Board Thread:False Info and Speculative Discussion/@comment-4723271-20140716053249/@comment-1313995-20141223054732

This is how I see it: Danny is/was a side character, true, but he's more important than that. It's a false equivalence to lump him in with side characters in general, for a few reasons:

Danny carries far more weight than "side character"---yet not even the most minor side character has vanished as inexplicably and as noticeably as he did. The complete information black-out surrounding Danny's disappearance, particularly after the revelation in his last scene, simply has no rational explanation from a writing standpoint. Fans who considered Danny a favorite---indeed, who were invited to do so (the root of the "queer-baiting" accusations) by the way his character was developed---have every reason to loudly disapprove of him being written out as if he never existed. (What, Danny wasn't even worth a throw-away "oh, he's on vacation with Ethan..." line of dialogue? That's just plain mean.)
 * He's the only gay character in a show with a huge gay fanbase: Gay fans like (and---especially in the case of gay teens---I'd argue need) to have gay characters they can fully relate to.  (How many women would enjoy this show as much if it were all dudes, all the time, without any female roles?)  Teen Wolf combines blood, violence and action with beautiful men and shirtless locker room scenes---pretty much ticking all the boxes for a large portion of gay male viewers, and guaranteeing they'll be taking up a significant fraction of its audience.  Yes, they introduced a new gay character in Season 4... who spent most of his screen time lusting after attractive men, which brings me to my next point:
 * He's a positive role model of a kind generally lacking in modern TV: It annoys me that nymphomaniacal Connor Walsh from "How To Get Away With Murder" is being hailed as an example of progressive modern entertainment, when Danny is the kind of gay character we should be seeing more of in the modern era:  Someone who is completely unashamed of his sexuality, without defining himself by it: someone who "just happens" to be gay.  Danny's relationships with his classmates is also important---from being Jackson's best friend, to messing with Stiles... to the simple fact that everyone knows, and no one cares.
 * The last-minute revelation that Danny knows all about werewolves: In Teen Wolf, a character going from blissful ignorance to "in-the-know" has always represented a major milestone in that character's development---a sign that a character arc is beginning, not ending... and certainly not signalling that character's imminent disappearance without explanation.

At least Jeff hinted at Comic-Con that we haven't seen the last of Danny... but, given his X-Files-like disappearance, I'd have hoped Jeff would have been a little more forthcoming.