Teen Wolf - A Love Letter to a Show
When I first heard about Teen Wolf I thought it sounded awful. I think part of it was just the name. It's ridiculous. And my immediate assumption was that it was going to be a shallow, teen-centric show with dubious acting to capitalize on the popularity of Twilight. (Having since learned that three of the four main guys on the show were at one point up for roles in Twilight, I may have had some justification.) And well, I guess it is those things in some ways. But the reason I love it is that between the ridiculousness there are a lot of small things that make me really happy. Things that you don't normally see on TV let alone in a show of this type.
What I'm trying to say is, I thought the show was going to be awful. But then the internet irrupted with love for (seriously I have never seen hit- and kudos-counts that high on the AO3 and I don't exactly hang out in tiny fandoms all the time) the show and I needed something brainless to watch while studying for the Comp (which I passed!!!!). And then somehow dubious enjoyment turned into complete love. And the end of the 2nd season is just filled with AWESOME. I mean there have always been moments in the show where I've laughed my ass off at points which probably weren't supposed to be funny. And the show will always be ridiculous in the best possible way. But those last few episodes of season two are just... EVERYTHING HAPPENS AND IT IS AWESOME.
So here are some reasons that I love the show:
- The cast is really pretty. (and I am shallow - also they're all my age despite playing teenagers, so there's no need for awkward guilt about finding them sexy)
Here they are in character:
And out of character:
- There are werewolves! Which are always my favourite. And not a Vampire in sight. :)
- There are not very subtle werewolf puns. So the Argents are the family of hunters that comes to town at the beginning of the show.
- JR Bourne plays Chris Argent, the Dad. And he is as awesome as he usually is.
(Photo just because I love JR Bourne.)
- Naturally the main love story is between Scott, who is turned into a werewolf at the beginning of the show, and Allison Argent, who doesn't know (yet) about what her Dad really does for a living. And I actually really like their love story. Partially it's because they are super adorable. But I think a lot of it is that neither of them were created to be the love interest or to be the damsel. Both of them get to be badass in their own way and it's awesome.
- The high school sport they all play (or are trying to play in Stiles' case) is not football. It's Lacrosse! And I admit that I know next to nothing about Lacrosse, but I just like that it's not the obvious.
- Jeff Davis, the Creator and Executive Producer, is openly gay. And it kind of shows in a very good way. One of the other high school guys on the Lacrosse team is gay and I love that he's just another character who is doing normal teenage boy stuff. He's just there. And it's not a big deal. Actually Scott keeps accidentally flirting with him and it's adorable. Jeff Davis has actually said in an interview with AfterElton (there's also and interview with one of the cast there that is adorable and also worth a watch) that's he's envisioning this world as being kind of a perfect world without homophobia, racism or sexism. It's not an agenda he's trying to push. The gay characters and things are just there. And he thinks that if you put that kind of perfect world on TV then maybe it can help shape our reality. :'D
- Scott is an adorable idiot, but he's smart enough to surround himself with smart people who can do the research for him, and is actually a great leader because of it. Actually pretty much everyone else on the show is way smarter than Scott and it's great. And a few of the characters actually manage to figure things out without having to be told which is delightful. Also the look on Scott's face when Jackson explains that of course the Argents are hunting werewolves because Argent means silver is priceless.
- And the parents are awesome. Too many of these shows, with the violence and the crazy running around at night that the teenagers do, make me wonder what the hell is wrong with their parents. But Scott's Mum and Stiles' Dad so clearly care about their kids. They know something is going on, but it also makes sense that they don't know. And because she's an ER nurse and he's the Sheriff it make perfect sense that they're away from home at odd hours.
- In addition to being pretty the cast seems to be delightful. I watched a whole bunch of interviews on YouTube and they're obviously good friends and have a great time making fun of each other and hanging out. I love that it seems like every time they have an interview they somehow manage to fit all six of them onto what's probably a three person couch.
And I love that in all their publicity they are totally aware of and cool about the Slash fans. Actually they treat it the same as they would any other fan speculation about relationships on the show. Which is awesome.
He actually says the chances are 50/50!
And then they play to it because they're ridiculous:
So yeah. I'm currently in a happy place, except that I have to wait another year for season three. But it is coming and there's going to be 24 episodes instead of 12! So it's going to be awesome. And in the meantime there is lots of fic and I can always rewatch the episodes.
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth.
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What I'm trying to say is, I thought the show was going to be awful. But then the internet irrupted with love for (seriously I have never seen hit- and kudos-counts that high on the AO3 and I don't exactly hang out in tiny fandoms all the time) the show and I needed something brainless to watch while studying for the Comp (which I passed!!!!). And then somehow dubious enjoyment turned into complete love. And the end of the 2nd season is just filled with AWESOME. I mean there have always been moments in the show where I've laughed my ass off at points which probably weren't supposed to be funny. And the show will always be ridiculous in the best possible way. But those last few episodes of season two are just... EVERYTHING HAPPENS AND IT IS AWESOME.
So here are some reasons that I love the show:
- The cast is really pretty. (and I am shallow - also they're all my age despite playing teenagers, so there's no need for awkward guilt about finding them sexy)
Here they are in character:
And out of character:
- There are werewolves! Which are always my favourite. And not a Vampire in sight. :)
- There are not very subtle werewolf puns. So the Argents are the family of hunters that comes to town at the beginning of the show.
- JR Bourne plays Chris Argent, the Dad. And he is as awesome as he usually is.
(Photo just because I love JR Bourne.)
- Naturally the main love story is between Scott, who is turned into a werewolf at the beginning of the show, and Allison Argent, who doesn't know (yet) about what her Dad really does for a living. And I actually really like their love story. Partially it's because they are super adorable. But I think a lot of it is that neither of them were created to be the love interest or to be the damsel. Both of them get to be badass in their own way and it's awesome.
- The high school sport they all play (or are trying to play in Stiles' case) is not football. It's Lacrosse! And I admit that I know next to nothing about Lacrosse, but I just like that it's not the obvious.
- Jeff Davis, the Creator and Executive Producer, is openly gay. And it kind of shows in a very good way. One of the other high school guys on the Lacrosse team is gay and I love that he's just another character who is doing normal teenage boy stuff. He's just there. And it's not a big deal. Actually Scott keeps accidentally flirting with him and it's adorable. Jeff Davis has actually said in an interview with AfterElton (there's also and interview with one of the cast there that is adorable and also worth a watch) that's he's envisioning this world as being kind of a perfect world without homophobia, racism or sexism. It's not an agenda he's trying to push. The gay characters and things are just there. And he thinks that if you put that kind of perfect world on TV then maybe it can help shape our reality. :'D
- Scott is an adorable idiot, but he's smart enough to surround himself with smart people who can do the research for him, and is actually a great leader because of it. Actually pretty much everyone else on the show is way smarter than Scott and it's great. And a few of the characters actually manage to figure things out without having to be told which is delightful. Also the look on Scott's face when Jackson explains that of course the Argents are hunting werewolves because Argent means silver is priceless.
- And the parents are awesome. Too many of these shows, with the violence and the crazy running around at night that the teenagers do, make me wonder what the hell is wrong with their parents. But Scott's Mum and Stiles' Dad so clearly care about their kids. They know something is going on, but it also makes sense that they don't know. And because she's an ER nurse and he's the Sheriff it make perfect sense that they're away from home at odd hours.
- In addition to being pretty the cast seems to be delightful. I watched a whole bunch of interviews on YouTube and they're obviously good friends and have a great time making fun of each other and hanging out. I love that it seems like every time they have an interview they somehow manage to fit all six of them onto what's probably a three person couch.
Click to viewAnd I love that in all their publicity they are totally aware of and cool about the Slash fans. Actually they treat it the same as they would any other fan speculation about relationships on the show. Which is awesome.
He actually says the chances are 50/50!
And then they play to it because they're ridiculous:
So yeah. I'm currently in a happy place, except that I have to wait another year for season three. But it is coming and there's going to be 24 episodes instead of 12! So it's going to be awesome. And in the meantime there is lots of fic and I can always rewatch the episodes.
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth.
comments