In this piece, journalist Krutika Mallikarjuna talks about the finale of Teen Wolf and exactly how the return of the fan favorite did not do bisexualitly representation justice.

The genius of Teen Wolf 's almost inexplicable. On a single hand, it is an MTV reboot of an ‘80s movie about a teenager whom can become a wolf. Regarding the other, it is a show that regularly debunked old college tropes surrounding toxic masculinity and mean girls, and challenged the performance of sexual identity again and again. Completely reverse engineered for Tumblr, Teen Wolf stumbled on an end that is bittersweet past Sunday after six uneven but beloved periods. The finale had been an ode that is lovely exactly just exactly what made the show so addicting huge webcam squirt, with the exception of one key minute: The erasure of Jackson Whittemore’s bisexuality, which forced the show securely into queerbaiting territory that’s rampant in pop music tradition today.

That’s not the very first time Teen Wolf’s been accused of queerbaiting. Generally speaking, any storyline that does not want to determine figures’ sexualities while teasing the basic concept of representation is queerbaiting. The past debate ended up being associated with the traditional variety, where exact same intercourse pairing is created with same intimate beats as every other canon few, but without the fruition as they are both canonically right. Therefore while Sterek (the ship of Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski) fans have actually lots of reasons why you should be heated, Jackson’s bi erasure is a more insidious sort of queerbaiting, specially due to the fact there’s foreshadowing as early as Season 2 that Jackson’s sex had been more technical than it seemed.

Jackson (played by Colton Hayes) began their journey on Teen Wolf once the archetypical jock that is hot bully. Their add-ons included a Porsche, a fade that is tight and a gorgeous gf whom developed into much more. In a single scene that is an iconic tumblr gif he confidently proclaimed, “Oh, and FYI: i am everybody's kind.”

Also in Season 2, after he had been finally indoctrinated to the supernatural, the character’s biggest growth had been a six base poisonous end that almost killed 50 % of Beacon Hills (again). Unfortunately, Beacon Hills’ second many loveable jerk (hi Derek) departed for London prior to the start of Season 3, meaning fans hadn’t seen an individual locks, or conceal, or scale of Jackson until their brief return in Teen Wolf’s final season.

Jackson’s return pleased fans, with him another Tumblr fave: Ethan Steiner (played by Charlie Carver), the queer half of the Alpha twins because he brought. Extremely clearly section of a committed few profoundly in love, Jackson’s journey developed through the fiercely intense lacrosse player he had been in twelfth grade into some body more compassionate and sort, apparently because he could finally accept part of himself he'd rejected. That’s a narrative familiar to a huge percentage of the community that is queer.

As soon as the couple that is new teased ahead of the last period, Jackson straight away became a bi icon. Fans celebrated their present love, and their previous love, your head blowing Lydia Martin (Holland Roden) with similar adoration that is breathless. In the end, the effectiveness of Jackson’s love for Lydia conserved every one of Beacon Hills in Season 2 and brought him straight back from the transformation that is supernatural might have fundamentally killed him. If that is perhaps maybe not love that is real what exactly is?

Jackson’s bisexuality seemed canonically cemented within the penultimate episode of Season 6 while he and Ethan cruised through the hallways of the alma mater and Jackson eyed two underclassmen first a woman then a kid. Although the term bisexuality had been never uttered, bi fans instantly saw on their own represented in those nods that are literal and from Jackson.