#motel california is such a good episode

[scisac]

faceless teen wolf episodes 3x06: motel california 1/?

[b0yds]

there’s something about the way that the wolves decided to ... you know ... in motel california. first of all, isaac went completely catatonic and just hid from everything. scott was going to burn himself alive (guilt over derek, on top of everything else, manifesting to its most extreme?). ethan was going to tear himself apart because he was afraid his brother was trapped inside of him. and boyd was going to drown himself. he was going to drown himself and put a safe on his chest so no one could help (boyd himself could lift it, but who else could? only other werewolves, certainly). and then we just never fucking talked about any of that ever again???

[scribeoffate]

What’s your favorite thing about season 3a of Teen Wolf and why?

The tl;dr answer is almost everything.

Let's start with Tattoo- I love the way the episode sets everything up. I've mentioned it in rewatch before but I really want to explore the use of the word "ephemeral" in Tattoo. From exploring Scott's break up with Allison, to his tattoo not lasting, to the way he uses the word, even to the idea that Scott's status as a beta is ephemeral, even at this point in the series. I love the scene with Stiles and Derek holding Scott down to blowtorch his arm. I LOVE the way it opens with fucking BRAEDEN rescuing Isaac on a motorcycle.

I love the introduction of Deucalion. I love and adore the meet-cute in the elevator. Please enjoy @spikeface's brilliant fic: a certain potential for a fascinating glimpse of Deucalion's POV in that scene.

I love that Scott is Isaac's werewolf contact. I love the tension as the alpha pack stalks Braeden (I would be mad about how this ended, except she comes back) and their intro. I love the tension between Allison, Lydia, and Derek. It's a very well-done episode and definitely sets up a fantastic season so well.

Chaos Rising introduces Heather, who is friends with Danielle from Party Guessed. I was excited. We get the vault rescue, and there's some fun Steter banter. "No, you idiot, I live in a condo downtown, will forever be a favorite moment. The vault rescue! Scott's look at the end is A FAVORED moment, the blood on the chin? I cannot.

Then, we move on to Fireflies. I am weak for Scott saving those kids in the beginning, for the tension between him and Allison, and for the introduction of Cora! And then they are working with Chris. Who is still pointing a gun at Scott, but Scott is so soft and accepting of it. "I get that," he says. 🥺 Then they do a rescue! And Jennifer is there! And Derek is so worried about hurting her. Unfortunate. (When I was first watching, I leaned over to @illbeintheend and was like, "Tell me she's evil?" :D ) I think my favorite bit of Unleashed is when they pull the motorcycle swap on the twins. That is like PEAK supernatural teenager shenanigans to me. And they deserved more lower stakes (not that the twins are entirely low-stakes) shenans, overall. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE that Allison knows so much about motorcycles. Scallison motorcycle trip whenst?

Frayed. Frayed. FRAYED. BELOVED. I love so much about this episode. The sciles! the scallison! more truedemon in the elevator? and then on an escalator!! the scerek! the scisaac! BOYDDD. That moment where Scott is like "Well, I do," when Boyd doesn't care what happens to himself? Gyahhh. I CANNOT. And the the fight scene? Is SO good? Despite them having forgotten about light bulbs by 3a I find that to be one of the best choreographed fight scenes in the show. The Coach of it all? Ofc he's not gonna let them stop for a bathroom break, SIT DOWN BILINSKI. I love Frayed. AND THEN WE GET MOTEL CALIFORNIA RIGHT AFTER?? Lydia's arc in this is SOOO good. The Allison and Lydia moment where Allison is just "I believe you" and Lydia is so touched and clearly bolstered, it's one of the reasons I head canon she's had access to her powers her entire life. It's just now that people believe her about them. The Isaac and Ethan character moments? LEARNING ABOUT ALICIA (GREAT BUT OMG SHOOOOWWWW WHY IS THIS ALL WE GET???). Boyd. Cry!!! And THEN. The angst of the parking light scene at the end. I tear up still watching it. (Tbf I cry real easy.) Currents. I love Currents for the metronome scene and the way it highlights Boyd's intelligence. He has one of the best plans. And then the way it ends? That hurts me. Proto-alpha Scott almost rescuing Deaton? Bbbb. I have mixed feelings about Visionary. The Paige arc is devastating. Read my own excellent fic (i just) died in your arms for a look at my thoughts on her and Derek. I love the glimpse of pre-canon and Deucalion's backstory. I find the "unreliable narrator" bit to be a touch heavy-handed, but it's grown on me after many watched for fics.

The Girl Who Knew Too Much and The Overlooked. GYHAHHHH! I love so much about these. The scydia hand hold moment. "For someone like you to help" she says to Scott and I MELT. The big orchestra crescendo! The death of Deputy Tara and the little hints at her relationship with Stiles? The way Derek absolutely believes Scott and Stiles about Jennifer and her utter shock but quick turnaround?

The elevator scene! It's so silly and SO GREAT. I love it so much, okay. Deucalion manipulating events? The desperation as Stiles and Scott try and rescue their parents? Listen, these episodes are also so good. And then we have Scott going with Deucalion at the end of the episode. The way he has no idea what to do. He's just a lost kid, in so far over his head. And his mom and Stile's dad are missing and his (pretty damn good, too) English teacher is evil and there is Deucalion. And he has no choice and maybe he was right in that motel parking lot, it certainly feels like there's no help.

Then Alpha Pact happens. Then we get to Lunar Eclipse. And I just. The ice baths?? I have spent so much time wondering how Deaton, Isaac, and Lydia felt sitting there. Waiting. For hours. Lydia desperately holding back her screams for Allison, Scott and Stiles. Also, they all look so gooood in black. The Nemeton! The matching tattoos! The way it brings everything together to s1. The scalisaac moment with Rafael? Priceless. Love Kalia and Jennifer's showdown. It looks so cool, first of all. But there is a moment, where you think, just maybe Kali might NOT double down. And then the glass shards fly.

The bit where Deucalion is "brother against brother, how very American," cracks me up, every watch. And then he roars and tries to force Scott to kill and well, then we have an Eclipse. AND THEN AND THEN AND THEN we get the true alpha moment we've been building to since Scott threw off Peter's control in s1 and chose his own pack over Derek's in s2. That moment is so good.

Thank you for asking, anon. <3 I just love 3a so much.

[thislovintime]

The Monkees on the set of Head, 1968.

“The first day of shooting was scheduled for February 11, 1968 — but there was another snag before Rafelson could begin filming. ‘Mike was the shop steward of The Monkees during that whole period,’ explains Dolenz. ‘He introduced us to an agent called Jerry Perenchio, now one of the most successful men in the business. He said, ‘You guys are really getting ripped off.’ So he encouraged us to strike. Peter, unfortunately, didn’t agree. He was the scab, so to speak. That took the wind out of the sails of our opportunity.’ Tork: ‘I felt it was another power play by Mike. It was strange, because I was raised a labor progressive. If ever there was a guy who understood the dynamics of labor organizing, it was me. What Mike meant was, “Let me be the be boss.” The other three did stay out for the first say of shooting, and, basically Bert allowed a little trade-off and gave them a face-saving concession. But I got paid nothing for Head. I was given a piece of the action and it died.’” - Mojo, June 2002

“It’s not an abstract movie. It’s surreal, but it’s not abstract. It took me a while to recognize the difference. Certain scenes never fail to break me up with laughter to this day. But I wish we had been able to better capture on film what the writers had originally envisioned. The one thing we did not want was a 90-minute episode of the show. And I think we accomplished that.” - Peter Tork, leoweekly, June 8, 2016

Q: “The parts you played in the movie seemed to be based more on yourselves than the parts in the series?” Peter Tork: “Yeah, the movie was about who...who we were... [Peter pauses for a long time before continuing the sentence] ...I think as Bob Rafelson saw us, who the individuals were. The ways it was. I was spaced out with my newage philosophy, Davy is a little rough neck and Mike is a conniver, Micky, I don't know, but Micky's character hadn't formed at that point, he didn't know anything about him. But yeah, it was about who we were and not who the characters on the screen or TV-show were. The movie was about the Monkees-phenomenon and people and Hollywood and some of my complaints, the black box, we complained about what later became the black box a lot.” Q: “How much influence did the four of you have on the script?” PT: “On the movie? Oh, I think we had a lot. The producers and director were very pleased with us, we had a conference before we began work at the movie. The 7 of us [i.e. Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider and Jack Nicholson] went to Ojai in California, a peaceful part of the world, and we sat in a motel and we talked about what we wanted and that what we all wanted was not to have another TV-episode. That was very important to all of us. And I don't think they hardened by that, because I think they wanted to make a good movie, I wish they could have made a movie that had had a commercial success, too, but they chose not to. I think that that was their choice, too, which I'm very disappointed about.” - interview by Lise Lygn Falkenberg, 1994

[thestupidhelmet]

How Hyde Is a Good Friend to Eric

Season 1:

Hyde tries to help writing Eric's term paper while Eric is busy with his grandmother's visit. ("Sunday, Bloody Sunday" [1x10])

Hyde chooses to stay in Point Place in large part because Eric doesn't want him to leave. ("Punk Chick" [1x22])

After a drunk Eric is knocked unconscious by one punch at a bar, Hyde initiates defending his honor by getting into a bar fight with Eric's assailant and his buddies. ("Grandma's Dead" [1x23])

When Eric wants to bounce a bowling ball on the living room floor, Hyde tries to dissuade him. ("The Good Son" [1x25])

Hyde takes responsibility for the television Eric breaks, risking homelessness by doing so because Red might kick him out of the house while Eric's potential punishment would be far less severe. ("The Good Son")

Season 2:

Hyde helps Eric wrangle a high Red and get Eric's car back, which Red sold. ("Garage Sale" [2x01])

To open Red's eyes about who Laurie truly is and to get Eric vengeance on the years of Laurie getting away with bullying him, Hyde supports and encourages Eric to reveal the truth about Laurie sleeping with her college professor. ("Laurie and the Professor" [2x04])

Hyde defuses Donna's anger at Eric and feelings of betrayal by talking with her and giving her a different perspective. ("Van Stock" [2x06])

Throughout the season, Hyde doesn't burn Eric about Kelso sleeping with Laurie and tries to convince Kelso to end his affair with her. (Note: Eric's claim in season 7 that Hyde relentlessly burned him about Kelso and Laurie is a retcon that has no evidence whatsoever on the show. The retcon was written for that episode's punchline and contradicts all the episodes and seasons before it.)

Season 3:

To protect Eric from Red's wrath, Hyde tells Eric not to confess to smoking pot, too, despite that Hyde is now homeless because Red kicked him out of the house. ("Reefer Madness" [3x01])

Hyde holds Eric's hand while Leo tattoos Eric's butt. ("Eric's Drunken Tattoo" [3x22])

Season 4

Hyde takes the lead on trying to lift Eric's spirits and doesn't let Kelso or Fez abandon Eric when Eric first rejects their help. Hyde gives up only when Eric becomes a little hostile and makes clear his grief has too strong a hold on him that day. ("Eric's Depression" [4x02])

Hyde breaks up with his girlfriend, Jill, to be more available to Eric. He also lies that she broke up with him so that Eric won't feel pitied. ("The Third Wheel" [4x11])

Hyde supports Eric when Eric learns Donna's going on a date with Casey Kelso. ("Donna Dates a Kelso" [4x16])

Origin Story: In first grade, Hyde becomes Eric's protector from bullies, starting with Donna. ("Class Picture" [4x20]) (Yes, it's a total retcon that Donna bullied Eric when they were young, and I don't accept it as canon. But Hyde absolutely would become Eric's protector. He still is during the time of the show.)

Hyde stays up all night pulling the fire alarm at the Le Motel to stop Donna from having sex with Casey. He does this for Eric and Donna, out of his friendship with and protectiveness of both of them. ("Eric's False Alarm" [4x25])

Season 5

Hyde buys Eric a plane ticket to California (albeit with Eric's money) so he can reconcile with Donna and covers for him to Red and Kitty the whole time Eric's gone. ("Going to California" [5x01])

Hyde advises Eric against making the same mistake that broke up Eric and Donna in season 3. Although Hyde fortunately turns out to be wrong about the outcome, his heart is in the right place: friendship. ("Hot Dog" [5x07])

After season 5, Hyde and Eric's storylines don't focus on their friendship, but their friendship is ever-present. They both demonstrate their love for and support of each other in short scenes and a few lines of dialogue.

[buckybarnesss]

so. motel california. do you have thoughts?

I know the doylist explanation is just that jeff wanted to do a fun spooky episode and didn't give a fuck whether it made sense, but from a watsonian perspective?

did jennifer crash the truck that causes the traffic jam? did she cause the tornado? if she didn't cause the tornado, what was her plan? if she did cause it what was her plan?! why are none of the humans affected by the wolfsbane? why did she just give up after the werewolves had emotional breakthroughs, was this some kind of deeply unethical therapy? why does teen wolf take place in the same universe as psycho?!

i really like the horror-lite aesthetic, it's a fun episode, but it makes so little sense, and it's driving me crazy!

my apologies that this took me so long to answer but it took me a while to gather my thoughts. as with a lot of things in teen wolf it's hard to give a straight answer without breaking down some things first.

the simple answer is: jennifer is good but she's not that good and teen wolf wanted a halloween episode despite airing in july.

but i can never just give a simple answer.

i'm just gonna read more this now because like always i get long goddamn winded about what was going on in 3A.

the thing about 3A i think that is sort of missed is that it's the closing moves of a chess match that began long before wolf moon. the chess metaphor is deep this season, okay. there's a reason derek is the king on stiles's chess board and it's not just because stiles is unhinged about derek.

in 3A there's plot threads that happen in the background that are easy to miss because it's never outright stated and one of those things is that both jennifer and duecalion scoped beacon hills out long before they showed up.

marin morrell shows up for the first time in abomination. much like jennifer she's presented at first as benign and largely unthreatening. we learn later morrell is anything but.

while we don't know if morrell was already working for the school when we meet her it does make her a direct parallel to jennifer.

duecalion's interest was piqued by what happened in season 1. with laura hale's murder, peter's revenge spree ending with the death of kate argent and than derek subsequently becoming the alpha duecalion sees an opportunity.

people have asked what was duecalion's motivation initially and my answer is that it was simple.

duecalion is a collector and he wanted to collect the last hale into his pack.

the events of season 2 only served to interest him more due to the kanima but likely also because of gerard argent's involvement. duecalion and gerard are set up as a lot like kate and peter were in season 1.

they're different sides of the same coin. duecalion and gerard are shadow actors for much of the series both before and after their appearances.

we have to remember that marin morrell is there before peter's resurrection and before the alphas got ahold of erica, boyd and cora.

i fully believe that derek was not only aware that there'd be more hunters coming to beacon hills but also he may have guessed the alpha pack would come too.

derek's desperation for a pack throughout season 2 isn't just because of the kanima it's because he knows he needs a power base and he needs one fast. i don't think he would've pressed scott as hard as he did otherwise.

it should also be noted that deaton (and morrell) were keeping scott's potential of being a true alpha on the down low. deaton tells scott in currents he believed scott would be a true alpha when he learned he was bitten.

i have a whole theory about deaton and morrell having their own conspiracy surrounding scott becoming a true alpha. they definitely kept it as an ace in the hole.

derek was also trying to keep scott away from everything relating to the alphas but his motivation was straight forward. derek wants scott to be a normal teenager.

this is all but said in tattoo.

scott: hey, are you gonna tell me who that was back there? that alpha? derek: a rival pack. it's my problem. i know you wanna help, and you did-- i owe you one. now, go home. go back to being a teenager.

we know deaton was aware of duecalion and his pack coming at least by raving due to the conversation he and morrell have after derek brings scott to him after victoria tries to kill him.

marin: i can't decide if i admire your sentimentality or despise it... deaton: if i want your opinion, i'll make an appointment with the guidance office. marin: from the state of things, i think you could use a little guidance. are you really going to leave all of this up to a couple of kids? deaton: they're more capable than you think. marin: and, are you going to tell them what's coming? deaton: they've got enough to worry about...

there's also an argument to be made that victoria argent was bitten by one of the alphas and not derek like we are led to believe.

duecalion doesn't really change focus off derek until he meets scott and realizes what scott can become. again, he's a collector and a true alpha is rare.

jennifer in turn is also focused on derek. he is central to her plan.

there are two things at play with jennifer being that she is obsessed with derek and she does the absolute most to get under his defenses.

jennifer is obsessed with derek because she views him as her savior.

jennifer: you didn't know what you were doing back then, but killing paige in the root cellar-- sacrificing her there-- gave power to the nemeton. you gave it power again. you gave me power. Just enough to hold onto life a little longer. long enough to be found.

she uses her ill begotten power from virgin sacrifices to assist in her seduction of him and her glamour as jennifer is visually similar to both pagie and stiles. there's even moments where she seems to purposefully emulate stiles's more endearing, curious and less threatening behavior to lure derek into a false sense of security.

derek was supposed to be the guardian. jennifer says as much in lunar eclipse

jennifer: i need a guardian... and that's a role that can either be filled by the three parents i was forced to take, or by you.

derek was always jennifer's first choice but poisoning cora and jennifer taking melissa, the sheriff and chris was insurance not just for cooperation but just in case she needed them for the guardian sacrifice.

what she didn't count on was her magic not being enough against the tears of stiles stilinski.

so how does any of this answer your question about what the fuck jennifer's plan was?

let's just say teen wolf played fast and loose with this because it doesn't make a lot of sense when you examine it too closely but i shall try.

i think it's far too easy to say she was going to sacrifice the werewolves but if stiles's theory is true she planned on removing scott, isaac and boyd off the board so she could have free access to derek.

however i wonder if jennifer was planning on sacrificing them in a three fold death than what was she looking to gain from it? possibly their advanced healing as the next episode is when she does the one for healers but i think there was more than one thing at play in motel califnornia.

there's jennifer's plan of completing her seduction of derek and than there's lydia's banshee abilities.

jennifer's surprise when derek turned up at the school parking lot in frayed is genuine. fortuitous for her but unplanned as getting derek alone to complete her seduction was her plan which is where the cross country meet comes in.

as a teacher she would know about the cross country meet and have access to finstock's whistle. there obviously wasn't enough to really affect the humans in the group as the wolfsbane wasn't ingested like at lydia's party but rather inhaled randomly when the whistle was blown which really just makes it less reliable.

so her targets seem to be scott, boyd and isaac over ethan. she wants them out of the way and distracted and them thinking derek is dead is a bonus for her.

jennifer didn't know about the mall rumble nor could she have known they'd stop at the motel glen capri.

i mean, sure maybe she did cause the torndao warning and than also caused the traffic jam to slow them up but that seems like way too many variables for her to control in my opinion.

glen capri seems to have it's own weird magic that the wolfsbane in the werewolf's systems was exacerbated by.

she also didn't know lydia and allison were following them and she definitely didn't know lydia was a banshee yet.

lydia's banshee abilities is what allowed them to figure out what was going on with the motel and prevent deaths.

so to me the whole plan was to get derek alone and scott, isaac and boyd away from him.

[my-supernatural-rewatch]

Episode 11: Scarecrow

Dean Winchester in the Supernatural episode Scarecrow

I really like this episode. Nice and creepy. It's also the first one after the pilot that I remember watching first time around and thinking "okay, I could watch this show..."

Dean goes to Indiana at the behest of John to investigate missing couples while Sam tries to make his way to California to find John and, hopefully the thing that killed his mother and Jessica.

(AKA: Sam pitches a hissy fit, takes off, and leaves Dean alone to battle a haunted scarecrow.)

When the couple the town has sacrificed to the tree god thing dressed as a scarecrow first come across the scarecrow, the dude jokes "If I only had a brain" and his girlfriend doesn't miss a beat with the funnier line, "We wouldn't be lost."

Well, at least you got a good one-liner in before the scarecrow ate you.

So after they get got, we're back to the end of the last episode with Sam and Dean sleeping in a motel room and Sam taking a call that turns out to be John.

And we have a Jeffrey Dean Morgan sighting.

John tells Sam how sorry he is about Jessica (which means, yeah, he got Dean's messages) and how he didn't want that for Sam. But he also pulls attitude, telling Sam he knows who killed Mary and Jess but refusing to tell him anything except that it's a demon.

Sam starts the conversation not by saying "WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN" but by asking John if he's hurt. When John tells him he's fine, I was hoping Sam would go off on him...but he doesn't. Not really.

Dean awakens to Sam talking on the phone and for some reason he's shirtless. (I only say 'for some reason' because as we all know in pretty much every other episode in which Dean sleeps, he's always fully clothed because the CW hates us.)

Fine, here you go.

Back to what John said about Jess:

"I would have done anything to protect you from that."

Except, you know, show up. Not fucking disappear and make my sons think I was dead. You know, anything but those things that might have actually saved her fucking life.

But I digress.

Dean starts bugging Sam to give him the phone, but Sam won't. John tells Sam they need to stop looking for him...and gives him an order: "Stop following me and do your job."

Sam isn't happy, Dean grabs the phone away from him and immediately goes into good son mode. John says something to him that we don't hear and Dean's reaction is to sit up straight (after he put on his shirt) and say "Yes, sir."

We don't get to see if Sam and Dean fight in the motel room. We just cut to them in the car...with Sam driving and Dean reading off the points of the case. He's impressed with the work John put into it and exclaims to Sam, "Man's a master."

This sets Sam right the fuck off.

And you know what? I don't blame him.

He literally stops the car, gets out and starts pulling his shit out of the car.

He wants to head to California where he has deduced John is based on where he called from. (Also, John was in California when he bailed on Dean. Dude went from Cali to Kansas back to Cali just to fuck with his kids? What the fuck?)

Dean doesn't want to go to California because John has given them an order and he thinks it's important.

Here's the exchange because, like Dean, I think it's important:

Dean: Dad doesn’t want our help.

Sam: I don’t care.

Dean: He’s given us an order.

Sam: I don’t care. We don’t always have to do what he says.

Dean: Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives, it’s important.

Sam: Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand. But I’m talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge.

Dean: Alright, look, I know how you feel.

Sam: (SO Pissy!) Do you? (Dean is taken aback at the attitude) How old were you when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel?

THAT DEAN IGNORES WHAT A DICK THING THIS WAS FOR SAM TO SAY IS A CREDIT TO HIM - I WOULD HAVE CLOCKED HIM

Dean: Dad said it wasn’t safe. For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something that we don’t, so if he says to stay away, we stay away.

Sam: I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it’s like you don’t even question him.

Dean: Yeah, it’s called being a good son! You’re a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. Don’t care what anybody thinks.

Sam: That’s what you really think?

Dean: Yes, it is.

Sam: Well, then this selfish bastard is going to California

Fucking go then...is kind of what Dean says except he really doesn't want Sam to go but Sam is pissy enough that Dean just says "I will leave your ass" thinking Sam will change his mind. When he doesn't all Dean can say is "Goodbye, Sam."

UGH. I mean I know how this one ends but, Christ, I want to punch Sam at this point.

Also, it bothers me, as I think I've mentioned, that Dean thinks being a good son means blindly following whatever John tells him to do. It's gonna take fourteen years for him to get past this...(See one of my least favorite episodes: Lebanon.)

Is this the only episode we get a good look at Dean and Sam's phones? Because for some reason we get to see the contacts on both their phones and of course I had to write down the names.

Dean's flip phone - the names are alpahbetical:

Bren (mobile)

Carmelita (mobile)

Christian (DC)

Curtis (mobile)

Dad (mobile)

Donny (mobile)

Robin (mobile)

Sam (mobile)

Sam's Blackberry (how'd he afford a Blackberry? And why aren't his contacts alphabetical?) Also, it absolutely fits their personality that Dean doesn't use last names but Sam does.

Rebecca Warren (mobile) - College friend from Skin

Jerry (pager)

John Marcynuk (home) - Production Designer on SPN

Dean (mobile)

Mary Ann Liu (home) - Production Designer on SPN

How come the college kid with more friends than Dean has fewer contacts? (and how come John's number isn't on there?)

Anyhow...this has gone long and Dean hasn't even gotten to the town yet and Sam hasn't met Meg.

When he DOES get to the town Dean almost calls Sam (which is why we see his contacts) and then changes his mind.

The first guy he greets is Scotty and when Scotty doesn't succumb to his charms he tells him he has "...a smile that lights up a room."

And many people like to point to this as a tiny bit of "Dean is bi" proof but for me it's just Dean being sarcastic because Scotty is being kind of a dick to Dean.

Back to my obsession about where they store their clothes. When Sam took off he had a duffel that could barely hold one outfit, never mind as much clothes as he seems to have. And when the EMF reader goes off in the car and Dean reaches back to get it out of his duffel, we see some clothes...but NOT John's leather jacket...and Dean isn't wearing the jacket...so where the fuck is it?

Also, this episode stands as a good reminder for the first season that prior to his visit to Stanford, Dean was doing this on his own occasionally. He was fine going to this place and doing the work. Until he tried to talk the new sacrificial couple to get out of town. He laments Sam not being there to warn them:

"...my brother could give you this puppy dog look, and you’d just buy right into it."

This caused many fans to hold on to the fallacy that Sam was the empathetic one and Dean was the cold one which, as we know, is not at all the case.

I guess I have to mention Sam. He meets Meg in a hitchhiking meet-cute and she ditches him for a ride. Then they meet again at a bus station where they're both going to California and have to wait overnight for a bus. They bond over how shitty their families are - and now you're caught up with Sam.

So the dumbasses who wouldn't listen to Dean almost die but they don't because Dean of course saves them. But seeing the scarecrow and getting that close to it apparently freaks him out so much that he bites the bullet and calls Sam to talk about it.

Without Sam, Dean figured out it was a pagan god. Sam tells him if he wants Sam's help to ask and stop hinting...and Dean tells him he isn't hinting at anything.

Dean tries to apologize but doesn't say the words...but Sam knows what he's saying and apologizes to him as well. Then Dean surprises Sam by saying:

"You were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life."

Okay, let me play out the whole scene here because it's actually really sweet.

Dean: Sam. You were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life.

Sam: Are you serious?

Dean: You’ve always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I…anyway....I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy.

Sam: I don’t even know what to say.

Dean: Say you’ll take care of yourself.

Sam: I will.

Dean: Call me when you find Dad.

Sam: (seemingly genuinely sad) OK. Bye, Dean.

They both hang up and Meg approaches Sam.

Meg: Who was that?

Sam: My brother.

Meg: What’d he say?

Sam: Goodbye.

And that's the end of the series.

No, we know that isn't true.

Dean goes to talk to someone about pagan gods and ends up with the butt of a shotgun to the face because every fucking person in town is in on this bullshit.

Meanwhile, when Sam can't reach Dean for three hours he decides he has to bail on California (and Meg) and go back to Dean. Meg is pissed but Sam gives no fucks.

"He's my family."

No shit, Sherlock.

Anyhow...the townsfolk need new sacrifices for the tree god who keeps the town alive while the towns around it are dying and guess who gets volunteered? Dean and the only person in town who didn't know about the tree god thing, the niece of one of the local couples.

The uncle seems hesitant to feed his niece to the god but the aunt is all LFG!!!! Throwing a snarky "The good of the many outweighs the good of the one" to her as she locks her up with Dean. Thanks, Mr. Spock.

Dean's possible last words being "Hope your apple pie is freaking worth it!" was one of the better lines of the episode. One brief moment of humor before getting eaten by a tree god.

When Sam shows up to save the day, though, we get another good one from Dean, "I take everything back I said. I'm so happy to see you!"

We find out that Sam is embracing his Winchester bad boy side because in order to get to Dean quickly...he stole a car.

Eliciting a "That's my boy!" from Dean.

So the aunt and uncle end up getting it from the tree god and the next day Sam, Dean, and the niece track down the tree and set it on fire with a can of gasoline and a Zippo. Then the brothers put the girl on a bus to Boston and watch her peace out.

When she's gone, Sam tells Dean he's sticking around.

"I still wanna find Dad. And you’re still a pain in the ass. But, Jess and Mom, they’re both gone. Dad is God knows where. You and me. We’re all that’s left. So, if we’re gonna see this through, we’re gonna do it together."

Dean, of course, can't just let this earnest moment be and has to be a smart ass and responds, "Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful."

Someday, Dean. Someday they'll let you be you.

But it isn't over! We see Meg in a truck, having hitchhiked again. She gets the driver to pull over, tells him she has to make a call and when he offers his phone she stabs him in the neck and pours his blood into a goblet. (When do all the demons get cell phones? Was that a program Crowley implemented?)

Fuck, she's a demon. And here we go.

One interesting note about Meg's "call." The person she calls (who we will later find out is Yellow Eyes/Azazel) she refers to as father. And she complains that he didn't let her just kill Sam and Dean. We don't know what the response is, but we know she replies back "Yes, Father" like the dutiful daughter.

Just like Dean and John.

Some notes for posterity:

Significant music in this episode: We get some Creedence Clearwater Revival with Lodi and Bad Company's Bad Company. (In a really great use of the song...when we find out Meg is a demon!)

Dean tells Scotty, the first dude he meets in town, that his name is John Bonham and immediately Scotty responds, "Isn’t that the drummer for Led Zeppelin?" Early on folks weren't as gullible as they became.

This is the first time we see Meg. I love Meg. I love her when she's bad, I love her when she's not bad, I love her when she's Rachel Miner and I especially love her when she's Nicki Aycox.

Movie References: At the beginning of the episode one of the doomed couple jokes "If I only had a brain" when he sees the scarecrow. Obvious Wizard of Oz reference. Near the end of the episode the creepy aunt who ends up eating it says, "The good of the many outweighs the good of the one" which is a mangled version of the quote from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Our Dean does get ONE reference in..."Let's just shag ass before Leatherface catches up" a reference to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

This hunt takes place in Burkitsville, Indiana...a town that doesn't exist but could be another reference: The Blair Witch Project took place in Burkittsville, Maryland.

Recognizable Guest Stars: William B. Davis! The Goddman Cigarette Smoking Man! Plus, the late, great, fucking perfect Meg: Nicki Aycox. (Oh yeah, we get Jeffrey Dean Morgan for a minute too.)

A lighter is used to burn the tree that kills the god

Sam drives the Impala while Dean is relaying the information John put together about the case. Sam then stops the car, gets out, and hitchhikes his ass away from Dean during a hissy fit.

This is the first time I recall Dean talking about pie...

[princeescaluswords]

Fuck I'm so sick of tw racist fandom

I bet the only way they could ever respect Scott is if he died for any of the white characters, because that is the only thing characters of color are good for (i will never forget or forgive what happened to Boyd), there aren't here to be representation to us, fans of color, they're just here to give importance to the white characters

I swear to every deity, so fucking sick of this bullshit

Twelve fucking years of the same

Sorry if this is just gibberish but im so fucking mad right now

Thanks for appreciating Scott and call out the racism in the fandom

Some observations:

You have a right to be exhausted. You definitely have a right to be furious. These people despise what happened on the show, but instead of simply finding a show they do like, they've spent 12 years slandering the eponymous lead protagonist. And not just ignoring what he did, and not just hating him (and his actor), and not just twisting everything the character did in canon, and certainly not twisting canon into some unrecognizable white-boy fantasy. They've deliberately and maliciously ruined the fandom experience for those people who are actually fans of the show!

But you are actually wrong when you say "the only way they could ever respect Scott is if he died for any of the white characters." Because Scott certainly tried! In Co-Captain (1x10), in Raving (2x08), in Alpha Pact (3x11), in Letharia Vulpina (3x19), in Status Asthmaticus (5x10), and even in Face To Faceless (6x14). Scott literally takes actions that could cause him to die for white characters who have tortured, blackmailed, and betrayed him. He does it TWICE in the movie.

Let's just take Frayed (3x05) for example. Out of guilt and fear, Scott won't let himself heal to the point that he stops breathing in a rest-stop bathroom. So far this season, Derek has insulted his friends, hit them, treated Isaac like shit, and betrayed Scott by turning Scott's peace conference into an ambush. And Scott is still so distraught at the idea of Derek's death that he's willing himself to die.

And before people quibble with my analysis, let's have an expert weigh in.

Stiles: All in his head? Because of Derek. He's not letting himself heal 'cause Derek died.

This puts these racist anti-Scott fans in a pickle, because one of their big things is Stiles is Always Right, so that means that Scott was willing to die for Derek, but that can't be true, so that means Stiles is wrong, but Stiles can't be wrong ... the only way for them to solve this conundrum is to pretend it doesn't exist, making them shut down like defective Hate-Bots.

They have to perform this magic trick quite a bit, because Scott does it again in the very next episode! He may be under the influence of wolf's bane in Motel California (3x06) but he still is about to burn himself alive for white people. The only thing -- the only thing! -- that stops him is that burning himself alive would kill Stiles too.

Scott: There's no hope. Allison: What do you mean, Scott? There's always hope. Scott: Not for me. Not for Derek. Allison: Derek wasn't your fault. You know Derek wasn't your fault.

And yet, no matter how many times he's willing to lay down his life for these white characters -- for Jackson who blackmailed him; for Derek who beat him and manipulated him; for the Sheriff who tried to abandon him in Mexico and then put the barrel of a gun over his heart; for Stiles who lied to him and sold him out, etc. etc. -- it's never going to be enough, because, to them, that's what characters of color are supposed to do. Just as they don't see anything wrong with Boyd dying for Derek, they don't give any credence to Scott repeatedly risking his life for white characters. Don't just listen to me; read the multiple analyses of Hollywood's obsession with making characters of color caretakers of white characters.

No, the anti-Scott racist hatred wouldn't go away if he actually died for a white character, because, in the end, it doesn't really matter what Scott did or didn't do, what Scott did or didn't say. The origin of this vile entitlement is that the show Teen Wolf had the nerve to be about Scott McCall and not an array of acceptable white alternatives. Scott could have let Stiles and Peter and Derek walk him around in a metaphorical leash (or an actual one as has been portrayed by this poisonous fandom) and it wouldn't have made them like him. The only way they could bring themselves to even admit that Scott McCall wasn't so bad is if the television show hadn't been about him, and they are too cowardly to confess why.

BUT IT'S NOT RACISM.

[themultifandomgal]

Tyler Hoechlin Our Love

TV Equals Interview

July 2013

Finally it's time for our panel interviews. The interviewer welcomes us all. I sit down in between Tyler and Daniel waving to everyone

"Ok first things first, Jeff. Coming into season 3 what was its you wanted to accomplish in the first handful of episodes?"

"Errm we really wanted to premiere in a big way. It was nice to see the ratings go up and it was really nice to introduce new characters especially our twins here" Jeff looks over to Charlie and Max

"So in Mondays episode we were introduced to the idea of the true alpha. Tell us about it"

"The idea was that, what if a bata could rise to become an alpha just because of their own character. The idea is that Scott is just such a good person that he doesn't need to steal the power from anyone" the audience whoops in response.

"Tyler H. We saw that someone from Derek and Stella's past comes to try and still your girl away. How's Derek dealing with this?"

"He's got no chance" Ty says making everyone scream and me me laugh

"YN your thoughts?"

"Honestly same. We learn Derek is quite a jealous person, but Stella won't let her eyes wonder. I think this season will test there relationship to the max. It's not going to be smooth sailing, but they still love each other and will do anything for one another" I say

"Jeff are we going to have a Derek and Stella wedding?" Jeff just shrugs his shoulders in response.

"Ok so Lydia. What is Lydia? Any guesses?"

"I remember saying this once before but I'm going to say she's the Hatch from lost. That's what I'm going with"

"So your saying Lydia is an inanimate object"

"With winning lottery numbers on the door" Holland laughs

"Let's talk about that. We saw Stiles try to figure it out. When do we get to find out what Lydia is?"

"Episode nine" Jeff replies

"Can we just talk about YNs acting when she watched Derek get 'killed' that performance I think had all of us in tears"

"Thank you... I think" i reply with a smile "it was nice to let everyone see this side of Stella. She's used to looking un phased in front of everyone except Derek so for them to see her in tears, struggling to deal with that, thinking she'd lost her soulmate, I think everyone's realised she truly loves him and needs him"

"Even for us hearing YN scream like that, we genuinely thought she was hurt or something" Crystal says

"The next episode is Motel California which Lydia and Stiles took down Motel California in a big way"

"We tried" Holland says giving Dylan a side hug from her seat

"Let's just take a minute to commend Dylan's performance in that final scene" we all cheer and clap. Dylan then talks about the scene and how real it felt for him.

"Let me ask you this Jeff. When all of this started and Stiles figured out it was virgins who were getting sacrificed, Stiles was very concerned about his safety. I feel like we're not addressing the fact that someone needs have sex with Stiles immediately. I don't know if there's any volunteers or anything" everyone in the audience starts screaming while we all just sit and laugh at an awkward looking Dylan

“We will pick a winner” Posey laughs

“Is this still a factor in the world of teen Wolf that there are these sacrifices. Should there be concern for anyone who hasn’t been there yet?”

“I would say the virgin sacrifices are over, the question of Stiles virginity is yet to be answered and will be answered in an upcoming episode”

I feel I shift next to me and notice that Ty has put his arm over the back of my chair. I give him a little smile then hear the audience squeal and awe at us while Crystal is talking about Allison in the upcoming episodes.

“Tyler, YN I have to ask what’s it like working together as an on screen couple? Do you ever get sick of each other?”

“No” Ty laughs shaking his head “I like to think of it as we’re lucky”

“Definitely. With what our job is, I think it would be hard if one of us was working on a different show or film. On top of that if one of us weren’t playing Stella or Derek we wouldn’t be dating”

“I think it’s great how Jeff makes sure we have scenes without each other as well that was our characters are given opportunities to explore different situations”

“On Monday we are getting a huge Derek and Stella flash back. Jeff what can you tell us to expect?”

“We’re really proud of this episode. It takes us back to Stella and Dereks past. We see how there friendship took a big turn. A lot of questions are answered to do with the Hale family and also Stella’s family because we currently don’t know much about her. She’s very secretive about her past and for good reason. So yeah really proud of this episode”

“Like Jeff just said, YN your past is a massive secret what can you tell us about Mondays flashback”

“All I can say is we learn why YN and Dereks eyes are blue. And have tissues”

Daniel talks about working with Posey and Issac living at Scott’s house

“It’s nice living with a loving family for once”

“Hey it wasn’t that bad with us” I say nudging Daniels arm

“Imagine living with your mum and dad who are always all over one another”

“Ok ok Stella and Derek aren’t always all over each other” I say but I’m given a look off Daniel almost saying ‘are you serious?’

Max and Charlie talk about their characters and what it was like for them to join our casting. Dylan and Holland then talk about their kiss scene. Finally we answer questions from the audience before it’s time to leave.

Another Comic-Con is over and it’s back to filming the rest of Season 3.

[tiktaalic]

obsessed with the idea of anyone watching teen wolf in 2023 for the first time, thank you for your service . pls share your thoughts on motel california bc as a derek enjoyer its a hilarious episode but as a teenwolves supporter, not so much

It is pretty funny Derek episode. Scott is like everything SUCKS SO BAD when you’re ME or when you’re DEREK who is DEAD whcih is MY FAULT and he was MISERABLE BEFORE THAT. NOBODY CARE US. while Derek is. Actively in the middle of getting dick so good that his fatal injuries all heal. Pretty bad time for the teen wolves tho! I keep thinking whoa maybe there are ghosts in teen wolf. And there are never ghosts :(

[webslingingslasher]

and you would be right hSKFKGLVH (fave episode will always be Motel California, just scratches my brain right)

honestly, something about tv shows from the 2010s hits differently. like i was obsessed with Pretty Little Liars and it did have its moments but sometimes i look back and think, how did they think this plotline was good? 😭 but ofc it’s one of the shows i go back to for comfort every once in a while

MOTEL CALIFORNIA IS SOOO GOOD UGHHH.

GOD I LOVE TEEN WOLF SO FUCKING MUCH.

"WHERE ARE YOU GETTING YOUR JUICE?" 😡🥍🧃

😧 "I DON'T KNOW, MY MOM DOES THE GROCERY SHOPPING." 😥

[liopleurodean]

Season 12, Episode 4: American Nightmare

They always show the churches so empty

She is not okay

...were those the cross wounds?

They are!

What is she saying?

The crown of thorns...

Must be Enochian

Not again

Sean Penn and Robert De Niro are the stars of the movie "We're No Angels"...

Poor guy

Dean.

He's not exactly wrong

It seemed angelic

That's one way to put it

They are. So loud. And surrounded by people

That was weird

Aw, Dean...

No, you're not

Again.

Sounds like a great TV show

...

Sam, what does that mean?

I thought Sam hated rock. Of all kinds. My whole world is upside down right now

Dean asking the real questions

Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani (I'm proud of myself, I looked it up to make sure the spelling was right and only two letters were off)

They want to know

Yikes

He is definitely not okay

That's one way to put it

Dean...

Sounds like Jesus to me

Wait, THAT'S what stigmata means? I gotta go find that Tumblr poll

Huh.

Romans

Yikes

Right...

Not likely

Hmm

Makes sense

Wouldn't it be really funny if there was a tiny file about the Winchesters in there? Like, ages ago some ran across them living in a motel and filed a report but they moved out before anything happened

Dean, no

Jumping to conclusions

He is really antsy

Another one

Yikes

That's a lead

It's hard to do

Oh! Magda Peterson! Okay

More likely than the Wiccan

Sweater time

Oh, this is funny

Remember when Dean was able to parkour off of chain link fences? Yeah, me too

Dean.

...

But she doesn't hate you!

I've definitely done better with my brother after time apart

Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek were both in The Doors, known for the song "Light My Fire."

Dean.

That was an interesting reaction

I can imagine

Hah. Hahahaha. Yeah, they know God.

Concerning

The bike from the previous episode. Men of Letters tailing them, maybe?

I miss the old plates

Guess so

Wow. That's rough, buddy. What made the change?

Not me, sitting in front of two screens, typing about fake people doing fake things 😭

I can respect that

There we go

Ah

"behavior-enhancing", what does that mean? Anti-depressants?

...that's not concerning at all

But not for too long

I guess it worked

Sacrifices for longevity?

Sam...

Out of context, this probably looks horrible

Dean is confused™

I think Sam is on the better track

Dean.

Don't shoot her, Dean

Huh. Abraham and Elijah. Magda for Magdalene? I wonder what the wife's name is

Oh, don't ruin one of my favorite childhood songs like this

That must be Magda

She's skipping around in the song

Poor girl

Heh.

I don't think it's Lucifer

What is that, a flail?

...are they making her whip herself???

It's not her fault

Kid, get away from there

Spooky

I don't think so

The psychic powers

One of the horseshoes is upside down

...he has the Men of Letters symbol as his background? Seriously?

Nice candle

Dean, no

Yeah, I bet

That is kind of hilarious

Thank goodness they had that conversation

Great, he doesn't have an alibi

Where did they get the Aramaic from?

Well, I may not recognize most of the words, but I know a-do-nay!

Spooky

They were both wrong

Uh oh

Elijah, no

Dang it

I know this song, too

Is it?

You're not the devil, kid

Sam would know

That's not the devil, kiddo

How old is she?

Telekinesis

He hasn't used them in a hot minute

He used to

Hah! Not really

It wasn't on purpose

Oh, Magda...

It wasn't your fault, kiddo

Is this a normal situation?

Definitely not helping!

No, you really don't!

That doesn't sound right

No! No, it doesn't! That's against everything Jesus stood for!

What?

She's a psychopath!

Elijah, no!

Magda, help him!

No. Not even remotely

No!

This is horrifying

Magda, no, please

Thank goodness

Right

Let's hope she's not as psycho

Oh really? What makes you say that, Dean?

It's okay

I hope so

Wow.

Yeah...

Speaking of

Aw. Cute

Liar

Heh. She's got that hunter chic

...I don't think she's gonna make it to California

There's biker guy

Magda, look out!

Oh no...

Ketch?

Those freaking--

[skywitchmaja]

top 5 tv series? (or tv episodes if that's more fun)

adventure time is my number one. full stop. no doubts no questions. if i had to pick one episode— ooo! i don’t think i could even pick five episodes of adventure time alone, but if someone has never seen an episode of an adventure time, i would recommend slumber party panic, it is a good first episode.

after that. hm.

succession is my current namesake so there’s something to that, i guess we’ll soon see if there’s a strong finish! i’d pick the season one finale simply for the uptown girl needle drop honestly.

and then revolutionary girl utena bc like. narratives 🤩. the episode where nanami is trying to prank anthy by putting a snail in her pencil case, only to find that anthys pencil case is already full of snails.

and i haven’t even mentioned a sitcom yet what an egregious oversight!! ugh okay i have to say 30 rock for probably shaping who i am as a person for better or worse, rosemary’s baby. and it’s very early in its lifespan to name abbott elementary, but i’m going to name abbott elementary. early to chose an episode too but the conference was quite good.

and hmmm welllllllll… the other shows i want to mention aren’t necessarily “””””goood”””” BUT they have at various times consumed my life and they deserve a mention for that so here’s to teen wolf and motel california, ouat and hmm darkness on the edge of town, and riverdale with…. the jughead paradox i guess, idk, for some reason it’s hard to distinguish individual episodes in my mind. ooo! and the oc rainy day women. and!! oh my god i almost forgot!! greys anatomy the bomb episode.

another honorable mention for my own personal firefly, the wilds </3 episode, hm, the episode with dots birthday :-)

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

one: I think it's just poor storyboard editing on the show's part to not focus on the stabbing rather than an assassination of Scott's entire character or an attempt to belittle his pain.

especially when we got an episode like Motel California which makes Scott intensely vulnerable to the audience, especially when he genuinely questions if he's under a curse or if there's just something wrong with him. he thinks he's flawed and not good enough to be a hero and he feels the pressure of too much being put on his shoulders. if the writers didn't focus on his pain, then we as the audience wouldn't even know that. even the episode before it - where he is under a psychology that refuses to let him physically heal because he feels like he failed Derek, and he is too emotionally caught up in what happened with Derek in order to let himself heal. how is that not focusing on Scott's pain and not letting him have time to be vulnerable?

two: just to be clear, you're saying that Stiles witnessing a murder is a 'minor issue'? Correction: Stiles witnessing a murder while being paralyzed with a strange unknown substance, being completely unable to help the murder victim as he screams for help, and fully believing that he is apt to die next.

"Instead it made it look as if Stiles minor issues were so much worse, because Stiles did get to whine and linger on even the tiniest thing that happened to him. (aka how we don't get any flashbacks, even in the previouslies, to the Gerard thing, but we do get a previously with Stiles watching the mechanic die)"

and to my understanding, the point of us getting a flashback to Stiles watching the mechanic die was to show the audience that Stiles and the Kanima knew each other (when they were still trying to solve the mystery of the Kanima's identity), and to reason out why Stiles wasn't killed. it wasn't to 'linger on Stiles's pain' - it was to provide information and context to the audience through a new lens.

yeah, Scott suffers from what a lot of male main characters do - Overpowered Badass Syndrome, where he has to seem indestructible to the audience in order for the fight scenes to be cool and in order for the story to progress, but he has a lot of amazing vulnerable human moments and the show definitely lets him have pain.

everything you write screams 'I have a favourite character and it completely skews the way I absorb the source material'. if you think Stiles helplessly witnessing a murder is a 'minor issue' that he was WHINING ABOUT and that Scott's pain is completely repressed throughout the show, you have terrible fandom brain and you need to revisit the show with fresh eyes

(and I still completely assert that my original post was mostly a joke post about how Teen Wolf has some laughable parody like moments, and I was pointing one of those moments out to laugh about the comical obscurity of it)

Just remembered - out of all the unhinged and parody level things Teen Wolf has done - in the first ten minutes of Season 2, they had a scene of Scott and Allison making out in a car hot and heavy where Chris Argent literally rips Scott out of the car with seemingly inhuman strength and sticks a gun to his head in a blind rage forcing Allison to beg for Scott's life when Scott and Chris seemed on not murderous terms at the end of S1, with a heavy Twilight filter over the scene leading me to believe it was a dream sequence in Scott's mind the first time I saw it

But no. It was real. Chris Argent just decided to go batshit that day

[dailyscottficrec]

Oct 5th, 2022

It's Always Been Us by lifeincantos

Author summary:

Their world is crumbling into unrecognizable shards as Scott continues to fall apart. All Stiles can do is hold him together and remind him that he never has been and never will be alone.

[ Episode tag- Motel California ]

Reasons to love fic: Loving Stiles pov will always get me. And then about Scott in Motel California? This fic is so good. SO gripping. It's a fantastic tag to the episode. This line guys:

"It is. It is, I promise, okay? I- I promise." He’s not sure if he’s in the position to make that promise, but this is for Scott. This has to be for Scott, the person that’s made up an entire half of his family in the last few years. This person trying his damn hardest to hold everyone together while he falls apart himself. Even if Stiles isn’t capable of it now, he will be. He’ll do it for Scott.

My heart.

As ever, don't forget to let the author know if you enjoyed the fic!!

[buckybarnesss]

You know what grosses me out more than the Erica bite scene? Derek's sex scene with Jennifer.

Aside from the fact that it's a rape scene, the loving way the camera pans over Derek's body, the way he's framed in a very feminine way, and it's like... he's being used. He's being manipulated, there's a very high possibility that she literally charmed him, and her resemblance to Paige and Stiles is so purposeful.

I wanted to crawl out of my skin during the Kate & Derek scenes in season 4, but that scene with Jennifer makes me want to rip my eyes out.

jennifer was such an amazing villain and make no mistake she was a villain. she has a sympathetic origin story but all good villains do. she was wronged by kali and duecalion. kali tried to kill her for power. that doesn't make her actions right. she justifies and deludes herself but she's not better than duecalion taking people's lives for power.

this did made me go back and rewatch frayed and motel california.

frayed is actually full of stuff i had forgotten. like how pivotal this episode is to the derek and scott relationship, a peter and cora adventure and pack dynamics for daaaaays.

so like, here's the thing -- fuck jennifer forever for what she did to derek. i always have a hard time watching the scene in motel california.

it's interesting that in frayed derek is presumed dead after he fights ennis (who bit paige) and he stumbles into the school parking lot just as he did in magic bullet but instead of stiles it's jennifer he stumbles into.

now while jennifer would've known the kids were out of town for the meet. she's the one who put wolfsbane in coach finstock's whistle but derek finding her was fortuitous. i don't think she planned that exactly. she was just masterful at taking advantage of circumstances and adapting her plans.

jennifer is still always some how connected visually and narratively to stiles and paige. they did this on purpose and this is a hill i will die on.

the entire time she's with derek after finding him she's spirtually channelling s1 stiles circa magic bullet with the bone saw.

derek's first instinct is to find the others, find his pack because he knows they think he's dead and she's able to redirect him.

they didn't make it a coincidence that at the same time the werewolves are being magically roofied with wolfsbane jennifer is working her way through derek's defenses by emulating straight out of season 1 stiles and gets him to have sex despite his gaping stomach wound and his original intent to find the others.

she's nefarious and takes advantage of him. jennifer was violating a lot of people this episode.

i also noticed that she touches his shoulder the same way stiles will in the next episode. except her touch is deceptive and false comfort whereas stiles's touch is actual comfort and support.