‘Teen Wolf’ EP Jeff Davis Talks ‘Bury Your Gays’ Trope And Why He Won’t Rule Out Killing Mason

“Teen Wolf” isn’t afraid to kill off characters. Though the show has always had a high body count, the death of Allison in Season 3 proved to viewers that the MTV drama will kill anyone. Don’t expect recent controversy to change that. Executive producer Jeff Davis said that the uproar over the killing of gay characters on TV hasn’t created a safeguard for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) characters on his show.

“I want to see [LGBT] relationships that are good,” Davis, who is gay himself, told Pop Sugar. “I also want to see — it’s a little difficult for me, because I know there are certain sections of fandom that believe that … I know you want them to have a good death ... but I don’t believe LGBT characters are untouchable. We want the same dramatic things to happen to them.”

Fans have been louder than ever in response to the killing of gay characters on TV shows. Earlier this year, “The 100,” a sci-fi drama on The CW, killed off Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey) when the actress had to leave the show for other work commitments. However, audiences felt it played into a trope known as “Bury Your Gays.” The backlash resulted in the showrunner, Jason Rothenberg, apologizing for the way in which Lexa was killed off. Rothenberg didn’t apologize for killing a gay character though, a sentiment that Davis seems to support.

The “Teen Wolf” showrunner thinks that perhaps the backlash would lessen if there were generally more LGBT characters on TV. “Eventually, hopefully, there’ll be enough characters so that it won’t feel like the trope, the ‘kill your gays’ trope,” Davis explained. “That a gay character can get killed off on a show, and it won’t be a big deal because there are enough gay characters on television to make it not seem like it’s an unusual thing.”

That said, he isn’t afraid to kill beloved gay characters on “Teen Wolf” if it makes sense in the episode. “If we had good narrative reason to kill Mason [Khylin Rhambo], I would say, maybe . . . if it made a great story, you want to go where the great story takes you,” Davis reasoned.

Luckily, that sounds mostly like a hypothetical situation. Davis really wishes he had more time left on “Teen Wolf,” which is entering its final season this fall, to include more LGBT relationships. “But, I actually, I want to see gay relationships on TV so badly. I wish, you know, we had space to put other characters in that showed it . . . it’s something that needs to be there,” he admitted.

Though Davis wishes there were more LGBT characters to explore, he’ll make due with the few he has. It sounds like Mason’s relationship with Corey (Michael Johnston) will get some screen time this year. At San Diego Comic-Con, Rhambo revealed that the couple will still be together in Season 6.

“That’s going pretty well for him,” Rhambo told seat42f. “I think Mason’s always wanted to have a relationship and he gets to experience that. It’s not as fairytale-like as he’d want it to be, you know high school sweetheart, because there’s a lot of danger still involved. But they’re using their relationship together to keep each other safe.” They’ll need to rely on each other if they want to avoid the frightening new villains, the Ghost Riders.

“Teen Wolf” Season 6 premieres Tuesday, Nov. 15, on MTV.