This meta is not a hero.
1) Quite apart from anything else that happens in this show, the Stilinski family is flawless. I have no idea how they were supposed to fit into this finale, quite frankly, but I'm incredibly glad they were there because whenever either or both of them is on the screen, I am enthralled and close to tears. Just WOW.
2) So the parents are quite interesting, aren't they? Boy, it's Harry Potter all over again. Screw the kids, I want to ship the parents unrelentingly. Dying to see if Mama McCall (who is SUCH a badass, seriously) gets with Sheriff Stilinski, and/or if Chris Argent finds some reason to be interested in her. (or if HE gets with Sheriff Stiles, which would be OK, too! Mama Mc, Sherrif S, and Hotass Hunter OT3!)
3) So Stiles showing up at home surprised me, but I didn't quite follow the thread of all of that. The Stiles we know would immediately have phoned Scott and explained everything that was going on, so why didn't he? Because he didn't want Scott to act on his behalf? It's not as though Stiles was in mortal danger and Scott would have gone off all half-cocked. And wasn't Stiles worried about what went down at/after the game? He just seemed so damn defeated, and I couldn't tell why. What did I miss? I thought for sure there was something he knew, something Gerard had told him, that he was keeping quiet. But it never panned out. Any help on this one?
4) Biggest unfulfilled promise of the episode: Jackson With Wings. Please to be writing all the fic where even though Jackson is all wolfy now, he still has wings. Then all of the wing!kink can happen.
5) Biggest disappointment of the episode: Derek. No character development from him. Just the same old "I have to kill it" mentality. He has learned nothing, and Peter has learned too much. I don't see how either of their character arcs have gotten them where they are now. Why is Peter being so helpful? He must want something that we haven't seen yet. Right? And how, after losing his pack and being told by so many that he needs to learn to care, was Derek right back in the kill-it-with-fire mentality? I expected some moment of transition from him this episode. Maybe he's just a slow learner. But I really hope we see his character start to turn.
6) As inexplicable as Peter's turnaround is, it's incredibly entertaining. He's quite the character, and him being snarky/wily is a lot more fun than him being all-out evil. I'm not lusting after him the way some of my friends are, but I'm willing to see where this leads.
7) How much was the opening-theme moment an anime throwback? All I could see was Princess Serenity beating back Queen Metallia while Moonlight Densetsu played in the background.
8) And then that awkward moment when Gerard becomes a Leviathan.
9) I think Peter & Derek knew that the evisceration would turn Jackson rather than kill him. At least, that's what I choose to believe. It was too coordinated to be otherwise. The whole Lydia/Jackson thing was predictable, but entertaining. And anything that results in more naked Jackson is okay with me. I was so pleased he survived, and DAMN those blue eyes are BEAUTIFUL. *dances in Jackson love* May we please now have Jackson/everyone pack!bonding sex please? *enamored of Jackson/Derek thoughts*
10) And from that moment on, the episode got a bit weird. Allison was threatened a bit and went soft again? Or was it seeing Jackson and Lydia that put her back in her twuu luvv mode? I'd like to think that her grandfather's betrayal made her think about what evil is beyond shape, but that wasn't portrayed very well. Anyway, I thought maybe Scott would reject her after what she'd done. If she'd succeeded in killing anyone I think he would have, but the line should have been well short of that. At least they didn't end up all happy and goopy again.
11) So let's talk about the concept of an Alpha pack. I immediately flashed to Heroes Volume III "Villains," and also the post-Season-5 flail of Supernatural. It's good to work your way up to bigger and badder enemies, but when you start forming a Megazord of bad guys, things get very, very easy to do wrong. This supervillain group better have a good reason for existing and a better reason for coming after Derek. I would like to see them try to recruit him, rather than destroy him, and possibly work on the loyalties of his pack. (Please don't let Erica and Boyd be dead!) And I would also love to see the Alpha pack be a human construct - Alphas discovering they can work on their higher brain functions as well as their wolf instincts, and put the impetus to kill each other aside. (And then that impetus can work its way slowly into the dynamic, and Derek or Scott can be the one to see it coming and try to keep chaos from breaking out). But there's just so much that can go wrong here, and it will be awful for the show if it does go wrong. So I'm crossing my fingers that it's done thoughtfully and done right.
12) Needs moar Sterek.
13) The "back to basics" worries me, too. That didn't work for SPN and it's not gonna work here. I would like to see a renewed emphasis on Scott's school life, and him thinking about his future, but without disregarding what he's been through in the past. Also, I'm concerned about Lydia/Jackson from here on out. I still don't think Jackson loves her as much as she loves him, and I don't want him to. He's so wonderful when he's douchetastic.
14) I'm not gonna get into Deaton and Unnamed Guidance Counselor. They could be badass, but I hate that they're so separated from everything else. They need to be in the mix, or it just feels like the Magical Negro** trope times two. (**I am aware of my lack of qualification to call this out, but that's my feeling on it.) Let's see their relationships with others besides each other.
OK, that's all I've got. That and, was that Cally from BSG at the beginning of the episode? The EMT looked familiar to me. :)
Have at it!