Inside The Terrifying Fifth Season Of "Teen Wolf"

Executive producer Jeff Davis breaks his silence on what's to come: Who's in, who's out, and who's returning to Beacon Hills?

By
Jarett Wieselman
by Jarett Wieselman

BuzzFeed News Reporter

MTV

Over the last four seasons, the impossibly attractive high school heroes of Teen Wolf have squared off with werewolf hunters, a vengeful kanima, one seriously evil grandfather, a deadly pack of Alphas, ancient assassins, the nightmarish Nogitsune, werejaguars, banshees, Berserkers, a wendigo, and, of course, The Benefactor.

But, according to executive producer Jeff Davis, facing those supernatural baddies pales in comparison to the terror Scott and his pack feel in Season 5 about what happens to them after high school graduation.

"There's this strange thing: For some reason when you graduate high school, you leave all your best friends — why do you do that? There's a moment in the first episode where Stiles asks that question aloud. He says, 'If we've met the best people in our lives, why aren't we trying to stay with them? Why do we try and go our separate ways?' That's the big fear of Season 5: Who's going to go away?" Davis told BuzzFeed News during a recent visit to the Teen Wolf set in Van Nuys, California. "Much of the previous seasons were about Scott finding and building a pack; this is going to see him possibly losing it — possibly ending up on his own without his friends by his side, wondering how he's going to face life without them. Which is very similar to a teenager who has to go off to college and meet all new people. I think that's a valid fear."

But in Season 5, Davis added, the supernatural supervillains that Teen Wolf has become known for will also be making life in Beacon Hills a living hell. "For me, the tagline of this season that we use in the writers room is: The rules have changed," he said. "The 20-episode season will be very much the world of the supernatural being turned upside down."

What else can you expect from the next stretch of episodes? Davis broke down the new season, character by character, to reveal what Season 5 has in store for everybody.

1. Stiles Stilinski (Dylan O'Brien)

MTV

"One of the first questions we asked in the writers room for each of the characters is, 'How can we test them? How can we challenge them in huge ways this year?' I think we've come up with a really good arc for Stiles. Dylan is going to get a lot to play. This is very much a season of secrets and how secrets can break a group of friends apart, and how people can lose faith in each other. It'll be interesting to see when Stiles loses faith in Scott, where his relationship with Malia is tested and broken. We're going to have a lot of character drama and conflict with that."

2. Scott McCall (Tyler Posey)

MTV

"We're going to test Scott in big ways. He's done very well as a leader, but what happens when he fails? What happens when everyone's faith in him is tested? He's going to go through a lot of difficulty this season."

3. Lydia Martin (Holland Roden)

MTV

"I think Holland is one of the best actors we have and we love seeing what else she can play. She's funny, she can play heavy drama, she's great in horror stuff too. She's going to have a lot to do this season, but it's very much secret. All I can say that the cold open of the season premiere is all about Lydia."

4. Derek Hale (Tyler Hoechlin)

MTV

"Tyler Hoechlin decided he wanted more time to pursue movies. We talked and creatively agreed that maybe this was a good season to refocus on the teens of Teen Wolf, and while he won't be a series regular anymore, I can say that you probably won't have seen the last of Derek Hale. We love him and miss him."

5. Kira Yukimura (Arden Cho)

MTV

"She's going to be struggling with the kitsune as a spirit within her, struggling against it as she grows in power. We really dive into the myth behind the kitsune; how it affects her life and how it affects her relationship with Scott. Does that tear them apart? Is there a moment where we're not sure if these two are going to last?"

6. Liam Dunbar (Dylan Sprayberry)

MTV

"How much can he keep his secret identity a secret? His best friend Mason is going to need to know at some point. We've found that these two kids are really good together. They were friends before we cast them. All these young Hollywood actors kind of know each other, but you never know if they're going to have chemistry on screen together. Some days, they feel like Scott and Stiles 2.0."

7. Mason (Khylin Rhambo)

MTV

"We get to know him a lot better and one of the things we find out about his background is that he is the unexpected child in a family of adult siblings. So where they're all great successes, he's that kid who is sort of left out. So we discover this season that he needs a pack of his own."

8. Malia Tate (Shelley Hennig)

MTV

"The Desert Wolf [her mother] is huge for Malia. It's going to affect her deeply and make her question the kind of person she is. It could even affect her relationship with Stiles and tear them apart."

9. Peter Hale (Ian Bohen)

MTV

"There are some characters who will show up a little later, and a lot of that has to do with the refocus on the teenagers. So you may not see Argent [J. R. Bourne] or Peter Hale in the first few episodes, but do not count them out."

10. Deputy Jordan Parrish (Ryan Kelley)

MTV

"Parrish has a major part in the whole plot of Season 5. He is a big deal. You may not find out what he is in [the first half of the season], but within the 20 episodes, you will definitely know."

11. Theo (Cody Christian)

ABC Family

"Cody is a great addition to the show. He's a lone wolf desperately in need of a pack. Whether Scott and his friends can trust him is an entirely different thing. Theo is someone who has been in Beacon Hills before. This is kind of a return."

Teen Wolf Season 5 premieres this summer on MTV.

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