Cora Hale - Teen Wolf Headers (Request):

Hear me out.

I love Malia, I love the way her character has grown and developed over the course of the show. I also think Cora had great potential, and in the few scenes we had with her conscious and aware, she was great.

But imagine if these actresses, instead of being new characters, were playing an existing one?

I loved Erica while she was here - but she was also only around for one season by the time she was killed. Cora was a Suspicious Similar Substitute for her, and in turn, Malia was one for Cora. All three girls were somewhat aggressive teenage, female were-canines with a strong connection to the Hale family, a close relationship to Derek, and had some element of on-screen romance with Stiles, while contending with their changing sense of self and identity. While I love them all to bits, they were all being used to fill the same mold.

For the purposes of the following exercise, I'm counting the A and B seasons as separate seasons - meaning thus far, Teen Wolf has had 8 seasons, and will finish with 9.

We had Erica for a season (S2), then she died. We had her for 1 season.

We had Cora for a season (3A), then she left. We had her for 1 season.

We were introduced to Malia in 3B, then she was fully a part of the show from then on (4, 5A, 5B, and 6A), so we had her for 4.5 seasons (since she was only in a few episodes in 3B).

Imagine if instead, we had an Erica who was just in her 7th season, and would ultimately be in the show for 8 out of 9 total seasons?

Imagine if at the beginning of 3A, when Erica and Boyd were rescued from the vault, we got a lampshading quip about how Erica looks a little different, and then with little to fanfare, Erica continued to grow? Imagine if, at the beginning of 3B, Erica came back from her vacation with Derek looking and feeling awfully new and refreshed, and continued to grow?

How would she have felt about Derek dating the new teacher at school? How mad would she have been at the Darach? What would the nogitsune have done to hurt her? Would she have become friends with Allison, like Isaac managed to do? What would she have felt about Allison's death? How would she have fared in the deadpool? How would she deal with Derek's absence? What would Theo have done to her to rip her apart from the pack?

If we had Erica for 7 seasons, played by Gage Golightly and Adelaine Kane for the first 2 seasons and then played by Shelley Henig for the remaining 5 seasons, what would she look like, now?

And - while I do wonder how Erica would've been impacted by Boyd's death, what if it wasn't just Erica? Sinqua Walls was also leaving for another show and had to be written off - but since he'd also been around for only a season or two, what if he was also replaced by a different actor?

After three seasons, I doubt Isaac could've been replaced by a new actor at the end of 3B, so imagine a world where Erica and Boyd - slightly different faces, but the same character - lose Isaac? And Derek soon after?

Imagine a world where Erica and Boyd were around to help with Liam, and later with Mason. Imagine a world where Theo had to contend with them, too. Imagine what Erica forgetting Stiles due to the Wild Hunt would've looked like.

What would they be like, today?

And to be honest, one of my biggest problems is the way Teen Wolf handles the characters that leave. So many of them leave, we never really get to see the impact of their absence, afterwards - at least not clearly. We do see Scott struggling to be an alpha without Derek, and the impact of a much smaller pack over all, but only Allison's absence was really marked upon in its own right. Imagine a world where more of the characters stuck around - meaning that when other characters do leave or die, their absence has a bigger impact.

Also Derek has about fifteen women in refrigerators at this point, does he need more?