Last Monday, March 24, the third season of MTV’s “Teen Wolf” came to a close. Entitled “The Divine Move,” the season finale episode follows Scott McCall’s (Tyler Posey, “Doc”) pack of werewolves and other supernatural beings as they attempt to defeat an evil Japanese spirit, the Nogitsune, who has been terrorizing the town of Beacon Hills.
Though it is clear that producer and writer Jeff Davis intended for this culminating episode to be the best of the season, it is overshadowed by the episode preceding it and ultimately will leave viewers disappointed. If you have not yet been able to get caught up on season three, be warned—there are spoilers ahead.
The episode begins in the aftermath of Allison Argent’s (Crystal Reed, “Crazy, Stupid, Love”) abrupt death, which served as the closing moment of the previous week’s episode. Yet there is still work to be done in Beacon Hills, so the characters of “Teen Wolf” do not get much of a chance to grieve for the loss of their friend.
Audiences do receive a few pointed moments of sorrow, including a very touching scene between Argent’s father (JR Bourne, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”) and her most recent love interest, Isaac Lahey (Daniel Sharman, “Immortals”), as they attempt to deal with her untimely death.
However, fans are deprived of the emotion they are looking for, as Argent’s funeral is never depicted and many of her friends never truly express their grief. It is likely that the funeral will never be shown either, as it was announced shortly after the episode aired that Sharman and Bourne may both be leaving the show next season. Much like Reed, Sharman has expressed that he would like to pursue other interests, but asked that his character not be killed off in case he decides to return some time in the future.
Another aspect of the season finale that seems to fall flat is the eventual defeat of the Nogitsune. Much of the second half of season three has revolved around finding a way to kill this seemingly unkillable creature, but when the moment finally comes in this episode, the solution seems a little too simple to be believable. In fact, much of the episode is disorganized and hard to follow, and audiences may be confused as to what has actually taken place when “The Divine Move” comes to a close.
In all, the season three finale of “Teen Wolf” can only be described as anti-climactic. It is true that it is hard to top the emotional unpredictability of the previous episode, but even so, much more could have been done to honor the life of Argent. Plus, with a confusing tangle of plot holes that leaves audiences disoriented, this episode is more stressful than entertaining.
With so many pivotal characters leaving the series, it is difficult to say what the future holds for “Teen Wolf.” It is certainly possible that the treatment of Argent’s death will be disappointing to many, which could lead to a drop in viewership next season. Whether fans remain loyal to the series or not, this episode could signal a decline in quality that will surely send some viewers running from Beacon Hills.