Teen Wolf season 5
Oct. 15th, 2024 04:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annavereAlright, I'm going to be super positive here, as a counterbalance to last season being a Do Not Want tirade. Everything I enjoyed about season 5 (A & B), coming right up.
Possibly as a direct result of getting roasted by TV critics over season four (at least I hope so), Jeff Davis tightened up the plotting, resulting in actual emotional arcs and character-driven scenes. Scott and Stiles are put through the ringer and suffer and fight, they demonstrate their pain and have actual conversations about how bad they let things get, feeling their way toward reconciliation. That alone is worth the entire season, but driving the pack apart and bringing them together again is an effective way to make all the characters feel like they have a place in the narrative.
Kira loses control of her powers, Malia's on a quest to kill her own mother, the entire group falls apart and rebuilds, and they feel like real people. These plotlines are not always resolved particularly well, but the bones of a great story are there. There's even heartbreaking Stiles and Sheriff scenes! While the new crop of teens are not my faves, I no longer chafe at any Liam scenes because the angst is back, baby. The upswing from season four is tremendous.
Because of this increased enjoyment, I was more willing to embrace the craziness and have fun. It regained its equilibrium as stylish nonsense, albeit increasingly dark in tone (and camera work, geez). It still has a sense of humor, just less than it used to.
This season goes full on body horror and medical horror, with appropriate amounts of yuck, but in a stunning reversal from other television, Jeff Davis never falls back on the demonic pregnancy trope. Maybe it would have been frowned on by the suits in a teen show, or maybe Jeff Davis actually has good taste. I don't care, I raise my glass and tip my hat.
Meanwhile, the Dread Doctors are the least interesting villains so far, but the direct corollary is they are the most consistently written! No patchy dialogue, motive drift or coin toss helpfulness involved.
Unlike Gerard, who returns to action, helping his son hunt the Beast and advising him on the family lore about it, and I would kill for a good father-son dialogue here addressing ANYTHING (Allison being dead, Kate being alive and an abomination, Gerard having told his son he'd kill him to save his own life - we're spoiled for choice on this mad, beautiful mess of a show). But at least he backs off of auditioning to live in Westeros and shows why he was such a formidable hunter to begin with (and Michael Hogan did great work bringing a shred of personality to the guy). It's just a treat to see some Argents and their family history again.
Also back in action with likewise contradictory behavior, vaguely (un)reformed Deucalion! I think he's grown on me in absentia. Him hanging with Theo and snarking oh so condescendingly at him never got old. Also the doublecrosses galore in the finale were all worth cackling over. Boot's on the other foot for so many of these guys! This season is more than usually packed with villains, as I think about it - there's also Theo and his Chimeras, and the Beast, and the Desert Wolf, and all things Eichen House. Is it too many? Undoubtedly. Is it fun? Some of it, in a "bad for me" way.
While I can wish Lydia had been less of a damsel in distress this season (she even gets a reprise of life threatening injury and Perils of Pauline literal cliffhangers in the finale), I did appreciate how once the Eichen House rescue finally happens, absolutely every character has a part in helping her (except Chris Argent). It makes a nice contrast to her season two damsel in distress arc. And besides, I can't really complain about her endless mistreatment and suffering, because it's a total get out of jail free card for my (bad for me) OTP.
I love the fact that Scott's heroic willpower resurrection scene (with badass score) is actually just him being bossed back to life by his mother. I laughed for about two minutes, because it's such an endearingly mama's boy moment, reminding that he's a kid, he's seventeen, for crying out loud. I'd admire the show for it (especially since most heroic stories have an obsession with fathers and sons and it makes a great counterpoint) but the gutsy thematic was probably an accident.
I do find Scott a fascinating lead for the same reason a lot of Redditers hate him - he's a reluctant fighter, he's not good at it and the whole "true alpha" thing seems to be more about bringing disparate people together than about kicking ass and laying down the law. He's "weak." He goes to his mother for advice. He's conflict averse. He wants to help people. He doesn't follow werewolf rules. He's not bite happy. He's only got one actual beta and the rest of his pack is a bunch of non-lupine strays he adopted. He's not my favorite character, because I love my amoral basket cases, but he's a darling and doesn't deserve the vitriol.
Speaking of baskets, the Hales are absent this season (which most Hale fans find disappointing). I think it's a good thing, because it's not like the characters were being well served by the scripts, and with them absent, more time is allotted to the last standing season one characters. I know I'd rather have fewer characters being better treated than a bunch all getting neglected, and the Hales were afterthoughts since 3A finished.
On the other hand, I'm utterly delighted that Deaton has an actual, very subtle arc. He begins the show in hiding from his past and his powers, and refuses to assist any living Hales despite this once being his job. The Hales are not the only ones broken by the fire, in other words. By season four, he finally helps Derek, but only as a last resort and with clear reluctance (and possibly at Lydia's behest, given she's the one who performs an offscreen rescue of Deaton when it goes wrong). It's a huge deal that Deaton helps Malia in season five, takes risks for her and tries very hard to keep the Desert Wolf from killing her - and in return, Malia chooses to save his life, letting her chance for revenge slip away. Deaton finally returns to a role that ended in the worst possible way, and is saved in return by someone who sees herself as doomed to become a killer by blood. It's surprisingly beautiful.
Oh, and Allison is actually remembered through this season and it tugs the heartstrings. There are pack moments and an actual feeling of friendship between the characters, and honestly that carries the show. Good people flailing around and trying to protect each other while villains snark at them. It's the perfect formula. That's all I need to forgive the overinflated action scenes, the undercooked plot resolutions and the sheer "okay, then" of it all.
And now to conclude with the single solitary bit of undiluted criticism I am allowing myself:
The Beast looks like a really low budget kaiju. Sorry.
Possibly as a direct result of getting roasted by TV critics over season four (at least I hope so), Jeff Davis tightened up the plotting, resulting in actual emotional arcs and character-driven scenes. Scott and Stiles are put through the ringer and suffer and fight, they demonstrate their pain and have actual conversations about how bad they let things get, feeling their way toward reconciliation. That alone is worth the entire season, but driving the pack apart and bringing them together again is an effective way to make all the characters feel like they have a place in the narrative.
Kira loses control of her powers, Malia's on a quest to kill her own mother, the entire group falls apart and rebuilds, and they feel like real people. These plotlines are not always resolved particularly well, but the bones of a great story are there. There's even heartbreaking Stiles and Sheriff scenes! While the new crop of teens are not my faves, I no longer chafe at any Liam scenes because the angst is back, baby. The upswing from season four is tremendous.
Because of this increased enjoyment, I was more willing to embrace the craziness and have fun. It regained its equilibrium as stylish nonsense, albeit increasingly dark in tone (and camera work, geez). It still has a sense of humor, just less than it used to.
This season goes full on body horror and medical horror, with appropriate amounts of yuck, but in a stunning reversal from other television, Jeff Davis never falls back on the demonic pregnancy trope. Maybe it would have been frowned on by the suits in a teen show, or maybe Jeff Davis actually has good taste. I don't care, I raise my glass and tip my hat.
Meanwhile, the Dread Doctors are the least interesting villains so far, but the direct corollary is they are the most consistently written! No patchy dialogue, motive drift or coin toss helpfulness involved.
Unlike Gerard, who returns to action, helping his son hunt the Beast and advising him on the family lore about it, and I would kill for a good father-son dialogue here addressing ANYTHING (Allison being dead, Kate being alive and an abomination, Gerard having told his son he'd kill him to save his own life - we're spoiled for choice on this mad, beautiful mess of a show). But at least he backs off of auditioning to live in Westeros and shows why he was such a formidable hunter to begin with (and Michael Hogan did great work bringing a shred of personality to the guy). It's just a treat to see some Argents and their family history again.
Also back in action with likewise contradictory behavior, vaguely (un)reformed Deucalion! I think he's grown on me in absentia. Him hanging with Theo and snarking oh so condescendingly at him never got old. Also the doublecrosses galore in the finale were all worth cackling over. Boot's on the other foot for so many of these guys! This season is more than usually packed with villains, as I think about it - there's also Theo and his Chimeras, and the Beast, and the Desert Wolf, and all things Eichen House. Is it too many? Undoubtedly. Is it fun? Some of it, in a "bad for me" way.
While I can wish Lydia had been less of a damsel in distress this season (she even gets a reprise of life threatening injury and Perils of Pauline literal cliffhangers in the finale), I did appreciate how once the Eichen House rescue finally happens, absolutely every character has a part in helping her (except Chris Argent). It makes a nice contrast to her season two damsel in distress arc. And besides, I can't really complain about her endless mistreatment and suffering, because it's a total get out of jail free card for my (bad for me) OTP.
I love the fact that Scott's heroic willpower resurrection scene (with badass score) is actually just him being bossed back to life by his mother. I laughed for about two minutes, because it's such an endearingly mama's boy moment, reminding that he's a kid, he's seventeen, for crying out loud. I'd admire the show for it (especially since most heroic stories have an obsession with fathers and sons and it makes a great counterpoint) but the gutsy thematic was probably an accident.
I do find Scott a fascinating lead for the same reason a lot of Redditers hate him - he's a reluctant fighter, he's not good at it and the whole "true alpha" thing seems to be more about bringing disparate people together than about kicking ass and laying down the law. He's "weak." He goes to his mother for advice. He's conflict averse. He wants to help people. He doesn't follow werewolf rules. He's not bite happy. He's only got one actual beta and the rest of his pack is a bunch of non-lupine strays he adopted. He's not my favorite character, because I love my amoral basket cases, but he's a darling and doesn't deserve the vitriol.
Speaking of baskets, the Hales are absent this season (which most Hale fans find disappointing). I think it's a good thing, because it's not like the characters were being well served by the scripts, and with them absent, more time is allotted to the last standing season one characters. I know I'd rather have fewer characters being better treated than a bunch all getting neglected, and the Hales were afterthoughts since 3A finished.
On the other hand, I'm utterly delighted that Deaton has an actual, very subtle arc. He begins the show in hiding from his past and his powers, and refuses to assist any living Hales despite this once being his job. The Hales are not the only ones broken by the fire, in other words. By season four, he finally helps Derek, but only as a last resort and with clear reluctance (and possibly at Lydia's behest, given she's the one who performs an offscreen rescue of Deaton when it goes wrong). It's a huge deal that Deaton helps Malia in season five, takes risks for her and tries very hard to keep the Desert Wolf from killing her - and in return, Malia chooses to save his life, letting her chance for revenge slip away. Deaton finally returns to a role that ended in the worst possible way, and is saved in return by someone who sees herself as doomed to become a killer by blood. It's surprisingly beautiful.
Oh, and Allison is actually remembered through this season and it tugs the heartstrings. There are pack moments and an actual feeling of friendship between the characters, and honestly that carries the show. Good people flailing around and trying to protect each other while villains snark at them. It's the perfect formula. That's all I need to forgive the overinflated action scenes, the undercooked plot resolutions and the sheer "okay, then" of it all.
And now to conclude with the single solitary bit of undiluted criticism I am allowing myself:
The Beast looks like a really low budget kaiju. Sorry.
