Teen Wolf 3.23: Surprise!

[tartysuz]

So when Chris Argent and Allison Argent were having their huge heart-to-heart, at first, I braced myself for the end of Papa Argent. But when Allison started to pour out her heart so effusively, I realized, oh no, this is the end of Miss Allision.

The reluctant hero has to be haunted by the things they didn't get to say when their mentor dies. But Allison put everything on the table. She had nothing left to bottle up.

Then there was the tell-tale defiance of her father's order to stay safe and the slo-mo beauty with which she was filmed in the last fight scene. Still, when the sword went in, I gasped. I asked myself how could this death help the story narratively? She was no longer Scott's OTL. She was a main character, but not clearly the other lead (as the Winchesters are to each other on Supernatural, or as Carrie/Ana is to not-Lucas Hood on Banshee).

She was the main hunter, though, and what do we have of hunter society but Chris, who has been a supporting character on par with Scott and Stiles's parents, and her crazed grandfather. Surely the show couldn't not have a young hunter as a classmate for the gang.

This spectacular bad luck for the Argent women (Allison's mother and aunt preceded her in death) also seemed extremely mean-spirited for a show that has killed off more female characters than strictly necessary, and that has had a great thing going with Allison's female team-ups with Lydia and more recently Kira.

But it turns out that actor Crystal Reed requested to leave the show. According to her exit interview with Entertainment Weekly, she made the decision to leave while filming the early episodes of Season 3 -- so she wanted 3a to end as much as the fans did! ;)

Reed makes a good point: she's 29 years old and felt disconnected from the 17-year-old character that she played (for the record, unlike other actors who play teens 10 years younger, she was thoroughly convincing). I thought she was doing a good job as an emerging warrior, but perhaps that's not what she wants to play.

(This is totally different than the female character death on Person of Interest, which was entirely driven by the producers and a surprise to the actor. That said, the direction that Person of Interest has taken would have made it tough to sustain the character. Still, I'm still a little mad about that.)

I really wish we could have seen Allison blossom as a hunter and a leader. We just don't get enough of that type of female character on television. However, since Reed's departure is her own decision, then then brava. I also cheer women who take charge of their own careers. I wish her well.