I, along with all the other Teen Wolf devotees, have always know that underneath all the supernatural, Buffy-style storylines, Teen Wolf is just a homoerotic gay masterpiece. (Here's a case in point.) I will even openly admit that I started watching the show because I saw a doctored GIF-set that made it seem like Tyler Hoechlin's and Dylan O'Brien's characters were super gay. While that unfortunately wasn't true (Sterek forever!), the minds behind MTV's latest chef d'oevre have still always kept the show super gay. They already announced that a new gay character will be joining the show next season, which doesn't really come as a surprise.
But what did prove shocking was the unexpected (SPOILERS!) departure of three major characters: Allison Argent (Crystal Reed), protagonist Scott's first love and archery sharpshooter, Isaac Lahey (Daniel Sharman), werewolf and scarf aficionado and Aiden (Max Carver), the straight werewolf twin. Allison and Aiden fell prey to the swords of some Japanese cloud monsters, while Isaac will take a "sabattical in France" in order to grieve his beloved Allison--but he just won't come back.
Show creator Jeff Davis insists, "[Daniel] said he loved the role so much that he wanted to be able to come back if there was a chance." Both Reed and Sharman left for the standard actor reason--to pursue other endeavors.
But I'm rather suspicious of the whole scheme. Teen Wolf started out with one gay character, Danny, and whole lot of homoeroticism and gratuitious shirtlessness. Then Ethan (gay werewolf twin) came along, creating the opportunity for an actualized relationship for Danny, and a monumental motel makeout sesh between the two. And lest I forget, there was that lesbian love scene in the woods.
In layman's terms: Teen Wolf has just gotten gayer and gayer.
And this latest set of changes in the cast is only pushing the show even farther up on the Kinsey Scale. Maybe it's a subconscious move on Davis's part, but all signs seem to point to this all turning into a supernatural Queer As Folk. Neither I, nor any of my pals, were ever really into the heterosexual couples, so perhaps when the writers found out that these three characters were leaving, they jumped at the opportunity to create even more gay storylines. That would explain the decision to cast Khylin Rhambo. The continued presence of Ethan, the gay twin, is dubious, but, I mean, someone made the decision to off his straight brother.
Whatever the motives are, this casting shakeup is a reminder that, even if Teen Wolf may seem ridiculous to those who don't appreciate its unique nuances, the show is important because it insists on representing gay characters positively and without mockery. When there was only Danny, I was fearful of tokenism, but I have continued to be pleasantly surprised by the decidedly nonchalant incorporation of gay characters. No blatant stereotyping, no overt homophobia, and no real sense of otherness. Just some regular characters.
So, even if there ends up being no supernatural Brian Kinney, I will still be a satisfied viewer. But for now I'm still hoping that the werewolf pack will continue to gay-ify. A girl can dream, right?
