I tried to keep track of the times Scott blew someone off in favor of ~Allison~, but I lost count.

[the_deep_magic]

Did a Teen Wolf rewatch in preparation for season three, since continuity is so very, very important in this universe, and since it might disappear from Netflix tomorrow.  Anyway, I counted some common tropes just to see how many times they actually showed up in canon, and then some random commentary.  I was going to go episode by episode, but my notes were mostly "Why the hell does [character] do [something immeasurably stupid and inexplicable]?"  Anyhow, in the first two seasons of Teen Wolf:

• Derek lurks: 25


• Someone comes in/out a window: 9


• Stiles lies to his dad: 8


• Peter lurks: 7


• Somebody reveals information they should have revealed about three episodes ago: 5 (though I think I seriously undercounted this one)


• Harris rags on Stiles: 5 (one is quite extensive)


• Scott tries to kill Stiles: 2


• Stiles makes his dad eat something healthy: 2


• Derek grabs Stiles: 2


• Derek pushes Stiles up against a wall: 1


• Derek tells Stiles to shut up: 1


• Stiles calls Derek “sourwolf”: 1

So all that grabbing, wall-slamming, and sourwolf-ing in fic?  Perhaps overkill.

Anyway, some other assorted thoughts:

• We're told Lydia's popular and a great leader, but she doesn't appear to have any friends other than Jackson and Allison.  In fact, in the pilot, she decides Allison is going to be her new best friend because she likes Allison's jacket.  Given, the group is very insular, but does that sound like the actions of a popular person?  Perhaps a very lonely one.


• I have trouble from the beginning buying into Lydia and Jackson's life-saving love.  They're sixteen -- they can't have been together more than a few years, so it's not as though their relationship has had much time to steadily erode.  It's pretty damn unhealthy from the beginning, and they both treat each other like shit and are obviously using each other.  The way Lydia says "I suck all kinds of things for Jackson" gives me the creeps.  I don't know; I'm just not convinced that under there is something beautiful and loving.


• The Argents are experienced hunters moving into werewolf territory.  I don't know about you, but I'm lining every door and window frame with as much mountain ash as I can get my hands on.


• Why isn't Peter turning kids left and right and making an army?  Sure, he can't seem to get Scott under control, but when the Scooby gang is trapped in the school, why not give all of them the bite and see which ones are bloodthirsty enough to help him?


• I'm sorry, I giggled at Kate's "1,000-volt" cattle prod.  Yes, I know most people don't know the distinction between voltage and amperage and so 1,000 sounds impressive, but when I was working at the science center, I took 10,000-volt shocks pretty regularly, and while it does feel like an impact, not a single one of them knocked me on my ass.  My watch ran backwards and I periodically forgot the number six, but it certainly didn't incapacitate me, just made me swear like a fishwife in front of a bunch of third-graders.


• Nothing Deaton does -- particularly the timing of when he does it -- makes any damned sense.  I'll just leave it at that.


• Um, this feels like kind of a stupid question, but why don't they use an actual wolf's howl instead of what sounds like a big cat roar?  When Boyd and Erica hear wolf howls in the woods, they should immediately have known that those weren't werewolves, because apparently werewolves sound like lions.


• BHHS is the worst high school in the history of ever.  First, there are always empty, unlocked classrooms and deserted corridors at all times of the day.  Second, they must only have about six teachers, since Harris (the chem teacher) gives the econ test and Finstock (the econ teacher) teaches P.E.  Third, the teachers don't seem to know how grades work (though maybe it's just Finstock, who bases grades on lacrosse performance and willingness to sign up for search parties).  Fourth, despite the fact that there was a murder on school grounds, school goes right on ahead and a few weeks later, there is zero security at the dance, which allows Scott to walk right in even though he's banned.  Fifth, I know Ms. Morrell has degrees in everything, but a guidance counselor is not a psychological counselor and is usually not a French teacher (see above re: six teachers).  Finally, and most importantly, the teachers are terrible human beings, particularly Harris.  Look, I know students suck and make one despair for the future of humankind, but telling them that every day and making repeated violent threats against them is seriously fucked up.  At one point, Stiles says he doesn't hate Harris, which must be true because he could get the man fired in a heartbeat.  He made those threats to Stiles in return for the sheriff "harassing" him, when in fact the Sheriff saved his life by putting him under police protection.


• Beacon Hills Hospital isn't much better.  The corridors are always empty... except on security camera.


• Poor Allison's characterization.  Crystal Reed does really well with what she's given, but her character arcs make no sense at all.


• Interesting canon fact that I rarely see used in fic: memories can be transferred via claws to the back of the neck.  I've only seen it crop up a handful of times in fic, which is a shame, because it's a very handy plot device (and is more canonical that sourwolf or wall-slamming).


• I don't know if I've mentioned here how much trouble I have with the way Derek treats Isaac.  From the moment Derek has him cowering in the corner of the jail cell, he basically replaces Isaac's father as his abuser.  He breaks his arm to teach him a lesson.  I can understand this being a part of Derek's character, truly not understanding that giving Isaac the ability to fight back isn't nearly enough, but it's never brought up as the abuse that it is.  And I'd forgotten how super-icky Derek is when turning Erica.  It's played as a seduction -- and Derek's pretty much playing the role of Kate.


• I'm of two minds over Erica's hypersexualization.  It's awesome that she has all this confidence and seems well aware that it's a means of having power over people that she didn't have access to before.  On the other hand, that doesn't happen to the guys, and despite all the shirtlessness, the male bodies aren't put on display in the way Erica's is.  I like that she kind of settles into it toward the end of the season (though, of course, we don't see much of her in the last six episodes), but it kind of squicks me that her power comes from others' desire toward her.


• EVERYONE ON THIS SHOW IS AN UTTER ASSHOLE.  I know it's been said before, but it's worth repeating.


• Watching season two again, knowing who controls the kanima, it's almost like the writers didn't know themselves until they revealed it.  Of course, I'm sure they did, because there are hints along the way, but Matt's actions (how many times have I used this phrase?) don't make any sense, particularly pointing out the video edit to Danny when Danny admits that he never would've seen it himself.


• Everyone also forgets (as I probably have at least once in my fic) that wolfsbane is poisonous to humans, too.  There's a mention of Jackson having aconite poisoning, but no one seems to have any lasting effects from the wolfsbane in the punch at Lydia's party.


• When they're lying paralyzed on the floor of the police station, Derek says something very un-Derek-like to Stiles: "The universe balances things out."  He's talking about Matt breaking the rules of the kanima, but I wonder if he really believes that.


• Does Morrell call Deaton "dad" there at the very end?  Because I got the impression she was his daughter, and I'm not sure where that came from.

That's it; that's the show.

And, hypothetically, if someone didn't have cable and wanted to livestream a certain show that premieres on Monday, might she be able to find a link to that?

Comments

[vee-dub.livejournal.com]

I've been debating watching this show on Netflix or just sticking to the fic. After reading this post, I think I'm going to skip watching the show. I'm almost afraid watching will ruin my love of the fanfic, ya know?

[the-deep-magic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the fic is so much better than canon. If you wanted to watch certain episodes for Derek/Stiles scenes (I'm assuming you ship them; I sort of assume everybody ships them), you could do that. Or they're probably on YouTube.

[rhodynne.livejournal.com]

I think its funny that you counted how many times Derek creeps.
You highlighted all the reasons the show bugs me, it Really annoys me that Finstock teachs Econ, P.E., and coaches lacrosse. Plus, their class schedules make no sense, one day they all have classes together, the next they only see each other after school or at lunch. There's a lot of telling instead of showing, isn't there?
Lydia and Jackson, Scott and Alison, Deaton and Morrell oh my.
Thank you for saying out loud that they're assholes (except Danny), Scott especially. How many times does he just say "fuck 'em" to the detriment of everyone around him?
I really hate the way Derek treats Isaac too. Derek even talks to Isaac about how his father treated him, apparently not caring that he's doing the same damn thing.
Erica could have been really something, if they'd treated her right.
I'm very afraid the writers don't actually watch the show to see what happens.
...doesn't mean I'm going to miss any of Season 3. :-)

oh and...psst! someone (HINT) should use that memory transference in a fic, don't you think?

[the-deep-magic.livejournal.com]

I'm very afraid the writers don't actually watch the show to see what happens.

I can't tell you how many times I wrote this or some variant of it in my notes: ARE THE WRITERS EVEN PAYING ATTENTION?!?! At least once, they seem to lose track of what's going on in the middle of the scene. It's like each successive episode is written by people who have never seen the ones before it.

And I dunno, Danny DOES roll his eyes when Stiles is all excited about being first line... but mostly he's the exception to the Asshole Rule, especially since he puts up with Jackson. The Sheriff might be exempt.

I would be a lot more okay with Derek's treatment of Isaac if somebody on the show called him out on it. I told someone that I'm eventually going to write a fic that's just page after page of Stiles haranguing Derek for it.

I'm so sad Erica's not coming back. I think her character was actually developing (gasp!). That's the heart of the problem with this show -- wasted potential. There is so much good stuff that subverts the usual expectations... and it just gets drowned in lazy writing and bizarre product placement.

(And I'm thinking the memory transference is going to make an appearance pretty soon, yeah. ;o))