Sunday, December 8, 2013

Talking Teen Wolf: Everything is Werewolf Brothers and Everything Hurts


Why is it always drama, drama, drama in the Teen Wolf fandom? Oh right because we are a bunch of people that all care way too much about fictional characters. Drama comes from passion, when you get that many passionate people in the same place talking about the same thing, tempers are bound to flair. Anyway there is a lot to chat about this week, mainly all the questions people have been asking me over my hiatus that I have been too lazy to answer. But I am lazy no more, so let’s talk about Teen Wolf.


Pics and Pieces:

 Before we get into the serious stuff lets have a quick recap of what went down this week.






Extra Bits:
  • Hypable’s Not Another Teen Wolf Podcast talked to Teen Wolf Music Supervisor Laura Webb.
  • Morgan Evans will be hosting Teen Wolf's new "After After Show" (which I'm assuming will be online after Jill Wagner's Wolf Watch. 
Jeff Davis is Not a Gift… and That’s Okay: There comes a time in every fans like when they must accept the fact that the creator is not god. Writers are not infallible and everything your fave showrunner touches does not turn to gold. This is not a bad thing, in fact, personally, I think it makes for a much more enjoyable fan experience. It means we can enjoy the good without having to ignore or accept the bad. Once we let go of the notion that the creator-god can do no wrong it becomes much easier to criticise problematic aspects without hampering the appreciation of the parts we love. [Read more here]
  • And finally, the always beautiful Crystal Reed graced the cover of Unleasd'd Magazine! 
Spoilerific:

 Hints from Just Jared Jr – not really anything we haven’t seen before but let’s face it, at this stage we will take anything we can get. They predict this will be the season of Dylan O’Brien (I’m going to talk about that in a minute hang on to your knickers), Isaac is still into Allison, the Sheriff is opening old cases and there is Hale family shirtlessness (I’m not saying it’s disappointing but I’m not saying it’s not disappointing either).

Also, Entertainment Weekly said that the “heart-stopping opener… is one of the scariest episode they’ve done all season”. But the most important spoilers is that Tyler Posey told EOnline that the relationship between Scott and Derek is his favorite relationship of the season! Derek’s going to finally be a real big brother for Scott. *sobbing forever because they’re bothers now*


On the Cover of TVGuide!


We’re the best, officially. Whatever it’s not like I have been dancing around the office with my copy like a maniac or anything… oh wait. Okay so I’m a little excited but it is really cool. It always upsets me that my favorite genre shows never get any mainstream recognition and while I love to complain about them I also really want them to know how much I appreciate what they do and things like this allow us to do that. As MTV put it: “Teen Wolf fans can do anything they put their minds to, and their latest demonstration of loyalty has resulted in a TV Guide Magazine cover featuring series co-stars Tyler Posey and Tyler Hoechlin.”

I feel like I should warn you now there is going to be a lot of flailing and crying about werewolf brothers in the coming weeks. It’s beyond my control, I couldn’t stop it if I tried. BTW the slash scholar in me is freaking the fuck out that they talked about Sterek in fucking TVGuide. I still can’t believe this is a thing. It’s like all my wildest fantasies! 


Scott Vs. Stiles


This debate has been raging in the fandom for a while but it was exasperated by the focus on Stiles in 3B marketing. I wasn’t going to weigh in, despite the fact that people have been asking me to because I’m not sure what I can add to the conversation and TBH, I don’t think I can give you what you want.

I’m pretty outspoken in my love for both Stiles and Dylan and I could talk your ear off about why I think that Stiles is so relatable (especially for a fandom audience) or how amazingly talented I think Dylan is. The problem is that these arguments assume that Scott and Stiles (Posey and Dylan) began on equal footing, which is unfortunately not true.

Here’s the thing, we live in a society in which racism is institutionalised. That means that our culture, I guess, teaches us to view (and react to) certain people in a certain way. It’s not a conscious thing. So when people say that the marginalisation of Scott is racist, they are not saying that you are deliberately thinking: “I hate Scott because he’s Latino” (at least I hope you’re not. If you are you’re a bad person and you should be ashamed). But if you don’t think institutionalised racism had an effect on audience responses to Scott McCall then you are very naïve.

Okay so when you enter into this discussion it’s important to recognise the original imbalance. On top of that there’s the fact that there just aren’t very many POC protagonists around so Scott McCall is a big deal, which means any apparent erasure is a big deal. Even if I explain exactly why I think Stiles is more popular (and there are a lot of reasons) that doesn’t change the underlying problems.  Does that make any sense?

My final thought on the matter is this: just because a character is the focus of the season doesn't mean they are the protagonist. Make of that what you will. 

Tease, tease, tease! 

Now that's done we can talk about what's important! The official teaser, which shows Stiles losing control. It appears as though the darkness really has hit him hard. Can I just say that I am super excited for 3B (even though I promised myself I wouldn't be - fool me twice) because it looks like we are finally seeing some consequences! All I want is to watch the people I love deal with the terrible things that happen to them. Is that too much to ask? 


If that doesn't get your juices flowing then here's a fantastic fan made trailer (with a creepy christmas bonus). On They Send, Without End by TheReliand. I've been crying about it for a week! 



An Open Letter to... Tyler Posey 


Dear Posey, 
Look bro, I am so incredibly sorry if you feel like we as a fandom don't appreciate you because we do - or at least I do, I don't pretend to speak for fandom as a whole... okay I do sometimes but not this time. Anyway I've explained how awesome you are before so let's not get into that but I want you to know that I love you and Scott McCall more than I ever thought possible. 
Scott is not the kind of character I usually care about so it's a testament to you that I care as much as I do (it's certainly not Jeff's carefully crafted characterisations). But it's more than that because as much as I love Stiles I am very aware that Stiles would not be Stiles without Scott and I think people forget that. If Stiles was the protagonist he would be a very different character. Teen Wolf could not have a better protagonist than Scott McCall and I will be forever grateful to you for bringing him to life.   
I'm sorry this is a bit more mushy and sincere than my usual open letters but I wanted you (and by you I mean the 3 fans that actually read this) to take me seriously.  
Keep on truckin' 
UndieGirl 
P.S My fifteen year old self was very aroused excited by your halloween costume.  
P.P.S See you at Bite Con! 


Tweet of the Week: 

I have a feeling this section of the column is going to end up being a tribute to Linden Ashby's general existence, but I'm cool with it. Whatever the Twitter version of an Oscar is, this man should get it. 



 That's all for Talking Teen Wolf this week, but here's a little something to look forward to before next week. 

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