As much as I personally wanted to see Peter transition into a positive, productive member of the good guy club, anyone who didn’t see this one coming was simply fooling themselves. Peter is just not a stand-up guy. He’s proven it time and again, and whether or not you wanted to admit it to yourself, he was always the wild card on the verge of a relapse. Besides his obvious semi-attachment to Derek, which was evident in the fact that he relieved him of being an Alpha-level threat without killing him (or even trying to), he doesn’t have much of a tie to anything remotely tangible.
Peter is consumed with his desire to regain his spot at the head of a pack, and now Scott is the only thing standing between him and that goal. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge that he isn’t even the original Hale family Alpha. The position belonged to his older sister, Derek’s mother, before she died in the fire – and, from what we know about her, she was a fairly esteemed member of the werewolf community. Does Peter seriously think that he can walk in those shoes? Doubtful. He is certainly going to try though.
It wasn’t enough that Jennifer/Julia (Haley Webb) almost died one time, but just when it looks like she might have some supernatural assistance for round two – Peter put an end to that. It’s not that she didn’t deserve everything that was coming to her, but jeez, what a way to go. On the plus side, she did brutally murder nine people and attempt to kill several more during her revenge quest, which definitely helps to ease the tragic feeling of it all.
I was a little disappointed that they didn’t stretch out her arc more considering they had an entire 24-episode season to do so. It seems a bit like they’re stuck in the same 12-episode rut where they are forced to tie things up in a truncated time table as opposed to letting the plot simmer before throwing the shock-and-awe our way. The only thing that made this season different from the last two – in the more general sense – was that we don’t have to wait quite as long for new episodes. Other than that, Teen Wolf has tied up the sacrifice storyline and provided us with a cliffhanger to ponder until next season – er, until Teen Wolf returns for the second half of this season in January.
Luckily for us, Peter’s gruesome campaign for Alpha isn’t the only thing we have to look forward to. Scott’s dad is back in town and things are only going to get more complicated in the family department for our new true Alpha. It also looks like Allison might be cozying up to a new werewolf, Isaac (Daniel Sharman), who let’s not forget is currently residing at Scott’s house. And, with the twins still alive, Scott may find himself the leader of his own mixed pack.
Let us know what you’re most looking forward to when Teen Wolf returns on January 6th with all new episodes!
Until next episode. Enjoy your hiatus!