User blog comment:Paul.rea/Teen Wolf News 090514/@comment-24.229.140.201-20140911044707

I'm probably one of the people you would accuse of needing mental help, because I'm passionate about the show and my reasons for both liking and criticizing it. I've got to say, I don't think the mental health slur is fair, though.

As for the drop in viewership, I think one reason is that the reason the ratings went up in the first place, back in S2 and S3, is because the show did a great job promoting itself and connecting with - or more likely 'using' - some portions of the fanbase. But in the months leading up to S4, as well as during it, everything shifted. There were an assortment of PR nightmares (Sterek banned at cons, comments from the actors, etc.) that frustrated some of the very people who had started watching the show because they'd found it through various social media and had become part of that uptick that S2 and especially S3 saw. Those same viewers were essentially chased away in S4. The sudden lack in LGBT+ representation also put some people off and cost the show another share of a fanbase that had been pretty loyal to it during earlier seasons.

The PR for this show has become its own worst enemy. And while that may not explain the entire 18% drop, it definitely has had an impact. You can't alienate your fanbase and not expect it to affect your ratings.

The aggressive pushing of the newer characters is also one of the problems. People don't want to be told they're going to love these characters - they want to discover that for themselves. When a show tries too hard to peddle their newbies at the expense of their established characters, they're going to turn off some people. Teen Wolf is guilty of that, especially with Malia. The pre-season press and interviews so heavily touted this already unpopular character that it was inevitable that some people would move the show from "must-see" to "check it out if I get a chance and the recaps don't sound too bad" territory. Nothing that happened all season did anything to make people switch that back.

Hope that doesn't sound too angry. I'm just trying to offer an explanation for some of the reasons that some of us are frustrated with a show we previously loved.