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The Unsung Hero…Stiles Stilinski

If Derek should’ve had the arc of victim on the path to triumph (aka the phoenix being reborn) then Stiles is the hero who never believed in his own hero-ship (aka the natural born). Of course as I’ve stated before nothing is actually naturally born into greatness (leaders, heroes, etc) because greatness is determined by action, by character. But characters like Stiles are thought so because it seems to come to them with an ease, as if it’s in their blood, as if it’s who they’re meant to be. Sadly, these characters are just built for sacrifice…that’s why they seem so heroic because they’ve spent their lives giving into others. If Derek was the guy who had to learn sacrifice (his first mistake was trying to make someone sacrifice for the sake of himself), and Scott is the guy who doesn’t sacrifice at all (instead others are always sacrificing in the place of him), then Stiles is that character who has known nothing but sacrifice. [The triangle between these 3 is important (well should’ve been) but it’s really a problem that they gave the two main side characters the hero’s sacrifice…but not the protagonist…] The problem is that, both of these characters fell prey to it. Derek once he started to sacrifice would repeatedly sacrifice his physical being and parts of himself for the sake of others (which is why a lot of fans thought Derek secretly had a death wish).  Stiles, however, is even worse than Derek. While Derek gives over his physical self…Stiles loses all of himself…instead of repeatedly it’s a continuous stream. You see this heavily in his friendship with Scott and in part with his Father.

Backstory…and Characterization done correctly…well almost

Backstory is one of the most important tools when creating a character. Back-story plays as a growth point, builds the character’s worldview, divulges information, and is usually used to create empathy for your character. Stiles backstory [his mother’s death] has great effects on who he is and how he reacts to things. By understanding how strands of the past tie to his present you understand the character that much better. Backstory plays as a motivator in story, it tells the audience why a character is the way they are, how they became that way, and sometimes hints to the ‘real’ person under the pretense. Things from his obsessive need to solve/fix things to his fear of losing others (which we saw at its height around season 5-6 with the transition of Derek leaving and Theo entering the scene) make sense when you take his backstory and surroundings into account. His mother’s death and his tittering relationship with his father thereafter. Stiles seems to have this need to do. He’s the planner, a go getter, a protector, set to follow his father’s career in some form because it’s always fascinated him. He’s capable, doing what it takes when it takes.  Despite this he does have a slighted view of himself. A lot of times finding fault within himself or fear of falling short. He’s not at all unemotional even though at times he fights to keep his own pain close to the chest trying to bare it alone – never works. His other traits such as temper and anxiety also stem from his childhood. Stile’s is never really shown as having a positive attitude towards himself, even though he has praised a number of characters. This comes natural considering his fear of his father’s view of him, and the fact his peers and teachers often pretend he doesn’t exist and if they do notice him it comes with the connotation of negativity. Those who praise him often do so when he’s not around, or seem surprised at his full culpability.  Even though we, the audience are capable of seeing his good traits he however is incapable because of the filtered view he has of himself. He lost his mother at a young age (and the fact he’s always straining for his father) gave him the knowledge of what loss really feels like (fear). At first he seems to lack a bit of empathy for those who are outside the circle. But its just an offset to how loyal he appears to be to those who are close to him. Like most comedic pretenses, Stiles hides behind an easy joke and a sarcastic mood. He loves to be needed, but what he really needs is balance. And that’s where the problem comes in, because with teen wolf Stiles will just end up being another Derek Hale…a sacrificial victim that truly had no growth. As mentioned before the show hasn’t handled any of the bad relationships he’s in…and any of the ones that could have helped him grow was pushed to the sideline or limited.

The Unhelpful…Help

One of Teen Wolf’s biggest problems is they give a character all these problems but then don’t give them the avenue to fix them…in fact they take those avenues away. They have all their characters falling to Scott (unbelievably so), with the one character that it’s believable with they don’t appropriately represent all the levels of the relationship which puts it back at being unbelievable. The truly great television friendships isn’t made up of one character living in the shadow of another, it’s not one person sacrificing for another, and it’s not pretending there is not bad blood. The Scott/Stiles friendship does all these things. We continuously see Stiles sacrificing himself for Scott but not vice versa. The most Scott has done is believe Stiles to be as dependable as he is and even then he doesn’t trust him every time he says not to trust someone…no matter how many times he’s been right. We can’t say he sacrificed when he refused to kill Stiles during his possession because he shows that same mercy to all his enemies. The show has no problem hinting at the discord (jealousy, slight bitterness) but they never actually arc them out into story. Look at the present season instead of having them fight it out about the problems they should already have they created this horrible ‘kill’ plot that wasn’t even murder. And when they argue about it, Stiles doesn’t put the blame (of why he felt uncomfortable being honest) where it should be (on Scott’s unbelievable expectations – that Stiles don’t even agree with), instead they pull the avoidance card again and make it about something unimportant to the process of moving their relationship. Scott is never hit with the real reality of what he’s costing those around him. Scott is important to Stiles because Scott was his only friend, so he clings to him and is loyal to him, and gives up everything in the name of him. Stile’s plays his second fiddle. All these things however are not healthy for Stiles. None of them builds up Stiles. Scott doesn’t build up Stiles…and Stiles can’t build up Stiles because he’s too busy being a platform to hold up Scott McCall.

Instead of having them truly deal with the chasm they already are locked within, the show is choosing to once again glaze over an issue by going in the opposite direction. The fact that Scott truly has nothing to grow from (given the fact they give him everything – with the loss of nothing to himself) causes a dead lock. Because Scott has taken for granted and grown so use to Stiles being there for him one-hundred percent, the characters are now locked within this box of where they’re only having bad effects on one another. Stiles always being there to lean on creates a (bad) pattern that the writers nor Scott feel no need to break from. Same with Stiles there’s nothing to positively shake Stiles out of Scott’s shadow…the whole plot they have going now just sets Stiles up to once again be left with a taint, a stain upon who he is…not that they will appropriately address that either (they didn’t with the Nogitsune).

The Scott/Stiles relationship becomes further unbelievable when you take into account his relationship with his father. It’s obvious that the way his father responses so positively to Scott instead of towards him, affects Stiles greatly. However, there is no kickback whatsoever in the scott/stiles relationship. There’s a no kickback at all on any negative level. The show tries to pretend that peachy-keen is the definition and it’s not. The only time they do argue when it’s not actually about their relationship…prime example the ‘you trust everybody – you trust nobody’. That argument did nothing for their relationship; it touches on their interaction with people outside their relationship. The only reason it was placed there was to show the starting threads of their so called future problem, the problem that was all about Scott. Stiles didn’t care that he killed someone…he feared Scott would turn his back on him given the fact he broke Scott’s moral code.

His relationship with his father is no different. While his father is worried about his physical well-being he seems to have no concern over his child’s mental stability, and the effects he and his wife had (and still has). Stiles issues stem greatly from his mother’s death and the thought process that it was his fault, and the lack of trust his father has in him. The sheriff is quick to tell his son where his downfalls reside, but slow on the uptake to praise. There are a lot of things he could look at his son and see the good in…but it’s so easy for him to see the bad. This is another relationship that has no chance of growing because they keep skirting around the real issues.

We cannot forget…Malia Tate. Another thing the writers really do not know how to do, is write a love relationship. They don’t seem to understand that everything has to connect to backstory and in a love relationship it has to connect in a way that will grow the character not add more hindrance. This relationship was not a good idea for either character. If sterek’s theme was ‘trust me’ then stalia’s is ‘don’t leave me’. The writers forced them together (we all know why), and sickeningly it was faster than even the other fast relationships on this show… The way the relationship started added more problematic elements within the show (not that they care), they seem to have dropped most of Stiles characterization in that moment. Instead of giving him a partner they gave him another person he could lose himself in, someone he has to spend time teaching, and walking on eggshells around (they gave him this polite act drowning out his sarcastic, harsh nature —relationships shouldn’t erase who you are, it should enhance who they are / make both grow).

The show never actually takes into account who these characters are when they introduce new characters, they only factor in what they need from the scene, or from the dynamic. For example his obsession with Lydia…we can assume that the reason he linked to her was because in small way she was like him – hiding herself for the sake of others, but then they don’t take this into account for the other oppressed characters he meets. The prime example is Derek but I’m gonna focus on them in another post…so for here the second best is Isaac. Isaac is a darker version of Stiles. They both have fatherly (male guardian) issues but Isaac’s father is physically abusive. They’re both sarcastic with a dark humor but Isaac’s is more deadpan. Both have an ease with death, Stiles because he vibes with realism and sees the dark possibilities of people and Isaac because he’s experienced the darkest part of people, so they both tend to look at death as something that just happens unless they care about the person. They were mental twins basically, but instead of using it the show created a dynamic of soft hate where Stiles and he just didn’t like the other much for no reason. Basically their one-liners were for shits and giggles. They could’ve gone two routes with this relationship and had them bond and grow together because of their similarities.

Or, they could’ve used their similarities to further express Stiles internal struggle. The feeling of inferiority, or incapability, or worthlessness often leads to competitiveness. Stiles could’ve easily fallen to the thought process that given their similarities Isaac could take his place. It doesn’t matter that we the audience are aware their differences is what Stiles actually brings to the table…it only matters that Stiles doesn’t see his own great qualities and responds accordingly to his own internal struggle. Going the latter route could’ve still given them the dynamic they wanted but at the same time using the other characters to help flesh each other out and given someone within that group at least a clue to Stiles issues. None of these characters truly grow, the writers act like they can wave a magic wand and have these characters be okay…and they can (they did it with Derek), but it’s not authentic nor is it real if the character doesn’t actually go through it

. It was the best of storylines…it was the worst of storylines

One of the best storylines in the show has been Stiles possession (partly because of Dylan’s acting), but it’s also been the worst because there were no repercussions, no fall outs, no kickbacks, no growth. For starters, Stiles was the perfect member in the group to possess. Smart, a prankster at heart, and the most loyal element within his group…meaning the character none of them would expect (adding the fact he was human), of course Stiles would have figured it out…he even suspected himself…so another great reason to take him. But the things the Nogitsune used against him should have fucked him up. This is a kid who worries about his usefulness, feels like he was to blame for someone he loves death, his only great quality is his brain…and the nogitsune used all those things against him. The nogitsune used his brilliance against him forced him to submit at his own will, he used his body to hurt people around him…those he cares most for, even killing some, he used his mother’s mental illness to break him and as a sidetrack, he took the loyalty Stiles had a reputation for and used it fuck with everyone. The nogitsune’s possession was a mental type of rape. The dark element gets darker when he stops taking and taking and instead coerces Stiles. Now it’s not just taking instead the abuser can claim that the victim is actually to blame because in the end they ‘willingly’ gave, even though it’s not that simple because the ‘giving’ was forced upon that person so therefore not truly consent…but that doesn’t really matter cause the victim still feels the guilt, the blame upon themselves and that’s what makes it twisted and even worse.

However, even though all of this touches onto Stiles characterization…that clearly doesn’t matter to the show. Instead in his ‘down time’ he has unprotected sex of some form with Malia and then in the end after losing all of these things including his own body…they sit around on the bed laughing and celebrating a chick who just learned how to start turning back into a coyote…after being stuck as a coyote for eight-nine years…

And we’re all waiting for the curtain call…

Some of us know where this is going. Teen Wolf likes to create cycles of nonsense and never properly fix shit. It’s predictable and bloated and yet we still get disappointed when they ruin a good thing. They still don’t have Stiles on the path to healthy living…and he is expected to get the same magic wand treatment as those before him. It doesn’t matter if he has the strongest characterization if they refuse to do anything with it. The character of Stiles could have been a powerful, touching character. There are a lot of kids who feel like they don’t fit, whose parents do more damage from neglect than they mean too. There are those who have a hard time empathizing with everyone but are emotional creatures for those they love. There are people who drown themselves in other people instead of realizing their own greatness. The Stiles character could have touched on the lives of all those people. And I didn’t even get into the Stiles sexuality here (that’s in another post) but it’s another one of those things. It’s sad to see such potential and watch as it gets wasted for no reason other than laziness.

Note(s): So another installment!  Only took me all day :) and I still didn’t touch on a lot of stuff but its mostly relationship stuff and I don’t wanna overlap in the long run. Most of my Stiles issues are in actual scenes so I touch on some of that when I get to that section. I’m gonna probably jump to the Scott/Stiles/Derek triangle next that way I can close of this their section. I don’t know where I’m gonna do stydia and stalia…prob in the same post because with stalia theres really not a lot to say. The next character I’m moving to is probably Lydia though for characterization. I don’t know when I’ll post those…I kinda wanna work on a fic but I don’t know…I’m indecisive.

P.S. I did not watch the recent episode nor did I even edit the Scott/Stiles portion…this is what I mean when I say predictable.

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