teen wolf 2.09: does this count as feels? am i feeling now?

[ibythetide]

really not sure what to make of this episode. it feels like the season supposed fall together and things fall apart but um. that didn't happen for me. i realized that i'm doing teen wolf wrong because i wasn't all, OMG IT'S MATT! i was more, matt can't swim? that's your reveal? and then giggled for HOURS! wtf is this show! what the fuck kind of groundwork did you lay for this exactly? you're going to tell me? no. i'm going to require you to show your long division style!

things that i liked:

1. the hallucinations. people were being wolfbaned left and right and it was wonderful! you really gained a lot of insight into fears and doubts. allison feeling weak (she doesn't want to be and hates herself for it), stiles and his father (seriously hurt!), jackson and his facelessness (hedoesn'tknowwhoheisyall!) it was wonderful teenage angst until you got to scott's vision of allison. that is bestiality. and a total disappointment.

on some level i appreciate that scott's humanity shows through with his fear. i understand that losing love is very important but the way it was portrayed just highlighted their 2nd issue of the season: trust. and even the way he's losing her, to another person and then to the kamina have very little to do with um. i'm going to stop because dude, it's scott and allison.

but yes! one of the best things i've seen all season!

2. lydia doing everything. dreaming with sexy uncle peter, putting together outfits with lydia, staring as stiles tries to get the best present ever through the door, having a genuine smile when jackson comes through the door, wolfbaning* her party, wolfbaning derek with its sparkling purple powder form, dragging derek with some handwavey strength! lydia rocks!

3. johnny cage and his son fighting crime with real detective work! i could honestly watch that show all day long.

4. sexy uncle peter returning! while i'm sure it will bring the other big season one ship out from the cold, i welcome him back. i still contend the show made a mistake with taking allison's mother out of the equation. but bringing peter back is an apology i will accept. i imagine that he's unalpha'd derek. de-alpha'd? dealphatized? whichever. he's done it to derek. this is shown through the set up between derek and the pups. i still don't understand how this works out in the whole "mythos"** of teen work but whatever. i know the show is still working on that.

5. fail!pack bonding through the full moon. finally! acknowledgement of what it means to pack and take responsibility for being in one. it was actually really interesting to see some kind of pack dynamic take shape. startissac’s moment was very well done. and the little things like boyd turning his head away twice made me want to hug him! he’s so gentle! starting to think i can dig team fail!packing

back to the responsibility though. i've been waiting for 8 episodes for derek to say something about turning jackson. jesus people! 8 episodes! better than nothing i suppose.

6. BOYD HAS LINES! *fistpumps!*

7. STILES KNOWING PEOPLE WHO CAN PARTY! THAT HE MET THE OTHER NIGHT! AT THE GAY CLUB! that boy! *squisheshim*

8. matt revealing himself to be a graduate of the jackson whittemore school of shaking with rage acting! and god! the pose with the kanima was so. so. so bad. I LOVED IT.

things i didn't like:

1. the shitty photoshopping of the year book pictures. seriously? i know your budget isn't all that great but that was really poorly done.

2. the death of mrs. argent. i know it's television. i know that you never know how long you have with a show. i know that nothing really lasts forever. but honestly, this is a trigger that could have been pulled later. mrs. argent could have been so awesome and they used her like she was a bottle rocket!

3. the lack of golf metaphors

4. matt revealing himself to be a graduate of the jackson whittemore school of shaking with rage acting! and god! the pose with the kanima was so. so. so bad. I HATED IT.

*wolfbane is a thing now. verb it. you know you want to.
** please envision this word with sparkling wolfbane being thrown at it

Comments

[lady-quark.livejournal.com]

so it's two in the morning and I don't know what to do with myself because Teen Wolf and then I see this post and just. it gives me hope and brightens my day so I can see a silver lining at the end of this. at least I'm not the only one with quite an amount of feelings re: an MTV program. still putting all the blame on you for being so invested in this show right now but I won't complain as long as it feels this intense.

god, I am in a constant love/hate!relationship with Jeff Davis because this is dancing on tiptoes on the thin line between genius (I think faceless Jackson&his real parents indeed has got to be a season highlight!) and utter ridiculousness (the not Stiles-kind) and I can't help to dance the dance with this freakin show.

also how have you not been digging team!fail pack yet?! I mean Nikki! they have their own uniform! their housing situation is ridiculous left right and center! they get to do some of the worst actions/have got some of the worst lines in the show! they have Derek!they even have backstories and feelings mercifully being unraveled eventually! what's there not to love?

yes. what I meant to say with this comment was that I'm always more than happy to read your post-episode evaluations and that I like your way of thinking. as if you didn't already know that.

[ibythetide.livejournal.com]

i'm so sorry! okay, i am mostly sorry for having dragged you down with me. but you're right. the show has moments of genuinely good television. it's shocking and encouraging and you want more! then you realize you have to actually watch teen wolf some more in order to get it. i'm working on a theory of why the show works for me that relates the phenomena of cities who route for their historically losing team with fever. it's taking some time and thought but that's what it feels like to me.

and to answer your question team fail!pack is incredibly lame! it was probably erica and issac flouncing through the school that did it for me. i know most of it is due to pacing issues that come with a 13 episode series. you don't really have the time to flesh out story lines, scenes, or characters* but these guys were seriously underdeveloped and served as useless props until episode 6ish. then the show gave them some semblance of a purpose and i decided i could spend time liking them. they didn't exist just to die you see. now i can embrace the lame and love!

*which makes me think teen wolf: the director's cut would be the citizen kane of its generation**
** i am totally joking... or am i?

[lady-quark.livejournal.com]

Keep on working on that theory, it already sounds pretty plausible to me!

team fail!pack is incredibly lame!
Good thing you didn't hear the noise I just made.
I mean I had a thing for Derek them right from the start so I can somehow relate and understand you, that strutting through the corridors scene was painful to watch as it was one of their utter nonsense scenes, but props? My tender heart begs to differ! (Well, it kind of doesn't as your telling the truth, but team socio-pack needs all the love it can get so I'll be here standing my ground against all odds.)

Also, I wish I could believe you on the 'they don't exist merely to die' front but somehow I have the really bad feeling that we're not going to see the four of them in season 3 /SEASON THREE WITH TWENTYFOR EPISODES HOORAY SERIOUS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!/. My spidey senses are rubbish when it comes to this but I don't think Boyd and/or Isaac will make it through the season finale. I think Erica is pretty safe, they made us believe she died once already, they wouldn't kill her off now (insert here: Jeff Davis' maniac laughter at my errors, should I be wrong) but Boyd and Isaac. Like you're experiencing it, people are starting to feel for them. And though I gladly take that sentiment because of fic reasons, I think this could lead to a minor shocker at the end of this season. ... ugh, how are there only four more episodes and so much mess left to solve?!

[the-summer-tree.livejournal.com]

mrs. argent absolutely terrified me...they should've built on that. that bitch was cray cray.