Why Doesn’t Teen Wolf Get Talked About in the Bookish Community? | And also I have to talk about it because it’s ending AND THAT’S SO SAD

I’m going to go a bit off-topic today. I have recently finished my rewatch of all Teen Wolf, and I have been crushed with the feels. I’ve been watching this show since I was fourteen, so four years, and I love it dearly, and it’s ENDING.

But, it’s always struck me as kind of odd that while I know a lot of people in this community watch it, I’ve never really seen people talk about it.

And that’s something that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, because Teen Wolf does a lot of the things that people have been saying YA books need. Now, I’m going to keep this as spoiler-free as I can, in case there’s anyone reading this who has not yet either watched the show or been caught up on the show.

I will, however, be talking about characters who are introduced in season 3, 4, and 5,  so if you’re no that far, and if you don’t like knowing about future characters, maybe don’t keep reading.

Now, let’s continue!

Boys Who Are Affectionate With Each Other

We have to talk about Scott and Stiles. Not only have they been best friends since they were really little (five, I think?), they often have some sort of physical contact. Yes, a lot of it is the bro-y sort of contact, slapped shoulders and backs and that sort of thing, but they’ve hugged on screen. They’ve fallen asleep in small spaces together. They’re affectionate and don’t hide that.

The same goes for Liam and Mason.

And, there have never been any gay jokes about them being affectionate. There’s no embarrassment, there’s no quick jokes. And that’s extremely rare, especially between teenagers on TV.

And, related to that,

Boys Who Are Allowed to Be Emotional

Both Stiles and Scott have cried on screen. They’ve also both been kind of assholes, but they’ve apologized afterward. Teen Wolf’s characters have an emotional complexity, and the boys show and feel all the emotions.

Even Derek, the brooding bad-boy of Teen Wolf, has clear, viable emotions, and he’s allowed to express those emotions. Sure, for the most part those emotions are anger, but he grows a lot throughout the series, and while he may be introduced as a trope, he’s so much deeper than that.

Girls Who are Feminine and Could Also Murder You

Allison Argent could shoot an arrow through your throat without even blinking, but she has none of the “I’m not like other girls” attitude going on. She wears dresses and skirts, talks about make-up, and she’s never played off as shallow or vain because of this.

And Lydia Martin. Oh, Lydia. I could talk about her character for ages. She’s massively intelligent, kind of a nerd, could literally make your brain explode, and she’s extremely feminine. I don’t think she’s ever been seen in anything but a skirt or a dress.

And while this doesn’t exactly fit within this catagory, I also have to mention a scene where Kira gets added to the formally all boys lacross team. And nothing’s ever said about it. No comments, nothing. She’s now apart of the team. And that’s it.

Female Villains Who’s Backstories Have Nothing to Do With Unrequited or Lost Love

Sure, there are still more male villains than female ones, but the female villains have just as good motives as the male ones. Revenge. Power. Money. There’s not one, one, who became a villain because of lost love. Do you know how rare that is?

Kate Argent, revenge. The Darach, revenge. The Desert Wolf, power. Even the Benefactor is a woman, and her motives have nothing to do with love.

It Shows That First Love Isn’t Forever Love

All of the main characters have fallen in love multiple times throughout the series. And the show shows that while first love is incredible, while it may feel like it lasts forever, it doesn’t, and that’s okay. That eventually you’ll fall in love again, and it will feel like it will last forever again.

Lydia and Jackson. Scott and Allison. Stiles and Malia. Derek and Paige. All the relationships may have ended, but that didn’t mean they never fell in love again. Unlike what YA books seem to show.

Parents Who Are Important to the Plot and Supportive of Their Kids

Shout out to Melissa McCall and Sheriff Stilinski who regularly risk their jobs and break the law to help their kids however they can. They don’t just exist to show up and ground them and possibly feed them. They’re important to the plot, and they play pretty critical roles.

Even Chris Argent, who may have had some…problems season 1 and 2, is now one of the best characters on the show, and he was introduced as Allison Argent’s dad.

It Has A Diverse Cast, but the Show Isn’t About Diversity

DO YOU KNOW HOW RARE THAT IS? Scott is at least half Spanish, there’s been a couple of casual mentions of Stiles taking anti-anxiety meds and anti-depressants, as well as one where Lydia’s mom mentions something about it being okay for Lydia to start going to a therapist again, Kira’s half-Korean, half-Japanese…the list goes on. And nothing really is said about it. It’s a supernatural show, that just happens to have a diverse cast.

Also? The bury your gays trope? DOESN’T EXIST HERE.

The Characters Care About School and Schoolwork

There’s a lot of scenes that take place at Beacon Hills High School, and there’s a lot of talk about Scott’s grades going down ever since he got bitten, and there are scenes where they’re doing homework.

So, yes. This has been a feels-induced love letter to Teen Wolf written at 11PM. But hopefully it still makes sense. And I hope there are other people who are as sad as I am that Teen Wolf is coming to a close.

Happy Thursday,