#so epic

Derek seized Stiles by the shoulders. Stiles startled badly, flailing to get a step of distance. 

Derek released him with a grimace. “You are bleeding,” he said, by way of explanation.

“It’s nothing,” said Stiles, automatically.

“I can smell it,” said Derek, having the grace to look ashamed at this admission after so much blood had passed between them. “Let me see,” he said, voice still thick with the aftertaste of violence.

Stiles sighed and let Derek push him gently down to sit on the edge of the low couch.

(I'm sure this is a love story that could be so epic!)

I’ve been thinking a lot about the season one finale and Tyler’s whole change. Sure, the reveal about him was a “shocking twist,” but I’d really like to know what was actually going on behind the scenes throughout the earlier episodes.

They gave us a little bit, but honestly, I don’t think it was enough. I mean, Tyler really did act normal, kind, it was clear he cared about Wednesday — and that was despite following Laurel’s orders and being under her manipulative control.

Yes, there were hints, but never strong enough to make me think, on rewatch, “oh, it was so obvious all along.” Quite the opposite — I believe they could have played with that a lot more.

Is it possible Laurel wasn’t focused on Wednesday with her commands (at the beginning) that gived Tyler more freedom around her? Or did he have a “clear command” from the start, to stick close so he’d always know what she’d discovered?

When I first watched the finale back in 2022, it felt like: okay, so Tyler doesn’t have to pretend anymore, Wednesday knows the truth, and he doesn’t need to fake being the good guy. None of it was ever real…

But when I rewatched the series later, I completely changed my perspective.

I actually think his shift in behavior was more about the fact that Wednesday hurt him (especially emotionally). She kept him tied up and tried to hurt him to force the truth out of him.

If he wasn’t able to tell anyone the truth (just my speculation), because he was under orders not to, that would explain why he couldn’t say anything.

Plus, he might have been hoping the whole time that once Wednesday figured it out and she’d actually want to help him. It seemed like he trusted her enough to hope that, even if she found out, she wouldn’t turn her back on him.

But then she did find out — and reacted the way she did.

Wednesday knew quite a bit about how the Hyde-master relationship worked. She must have realized that using violence against him would probably only reinforce his trauma. And maybe that's why she did it, because "he hurt her first."

That destroyed his hope and trust, and he was left alone again with a broken heart. His darker side only grew stronger out of that pain. (And his imprisonment in chains in the Willow Hill only reinforced this, and in fact he had been miserable ever since.)

And from there, everything happened so fast…

They ended up caught in this spiral of “I’ll kill you,” which was really just the fallout of disappointment and the fact that it all happened right at the moment they were first admitting their feelings.

They were in the phase: You never loved me and you just want to hurt me, so I'll hurt you too—and by hurting me, you're just proving that I'm right.

Everything changed with the scene "I missed".

It’s beautifully tragic, and tragically sad, at the same time. They can destroy each other — but they could also heal each other. And after the end of season two, I’m really hoping for the second option.

Up to gen 5!

jeff