User blog comment:Alexa12/The Finale Sucked./@comment-89.139.217.251-20120817195820/@comment-4802762-20120817200427

They don't get a bigger budget until Season 3. And they didn't want to give Derek a CGI wolf because they want to show his humanity. They gave Peter a monstrous form because he was a monster. And I'm guessing they gave Laura a wolf form because she was "animalistic" as in more trusting of her instincts. But I can't really speak for Laura because we've never seen her in action.