Teen Wolf Creator Teases Winter Return, Mystery of Lydia, Scott's Parents and More

Last night's Teen Wolf summer finale may have wrapped up a number of season-long arcs, but it also left fans with plenty of questions as the series heads into an extended hiatus.

So as we await new episodes to return on January 6, I spoke to creator Jeff Davis and received the lowdown on a mini time jump ahead, a special Halloween episode and a lot more to come when Teen Wolf Season 3 resumes in a few months...

TV Fanatic: I love when any show goes back to its origins, especially going back to the pilot.
Jeff Davis: Don’t they look so young?

TVF: Yes! But why was this the right time to go back to the beginning?
JD: Personally, I love cyclical stories and I like the idea that all three of them (Scott, Stiles and Allison) had a connection back then…I wanted it to seem like a chapter of their lives was ending, that we were closing the book on this and starting something new. It’s almost like their childhood is ending when they go into those tubs.

They’re seeing themselves as much younger. They’re seeing themselves, essentially, as naïve children that have been thrust into this world and now they’re dealing with it as adults and saving the adults. It felt like a fun gift to give the audience who has paid such close attention to the show to show how everything comes to full circle. You can compare the circles on the tree to Tyler’s tattoo. That’s why we titled it ‘Lunar Ellipse.’

TVF: Jennifer and Kali have a history and we see a bit of that…
JD: We didn’t think that Jennifer would be Kali’s adversary and we talked about it in the writers’ room whether it was more significant that she was Deucalion’s but I liked that it was Kali’s. They could have even been in love at a certain point but it ended so terribly and we knew that Jennifer was going to get her revenge.

TVF: You don’t kill Deucalion in the finale…
JD: Deucalion is not killed. He is healed in a way. He’s given his vision back. I like redemption stories, as well. I feel like Jennifer could have redeemed herself if she is truly dead. If she isn’t truly dead maybe she could come back and redeem herself one day. I debated for awhile about whether Peter should actually kill her but we had that moment written so long ago.

These are all questions you debate for awhile in the writers’ room, who has to live and who has to die but it’s a lot out of who’s character is done and who you think could go on. One of the reasons I didn’t want to kill Gerard – and I know everybody wanted him dead – is that I wanted to see him suffer a little more. I wondered if Gerard was stuck in a home just bleeding black blood and they would have to go to him for advice like he was some kind of Hannibal Lector and you would come find him and wonder if maybe he wouldn’t be better off dead but it would be a worse punishment to live.

TVF: Tell me if I’m wrong but Derek had to actually learn from Scott since Scott as the true Alpha didn’t kill.
JD: Exactly. Somebody said to me once a long time ago about how as you grow you should always be learning and how sometimes someone far younger than you can teach you more than somebody older and I think that’s what Scott does. He teaches Derek compassion again.

TVF: Is it safe to assume that the twins are now in Scott’s pack and are on the good side of things?
JD:  That actually remains to be seen and is one of the questions that arises in the first few episodes [of Season 3B]. They’re essentially wolves without a pack and they’re going to need help and will have to come to Scott for help.

TVF: Scott’s Dad is now around and I assume he’ll be around in the new episodes…
JD: Yes, and causing a lot of trouble.

TVF: What’s the relationship between Scott’s Mom and Dad?
JD: It’s not good and it all has to do with something that happened in the past and we’re going to dig deep into what that mystery is. It’s something Scott doesn’t know about.

TVF: Does it have any ties to Scott being a wolf and his journey?
JD: I wouldn’t say it has any ties into the supernatural. We knew that we were going to introduce Scott’s Dad eventually and I was a bit adamant that if we were going to do it that he not have any initial ties to the supernatural. I wanted to explore just a regular human relationship and see how that creates difficulties. One of my favorite relationships in the show has been Stilinski and Stiles and we held off on bringing Stilinski into the know as long as we could to keep that relationship grounded.

TVF: One of the big questions this season has been ‘Who is Lydia?’ and we know she’s a Banshee, but is that the complete answer or is there more of that to come as to who she is?
JD: There’s more to come and there’s more to come about her power and about her relationship with Peter and what it has to do with that power. She’s one of the most fun characters to write for because her character arc is so big.

TVF: Is it safe to say that Peter Hale is going to be the villain of the next cycle of episodes?
JD: I wouldn’t call him the villain. I’d call him an antagonist. Always plotting.

TVF: Is there a time jump between where we left off with the summer finale and the next cycle?
JD: Just about three weeks, which allows us to do a Halloween episode.

Teen Wolf returns with new episodes on January 6.

Jim Halterman is the West Coast Editor of TV Fanatic and the owner of JimHalterman.com. Follow him on Twitter.