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Teen Wolf: The FBI Has [Spoiler] in Their Sights

Jeff Davis weighs in on the final season premiere

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Megan Vick

Teen Wolfis back and hunting down its own.

Sunday's premiere of the final season ended with Stiles (Dylan O'Brien) settling into his FBI internship only to find out that Derek Hale (Tyler Hoechlin) is No. 1 on their wanted list for mass murder.

Yes, that Derek Hale. The alpha who mentored Scott (Tyler Posey) into the teen wolf he is today is currently on the run from the feds because he's wanted for killing a lot of people.

That's just the start of the bad news, though. Also in the premiere, Lydia (Holland Roden) received a terrifying premonition of a major threat coming for Beacon Hills and the McCall pack. After a summer of preparing to leave their small town, Lydia, Scott and Malia (Shelley Hennig) have now all unpacked their bags to help protect the town from one last villain. The question is, will they ever be able to make it out of town alive after this?

TV Guide talked to Teen Wolf showrunner Jeff Davis about that Derek reveal and what's next for the pack in the final 10 episodes.

​Tyler Hoechlin, Teen Wolf

Tyler Hoechlin, Teen Wolf

MTV

We find out that Derek is allegedly a mass murderer at the end of this episode. How prominent is that storyline going to be in the final season?

Jeff Davis: It is not a cameo. He comes back. He's got great scenes with JR Bourne, some good fighting stuff. It was really great to have Tyler Hoechin back on set. He was so enthusiastic to get back to the role and to please the fans with the return.

Derek is the last person you'd think of as a mass murderer. What made him the right person to put in the FBI's sights?

Davis: It was a way to connect his story with Stiles, actually. You'll have to wait a few episodes to see exactly why, but they come in together at a critical point in the season.

There's a certain section of Tumblr that's going to be really happy about that.

Davis: I know nothing about that. [laughs]

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It was also teased at Comic-Con that Scott and Malia will have something going on this season. What made Scott and Malia seem like a natural choice at this point?

Davis: At a certain point in shows like this, you get together in the writers' room and you ask each other, "Who hasn't been with who?" and "Does everyone need a love interest?" You don't want to do that really. I hate that. I hate throwing people together. It has to be meaningful, so I said to the writers, "If we're really going to do this, it has to be meaningful. It has to feel right and if at any moment it doesn't feel right, we'll toss it out." We started to tease it a little bit. We talked to the actors themselves and asked, "Are you comfortable with this? Do you think this is a good idea?" Both Shelley and Tyler were up for it.

I really started to like where it went. We just kept building on it and building on it. It's not something that comes out of nowhere this season. There's a slow build to it. It was one of those things were we're in the final season and we said, "What do we want to do that we haven't done in this show? Even if it makes some people angry, how do we test ourselves as storytellers?"

What can you say about Lydia's journey this season, especially since Stiles is at the FBI?

Davis: There's moments where she's at a loss without Stiles. They all are. They have to get through a big part of the mystery and the challenge without him. There's that moment in the first episode where they say, "We almost lost him last time. Should we call him? Is this a good idea?" When he comes back into the story, it's a really nice moment. I hope people like it. I'm hoping it satisfies the fans.

Scott and Lydia make the choice to stay in Beacon Hills without a lot of hesitation. How is that choice going to affect their college prospects?

Davis: Oh, yeah. They definitely get their chance to leave by the end. It's funny, because their lives are turned upside down. There's a flash forward in the last episode that shows you where they are in the world.

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Liam [Dylan Sprayberry] has a rough go of it in this first episode. What is his journey as a beta and trying to figure out how to be an alpha before Scott has to leave?

Davis: That's a real struggle for him, especially as his achilles heel starts to come back on him -- his anger issues, which is obviously a result of this new creature that's haunting Beacon Hills. [The creature] feeds off of fear and fear is connected to anger. He's going to struggle a bit. He's going to wonder can he do this without Scott?

What do you think Liam needs to learn to take over Scott's position as leader of the pack?

Davis: Confidence. There are moments in the season where Scott is there for him and where Mason, played beautifully by Khylin [Rambo] this season, really brings out another side to Liam.

Speaking of Mason, he's kind of the Stiles in his relationship with Liam. Stiles was very adamantly against becoming a supernatural person. What are Mason's feelings about that as more and more threats show up?

Davis: He has to think about his relationship as well. Mason is a protector. He wants in. He's not worried about being human. He's capable and proved his part. There's some good stuff between him and Theo (Cody Christian) actually later in the season where they're forced to team up together and they really don't like each other. Khylin did an absolutely great job this season. He's really grown as an actor and he's a favorite among the cast and crew. They love him.

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Theo is still hanging around. What can you say about what's going on with him and his chances of earning some redemption with the McCall pack?

Davis: He's definitely working on redemption, but he's going to find it much harder than he thinks. He doesn't know how to do it. He's learning. He's going to stumble his way into it. He still has those selfish needs. There's a lot of conflict between him and Liam, actually. Cody and Dylan Sprayberry actually love working together. I think they have a lot of chemistry and we put them together several times. There's that great moment in the trailer where the elevator doors open and they're both snarling with glowing eyes. They just look good together. I think we'll have fun with that relationship.

Is it possible for Beacon Hills High to ever have a normal guidance counselor?

Davis: Probably not. I would say absolutely not.

Teen Wolf's final season continues Sundays at 8/7c on MTV.