| “ | Melissa: "I know that I can't be the mom that says 'I don't want you to do anything about this.' ...'Cause you're always going to be involved... Because not only do you have the power to do something, you care enough to do it. So, all you really need to ask yourself is, 'What am I going to do?'" Scott: "I'm going to find out who did this... and I'm going to stop them." |
” |
The familial relationship between True Alpha Werewolf Scott McCall and Human Melissa McCall
The relationship between Scott and his mother, Melissa, began at the time of his birth at some point in 1994. After Scott's father, Rafael McCall, a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, inadvertently shoved Scott down the stairs in a drunken accident when Scott was only a few years old, Melissa, concerned for their son's welfare, threw him out of the house. Ashamed by his behavior, Rafael took this to mean that they wanted him gone for good, rather than simply wanting him to stop drinking and come back, and he cut off contact with his now ex-wife and son shortly afterward. This led Scott and Melissa to develop a very close bond as a result of their now-two-person family, and Melissa has always been willing to do whatever it takes to support herself and her son, even if it meant working numerous double shifts as a nurse at the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital to keep their household running smoothly.
In January 2011, Scott was bitten and turned into a Werewolf by a man who was then only known as "the Alpha," forcing him into the supernatural world and leaving him afraid to let anyone know his secret. This extended to his mother as well, and Melissa, not knowing what was going on in her son's life, had difficulty understanding the reasoning behind his strange behavior.
She became even more concerned when Scott's grades started slipping and he began skipping school to deal with Werewolf-related issues, such as unconsciously sleepwalking into the woods after hearing the Alpha's howl or ducking out of class to help fellow Werewolf Derek Hale track the Alpha down. This confusion ultimately led Melissa to assume it had something to do with Rafael's absence, an assumption that Scott actively encouraged in an effort to keep both her and his supernatural secret safe.
However, in Season 2, Scott's knowledge of the supernatural world grew even larger with the introduction of the Kanima to Beacon Hills, and upon learning that the Kanima was being controlled by his fellow high school student Matt Daehler, he was unable to keep his true identity secret any longer when Matt purposely shot Scott in the stomach, knowing that his lycanthropy would allow him to heal in less than an hour.
Despite the deep love she has for her son, Melissa became so terrified as a result of her lack of understanding of what Werewolves were that she didn't speak to Scott for over a week out of fear. It wasn't until she realized that Gerard Argent was controlling the Kanima (who was revealed to be Scott's classmate and frenemy, Jackson Whittemore) that she finally realized that Scott only used his powers for good and encouraged him to do whatever it took to protect Beacon Hills' human population from Gerard's machinations.
In Season 3, Melissa became an active ally to the small group of teenagers and adults who would soon form the McCall Pack, using her medical skills and ingenuity to assist Scott in his attempts to protect the citizens of Beacon Hills, usually by acting as a healer alongside Alan Deaton. However, this ultimately led to Scott's worst fear coming to pass—his mother being harmed as a result of the supernatural—when the Darach, Jennifer Blake, abducted Melissa, Chris Argent, and Noah Stilinski to act as her final trio of "guardian" sacrifices.
Out of a deep and abiding love for his mother (as well as the same feeling Scott's best friends Allison Argent and Stiles Stilinski felt for their respective fathers), Scott performed a surrogate sacrifice ritual where he voluntarily killed himself via drowning in order to help locate their parents and figure out where they were being held.
Melissa continued to support Scott after he ascended to the status of True Alpha and began slowly building up a pack that included Stiles Stilinski, Allison Argent, Isaac Lahey, Kira Yukimura, and Malia Tate, helping Scott to find a new anchor after he and Allison broke up and assisting the pack whenever possible, such as assessing Stiles following his possession by the Nogitsune and investigating the identity of the Benefactor who created the Deadpool hit-list of supernatural creatures.
When Scott died at the hands of Theo Raeken mid-way through Season 5, Melissa used the power of the supermoon and CPR to resuscitate Scott despite him having been clinically dead for fifteen minutes, and she then encouraged him to reunite and rebuild his pack despite all of the losses he had endured. It was this encouragement that allowed the McCall Pack to be reforged even stronger than it was previously.
Since then, Melissa has proven herself to be just an effective member of the supernatural community and its allies as her son is, using herbs to heal those injured by supernatural substances and intuitively using objects around her as weapons, such as defibrillator paddles. Together, Scott and Melissa fight for both humanity and the benevolent members of the supernatural community against any and all threats.
Throughout Teen Wolf[]
In Wolf Moon, Scott had just finished showering the night of Lydia Martin's party when he walked into his bedroom to find Melissa waiting for him. When she asked him if he was going to a party or going on a date, Scott bashfully remarked that he would be doing both, as he was attending Lydia's party with the new student at school, Allison Argent, as his date. Melissa handed him her car keys and asked him if they were going to need to have a talk, but when Scott assumed she meant a "safe-sex" talk, Melissa groaned and retorted that she actually meant a talk reminding him to replace the gas he used in her car before attempting to take back both the keys and her offer to let him borrow her car, though she ultimately relented. In Second Chance at First Line, Scott was in his room, lamenting the fact that he was struggling to control his newly-gained lycanthropy and that fellow-Werewolf Derek Hale had threatened to kill him if he played in the upcoming lacrosse match due to the risk of Scott uncontrollably transforming on the field and exposing them. Just then, Melissa entered his room and informed him that she would be working night shift again before adding that she had taken Saturday off just so she could watch him in his first game. Scott, not wanting her to miss work just to see a game in which he knew he would not be participating, argued that she couldn't, which the clueless Melissa interpreted to mean that he was concerned about the loss of money from her missing work. However, Melissa continued to argue that losing one shift wouldn't break them, although she then amended that statement to add that it wouldn't break them completely. She then noticed how exhausted he looked and asked him if he was okay, stating that he looked as though he had not sleep in days. Scott assured her that he was fine and was just stressed about school, but upon asking him if he was sure that was it, she became suspicious and remarked, "I mean, it's not like you're on drugs or anything, right?" Scott, barely paying attention to their conversation due to his distraction regarding his new Werewolf nature, mindlessly replied, "Right now?", causing Melissa to be even more concerned, to the point where she asked him if he had ever done drugs. Scott, still too exhausted to engage with his mother, retorted "Have you?", leading the now-frustrated Melissa to simply tell him to get some sleep before she walked out of the room to head to work. On Saturday, Melissa was seen in the stands at the Beacon Hills Cyclones lacrosse game, where Scott had decided to play on first line as a result of everyone (aside from Derek and Stiles)'s insistence that he play. She proudly cheered him on as he recovered from a hit and made a goal after a brief struggle to avoid shifting on the field. In Pack Mentality, Scott appeared at the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital with a bag of take-out Chinese food for Melissa at work. Surprised, Melissa asked if her "beautiful, talented, and wonderful son" was actually bringing her dinner at work, Scott replied that he thought she wouldn't mind skipping the cafeteria's food that evening. This led Melissa to refer to him as "the most thoughtful, loving, most conniving little con-artist ever" before assuring him that he would not, under any circumstances, be taking her car to his double date the following night with Allison Argent, Jackson Whittemore, and Lydia Martin. When Scott tried to argue to the contrary, Melissa reminded him that there was a town-wide curfew since Laura Hale's corpse had been found and Garrison Myers had been critically mauled by an animal. However, Melissa smirked as she added that she would be keeping the food anyway. As Scott was about to leave, he saw Garrison Myers' hospital room nearby and wandered inside, trying to figure out if the dream he had about mauling Allison to death the previous night had meant that he had actually been the one to attack the bus driver, but before the panicked Garrison could say anything, he had a seizure. Upon hearing the alarm going off, Melissa rushed in the room and demanded to know why Scott was in there before yelling at him to get out so she could try to resuscitate Garrison. The next night, Melissa went into Scott's room to tell him goodnight when she saw a dark figure climbing in the window. She grabbed the baseball bat by the bedroom door and was about to hit the intruder when she realized it was just Stiles Stilinski trying to find Scott. When she demanded to know what Stiles was doing, Stiles exasperatedly asked her if she and Scott even played baseball just as Scott walked through his bedroom door and joined them. Melissa, just as exasperated, bluntly asked Scott if he could tell his friend to use the front door, but when Scott replied that he would be unable to get inside due to the fact that they lock the front door, Melissa retorted "Exactly." She then asked them if they even cared about the fact that there was a police-enforced curfew going on, and when both Scott and Stiles simultaneously answered "No," she sighed in frustration and sarcastically remarked that she had done enough parenting for the day and left the room to go to bed. In The Tell, Scott skipped school on the day of the parent-teacher conference to celebrate his girlfriend Allison Argent's birthday, with the two taking Allison's car to the Beacon Hills Preserve to take a hike. Scott was so engrossed in his date with Allison that he completely forgot about the fact that students with a lower than C=average were required to attend the conference with their parents, as his recent transformation into a werewolf caused his grades to drop significantly. That evening, Melissa met with Adrian Harris during the parent-teacher conference; before the meeting began, Melissa made one last call to Scott, during which time she left him a voicemail demanding that he get to the school immediately. When it became clear that Scott would not be attending, Mr. Harris decided to start without him. He began by informing Melissa that both Scott's mind and body were "somewhere else," and attributed his recent distraction with his home life. Melissa was immediately offended by the implication and asked what Harris meant, leading him to clarify that he believed Scott's problems to be due to the lack of a male authority figure in his life. Melissa, still rightfully appalled, retorted that she and Scott were much better off without Scott's mysterious father in the picture, only for Mr. Harris to ask her if Scott felt the same way about it. He went on to say that, since Scott was in what he called a "crucial stage of development," he needed extra attention and a "guiding hand." Melissa, upset by Harris' implication that she was not a good parent combined with her frustration and worry that Scott never showed up or responded to her calls led her to storm out of the school. She happened to pass Chris and Victoria Argent, who had just learned through their own meeting with Mrs. Ramsey that Allison skipped school that day, leaving an angry voicemail to their daughter that said "Allison, answering your cell phone will make discussing the terms of your grounding much easier. Well, call me back before your punishment reaches biblical proportions." Overhearing this message, Melissa approached Chris and Victoria and informed them that she, too, was having difficulty finding Scott. Chris was both surprised and unhappy to learn that Melissa was Scott's mother and reacted accordingly, leading Melissa to interpret his remark as an accusation. Chris, unamused by the day's events, guessed that Scott "basically kidnapped" their daughter today, only for Melissa to suggest that Allison was the one who had the idea to skip school. Before the argument could devolve further, Chris spotted Allison and Scott getting out of Allison's car in the parking lot, and the three parents went their separate ways to discipline their children. Allison was in the middle of assuring both of her parents and Scott's mother that it wasn't Scott's fault when suddenly, an animal appeared in the parking lot. Scott and Melissa then watched in horror as Chris, secretly a veteran werewolf Hunter, went after and shot the creature he believed to be a Werewolf but was really a mundane mountain lion. They also witnessed Sheriff Stilinski getting bumped by an oncoming car while helping Chris apprehend the creature. In Lunatic, Melissa went into Scott's bedroom to make sure he was awake from school and realized the radio-alarm, which was a news report recounting the story of the alleged murderer Derek Hale still being at large, was retraumatizing him and turned it off, stating they should switch it to buzzer. When Scott continued to hide under his comforter, Melissa jokingly asked if he was alive in there before asking if he was ready to return to school and wanted to stay home another day in turn, all of which resulted in "no" answers. Melissa then correctly assumed that his depressed attitude was due to his breakup with Allison and asked if he wanted to talk about it, but Scott, already glum without the addition of the effects of the upcoming full moon, irritably retorted that he didn't want to talk about it with her, causing Melissa to point out that she, too, had been through break-ups. However, Scott was unwilling to listen, because he believed he would ultimately get her back. That evening, Melissa heard the front door to the McCall House open and assumed that it was Scott returning home from school, only to be shocked to find Stiles entering the house with a key that he made himself. When she questioned him on the large bag of what sounded like chains in Stiles' hand, he evasively retorted "Uh, school project," Melissa once again began to get the feeling that Scott was hiding things from her and asked him if he was okay, admitting that they haven't been talking to each other like they used to. Stiles, still not trying to reveal too much, assured her that he was just having a rough week, and Melissa, not convinced, simply sighed and warned him to be careful that night because of the full moon. Stiles, alarmed, demanded to know what she meant by that, so Melissa explained that it was because, as a nurse, the full moon seems to "bring out all the nutjobs," which is how the English word "lunatic" came into effect. As soon as Melissa left, Stiles found Scott waiting for him in his bedroom, having sneaked in through the window. In Wolf's Bane, when Jackson Whittemore, who was already suspicious of Scott's strange behavior, went to the hospital to get the scratches on the back of his neck from Derek Hale's claws checked out due to the strange dreams and hallucinations they were causing him. Dr. Fenris diagnosed Jackson with aconite poisoning, which led Jackson to realize that Scott was, in fact, a werewolf, as was Derek. This suspicion was confirmed when Jackson saw Scott's mother, Melissa, working at the nurse's station during her shift, and asked if he could borrow her computer for a quick moment. Melissa, amused, guessed that a "handsome face" like Jackson's didn't get told "no" very often, but ultimately relented when Jackson stated that he and Scott were close friends. Upon searching for "aconite" online, he realized that it was another name for wolfsbane and got ready to confront Scott at school, where he threatened to tell Scott's girlfriend Allison Argent what he was if he didn't figure out a way to get Jackson turned as well. In Co-Captain, Scott was in his room, groaning in frustration about having missed another paper deadline, when he heard a knock on the door that he assumed was Melissa. He told her "not now," and when the knocking persisted, he went to open the door to exasperated tell her to go away before realizing that it was actually Allison, whom Melissa let inside. The two were getting ready to finally talk about everything that had been happening when suddenly, Melissa came into Scott's room, dressed in classy clothing with her hair and makeup done and asked how she looked. She informed Scott that she would be home late that night, but became insecure when Scott and Allison stared at her in shock, though they both agreed that she looked beautiful and amazing. When Scott asked his mother what the occasion was, she sheepishly explained that she had been asked on a date by a medical representative who had come into the hospital that day. Just then, the doorbell rang, and Melissa began to panic due to the fact that she wasn't quite done getting ready yet. She begged Scott to go answer the door and talk with him politely until she was finished. The doorbell continued to ring as Scott reluctantly headed toward the door, but before he could reach out for the doorknob, he caught the scent of the person on the other side and realized it was Peter Hale, the newly-revealed Alpha Werewolf who had bitten and turned him. Panicked, Scott attempted to slam the door in Peter's face, but he was easily able to prevent that from happening. Scott went on to threaten to tell her the truth, to which Peter scoffed and replied, "That I used to be a catatonic invalid with burns covering half my face? Good luck with that." Peter continued to watch Scott in amusement as he demanded to not hurt Melissa before feigning to just want to go out to dinner with a beautiful woman. However, when Scott saw through this, Peter admitted his true plan-- get Scott to officially join his pack by biting and turning Melissa as well. He went on to explain that Werewolves are much more powerful in packs, and he needed at least one other Beta after Derek and Scott. Despite Scott's best efforts, Melissa ended up leaving with a very smug-looking Peter, leaving Scott with no choice but to regretfully ask Allison to wait for him in his room before enlisting Stiles in a scheme to break up Melissa and Peter's date. Meanwhile, Peter had pulled over to the side of the road under the guise of looking up the restaurant's address, though in reality, he planned on biting Melissa to make her a Werewolf. However, just as he extended his fangs and prepared to give her the bite, the car lurched forward due to Stiles' Jeep running right into their rear bumper. Scott hid in the shadows while Stiles and Melissa argued over the damage to the car and the disruption to their date, especially since Stiles was at fault; this left them too busy to overhear Peter commending Scott for his ingenuity before warning him that someone else he knew might just be in danger right now, as well. In Formality, Scott was on his way home from school with Stiles when he heard his mother Melissa, who was sitting in her car, leaving Peter Hale a voicemail in hopes of getting to finally go on their date, which was interrupted by Scott and Stiles' manipulations the previous night. Scott felt guilty about ruining his mom's happiness when he heard the disappointment in her voice, and his guilt only increased when Melissa began crying, upset at having lost what she thought was a good romantic opportunity. Stiles reminded Scott that he couldn't protect everyone, but Scott insisted that he had to do so. The next night, Scott brought home a suit he bought at the thrift store and showed it to Melissa to get her opinion before he left for the winter formal that evening; she was initially surprised he could afford such a suit before realizing that the lining of the jacket was ripped and there was a split in the back of the pants. When Scott began to panic, Melissa assured him it would be okay and told him to take his pants off so she could sew up the hole. Scott was clearly nervous about the dance, both because he wanted to reconcile with Allison and because he wanted to protect her from Peter Hale, who was continuing to threaten his loved ones in order to manipulate Scott into joining his cause. Melissa was surprised to hear that despite this, Scott was going stag to the dance, pointing out that she figured there must be someone else he could have asked aside from Allison, but Scott insisted there were no other girls but Allison. When Melissa stopped sewing and asked him if he really felt that way, Scott rambled in response, "I can't help it! I mean, every time I look at her, I get this-this hollow feeling in my chest, and it's like-it's like someone literally took a shovel and dug a hole in me, and it's the worst feeling I've ever had in my life, and I didn't-I didn't know anyone could actually ever feel this bad." Not realizing just how much Scott cared for Allison, Melissa asked him if he had told her how he felt, and when Scott insisted that she knew, Melissa scoffed and retorted, "Listen, dumbass-- I'm gonna let you in on a secret that most guys don't even have a clue about, all right? You ready? Women love words." She went on to encourage Scott to tell her how he felt, however he needed to say it, whether it was saying it, singing it, writing it in a poem or a letter attached to flowers, carving it in a tree or wet sidewalk cement, or tattooing it on his arm. Scott, surprised, asked her if she was serious, and she quickly corrected herself on the tattoo part, but made it clear that he needed to tell her the truth. She then handed over the now repaired pants so that Scott could get going to the dance. In Code Breaker, Scott, having just been forced to transform into his Werewolf form in front of his girlfriend Allison in the parking lot after the Winter Formal, had taken refuge at the animal clinic to hide from Peter Hale, who had been revealed to be the Alpha and who had attacked and bitten Lydia and was holding Stiles hostage in an attempt to convince Scott to join his pack once and for all. Sitting in the corner with his head in his hands and tears in his eyes, Scott experienced a flashback to earlier that night, when his mom Melissa gave him a pep talk as to how to repair his relationship with Allison-- by telling her how he felt, and all the secrets he had been keeping. Wondering if this was the end of his relationship with Allison, the flashback then transitioned into later in the evening, when Scott kissed Allison on the dance floor, causing her to ask why he did that and leading him to respond, "Because I love you." |
In Omega, In Shape Shifted, In Ice Pick, In Abomination, In Frenemy, In Restraint, In Fury, In Battlefield, In Master Plan, |
In Tattoo, In Chaos Rising, In Fireflies, In Motel California, In Currents, In The Girl Who Knew Too Much, In The Overlooked, In Alpha Pact, In Lunar Ellipse, |
In Anchors, In Galvanize, In Silverfinger, In Riddled, In Letharia Vulpina, In De-Void, In Insatiable, In The Divine Move, |
In Muted, In Orphaned, In Weaponized, In Time of Death, In Monstrous, |
In Required Reading, In Ouroboros, In The Last Chimera, In Amplification, In Apotheosis, |
In Memory Lost, In Superposition, In Sundowning, In Relics, In Radio Silence, In Ghosted, In Heartless, In Blitzkrieg, |
In Said the Spider to the Fly, In Raw Talent, In After Images, In Face-to-Faceless, In Pressure Test, In Triggers, In Genotype, In Broken Glass, |
Trivia[]
- The mother-son relationship between Melissa and Scott is the main familial relationship in the series, along with the father-son relationship between Noah and Stiles Stilinski, the father-daughter relationship between Chris and Allison Argent, and the mother-daughter relationship between Natalie and Lydia Martin.
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