I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

People watch a television show for different reasons.  Whether it be a certain character or pairing, something clicks inside you and makes you stick around season after season, intent on following the journey.  You find other people who feel the same way you do about that character or pairing and a bond is struck.  You cheer with your friends during the wins and grieve with them during the losses.  But the one thing that has the potential to damage those friendships you’ve formed are ship wars.  They’re damaging and don’t achieve much of anything.  There have been many on Teen Wolf since the third season started, so much so that it’s impossible to talk about one character on the show without them being romantically linked with another.  Hell, the Teen Wolf Facebook page held a poll asking which girl Stiles should be with if he survived his encounter with the Nogitsune, as if two human beings were merely prizes to be won.  OTPs get so much attention that all other relationships seem to be pushed aside and deemed less important.  So this article will focus on the often overlooked BroTPs of Teen Wolf.  Because the love between two friends is just as powerful as romantic love.

Allison and Lydia- Given the events of the previous episode, I couldn’t start with any other friendship.  In her final moments, Allison’s immediate goal might have been to save Isaac, but her ultimate goal was to save Lydia.  Her first words as Scott held her were asking about Lydia, which only seemed fitting.  The gut-wrenching scream Lydia let out and her sobbing for her best friend afterward only made me cry harder as I could only watch.  Allison and Lydia’s friendship was one of my favorites on this show because it was special and didn’t resort to the usual catty backstabbing and man-stealing you see on other shows.  They supported each other no matter what the situation was.  Allison was having trouble shooting her bow?  Lydia suggested a different grip for Allison to try.  Lydia asked Peter for advice on her banshee abilities and Peter started to get fresh?  Allison was there with a cattle prod to keep the man in line.  Their love for each other was unshakable, which makes it all the more tragic now that Allison is gone.  I was mistaken in my Stiles article when I said that he would be a death with which the writers would be forced to show the ripple effects.  Allison, with all her beautiful complexities, can’t be a death that will be easily swept under the rug.  She was deeply bonded with Scott and Lydia, and her absence is something that will have to be addressed throughout the next season.  How will Lydia cope with her loss?  Who will she turn to for comfort?  I can’t help but hope that she and Chris will form a bond, both of them being robbed of a person they both held very close to their hearts.

Jackson and Danny- I’ve stated previously that Jackson’s one redeemable quality in my eyes was his friendship with Danny.  He seemed completely unbothered by the fact that his best friend was gay.  They even had a funny exchange in season two where Danny teased Jackson that he wasn’t Danny’s type, to which Jackson replied, “I’m everyone’s type.”  My love for this BroTP might not be epic, but I still think it’s note-worthy.  Jackson was the It guy of Beacon Hills and could be pretty detestable at times.  But that detestable nature didn’t extend to bigotry, which was refreshing in its own way.

Sheriff Stilinski and Melissa- Oh, how I wish this BroTP was an OTP, but I love watching these two co-parent all the same!  The third season has really brought that aspect of their relationship into the forefront, with Melissa constantly taking care of Stiles, him sleepily calling her Mom, and Scott almost losing control when he found out his dad was gunning for the Sheriff’s job.  Regardless of whether or not the parents are together, this quartet is still a family.  A quote I would use to describe them would have to be from Lilo and Stitch: “This is my family.  I found it all on my own.  It’s little and broken, but still good.  Yeah, still good.”  While the Sheriff and Melissa’s relationship may be platonic, that doesn’t stop them from being each other’s source of comfort and support.  One thing I love is how often it is the Sheriff leaning on Melissa for that comfort and support, especially given how often in the visual media it tends to be the other way around.  When they were captured by the Darach, it was Melissa that finally got through to him about the supernatural things going bump in the night.  When Stiles was getting the MRI done, Melissa was right there next to the Sheriff, watching their sons comfort one another.  The Sheriff and Melissa have had so many great little moments on this show, and to watch them interact with each other is a real treat.  One thing in Season 4 I’m really hoping for is to see them comforting Chris after losing Allison.  If they’re going to keep JR Bourne on the show, it would be interesting to see how Melissa and the Sheriff could prevent Chris from going off the deep end into total self-destruction.

Scott and Isaac- In a way, you could say this BroTP caused a bit of a ship war (at least with me) because I didn’t like any moment where Scott was buddying up with Isaac when he could have been doing that with Stiles!  But this bromance began to grow on me when Scott became the Alpha that Isaac truly needed.  Yes, my apologies to the Alpha!Derek fans out there, but I can’t help but think Mr. Hale was a bit of an ineffectual leader who misused his power.  But Derek’s loss became Scott’s gain, in more ways than one, as he gained a stronger friendship with Isaac and another pack member.  They’ve had some really cute moments together (both of them falling asleep while trying to watch over Melissa), and Scott has proven to be a stable influence in Isaac’s life.  Yes, they hit a rough patch when Isaac showed he had feelings for Allison, but they bounced back quickly, not letting petty romantic entanglements get in the way of their growing friendship.

Scott and Stiles- Before there was Scallison, Stlydia, or Sterek, there was this epic BroTP, which is easily my favorite relationship on the show.  Stiles’ easy acceptance of Scott’s newfound lycanthropy won me over and later made me so frustrated when Scott seemed to take that for granted.  Say what you will about the romantic relationships on the show, but to me, if this friendship hadn’t translated so well on screen and Posey and O’Brien hadn’t rocked it in the chemistry department, the show might not have made it.  For me, non-romantic attachments are just as vital as romantic ones because at the end of the day, there’s always that one friend we can all count on to be there to offer a sympathic ear.  I think the significance of Scott and Stiles’ relationship cannot be overstated.  In “Motel California”, it was Stiles, not Allison, that got to Scott, saying, “Scott, just listen to me, okay? You’re not no one. Okay? You’re someone, you’re…Scott, you’re my best friend. Okay? And I need you. Scott, you’re my brother. All right, so…so if you’re gonna do this, then…I think you’re just gonna have to take me with you.”  Throughout 3B, people have told Scott, “If you want to save your friend, then kill him.”  But Scott has refused to accept that.  His goal has always been to save his best friend’s life no matter what it takes.  In a way, Stiles is Scott’s real anchor, a constant source of strength in this ever-changing series, which is why he is so determined to save Stiles.  If he loses Stiles, he loses a part of himself.

I don’t mean to belittle people who watch this show for a specific pairing at all.  We’re all entitled to love what we want to love and ship what we want to ship.  My intention with this article is simply to offer a different perspective and something else to focus on when other aspects of the show are frustrating to no end.  For all its fault, Teen Wolf is still a great show that has brought so many of us together for a varied number of reasons.

So what are your thoughts?  Which BroTPs do you think I missed and which ones from the list above are your favorites?  Whatever your thoughts, comment below and thank you for reading!

Author: Sarah Sue

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