Board Thread:False Info and Speculative Discussion/@comment-13895380-20150728155253/@comment-13895380-20150807150502

''Just lemonpeace wrote: You can't expect them to continue to do the same thing season after season. If they did that then you would be conplaining that they just do the same thing over and over. I personally like the way they are approaching this season. It's much more theatrical and the chimera a week angle raises the stakes and gives the season (so far) a real sense of urgency. The general rule of Teen Wolf has been a big bad one season brings something bigger and badder in another season. They have to raise the stakes and  a clear cut "this is the one guy to stop" storyline can't cut it forever. I think because season 4 wasn't the best execution (personally although i mostly enjoyed it I think it was the WEAKEST season) people are just a weary of the direction. ''

''It's only a handful of episodes in (7 out of 20) and not even at the half way point of the arc. You guys have to wait, they are still building things up So far this season has been easily a close second best season and the best episode in terms of intensity and consistency. ''

I disagree. Seasons 1, 2 and 3 were all VERY different despite having the same formula or structure to the narrative. Remember, the two narrative formulas we are comparing are very general, and leaves a lot of space for each season to be very unique. These two formulas in question are:

A: having one or two antagonists and focusing on them throughout the season in order to fully develop their motives, origins, behaviours, etc. (e.g. Peter, the Kanima and Kanima Master, Alpha Pack and Jennifer, and the Nogitsune were all very complex regarding these factors)

B: having one or two antagonists that are more in the shadows throughout the season, and they have villains-of-the-week as the main focus each episode.

In the case of the Benefactor, she wasn't a very complex character. Basically, everything about her was explained in one episode. The same goes with the Dread Doctors. They have a lot of potential but it's already going onto the 8th episode and we barely know anything about them. It should be more like A, where we get a little bit more info each episode which answers our previous questions, but gives us more questions for the next episode.

Also, although there are 20 episodes in the season, Teen Wolf has always had 12 episode storylines. So for other seasons, we would have known quite a bit about the antagonists by now but not everything. The B formula allows for more filler episodes, which is probably preferable for a longer season, but it compromises plot and pacing. By the mid-season finale, we should know more, and I'm hoping we will get a lot more info in the upcoming episodes of the first half, especially since we have to wait so long for the next half. :P

Furthermore, the stakes aren't even higher this way. It's actually less. A chimera-of-the-week means that a chimera is beaten every week. While the episodes are still enjoyable, it's obvious that most chimeras will die within the episode.