I get these questions every now and then about omegas or other pack status designations.
I've done tons of content trying to make what we witnessed on the
show fit into what we were told about pack status in this universe.
Despite all that, what we actually saw happen to these characters in
no way reflects the idea that pack status is actually some big deal.
So let's be really honest about it, the only status that actually matters is Alpha.
It's the only one that comes with obvious perks like making new werewolves.
All the other pack status stuff is well - it's like racism.
It's all made up. It's a bunch of rules that somebody made up
so they could feel superior to somebody else.
That is where my head is now - but I tried super hard for many years to make it work
the way the writers of this show and the characters in this show said it should work.
The following video was my most epic attempt and looking back now a lot of it seems kind of stupid.
To start, we’re going back to the very beginning.
According to Jeff Davis – human teens have packs already.
Jeff Davis: I think it's a good it's a good story for teenagers to hear that you can be
accepted into a pack just because of the person you are and not because of your social status,
not because your blood relation, but just by being a good person.
It’s the family you have and the one you make with your close friends or some combination of the two.
Scott: A dead body?
Stiles: No, a body of water. Yes dumbass, a dead body.
In the beginning, Scott’s pack was Stiles, his mom, and probably Stiles dad because the
boys were so close.
They all looked out for each other.
I mean Melissa called Stilinski the night Scott’s dad knocked him down the stairs.
They’re close and there is obvious love from each of them toward Scott.
That’s his pack when the show starts and his status in his human pack is solidly Beta.
Melissa is in charge of that there is no doubt.
Then we get into the bite and actually becoming a werewolf and with that came the expectation
that Scott had assumed some sort of werewolf status.
We even have Derek trying to explain it to him.
Derek: You and I, we're betas. This thing is more powerful, more animal than either of us.
But we now know that’s not true.
While Derek might still consider himself part of a pack with his comatose uncle and therefore
consider himself a beta – I don’t think Scott is part of a pack at all and therefore
is not technically a Beta as we now understand it.
Also – Derek is always Hale Pack from this point forward.
He is definitely an ally to the McCall pack but even after he gave up alpha status he’s
got his own thing going on with Peter and Cora.
He helped Scott and is as close to him as many of Scott’s pack members – but if
the definitions mean anything at all, he’s never actually in the McCall pack.
Back to Season 1 – soon after the bite, I no longer count Scott’s mom or Stilinski
or Allison for that matter as part of his pack because there is a damaged trust bond there.
Scott is holding on to a secret.
And without trust, the bond of the pack is broken.
We saw that happen later in Season 5 when Theo went around undermining Scott and the
pack broke up and Scott got all weak due to the lack of support.
So, knowing that is how it goes down when the trust is gone, I look back at Season 1
and see Scott struggling with a whole bunch of lies to the most important people in his life.
That means to me that the McCall Pack is just Stiles and him.
That might still be a pack since there’s no hard and fast rules on membership numbers
but I don’t think it’s a pack and therefore in my mind Scott can’t be a Beta at this point.
This is reinforced by the fact that Scott successfully resists Peter’s attempt at
controlling him at the school and then rejects Peter to his face when he and Derek ambush
Scott in the shower.
Peter: We really just want to help you reach your full potential.
Scott: By killing my friends.
Peter: Sometimes the people closest to you
could be the ones holding you back the most.
Scott: If they're holding me back from becoming a psychotic nut job like you ...
I'm okay with that.
And, while we had not yet heard the term at this point in the series, I don’t actually
believe Scott is an Omega here either.
Side note – canonically the first mention of the Omega werewolf comes in episode 6 of
the webseries Search for a Cure which is taking place around the midpoint of the first season.
Dr. Fenris: When I connected the woman to the werewolf myth.
Anyway, I don’t think Scott is a lone wolf but he also doesn’t have a pack as it is defined.
So, he’s not technically part of a pack but still has family and friends so he’s
not alone either.
Therefore, since he's not alone, he can’t be considered an Omega.
Aiden: We're not just betas anymore, we're omegas, the bitches. Remember?
But wait – the twins were considered Omega’s and they had each other.
That’s right, but otherwise they were on their own.
They’d killed everyone that they could have possibly turned to for support except for
their abusive former leader Deucalion which was apparently not an option for them.
Without some kind of support structure, a werewolf is definitely an Omega.
Scott, on the other hand, he has friends, only one ride-or-die pack member friend in
Stiles but he has a full support system including mentors in his mom, Stilinski and Deaton and
a strong partner in Allison.
Again, he’s lying to them so they’re not technically in the pack, but they’re still
with him when he needs support.
In my mind, for these few weeks after the bite, I don’t think Scott fits any of the
definitions for werewolf status provided by the show.
That weird limbo actually changes the night of their fight with Peter.
That’s the night Allison really joins the pack.
Scott: Why did you do that?
Once the truth is out and she decides to stay with him anyway – you’ve got Scott, Stiles
and Allison and that’s what I consider the McCall Pack at this point.
And, as I understand it, even without an Alpha, they are all three considered Betas because
they are in a pack.
Gerard: You want to tell them what we've caught?
Chris: An omega.
Gerard: The lone wolf. Possibly kicked out of his own pack
or the survivor of a pack that was hunted down.
Jeff did a whole episode about it and Scott is actually called an Omega by Derek
Derek: This is why you need me, why we need each other. The only way to fight them is together.
but I think that’s just werewolf bigotry.
I don’t think Derek initially recognizes humans as pack members.
His attitude apparently changes as we get deeper into Season 2.
It’s still just the three of them but now Derek declares Scott to be an Alpha.
Derek: I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me Scott.
You're not an omega
You're already an alpha of your own pack.
We know, physically, that’s not how it works.
But he’s definitely leading a little pack.
Lydia: I'll promise not to say anything about what just happen
if you can tell me what the hell just happened.
Then, about two and a half months after the bite, Lydia
is brought to the fold.
Allison had to read her in on the supernatural elements to get her help with the bestiary
after the whole Jackson is a lizard thing. And by the start of Season 3, she’s fully
in the pack and helping at every turn.
Still, as we understand it, all these folks are betas.
Scott is the leader and in all things but eye color he is the Alpha.
He’s still not technically an alpha as the show would come to define the status, but
he’s definitely in charge of three Betas.
Yeah, if you didn't watch all the way through that,
I think the only thing in there I believe now is that a werewolf pack
in the Teen Wolf universe is a friend group or a friend and family group.
I refer to friends as "chosen family". That's what a pack is about in this universe.
It not some cosmic thing. There's there's
no membership card or leather gang jackets that come with it.
All that stuff about omegas being weak - they're not weak.
All the stuff about a pack requiring a red-eyed Alpha to be a true pack - that's not real either.
Scott proved it and then Derek certified the results.
An Alpha is just that one friend that takes the lead - that could be the moral center of
the group or the troublemaker in the group depending on what kind of friends you have.
Either way, a pack is just friends and family. It's not some magical status no
matter how much the people living in the Teen Wolf Universe might want it to be.