has freckles. Stiles has moles. Allison can have wispy hair. They're still super models, which isn't realistic, but they're nice to look at.
2) Overall I'm happy with cinematography. It's bright and clean and colorful. I'm tired of shows that are all gray. (SPN has a perfectly good excuse for being gray! It just makes me tired.)
3) The werewolf CGI is atrocious, but I've never seen good werewolf CGI, and I'm really happy with wolf!face.
4) I hate the music. All of it.
Lacrosse
I love that the sport of choice is lacrosse, but I also don't love it. To me, there are three stereotypes about lacrosse: 1) dorky, 2) rich, 3) white. I love that the dorky sport gets center stage, because it isn't always football or basketball that's The Big Thing at a highschool. I don't like the rich and white part, because the show itself is rich and white.
In summation
I love Stiles. I could pretty much take or leave the rest.
Scott
I like:
1) His face. Sometimes this actor is really endearing, but sometimes Scott is unbearably annoying. I can't figure out how much the actor contributes to this.
2) "How can I think about a stupid game [when there's all this other stuff going on]" is a vast improvement on the first season sentiments of this character. While I don't really care about this character, I'm interested in the arc from self-involved teen to selfless hero.
I dislike:
1) Almost everything about him in the first season.
2) I mean, how many times does he put people at risk while he's thinking only of his girlfriend? Sometimes she's actually in trouble, but other times he risks people's lives just because he doesn't want her to lose interest in him. And even when she is in trouble, sometimes lots of other people are too, but she seems to be the only one that matters. This is not problematized.
3) His stalkery behavior is also not problematized. And Matt's, in the second season, is. IT'S ONLY ALRIGHT IF HE FOLLOWS YOU AND WATCHES YOU AS YOU SLEEP ALONG IN BED IF HE'S YOUR BOYFRIEND.
4) How he treats Stiles. Sidekicks don't often get great treatment from heroes, but at least you can usually understand it's because the hero does a lot of heavy lifting. Especially in the first season, Stiles does a helluva lot of heavy lifting, which Scott doesn't even seem to notice or appreciate. It's better in the second season because Scott does more, but he still never says, "Gee, thanks for putting your life constantly in danger."
Allison
I like:
1) Her face. And I think the actress is fine, though she pouts too much. By which I mean all the time.
2) That she didn't know what she was good at.
3) "I don't want to be that girl." She wants to be strong; she doesn't feel she is; she understands there are gender stereotypes and she doesn't like feeling as though she contributes to them. I'm interested in this; I like to write about girls who deal with this; I feel like I rarely see this meta aspect of girl power addressed in text.
4) If she and Scott have a baby, the baby will look like Niobe from Rome.
+ = I dislike:
1) "I don't want to be that girl" juxtaposed against the broader context of how the show handles feminism. Due to the feminist!fail elsewhere, these moments can easily be read as validating the stereotype. It suggests "those girls" exist, that girls act that way and not boys, that they act that way because they are girls, etc.
2) Her constant obsession with Scott.
3) Her turn-around at the end of season 2 wasn't really believable to me. I understand that her mom died, but I didn't get to see enough of what Allison was really thinking to believe her actions.
Stiles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111!111one111!!!
I like:
1) Everything.
I dislike:
1) Nothing.
Okay, but seriously. Seriously? This character is perfect. I used to think I must just not care that much for side-kicks--partly because Xander just doesn't interest me at all, but Stiles. Stiles! (And Sokka. He and Sokka should hang out and shop or something.)
I like:
1) His mouth.
2) It's always hanging open.
3) Or he's shoving food into it.
4) Or stupid things are coming out of it.
5) And he's all hyper-active.
6) These things remind me SO MUCH of people I knew in high school. With the hyper and crazy and really freakin' annoying, but also nice and loyal and brave and really smart. One of my brother's bff's in highschool was like that and we were pretty good friends. He was insane, and nothing like Stiles, and yet all of these things just feel so realistic.
7) Also Stiles's hair is realistic for a high school kid. Though I wonder what it looks like if he lets it grow out.
8) HE'S SO CUTE.
9) His eyes!
10) AND HIS DAD. OMG his dad. Guys, where is all the Stiles-and-his-dad gen?
11) AND HIS MOM.
12) I just love how worried he gets about his dad and how he wants to protect him and keep him safe and make him proud and happy. There are so many dadddy issues; I love it, but he also has a good relationship with his dad and I just. Have so many feelings.
13) And how he worries about his dad having to raise him alone and worries about his dad being lonely.
14) Like that time his dad said he missed Stiles's mom and how Stiles got all teary-eyed.
15) And that other time when Stiles was hallucinating by the pool and imagined his dad saying all those awful things about blaming Stiles for her death and having to raise him and him being crazy and hyper like Stiles knew he was and that he's annoying little shit and he doesn't know how to stop.
16) Except Stiles isn't really an annoying shit.
17) And his undying idiotic passion for Lydia!
18) And his utter devotion to Scott. That guy would do anything for Scott, seriously.
19) And his terror of Derek.
20) But Stiles always wants to do the right thing.
21) Except when he loses his shit and starts rambling. (Wow, I really love him. And really want him to hang out with Sokka.)
22) And I love how he wants Scott and Allison to be together, not because IT'S SO RIGHT OMG but because it makes Scott happy.
23) This actor is AWESOME.
24) I love how smart Stiles is!
25) And how he knows Lydia is smart.
26) I love how he reads bi.
27) I hope they go there, because it could be totally believable. And while the treatment of homosexuality on the show isn't perfect, it's a lot better than most shows of this nature I've seen.
I dislike:
1) The idea that they won't make him bi. COME ON LET US HAVE A BISEXUAL MALE CHARACTER.
Derek
I like:
1) His scenes with Stiles.
2) His complete failure to put a pack together and make them follow him. His guilt over this.
3) His familial angst, including his guilt that he couldn't protect them.
4) His guilt and feelings of responsibility toward Jackson.
5) He's just a failure in general.
6) Also he's not that bright.
7) He looks like a cross between R Pattz and Rufus Sewell.
+ = I dislike:
1) He's boring.
2) Seriously, what does he do with his free time? The only thing I've seen is chin-ups.
3) He doesn't appear to have a sense of humor. Derek is pretty funny when you put him together with Stiles, but it's not because Derek is all, "I'm gonna crack a joke now!" Stiles is funny and then the writers are funny at the expense of Stiles, but Derek himself never appears to willingly bring levity to a situation.
4) Everything I dislike about Derek are all things people say of Angel, but to me the characters are completely different in essentials. We enter Angel's story at a point when he wants to make a difference in the world. We enter Derek's story at a point when he wants revenge. I find revenge far less interesting (I know other people don't share this view). It sort of turns me off. As does Derek.
5) I feel like Derek's intentions and motivations are unclear to the viewer, to the extent that I feel like the writers haven't decided who he really is yet. This was a problem with Angel in S1 of BtVS, but by S2 of BtVS, they've decided. In S2 of TW, I'm even more confused about what Derek wants, what his goals in life are. I just don't understand why he does the things he does. I love this sort of dark, broody, guilty, sometimes questionable, sometimes violent character, but I have to understand what he's thinking, or else he just kind of meh.
6) Derek seems kind of meh.
7) Not terribly impressed with the actor. He constantly looks like he swallowed a fart.
Lydia
I like:
1) Her face. I feel like I'm watching a cartoon character. I think she's great for this role.
2) How smart she is.
3) Her myriad of masks and shields and shells she uses to face the world.
4) The way she uses Jackson for her own social status, but really has feelings for him at the same time.
I dislike:
1) How they tell us she's smart, but when they try to show her actual smarts, it . . . doesn't sound smart. The part where Lydia explained vertigo using an elevated vocabulary didn't have anything to do with what was going on. They were trying to remind us she's a genius, but it didn't come off right.
2) If she's so smart, how come she didn't figure out what was going on?
3) Her arc in season 2. I loved her going crazy, but I didn't like how this made Miss Smart Girl Popular into the victim for a whole season solid.
4) I also don't really enjoy her "immunity". I can't think of why the writers wouldn't make her a werewolf, other than the fact that she would obviously kick everyone's ass, and they wanted to keep the fights strictly between the boys.
Jackson
I like:
1) His face. He had to simper a whole lot in S2, but I think this actor does a great job of being a jackass and then turning around and making you feel sorry for him, and sometimes feel sorry for him while he's being a jackass, which I think is difficult.
2) ALL THE ISSUES.
3) Such as his being an orphan.
4) And needing to prove himself. Especially those scenes with him at night trying to hit the ball into the goal or whatever. Cheap, but effective.
5) And wanting to turn into a werewolf so he can finally be the "best".
6) And being such an arrogant asshole that he's gonna tape himself changing.
7) Being so, so disappointed when he doesn't change.
8) His hair sticks up like Angel's.
hair = hairI dislike:
1) The handling of him being an orphan. At one point, I think it was Peter who had Derek figure out that "orphans don't have packs." Uh. Excuse me? Jackson has two parents who appear to care about him very, very much. I can understand if Jackson feels alone; I can understand him not taking the news that he is an orphan very well; I can understand him feeling like he's not connected to anything, that he has to constantly prove himself because he thinks he doesn't have "real" parents or family. Know why I can understand that? BECAUSE THE FUCKING MEDIA KEEPS TELLING ORPHANS THAT ADOPTED FAMILY ISN'T REAL FAMILY. STFU.
2) His arc in season 2. Jackson getting what he wanted but not in the way he wanted it could have been interesting. But the idea that he becomes a snake because he was a snake inside? Seriously? What, does that mean all the werewolves who are wolves are just great people?
3) I also like the idea of Jackson wanting/needing a master, and that manifesting in his other form. It plays into Jackson's family issues and needing to prove himself. However, the handling of him being an orphan made all of this read wrong for me.
4) I guess there was something about the snake-man plot that felt like some kind of sick revenge fantasy, where the jock bully from highschool who controlled you is finally your bitch.
5) Also I didn't really get his break-up with Lydia. I thought I got it: he had always known she was just using him socially; he knew it was false, but felt like he needed her in order to be Prom King or whatever. When he thought he got changed into a werewolf, he thought he finally didn't need her. But later, it turns out it wasn't false; they weren't just using each other. I guess I would have liked to have seen more of a lead up to their kiss when he asks her for the key, or more aftermath--him dealing with his realization that he loves her, he needs her, he's vulnerable to her, etc.
6) His friendship with Allison. I really believed he cared about her, but then they made it seem like he was just using Allison to get to Scott. This would have been okay if they had just decided he was evil.
7) But they didn't decide he was evil. This is my main problem with this character. I feel like they wanted him to be complex: he's a bully because he's also secretly vulnerable; he's cruel and arrogant because he has confidence issues. At some points this was really well done. At other points, I feel like the writers just couldn't decide whether they wanted us to hate him or have sympathy for him. We really should have felt both at the same time, and sometimes I did, but other times as a viewer I just felt jerked around. I would have appreciated a more balanced and even-handed treatment.
The Argents
1) I found the actress who played Allison's mother lacking. I feel like they tried to make her creepy, and she tried to be creepy, and she just came off like the poor man's Annette Bening.
or 2) I don't understand why Allison's mom had to kill herself. Isn't the "code" a werewolf has to be old enough and hurt someone in order to fall under the Argents' death sentence? I don't know; I don't feel like this was handled well at all.
3) Gerard seems kind of one-dimensional and therefore uninteresting. On the other hand, he's Saul Motherfuckin' Tigh, who is always interesting.
4) I'm interested in Allison's dad, and I like the actor. However, like Jackson (and to some extent Derek), I feel like his character get jerked around by whatever the writers/plot dictate for a given episode. Sometimes he's sympathetic; sometimes he's an incomprehensible jerk. I'd be alright with all these characters being changeable if I felt like there was some internal consistency, but there's not.
5) Kate was pretty one-dimensional and uninteresting. Also her going on and on about all the hot guys Allison should get was kind of creepy. Derek/Kate could have been interesting. And wasn't. Why was that even in there?
6) The thing I dislike most about the Argents is the whole, "women run the show" deal. I feel like it's an attempt by the show to give females some empowerment, and that's exactly what it is--a "gift". In this text, women don't have the strength and leadership skills to earn a place as leader; they are given a place because of male guilt, because men start wars and women--what, women are arbiters of peace? Women are angels? They are men's "better halves"? If this tradition was around because Argent women just had a habit of kicking ass, I'd be all over it.
7) Well, I still wouldn't be all over it if the idea is we're gonna give a 17-year-old the power, have her manipulated by her grandpa into being crazy and an awful leader, thereby proving Allison is an impressionable incompetent young thing who shouldn't be leading anything at all. If you wanna do female empowerment, have Allison step up and take power, even if she's doing the wrong thing. She can do this without the stupid tradition and without Grandfather fucking with her brain. If you want Grandfather to fuck with her brain, that's just fine, but don't act like that's empowerment either.
The Pack
1) Isaac's backstory makes him interesting to me, but I'd like to see more of an explanation for why he acts the way he does once he becomes a werewolves. Plenty of abused children become bullies, but I wanted to see how what happened to him influenced what he became. Instead I feel like the abuse is just kind of this exploitive thing, as though to gain our sympathy so he can do what he wants.
2) I also felt like Erica's epilepsy was exploitive. Not the fact of her epilepsy--how it was handled.
3) I actually really like the idea of Derek taking these "maladjusted teens" (as I believe Peter calls them) and giving them this chance. I like that it doesn't work out like Derek wants it to or like he expects, that they're more fucked up than he realizes and that that fucked-upedness doesn't go away. But I feel like their personal stories aren't handled with enough care to show why Isaac and Erica act like they do once they get turned, and that Derek's motivations aren't explored well enough to show why he did what he did, or that he failed.
4) Erica's transformation was very She's All That. Just like She's All That, Erica was not at all unpretty before she was bitten. I felt like they were trying to make her unpretty.
5) I don't get why she started curling and blow-drying her hair and started wearing tight clothes just because she got bitten. I feel like confidence will do wonders for you, but this circles back to the epilepsy thing. If she didn't wanna wear tight clothes and short short skirts and curl her hair and wear make-up just because she had epilepsy--let's talk about that and what it means. Instead I feel like this was all just a cheap thrill.
6) I mean, why does Erica decide sex is her weapon? None of the others do.
7) Erica's face kind of reminds me of Eliza Dushku.
8) I don't really understand Erica's motivations at all.
9) Boyd is my favorite, because of what he said about wanting to be like Scott. Scott thought he was trying to "save" Boyd at the time, so I read it as Boyd seeing Scott as someone who used his powers for good. I really liked the idea of Isaac and Erica having these painful reasons for wanting to be turned, but Boyd having a noble reason.
10) So why the fuck is it Isaac, then, who turns to Scott in the end? Why is it Isaac who wants to follow Scott because "you always seem to try to do the right thing," or whatever it is Isaac says to Scott? I'm okay if Isaac gets a redemptive arc after being kind of a jerky werewolf, but I wanna connect the dots--why did Isaac go from wanting to be a badass to wanting to do "the right thing," and why did Boyd appear to forget about it altogether?
11) I don't understand the plots where Peter is concerned. What happened to him when he got burned? He was slowly healing for 6 years, okay. But Derek knew he was still a werewolf--what did Derek think was happening with Peter? What did he think happened to Peter on full moons?
12) I also dislike the horror with which Peter's wounds were treated by the text. I get if Peter is horrified by what happened to him, but there was this big "dun dun dun" moment in the text when we first find out Peter has been disfigured and--no. Just, no. Some people have huge scars on their faces. It can be terrible, yes, but it doesn't mean they've been forever ruined. It's the fact that he was unable to live his life that was awful.
13) And I still don't get how Peter healed himself.
14) Or how he came back to life.
15) I also don't get Peter's motivations for seeming to help out Derek at the end of S2. Derek killed him. Isn't he angry about that?
16) That said, I like the actor who plays Peter. I think it helps to have an older, more experienced werewolf balance out the pack. However, character-wise, it makes absolutely no sense that that should be Peter.
Other characters
1) Stiles's dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111111111111111oneeveleventy111eleven11!1
2) Wow, this show hates high school teachers.
3) I'm interested in the guidance counselor.
4) Stiles's dad!!!!!!!1
5) That's a legit one in 4). I LOVE HIM THAT MUCH. ALMOST AS MUCH AS STILES.
6) Okay, I'm not a super huge fan of the coach, but I loved him giving the Independence Day speech right before the big game. That speech made a big impression on me when I was 13 and I recognized it right away.
7) Matt could have been interesting. Too bad he wasn't.
8) Carver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1one1111!!!!!one!11 from The Wire. Is the veterinarian. I'm so happy to see him again, and he's still awesome. And I like this character.
13) Scott's mom doesn't seem all that bright or helpful.
14) I like Danny. I feel like, as part of Jackson's clique, he can come off kind of like the douchey jock, but when you deal with him on an individual level he's just really nice and good-old-guy.
15) Stiles's dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Race
1) Out of the three new werewolves, Boyd really got shafted. Both in his origin story, and with what happens with Isaac at the end. I felt like Isaac really took the actions that were most logically Boyd's, in the end. I'm putting this in the "race" subheading because this is a really white show, and it's sort of upsetting that one of the only characters of color gets shafted this way.
2) Dr. Deaton (I guess he has a name. Just no first name) reads as "the mysterious mystic." I have a problem with this, especially since before Boyd, he appeared to be the only regular character of color. And then Boyd showed up, and he's not handled well either.
3) Not that Dr. Deaton and Boyd are the only actors of color. There's Tyler Posey, whose mother (Wikipedia tells me) is of Mexican descent. The actress who plays his mom (according to imdb) is of Native American, Sicilian, and French descent. There are plenty of people of Mexican descent (Posey included, obviously) who don't have obviously Latino surnames, who don't speak Spanish, who don't participate in culturally Mexican holidays etc. However, I do feel that casting the lead as someone of mixed race presented a rare opportunity that the show missed. They didn't have to make a big deal of his race; just suggest that he is, in fact, Latino. Instead I feel like they white-washed Scott McCall.
Sexuality
1) Overall, I'm really pleased with the treatment of Danny. I like how his sexuality seems accepted by everyone. I love how Jackson is many things, but not a bigot, and that he's bff with Danny. I loved the suggestion that Jackson and Danny had discussed Danny's sexuality, and it's not an issue for them. (When Danny says, "I told you you're not my type.") I liked how Danny brought a boy to the dance, and how we see a little more of his relationship status at the gay club.
2) I disliked when Scott danced with Danny to avoid reprimand from the coach. Yes, in some schools, being accused of gay-bashing will totally get you in trouble, but in many schools, being accused of being gay will get you in even more trouble. I feel like what the show did plays into an argument that a lot of bigots make: that minorities can get away with anything, because if you say a word against them, you might be accused of prejudice. Because Scott isn't gay, and because he does "get away" with something by "acting gay," I feel like this incident just builds the opposing argument. The show doesn't need to show us gay-bashing so that we can understand what being gay can be like--I think the viewers already understand that. But a show who shows gay people being treated just like any other human beings might be nice.
3) The show has made some rather obvious suggestions that Stiles could be bisexual. These can easily be read as a completely heterosexual guy just being hilarious, because for some reason people find straight guys worrying about whether they're hot to gay guys really funny. I think it is perfectly normal for a heterosexual male, but I don't find it that hilarious. I see it as evidence that sexuality is fluid. I don't mean wondering about whether the same sex finds you attractive automatically means you're bi; I mean that sexual feelings are complicated, and trying to shove them into a binary or even three slots isn't necessarily useful.
4) Furthermore, Stiles-acting-sorta-gay is a little bit more persistent (and insistent) than this sort of treatment is in some other shows. Partly it's the actor: falling out of the chair, and he looks genuinely concerned about whether he's attractive to gay men. Partly it's that it just keeps coming up.
5) But also I heard that the creator guy is not unwilling to make Stiles bi, which excites me.
Shipping
1) Scott/Allison - boring. Does anyone even bother shipping this?
2) Lydia/Jackson - I still don't really get why he broke up with her. I like they're perfect-on-the-outside/damaged-on-the-inside vibes, and the way that makes them work with each other and be bad for each other at the same time. I sort of wish they could each be with someone healthier, but that would probably destroy them.
3) Stiles/Lydia - I really only like Stiles's hopeless devotion. I feel like Lydia would have to change a lot for this to be at all satisfying for Stiles.
4) Derek/Scott - I feel like this is the most obvious slash pairing. Too bad they're both so uninteresting.
5) Scott/Stiles - This feels like an obvious slash pairing too, but it's sort of like Harry/Hermione. They're bff's, and I really like that dynamic. Plus, Scott being so attached to Allison means you have to deal with plot stuff.
6) Derek/Stiles - I actually totally get why everyone ships this. For one thing, they're the only two main characters without obvious pairings, unless you count Stiles/Lydia, and Lydia has another obvious pairing which she seems more invested in. For another thing, their scenes together are great.
The sad part about this is I just don't find Derek interesting. That said, Derek is sort of a cipher. While his outward personality is pretty well-established, what he actually thinks and feels still seem really unclear, which means you can make him anything you want. In a way, he actually reminds me of Draco Malfoy: he has some really compelling characteristics that make no sense on the page; he's full of fail, and no one likes him. His personality is obviously different than Draco's, but the fact that he's sort of a moody, bitchy dude, whom you can mold to be anyone you please, is just like Draco.
Also, this is one of the few pairings that fandom adores that I would actually love to see become canon. So many pairings (slash, het, and femslash) that I love to read or write about, I don't actually want to see become canon. So often I love the impossible aspects or the family vibes; I write/read fic because I want to explore things latent in the text. If they were blatant in the text, I wouldn't want the fic. And in other cases, the ship just doesn't fit the plot or characters-as-they-are-in-canon, and I don't want it to. But I think Sterek is perfectly plausible for both Stiles and Derek, and as a secondary ship on the show. Man, they should go for it.
That said, it's a lot lot lot more important to me that they make Stiles bi and address it; I don't want that for a shipping agenda. I care about Stiles SOOOOOOOOOOOO much more than Sterek.
7) Stiles/Erica - Okay, I was happy when she said she liked him. I just--Stiles is so attractive! I want the show to realize that and acknowledge it, and I also want him to understand that; I want him to feel wanted, and like he's special. Especially because he's not super mopey as the "unspecial" sidekick. But I also liked how it showed that Stiles isn't the most thoughtful person; he ignored her before she got
8) Stiles's dad/Scott's mom - Am I the only one? And is it wrong to want it just because they're both single parents and their kids are BFF?
Plot
1) THE MATT PLOT WAS STUPID. I feel like they really didn't know what they were doing, or how to pull all the threads together. What happened to Matt (being nearly drowned) felt like something they pulled out of their asses.
2) On that note, plotting felt much tighter in season 1.
3) I feel like there are a lot of plot holes in this show.
Look and feel
1) This show is very pretty. All the people are beautiful. Sometimes I feel like shows think everyone is beautiful, and instead all the actors looks like cardboard cut-out ideas of beauty--buff and slick and shadowed in all the right places, but really fake as well. But on this show, I feel like people are really beautiful, but it's also really real. Jackson has freckles. Stiles has moles. Allison can have wispy hair. They're still super models, which isn't realistic, but they're nice to look at.
2) Overall I'm happy with cinematography. It's bright and clean and colorful. I'm tired of shows that are all gray. (SPN has a perfectly good excuse for being gray! It just makes me tired.)
3) The werewolf CGI is atrocious, but I've never seen good werewolf CGI, and I'm really happy with wolf!face.
4) I hate the music. All of it.
Lacrosse
I love that the sport of choice is lacrosse, but I also don't love it. To me, there are three stereotypes about lacrosse: 1) dorky, 2) rich, 3) white. I love that the dorky sport gets center stage, because it isn't always football or basketball that's The Big Thing at a highschool. I don't like the rich and white part, because the show itself is rich and white.
In summation
I love Stiles. I could pretty much take or leave the rest.
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2.) Do you want fic recs? Alternately, are there any TW fics you'd rec so far?
3.) In regards to Stiles & his dad and their relationship - yesssssssss. So nice to have another parent of child involved with fantastical shenanigans who isn't a.) dead, b.) criminally negligent, or c.) otherwise incapacitated for narrative convenience from responsible parenting.
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Were you aware that the creator says Stiles is bi? I suppose this is on par with Rowling saying Dumbledore was gay, except that the canon is still open, so possibly it will show up in canon eventually.
I actually have a fair number of feelings about the fandom, despite having seen only one ep of the show, because the fandom taken over so many of the corners I frequent (Tumblr; the mpreg and a/b/o tags on AO3). My feelings are mostly that Sterek is dull as dishwater because I find Derek so terribly boring, and also, in the way of fandom, Stiles is so frequently coded as 'the girl.' (Particularly a problem with mpreg, not unexpected, although I will say I have one pregnant!Derek Sterek series I am following that is delightful, if you're interested.)
In closing: it is a great personal delight to me to inform people that neither Stiles no Derek is the protagonist of the show.
P.S. I've discovered a new character for your Spike-and-Rhett-Butler outside observer list: Tyrion Lannister, from Game of Thrones. I've been meaning to email and tell you all about it. Tyrion is one of those perfect marriages of character and actor, and he is GOLD.
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