The first part of season three of hit MTV series "Teen Wolf" ended Monday night with a new enemy, a character's departure and a deadly twist. Fans will have to wait till January for the supernatural characters of Beacon Hills to return. Although the next episode doesn't air until next year, Executive Producer Jeff Davis gave Entertainment Weekly an inside scoop on what to expect when "Teen Wolf" comes roaring back.
Davis commented on Derek's (Tyler Hoechlin) departure. "He's gone for a specific reason and he's gone to a specific place," Davis said. "The reasons why come out in the first three episodes [of the second half of the season]. It's a fun story. So he's got some secrets that he needs to deal with and some questions as well. Derek's story...I like to talk about Derek's arc in 3A as one of endurance. Derek is the kind of guy who can endure. He will always endure. He can take any kind of pain punishment and torture and survive. And that's kind of his biggest superpower."
"And now that he has, has he learned how to become a hero," David continued. "I've said before, Scott needs to learn how to become a true Alpha and Derek has to learn how to become a true hero."
Davis also commented on the Peter Hale (Ian Bohen) twist in the finale, and on Peter's mischievous future plans. "We knew this particular scene was coming for a long time because we always saw Peter as the kind of Iago to Derek's Othello. He's kind of a master manipulator and very Machiavellian. He wants to reclaim the throne. He wants to get his power back. He wants his dignity and his pride back. So we're going to see how he works his mind games in the next half of season three...." Davis said.
"I think he's got a good plan ahead," Davis continued. "But he's not necessarily the big bad in the [second half] of the season. He's someone who's always there to take advantage of the situation. So he's definitely an antagonist but we're going to have some other villains next season who are quite different from villains we've seen before."
Davis revealed that the show will have a new creature based around the Japanese "Kitsune" myth. The new character's name is Kira, played by Arden Cho.
Davis also commented on Scott (Tyler Posey) becoming an Alpha, and the personal crisis that his character will face.
"He's going to have a crisis of confidence, and he's also going to learn that this is a power and level of responsibility that's not easy for a high school teenager, specifically," Davis revealed. "So he's going to have to trust, say, the twins and allow them to help - or push them away. He's going to have to figure out the roles of his friends and his pack - people like Isaac, Allison and Stiles and Lydia. In a way, we've build a pack that is both human and supernatural. So I think it's kind of a cool story to tell, especially in high school where everyone is essentially looking for their group. An this is one that's very all-inclusive."
Aiden (Max Carver) and Lydia (Holland Roden) will have a complicated relationship when the series resumes, especially because Aiden is one of the "bad guys" who really wants to be one of the good ones.
"She [Lydia] has to learn that he needs to earn that place," Davis explained. "Meanwhile, Lydia is becoming a hero in her own right, with the capacity to save people's lives. All Aiden has ever done is damage. He's death and destruction. So he's going to have to redeem himself before he earns anything more than a physical relationship from her."
Davis also revealed that the first episode of the second half of the season may be a difficult one.
"The first episode deals with the repercussions of what they've done in essentially bringing power back to Beacon Hills," Davis said. "And they're all dealing with it in their different ways. What you're going to see with Stiles is that he's having a lot of trouble sleeping. He becomes a bit of a tortured soul in the first part of [season 3B]. They're all feeling the effects and none of them are good. It's going to be a difficult road for some of our characters."
Scott's dad will add to the difficulties the characters face in the second half of the season. He will be among the antagonists of the show due to his search to find out why there are so many murders in Beacon Hills, which will complicate the lives of the town's otherworldly creatures. "So he's going to get in the way quite a bit," Davis hinted.
The second part of season three of "Teen Wolf" returns to MTV January 6.