Ah, young love. Full of firsts and epic stories. In the case of MTV’s Teen Wolf, it was also full of werewolves, banshees, and supernatural hunters. MTV took the idea of the 1980s Michael J. Fox film and rebooted it for a new generation.
In the network’s idea of the story, Scott McCall was your average high school student until he received “the bite” while out late one night with a friend. Learning to control his new werewolf abilities, he became a protector of Beacon Hills, developing a pack that included more than just other wolves. Amongst his pack, many an interesting relationship formed. Some worked better for the show than others.
Best: Stiles And Malia
Most fans aren’t ecstatic when a new character is introduced to a series a few seasons in. Some weren’t sure how to feel about Malia - a teenage girl who spent her formative years as a coyote. The relationship between Malia and Stiles helped to flesh out the character, and as a bonus, it stopped Stiles from pining for someone else.
Malia was socially awkward and didn’t care about most of the “friends” she made in Beacon Hills. In fact, she had no problem leaving those she perceived as weaker behind in a fight. The one person she promised she’d never leave behind? Stiles. For Stiles’ part, he helped Malia learn how to live as a human again instead of a wild animal. The two weren’t the sweetest couple, but they were definitely a breath of fresh air in the series.
Worst: Jackson And Lydia
Individually, Jackson and Lydia were fascinating characters. When they were paired up early in the show, however, not so much.
While Jackson and Lydia dated, they were the most popular kids in school. Jackson was aggressive and unhappy. He pretended everything was fine. Lydia was pretending to be shallow and less intelligent than she was to fit in. Neither of them felt comfortable enough to truly be themselves with one another until outside forces brought the supernatural into their lives.
Best: Scott And Allison
Teen dramas always make the main character’s first love an epic one. Scott’s feelings for Allison made the show feel a bit lighter. In a world of angst and supernatural attacks, having a relationship at the center of the drama that could lighten the mood was important.
Equally important is that the two didn’t simply abandon one another when they broke up in the series. Though things were awkward between them, they had one another’s back in a fight. Allison was very much a human member of Scott’s pack even before he became an Alpha werewolf.
Worst: Liam And Hayden
To be fair to Liam and Hayden, they were introduced during a time when the show was clearly trying to find its next generation of supernatural beings in case it moved beyond Scott McCall’s time in high school. They were not, initially, the most interesting members of the new generation, and focusing so much on their romance became tiring.
It didn’t help that every date they went on ended up in a life or death situation. Perhaps if the audience had been able to see these two doing normal teenage things more often, or perhaps if they lightened the load of the drama in the series once in a while, they wouldn’t land among the worst.
Best: Ethan And Jackson
Ethan and Jackson didn’t get to have a ton of screen time as a couple for Teen Wolf. They returned just in time for the series finale, in fact, but they proved that life went on after Beacon Hills High School.
While in high school, though never explicitly stated on the show, Jackson was very much in the closet. There were plenty of fans who speculated that he might have been more interested in his lacrosse teammates than Lydia, so it was nice to see him get his happy ending with Ethan. Likewise, it was nice to see that these two brought out the best in one another, and that they hadn’t gone back to more villainous ways. Instead, they were living in Europe and helping fellow supernatural creatures that might have been in trouble.
Worst: Boyd And Erica
Boyd and Erica only make it amongst the worst of couples because their entire relationship was built on subtext. Everyone who watched the show seemed to believe they were together, but the show never actually said whether the two were more than friends.
The former social outcasts became werewolves together, and it didn’t go so well for them. They tried to run away from Beacon Hills - together - twice. The first time, they ended up held and interrogated by the Argents. It was the second time that got them though as the ended up held for four months by the Alpha Pack. If only the audience got to see more of them together instead of just them in grave danger.
Best: Scott And Malia
For some members of the audience, Scott and Malia ending up together at the close of the series was a shock. The pairing actually made a lot of sense though.
Malia began her journey on the show only trusting Stiles. She gradually began to trust the other members of the pack, and eventually Scott became the person she turned to the most. When a problem occurred, Scott was the first person she would go to. The two became much closer in the final season of the show, and it was good to see Malia start to open up to someone else.
Worst: Theo And Tracy
Theo in general is pretty horrible. What he did to his own “pack,” especially Tracy, made him even worse.
Tracy was one of the hybrids resurrected by the Dread Doctors. She saw Theo as her pack leader, despite them not having any pack bonds. It could have been a result of her being part Kanima and feeling a need for a master. Theo knew that she was interested in him, and he used that to his advantage. Not only did he always send Tracy in first in a fight, but he also stole her power from her, ending her life, when all she wanted was to help him recover from his injuries.
Best: Stiles And Lydia
Stiles pining after Lydia in the early days of the show could have been creepy. Thankfully, his crush never blossomed into full-on stalker.
Instead, Stiles and Lydia put their considerable brains together on more than one occasion to figure out the mystery of the week. Constantly working together caused the two of them to actually become very close friends. Stiles got to see Lydia without her mask of the most popular girl in school, and Lydia accepted Stiles for who he was, even if he annoyed her half the time.
When Lydia used a kiss to calm him down during a panic attack in season three, fans knew it was only a matter of time before the duo finally got together. It still took them until the final stretch of episodes of Teen Wolf.
Worst: Derek And Kate
Derek Hale had the worst taste in women. Seriously. Other than the first time he fell in love in high school, the guy could not catch a break. His relationship with Kate Argent might have been the worst. Not unlike Scott and Allison, he was a werewolf, and she came from a family of hunters.
While Derek believed they were in a real relationship as kids, it turned out Kate just wanted to seduce him to get into the Hale family vault. She also took it upon herself to burn his family home - with everyone inside. To top it all off, she also had a relationship with his uncle at some point, and she returned to torture Derek about all of it during the show’s run.
Where does your favorite pairing rank amongst Teen Wolf couples?