Some thoughts about yesterday's Teen Wolf announcements

In case you hadn't heard, Teen Wolf was renewed for a 5th season yesterday.  The season will consist of 20 episodes and Dylan Sprayberry (Liam) has been promoted to a series regular.  While it is entirely too early to make any sort of speculation about the content of the season, I did want to express a few hopes that I have.

[1] I know Jeff Davis is fond of the 12 episode arc.  He said that he likes it because it gives him 4 episodes for buildup, 4 episodes for the climax, and the 4 episodes of resolution.  If you look at each arc thus far, you'll see that he follows this formula.  I am curious how he'll deal with 20 episodes rather than 24.  I hope he'll do two 10 episode arcs (3 build up, 4 climax, and 3 resolution).  I could see him doing the first part as a 12 episode arc and then see if MTV gives him an additional 4 episodes for the season.  I hope not, because if the additional episodes aren't given, we'll have an 8 episode arc that would probably feel very truncated.

[2] Given that they are currently in the senior year, I am wondering how many more seasons the show can last.  I don't see this show surviving a transition to college, although anything is possible.  I also don't see the old cast being kicked out for a new class (a la Glee or Saved by the Bell).  I know some shows (like Degrassi) have successfully managed a transition, but I don't think many shows can do that and I honestly don't think Teen Wolf can.  Don't get me wrong, I would like the idea, but I don't see it happening.

[3] Some other tidbits: Derek will apparently completely lose his powers, Peter's multi arc plan to become an Alpha again appears to be coming to a conclusion, and Lydia continues to learn about her powers.  The last two, which have been spanning several arcs each, are part of the reason I love this show.  Not many shows can successfully hold a storyline over several years, and Teen Wolf has done so very nicely in both of these cases.

Information obtained from http://tvline.com/2014/07/24/teen-wolf-stiles-malia-spoilers-season-5-comic-con/.