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Teen Wolf – What’s the deal with Jackson and Lydia?

An odd kidnapping and so-so dialogue. After the thrilling two-part season two premiere of MTV's 'Teen Wolf', the third episode was a bit of a letdown.

- Season 2, Episode 3 - "Ice Pick"

While the build-up of Derek building an army was promising, and Lydia’s hallucinations of Peter — at school and under the ice — as well as Scott’s ability to feel Erica’s epileptic seizure coming on, not to mention Jackson’s newfound ability to lift a car, my complaints still seemed amplified with this installment:

  • Why did Alison’s dad have her kidnapped to start her training? That just seemed so random to me — cheap thrills or cheap plot?
  • When will the dialogue improve? It was painful in many parts of the episode, but for some reason it bothered my when Stiles was meeting with Boyd to get the rink keys.
  • The fact that Jackson thinks Lydia made him immune is weak to me, unless there’s something I’m not remembering and taking into account from last season. They haven’t had sex since Lydia’s attack and Jackson’s bite, so I’m just not following. To me, the most likely explanation is that Jackson has wolf’s bane in his system from when Derek scratched him. Though the black ooze in the shower with Lydia and the back goo oozing from Jackson’d orifices … that can’t be coincidence. I’m hoping they’ll make this a more powerful piece of the mythology and not leave it vague.
I hope we see a little more of Erica than just as Derek’s minion, because she reminds me of Buffy‘s Faith, when she was first introduced in season three. She could have potential if they properly develop her character.

Now, for a little speculation and a little hope. I have faith that Teen Wolf will soar to awesome heights this season. I foresee Derek’s Alpha team vs. Scott’s team, complete with Boyd and Alison, vs. Gerard and the other crazy hunters. Will three teams fight, or will some alliances be formed?

The fact that Alison’s dad made it clear that the men are the soldiers and the women are the leaders has got to have some meaning. I’m hoping that Alison ends up making the decision that Scott’s team is the one to fight alongside and her father just has to go along with it. One thing I am liking is the darker side to Teen Wolf this season. I hope they can allow it to blossom without cheapening it with the cheese factor.

Photo Credit: MTV

3 Responses to “Teen Wolf – What’s the deal with Jackson and Lydia?”

June 13, 2012 at 3:59 AM

The Jackson-Lydia thing is puzzling. I think we can take anything Jackson says or does with a grain of salt because it seems clear that he’s really really unstable. I can’t fathom why Jackson blames Lydia, unless he figures that the immunity is kind of like an STD. If that was the case, it could be from whenever they exchanged fluids prior to both of them being bitten. But if that is what’s going on, how does Jackson know he didn’t give it to Lydia rather than the other way around? In fact, I’m kind of leaning that way given the Jackson lifting a car revelation. So far Lydia hasn’t displayed any signs that she’s developing supernatural powers.

I’m thinking Lydia is the red herring here. It seems like something’s happening to her because of her freaky visions, and I think something is. It’s called PTSD. I think Jackson might actually be something else. Something that makes him immune to becoming a werewolf, and he passed it on to Lydia. I do recall that he’s adopted, so his real parentage is unknown. The wolfsbane thing doesn’t scan for me as a reason why he didn’t turn for some reason. Derek seemed to be genuinely perplexed as to why Jackson’s body was rejecting the bite. If it was wolfsbane, wouldn’t Derek put two and two together? It seems unlikely that he wouldn’t know that wolfsbane could cause someone to not turn after they’d been bitten. He seemed pretty familiar with its properties last season. Plus, if I recall Jackson got sick from the wolfsbane after Derek scratched him, and he went to the doctor’s and was treated for aconite poisoning. So it seems like that would have cleared it from his system long before Derek bit him.

June 13, 2012 at 3:48 PM

Right, I see the point about Lydia “innoculating” Jackson before his bite, but I just don’t see how that would work. I was grasping at the wolf’s bane thing, because nothing else makes sense! I know, it’s fiction! ;-) I’m hoping that Lyda is the red herring, b/c a deeper story on that front would be welcome — I like your idea about it being Jackson, but then how do we explain the video? I’m hoping for a huge payoff on several fronts. The potential is sooooo there and the show is such a delightful surprise for an MTV offering, I’m really putting a lot of hope into it.

June 13, 2012 at 7:15 PM

Well to clarify, I think Jackson might be something other than completely human, but he’s not the thing that killed Isaac’s father/attacked Allison in Isaac’s house, since as you pointed out, Jackson was on video not turning into a werewolf when the latter was happening. But I don’t think that thing is Lydia either. It just seems like she’s being played as the ruse. On the surface she seems really creepy, disappearing into the woods for two days, seeing all kinds of weird stuff, but when you think about it, nothing supernatural is actually happening to her. She isn’t experiencing abnormal strength or hearing or anything like that. And when she started seeing the “artist formerly known as the alpha” in this week’s ep, it really strongly reminded me of someone having a PTSD flashback. And like you, I kind of like that idea of Lydia being the fake out for whoever’s really behind it, and the idea of a character struggling with something that’s more human and not anything to do with turning into some sort of creature. Of course it is early to be forming theories so I expect everything I’m thinking to be turned on its head soon lol.

Another note, you mentioned Jackson’s black goo and I have to say it reminded me so forcibly of Leviathan!Castiel from Supernatural that I actually had a momentary crazy thought that they were doing some kind of bizarre crossover. :P

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