The Teen Wolf movie’s lack of context to the Derek & Sheriff Stilinski relationship is a travesty because you know this man helped Derek Hale raise his son.
You can feel the history in their shared frustration over Eli’s fixation with the jeep. You see how easily either of them show up when the other calls for back up. Sheriff didn't hesitate to be the bad cop and threaten Derek’s son so Eli would cut Derek some slack. Stiles’ father was there to help Derek figure out how to be a good parent, I have no doubt he showed up a few times to the house on his days off to babysit. And I know Derek has called the Sheriff at the station over the smallest emergencies. In the process Derek found himself growing fond of Stilinski, even seeing him as a father figure. Surely he enjoyed how much it drove Stiles up the wall when his dad called to talk not about the FBI, but how amazing Derek was doing with Eli. I can almost hear the frustration in Stiles voice as he realizes Derek Hale is trying to replace him, maybe to spite him. Definitely to spite him.
Derek and Argent had an understanding. Derek and Stiles put aside their differences to save each other over and over. But when Derek needed someone, the one man left to protect Beacon Hills stepped in to help the big scary werewolf without hesitation. Sheriff Stilinski never forgot about the young Hale boy who lost everything, even when that boy jeopardized his son’s life. He knew Derek needed a parent to show him the ropes. He also knew how hard it was to raise Stiles as a widowed father, and one look at Eli told him Derek couldn't do this alone, not like he had. Claudia would want her husband to help Derek, to put aside their differences, and be there for each other. And he was there to defend Derek after he was gone, to ensure Eli knew just what kind of father he had. The film’s ending aside, I know Eli wound up in the Sheriff’s care, staying in Stiles’ old bedroom because there was no way that man wasn’t seeing what he started through for Derek’s sake.
This Sterek-adjacent dynamic is everything, and it hurts that we will never get the Hale spin-off these two deserve because, wow the emotional subcontext that carries through those 15 unspoken years is too much.
