Entertainment

A Power Struggle Is Heading for Beacon Hills

by Jodi Walker

Toward the end of last week's downright killer episode of Teen Wolf, Kate leaves the hospital after Scott has basically been brought back from the dead and returns to the sewers, AKA home sweet home, to let Peter know that Scott is still alive and his reaction was pretty concerning. Peter smirkingly responds, "Thank god." Except, because he's Peter, he smolders, "Thunk... GAHD." I don't know what god Peter worships, but it seems his positivity in the face of Scott's death isn't exactly righteous. Stiles may have made the wrong move in not telling Malia what he knew about her parentage, but he was definitely right about one thing — if the last three seasons of Teen Wolf have taught us anything, it's not to trust Peter. (Life tip: Never trust anyone whose voice slowly turns British over the course of time... that is the sign of budding evil.)

In Season 3, Peter almost seemed like he was making a turn for the good guys. One can only resist the allure of Scott McCall's morality for so long, after all. Peter was helping out the pack, pulling his research weight, and stabbing Derek in the neck with his mother's claws when he asked him to. But he was also slowly regaining his strength, shifting his eyes around a lot, bribing Lydia into stabbing him in the neck with Talia's claws, and generally, seeming sneaky as hell. That's the Peter that's carried over into Season 4; the guy is clearly up to something with Kate, and the fact that he's pleased to have Scott still alive gives us an idea why. Peter told us himself in "Orphaned" that he still wants what he's always sought: "PAHHHHHHR." Oh, sorry, that's power — and there's evidence that he's specifically referring to Scott's power.

He's always been obsessed with Scott

Those Hales, they just can't resist creeping. It's in the born-werewolf DNA, apparently. From the moment Peter bit Scott and turned him in the woods, he's wanted in on that heart-of-gold action. First he tried to lure Scott into his pack through fun activities like maiming and murder, then he sort of tried to get in on Scott's pack through mild cooperation, and now it seems he's trying to become Scott, or at least steal his essence. Alpha statuses fly around faster than the body count in Beacon Hills, and as a True Alpha, Scott is the HWIC. After recovering from a coma, resurrecting himself from being burned alive, and now, regaining his strength as a Beta, taking down a True Alpha is the best Peter could hope for.

History repeats itself

If Peter didn't mind taking down his own niece to become an Alpha right before Season 1, he certainly won't mind trying to take down a kid he's only tangentially related to via species if it means becoming even more powerful — especially now that he has a were-jaguar and some berserkers on his side. Not only has Peter killed for Alpha status before, but he's proven that he's patient. He was conscious in a coma for six years and after also patiently haunting a teenage girl from the dead until she resurrected him, it's reasonable to assume that recently Peter's lack of psychotic episodes has merely been a waiting game while he built his power back up.

Peter has mentioned over and over this season that he's much stronger now than he first was when he came back to life. his best talents are waiting, manipulating, and striking when the time is right. As a strong Beta with a couple of other freaky-strong supernaturals helping him out and with Scott currently distracted by trying to save his pack, the timing is perfect for Peter to go for broke on a little power-stealing.

Something is up with the Benefactor

Peter says he's not the Benefactor, and maybe I'm just suffering from Beacon Hills Delusion Syndrome, but so help me, I believe him... sort of. We can't avoid the fact that his name isn't on the dead pool list, even though the Mute still attacked him earlier in the season. Also, how did he know that Scott was dying in "Time of Death" if he's lurking around in sewers? Peter at least seems to have something to do with the Benefactor. In addition to Scott having value as a True Alpha, he also has a hefty price tag floating over his head — $25 million, to be exact — and Peter's the only one who seems to be particularly interested in getting the Hales' money back. Playing ball with the supernatural enemy is not below Peter, and $25 million would be a nice little nest egg to build back up his bearer bonds fortune.

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