Teen Wolf Season 4: Who Is the Benefactor?
With mere days to go until we learn the identity of the Benefactor, we’ve had quite some time to make our own lists of potentials and attempt to deduce which of those suspects are most likely to be the Benefactor. Because this is Teen Wolf, it’s safe to say that the Benefactor is someone we already know, possibly even one we’ve known since the early seasons of the show. Of course, we could be wrong, but while the anticipation for next week’s episode builds, let’s discuss the list of options with a recap of what we’ve learned so far this season. Then, join us as we tune in to MTV on Monday, August 18th to see the reveal!
But first, the nominees:
1. PETER HALE
Let’s get the most obvious out of the way first: the ever conniving Peter Hale has to top the list for pretty much any Teen Wolf fan. Though we saw him relieved last week to find out Scott was still alive, we all know it has less to do with any feelings or care for the teen alpha wolf and more to do with the fact that Peter knows HE needs to be the one to kill him if he wants to be an alpha again. Seeing as it’s Peter’s money that was “stolen,” he could easily have been manipulating the group [yet again] into thinking he’d been robbed. Plus, with his position within the inner circle [for the most part, anyway], he’d be in the know about the newest supernaturals in town. Let’s not forget the minor detail of him being the ONLY supernatural in Beacon Hills NOT on the dead pool. Then there’s the fact that even Stiles suspects him – and he’s got a pretty good track record for that so far [remember __ – and that time last season when he figured out that he himself was the villain?] The absolute only problem here is that we have to wonder if Peter could really be cold-blooded enough to put his own daughter on the list? What do you think: Y/Y?
2. THE CALAVERAS
Next, we can discuss the extreme liklihood that Araya and her team of hunters is the actual responsible party here. Not only have they been subtly moving in and out of the lives of the Beacon Hills gang for quite some time now in their search for the mysterious She Wolf, they don’t even sort of pretend they’re not deadly serious about their promise to kill supernaturals. They’ve even tried forcing Chris Argent back into the old ways. [Could the real truth here be that Chris is pretending to assimilate because he suspects them, too?] Since we haven’t been told who “La Loba” is, maybe it’s Malia’s mother, or Kate Argent. [Perhaps those two are one and the same?] Did they create the dead pool to reduce the supernaturals in Beacon Hills so they can invade it and trap Peter to make him confess to a memory he’s only recently become aware he was missing? After all, we all know he’s not on the list. If it isn’t because Peter’s the Benefactor, this could be the next logical option.
3. KATE ARGENT
Could it be Kate Argent, someone who was actually seen in the vault the night the bearer bonds were stolen? She also happens to be one of the growing number of people with a valid reason for wanting every single supernatural creature in Beacon Hills dead – thanks not only to her upbringing as a hunter, but also her past with the more beloved characters, particularly after having been both burned and turned by a Hale. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, now she can add her niece’s death to the list. All of this would actually make Kate a pretty logical choice. Since we also know she’s in contact with Peter Hale, the liklihood of her being involved is even greater. We know she’s been struggling to gain control of her shape-shifter side, and as we’ve seen both Derek and Scott demonstrate, an alpha could help her with that. So, perhaps she and Peter are teaming up on this one? She helps him become the alpha, he helps her learn control?
4. DANNY MAHEALANI
Bear with me a minute. In a surprising twist last season, we learned that Danny hasn’t been as clueless to the situation in Beacon Hills as we’d been led to believe. Not only has Danny known for some time that werewolves existed, he was the first of the teens to figure out about the telluric currents. So, he’s definitely smart enough to have put together all the times that the town’s supernaturals have totally ruined every fun event ever. I mean, Danny just wants to show up to school, play some lacross, date some normal guys, and go to a few parties without having to worry about being paralyzed by a giant lizard or attacked by a team of ONIS. The fact that we haven’t seen him at all this season, not even on the lacrosse field, certainly raises our suspicions. But if it IS him, all is not lost – just give this guy back his place on the lacross team, and maybe he’d be willing to drop the whole thing.
5. CHRIS ARGENT
Let’s talk about a worst-case scenario here. Chris Argent has had a crazy character arc over the seasons of this show. He went from a hardcore hunter in season 1 with a merciless drive to kill any and all supernatural creatures, to an appalled hunter in season 2 as he watched Gerard nearly turn Allison into a cold-blooded killer, to a gentler covert hunter who let Allison lead them with a more balanced hunter code in season 3, to a hunter now devastated by grief after the loss not only of his sister but also his wife, and finally his daughter. Who could really blame him for having had just about enough of the supernaturals of Beacon Hills, for giving up altogether and reverting back to the old ways of killing every supernatural, regardless of how ‘harmless’ or ‘good’ they might be? Just the thought of this one being true breaks my heart – I can’t even talk about it anymore. All I know is, if it is him, Teen Wolf and I will never be the same.
5. GERARD ARGENT
Speaking of Argents with a waranted vendetta, we still have Gerard. He’s supposedly wasting away, weakened with cancer yet unable to die after a failed attempt at becoming a werewolf. Not only does he have the motive of an unfulfilled desire to see dead all the supernaturals responsible for the death of so many Argents, but he probably also wants revenge for being thwarted by a teenage boy. Does anyone believe Gerard Argent is really just sitting around in that meidical facility patiently waiting for the cancer to finally take him out? Not a chance. And, thanks to a lifetime of hunting supernaturals, he would certainly have the best chance of accessing a network of killers-for-hire. Gerard, you’re looking more and more guilty by the minute. That said, I don’t think this is something he could accomplish alone, particularly given his totally non-threatening current state – so, more than likely, he’s just on the sidelines cheering for the real Benefactor.
6. AGENT MCCALL
So… what do we really even know about Agent McCall? Sure, he’s Scott’s dad, but since his first order of business in Beacon Hills was to try and overthrow Sheriff Stilinski, he certainly hasn’t made many friends among the Teen Wolf fandom. And yet, he’s still here. Why exactly could that be? It’s possible he figured it all out and now sees it as his FBI duty to rid the world of supernaturals, and why not start with his old home town, right? Though I have a hard time thinking he’d want his own son dead [especially when that son is Scott McCall], we’ve been down this road with supernatural parents before, so we can’t be naive on this one. Besides, he hasn’t been around Scott in years; he doesn’t know anything about him. So who’s to say he even cares much about Scott at all? Though admittedly very, very low on the list, there’s still enough of a possiblity that we can’t overlook Agent McCall as a suspect.
7. ETHAN
Another low-odds suspect: Ethan. Though one could argue that Ethan and Aiden’s involvement with Deucalion and the alpha pack is what eventually led to his brother’s death, there’s no accounting for irrational blame when you’re grieving. It’s entirely possible the gentler, nicer twin took a dark with the loss of Aiden, and decided to take out the Beacon Hills supernaturals in retaliation. Since he didn’t stick around and try to assimilate into Scott’s pack after Aiden’s death, despite how he’d spent the entire season trying to convince Aiden that it was their best option, we have to wonder what he’s been up to since leaving – forming a network of supernatural killers, perhaps?
8. DEUCALION
Of course, there is Mr. “I am the alpha of alphas! I am the apex of apex predators!” not-so-affectionately known as Deucalion. Let’s be honest: does anyone really believe he would go from a power-hungry alpha with a merciless desire to either kill or tame Scott to a productive member of supernatural society just because he has his eyesight back? [If you said yes, just know that naive Scott McCall is ONLY one not side-eyeing the hell out of you right now.] Deucalion certainly has motive for revenge after Scott and friends successfully defeated his entire pack of supposedly unbeatable alphas. Seriously, he’s pretty much lost everything thanks to the Beacon Hills crew. Keeping that in mind, it’s probably safe to say we haven’t seen the last of him – though I don’t see him as one willing to sit back and let everyone else do the killing for him, so he’s admittedly one of the last suspects on the list.
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So, there you have it: our top suspects. Do you agree with any of the options – or possibly have another suspect in mind? Maybe Deaton’s just trying to get back to the simpler days when he was nothing but a veteranarian? Or is Isaac Lahey really, really pissed that he was abandoned in France and decided to take it out on the supernaturals who got to stay behind in Beacon Hills? Odds are, it’s more serious than a casual vendetta, though Ethan seeking retribution for Aiden’s death is another option. Even more likely is that it’s a combination of suspects. Topping the list of possible teams: Peter and Kate, the Calaveras and Gerard, or… Ethan and Danny? [Yeah, that last one is probably a no-go.]
Think you know the Benefactor’s identity? Do you think you’re ready for “Perishable”? Then again, we tell you to make sure to tune in to MTV Monday, August 18, 2014, at 10/9PM CST to watch the reveal!