Everyone loves a good villain. They, in many ways, shape the wants, needs, and obstacles that the protagonist must experience in order to reach their final form. One of the marks of a brilliant writer is their ability to either make their audience understand the choices of said villain, or they can err on the side of making you wish for the slow and painful death of that character. We’ve seen many a villain come and go, but the serialized version of Teen Wolf had one of the most varied casts of supernatural villains to ever grace network television.
With the new film on the horizon, here’s to reminiscing about some of the best (and worst) villains to ever disgrace the town of Beacon Hills. First up, let’s take a look at four of the worst, and then the best will just look that much better.
The worst
4. Season 3A: The Alpha Pack
The Alpha Pack and I have a complex relationship because as a concept, I see what could have been, but I was failed at every turn. First things first: Deucalion was excellent. Gideon Emery was putting in the work every single episode. What was most refreshing about him, was that he was a disabled character who was not defined by his disability, but I always found the way he went about getting Scott to join his pack quite dubious. He heard from somewhere or someone that Scott might be a true alpha, and in order to have Scott join him, he tried to go through Derek. It didn’t seem very well thought out, and for someone as calculating and cerebral as Deucalion, it didn’t fit his character profile.
3. Season 6A: The Wild Hunt
There are countless variations to the tale of The Wild Hunt. They have signified war, plague, or the death of those who witness them. The show focused on the latter attribute of their character. The Hunt was capable of erasing people from the lives of everyone who knew them, relegating them to being forgotten and eventually turned into Ghost Riders themselves. While visually terrifying, the concept didn’t make me want to clutch my metaphorical pearls. When they brought Stiles back due to the power of friendship and defeated the Riders by literally pulling a lever to reroute a train, I had to tap out.
2. Season 5: The Dread Doctors
The Dread Doctors were simply not interesting enough to be the Big Bad for a 20-episode season. I was bored out of my mind. The group consisted of three immortality-seeking scientists who’d extended their life spans with some elixir that is never explained. They came to Beacon Hills in the hopes of reviving The Beast because …? Oh, wait … we were never told why. They killed countless children in their endeavor, creating Chimeras in the process, and not once were we directly told WHY they wanted to do this. If all I’m asking through the season is “why?” and that question is never answered, then something needs to be scrapped. And while I’m a proponent of being evil for evil’s sake, this wasn’t even an attempt at that.
1. Season 6B: The Anuk-Ite
Season 6 of Teen Wolf was by far the worst season of the series … dare I say one of the worst seasons of any show, period. It was rushed, lacked direction, had a storyline like a house of cards, and it suffered greatly from the absence of Dylan O’Brien. Despite having seen the show in its entirety 3 times, I couldn’t tell you what the purpose of the Anuk-Ite was. It mainly functioned as a backdrop to the Gerrard and Monroe mess that took centerstage for most of the season. Although its capabilities included the magnification of fear and the ability to turn people to stone, the issue here is that Medusa did it better.
The best
6. Season 3A: The Darach/Jennifer Blake
Now, on to some good food and stories that stand the test of time. Jennifer Blake … I see you and I understand you, but we’re gonna have to come up with a better way to fix some of these issues instead of sacrificing kids, okay? Great conversation.
I love a good revenge plot, and Jennifer Blake gave me everything I needed in that department. Jen was the emissary/druid to Kali’s pack, but in order to join Deucalion, the alpha would have to kill all of the existing members of their pack. Kali didn’t make sure Jennifer was dead before leaving, and that was her biggest mistake. Jen became hellbent on using the power of the nemeton to get rid of the pack. The plan was a good plan … a great plan, and then she went on to make child sacrifices and that’s when I had to step down from being head cheerleader to watching from the sidelines. She and Derek did make a cute couple, through.
5. Season 2: The Kanima and its master
The Kanima is a mutation of the werewolf gene created when something goes wrong in the werewolf transformation. It has all the powers of a regular werewolf, with added traits of a reptile. The creature itself isn’t inherently evil but is beholden to the will of its master. That led us to Jackson unknowingly being controlled by both Gerrard and Matt. It isn’t detectable by scent, and its most unique trait is being able to produce a powerful paralytic venom. The only reason it isn’t higher on this list is because it will always seek someone to control it.
4. Season 1–6: Kate Argent
I have very little to say about Kate because I adored her until the second time I binged the series. I was respecting women’s wrongs long before it became a thing. She was a brilliant hunter, she’s smart, cunning, and even after turning into a werejaguar, she held her own. She grew up being manipulated by her father, but in the end finally got retribution for how he treated her. My main concern surrounding Kate comes from the fact that she was in her early twenties when she got into a relationship with a teenage Derek, in order to manipulate him into trusting her. It’s one thing to have a vendetta against a bunch of teenagers, but being a predator is a whole different story.
3.Season 1–6: Gerrard Argent
When we met Gerrard in season 2, I knew he’d be a pain, but even I couldn’t predict that he’d be the perpetual thorn in our side for all six seasons. Based on all the things he’s done, you’d think he’d be at number one, but the thing is, I love a villain who has principles. That may seem antithetical, but walk with me here. Do I have to agree with these principles? Absolutely not. But I need you to be steadfast in those beliefs. How do you spend 70 years of your life hunting innocent werewolves, then, as soon as you get cancer, decide that turning into one is your only way of escaping death? We do not care. All of that, however, doesn’t take away from the fact that he was old and human with nothing but a crossbow, yet had all of these powerful supernaturals jumping through hoops anticipating his next move.
2. Seasons 1–6: Peter Hale
Considering the fact that, in our first introduction to Peter, we found out that he murdered his niece in order to become the alpha, we’ve come a long way. He would then go on to turn Scott, torture Lydia from beyond the grave, and engage in a host of other questionable activities that I’m sure we’ll never be privy to. After the Hale fire, Peter was left in a comatose state for the better part of 6 years—cognizant of those around him, but trapped in his body until he was able to heal from his wounds. It made sense as to why he wanted a few people dead. Peter was the perfect morally gray character, and while he was a villain for the better part of 4 seasons, in the end, he became somewhat of an unwilling ally who cared about his family and proved to be compassionate in a few instances.
1. Season 3B: Void Stiles
You knew this was coming. What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Season 3B is the best season of Teen Wolf. The storytelling is immaculate, the acting is immaculate, and the stakes are tangible all throughout. Void Stiles was a moment in television history, and Dylan O’Brien did some of the best acting of his career. What was so visceral about the character was that it was the same face we were used to seeing, now doing all these heinous things to his best friends, and that we knew Stiles was still there. What makes him even more iconic is that he was responsible for one of the biggest deaths in Teen Wolf history: Alison Argent’s. But she will be back in the film, and I’m waiting with bated breath to see how they make it make sense.
(featured image: MGM Domestic Television Distribution)
Published: Jul 13, 2022 03:30 pm