Fire & Water in Teen Wolf

[everythingshiny]

A Quick look at the Elements and how they relate and are used as symbolism in Teen wolf. Spoilers for Season 1 & 2.

made for stargateproject where my prompt was Fire and Water



CHARACTERS

Each of the characters seem to relate rather well to an element, their stories and personalities link closely to the themes involved.

Air personalities tend to be kind, intellectual, communicative and social; however, they can also be selfish, superficial, vicious and very insensitive to other people's emotions. Allison is very fitting to this element. It also links nicely to her archery.

Fire personalities are believed to have good leading qualities and also tend to be enthusiastic, extroverted, rebellious, passionate, brave and valiant; however, they can also be hot-tempered, snappy, uncontrollable and angry. Derek is obviously fire, and i think it will be important to see his good qualities which are often overshadowed by his not so great qualities. Scott in particular makes him angry and snappy.

Earth personalities tend to be calm, practical, hard-working, brave, smart, wise, stable and patient; however, they can also be stubborn, possessive, nearsighted and very harsh. Stiles is earth, he's incredibly calm and smart but he's often harsh and possessive; he really only has one friend and is pretty invested in a small amount of people.

Water personalities tend to be emotional, deep, nurturing, sympathetic, empathetic, imaginative and intuitive; however, they can also be cold, moody, jealous, sentimental, sensitive, escapistic and irrational. Scott is water. he's incredibly sympathetic and empathetic towards basically everyone he meets, but Derek in particular brings out his not so great qualities.

The fifth element in in classical myth is Aether, and this fits nicely with Lydia & her scientific mind (see: Ether). I think in general Lydia is always going to be slightly removed from the others. The quintessence, or fifth element, was a term used by medieval alchemists for a substance similar or identical to that thought to make up the heavenly bodies. Lydia's immunity makes her different to the others.

THE SHOW

The first two seasons of Teen Wolf so far have two interwoven themes, the first season has some heavy Fire symbolism, and the Second season has some Water Symbolism. Both Fire and Water can create and destroy, and we are dependent on them for survival.



Season One and Two both open with scenes that involve Water. In 101 its raining, in the woods while the police & dogs are looking for the body. The rain stops when we see Scott and doesn't start again until after Scott is bitten. Water is a common theme to represent change, and it ties in nicely to Scott getting the bite and heading towards his life being changed foreverrrrrrrrr. Its also raining again when Allison and Scott share their first mutual speaking scene - again tying into this change in his life. Scott also uses water a lot - when he goes to the shower to calm down and stop wolfing out and then near the end when he steps in a puddle. In future episodes rain and water and mirrors often crop up when Scott is learning things, dealing with his wholvlihood and the like. Just as water can destroy, though, it also is used to calm Scott down frequently - showers he takes in order to stop wolfing out. As our Main character is Scott, its likely that it will come up frequently as a theme as his element is Water. In 201, Its Jackson that is coming out of the water signifying change in Jackson's future as well.

SEASON ONE

But for now, lets focus on Fire. Fire stands for a lot of things, passion, desire, being wild or uncontrolled. Its also about Life, rebirth and growth.



The first time we meet Derek, we don't see fire or water, but there is the set up of his house & family being burnt. But we do see it turn up when he's creeping at the party - his face is lit by firelight which is pretty important to Derek's story. Just like Scott, fire is seen to destroy and soothe - in 104 wolfsbane is burnt in order to safe his life, however his whole life has been destroyed by fire, by passion and by being arguably uncontrolled. Which brings us nicely to Kate. Kate plays with fire a lot. Metaphorically, Kate plays with a lot of fire. She is often seen throwing matches into the fireplace (in both 104 and 112) or near fireplaces in scenes.



Kate isn't the only villain of season one though, and you can see the most fire symbolism with Peter. He kills using fire, when he throws men head first into a burning drum. Its raining when the Hale house burns, as a side note, and he is obviously destroyed and driven mad, uncontrollable by fire, and finally fire kills him. By a Molotov cocktail, kindly bought into the mix by Lydia which is foreshadowing for season 2.

Rain comes into play in the final episode, as the final showdown between Peter, Scott, Derek and the Argents, rain begins to fall.



Finally, the credits for season two show Derek literally bursting out of the Ashes, and Scott out of Water. Which leads us on from fire, to waterrrrrrrrr. I'm not going to talk any more about the opening credits EVEN THOUGH I COULD because there is a really decent meta post about it here you should check it out


SEASON TWO [SPOILERS]

Water!. Water is a symbol for purity, cleasing, change and transformation. Water is also controlled by the Moon (ok not completely but still, the moon and water get along very well thank you very much.)

Our first scene of season Two, again, is Jackson in the lake heading out of the water. Season two focuses on a lot of change for Jackson, after he takes the bite.



Water, showers, ice, pools and mirrors occur regularly over season 2. Fire is still present, but takes more of a backseat much as water took a back seat in season 1. For example, fire is present when Allison is resembling Kate the most.

Lydia has some very powerful symbolism involving showers, ice, earth and this starts in episode one. Showers are a place of safety, a safe comforting space for many, but in these scenes Lydia is not safe. The dark and dirt leeches through and I think its going to be very important in season 3

Its unlikely that the scene at the end of episode one with the Argents declaring war isn't purposely by a river, as A fast-flowing river can often be used to symbolize strength. The Argents are scary at this point and Gerad is showing his strength to Chris.

Isaac's dad dying & the first appearance from the Kanima is when its raining heavily. This moment represents change for both Isaac and the Kanima's master, and the Kanima.



Derek and Stiles seem to be both pretty important to each other, but this is yet to be revealed really. In 204 their pool scene, the trust that is building between these two seems to be rather important and while Derek is almost drowning, Stiles is there to pull him out. Stiles also talks about Drowing in 211 and likely feels like he can't break free of where he is - he feels trapped, stuck, unchanging. Water is also important to stiles in 209, where he his literally pushed into the pool to cleanse himself of the memories he's trapped with. Both Derek and Stiles seem to be held back in some way because of their pasts.

REALLY BIG SPOILERS

When Jackson is being a giant dick, its while he's in the shower. However when he's vunerable he's in the shower too. This is similar to Lydia, as they are trying to cleanse themselves of what is going on.

Matt's story is firmly based in water; its why he's crazy, and just like peter it leads to his death in the end. Matt's drowing is seen both in 209, and later in 210. This is also relevant to the Kanima, who is afraid of water, and is confused by his reflection.

Things that relate to water but i'm not going to talk about : the moon, the triskelion.

SEASON THREE & beyond



Earth, Fire, Air, Water & Ether.
Many philosophies and worldviews have a set of classical elements believed to reflect the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based.

Its seeming to head in the direction of season three being about Earth.

Comments

[naushika]

THIS IS SO GOOD. And I agree with everything. So much symbolism that I never even thought about!

[everythingshiny]

i'm going to laugh so hard if some of it is by accident

[colls]

I'm not going to read b/c of spoilers, but PRETTY and good job.

[everythingshiny]

hahaha

you can read up til season two.
THAT'S IT THOUGH.

although i did try to avoid major spoilers til a bit further down the page.