Teen Wolf started its season four finale off by flipping the script on the Scott (Tyler Posey) that we know and have become quite fond of over the last four seasons. Scott has always been a character who defied the odds, and even tonight when they were unevenly stacked against him, he came out swinging – literally.
Scott became the elusive True Alpha through sheer willpower (unlike the other Alphas that viewers have been introduced to over the years who bought their position of power with death, either intentional or accidental). Scott is always one of the most optimistic members of the cast, but he’s also historically the one with the largest target painted on his forehead (thus the highest amount to be paid out in the deadpool) – and was clearly number one on Kate’s (Jill Wagner) list when she laid all her chips on the table.
There’s something marginally tragic about Kate’s motivation for turning Scott into a berserker, and furthermore for pegging his own friends against him. For the most part, the writers have shied away from any mention of Alison (Crystal Reed) or her death this season. But, for a brief moment, viewers caught a glimpse of a more fragile version of Kate – one who simply avenging her niece. That’s not to say that she was justified by any means, or that anyone is going to show her mercy going forward, but Teen Wolf is definitely a series that believes in varying degrees of villains. We saw a lesser version last season with Miss Blake (Haley Webb), and we’ve seen the more extreme with Peter (Ian Bohen) on several occasions.
“Smoke & Mirrors” picked up the pace as it returned all the characters back to where it all started. In the season four premiere, most of the main characters traveled to Mexico to save Derek (Tyler Hoechlin), and they’re right back in the thick of it as Kate attempts to take Scott out in a particularly creative way. Although Peter’s master plan called for Scott to be out of the picture, he didn’t do much in the way of challenging him until after Scott managed to shed his berserker outerwear. And, even then, it was clear that Peter was no match for an Alpha.
His bravado aside, Peter’s a character who has always been blinded by his obsession with power. Even when the writers set him up to to exhibit positive traits, they almost always manage to destroy any chances of him being a good guy by implementing his own personal agenda on an endless loop. It’s always looming in the background and even though he’s a generally likeable character, despite being completely untrustworthy, he’s always going to be the evil uncle that the writers pull out to move the narrative forward.