Teen Wolf Season 3, Episode 8: "Visionary" Recap/Review
Did any of you guys ever watch Gossip Girl? I still maintain that it was one of the best shows on TV during it's time (2007-2012, although the last two seasons were iffy.) Anyway, on GG, if you dug deep enough into the cause behind any shitty situation the characters had to deal with, you could be 99.99% sure that Lily van der Woodsen was somehow behind it all. Likewise, on Teen Wolf, we learned this week that if you dig into any supernatural problem, you will find that Gerard Argent is always the cause, as well. He's like fucking Voldemort in the way that no matter how hard you look, you can never find any redeemable qualities in him. Or like Professor Umbridge, while we're talking about Harry Potter.
Anyway, so as predicted, "Visionary" was more backstory and mythology than action and plot development, but I still enjoyed it immensely. It was a nice opportunity to take a breather before we resume the usual onslaught of emotional abuse that the show usually provides us, especially in episodes 9-12 of a 12 episode season, which is when everything goes batshit BONKERS. (Although this week was not without it's own sad moments, that is for sure.) I have a lot of feelings about this episode, though, so be warned: this is going to be a doozy, especially when we get into the whole "unreliable narrators" thing, because I have quite a few theories about how much truth we got out of this episode. So, let's start to unpack the info-dump that was this episode, yeah?
Previously, on Teen Wolf: Derek warned Jennifer that she doesn't know anything about him to try to push her away, but then proceeded to do sex to her anyway. Way back in the pilot, Stiles informed Scott that the grumpy, ambiguously-aged dude in the leather jacket was Derek Hale, whose family died in a fire ~6 years ago. Peter Hale invaded Lydia's mind for months, and gave her visions of the former Hale House, pre-fire, accompanied by Young Peter, who was very creepy and stalkery toward our favorite redhead. We learned the Argent family has been hunting werewolves for centuries, and their patriarch, Gerard, has proven he's a sociopath who basically wants to start a werewolf genocide. The spiral was explained as the werewolves' symbol for revenge/vendetta/vengeance. Deucalion warned Scott that someone would die in the last episode, but it wasn't Deaton or Derek, as expected-- it was Boyd (sad face!) Derek confessed to Jennifer that everyone around him gets hurt, including but not limited to: his entire family, Kate Argent, Boyd, and Erica, as well as another young girl we've yet to meet.
We begin with a flashback of a 15-year-old Derek running through the woods from what appears to be at least a dozen hunters. You know, the usual, where Derek's concerned. He trips over an exposed tree root and falls to the ground, not realizing that he was right next to one of those dog whistle glowsticks from "Fireflies", whose ultrasonic emission blasts his eardrums. He manages to get up and run off, and in the process, eventually straight-up runs over a fellow werecub, who immediately recognizes Derek as a Hale.
Before the boys can say any more, an arrow flies from behind the unnamed werecub and impales him right through the throat, which was shot by an approaching hunter. Bb Derek is so stunned that his "fight or flight" instincts completely fail him, and only just misses being shot by another arrow because ambiguously-aged bb Peter comes out of nowhere, fangs out, and catches the arrow in mid-air. The boys run off, finding what looks like an abandoned house and settling into it's basement. The house seems to be built around a tree, whose roots reach into the basement where they're hiding. It is interesting to note that Peter's eyes are gold here, FYI, instead of the usual blue they are in the present day.
Outside, the hunters, which include Gerard and Chris Argent, find the werecub who was shot through the throat, who apparently killed two of the Argents' fellow hunters. Chris orders the other hunters to capture the rest of the wolves they can find and keep them alive, per The Argent Code. He doesn't notice when Gerard, who looks exactly the same (though healthier and without werewolf ink) scowls at the fact that his son doesn't want to murder every werewolf they find. (A weird thing I noticed is that the first time you see the werecub in this scene, the arrow is through his throat; HOWEVER, when Chris looks down at the body again, the arrow isn't shot through his neck/throat, it's shot through his chest. I'm not sure if this is a continuity error or yet another hint of the unreliable narrators theme.)
In the present, Cora is staring out Derek's loft windows into the rain, while she explains to Stiles that Derek and Peter hid in that basement for two days, per The Werewolf Code. Pretty smart, really; it is better to "hide and heal," as Cora says, than to draw the heat of the hunters to the rest of the pack. She explains that Derek is doing that now, since Boyd has been killed by the Alpha Pack. Stiles isn't really fond of that response, though, because they're drowning in several different supernatural threats and kind of need Derek's help at the moment.
When Cora asks why he even gives a fuck about Derek, Stiles is overwhelmed with frustration and starts to rant in reply: "Why do I care? Let's see, because over the last few weeks, my best friend has tried to kill himself, his boss nearly got ritually sacrificed, a girl I've known since I was three was ritually sacrificed, Boyd was killed by Alphas...Do you want me to keep going? "Cause I can, alright? For like an HOUR." How many more episodes before Stiles breaks? If it's not next week, it's gotta be soon, he's been fraying since day one of this season, and he's either been near-tears or has actually outright cried like, four or five times already this season. Not. Good.
Cora asks him why he thinks Derek could help them with anything (which, LOL, Derek isn't exactly super helpful on the best of days, it's true), but Stiles reminds her of the fact that since everyone is going after Derek in the first place-- which has indirectly put the rest of them in the cross-hairs, too-- he should be helping them, regardless. Cora changes the subject to how different Derek is now, compared to what he was like when she knew him, which piques Stiles' interest enough to ask what he was like back then. Of course, that's when Peter decides to take this moment to dramatically walk down the spiral staircase and begin story-time with the children.
Back in the present, Peter traces the same spiral into the condensation of the loft's windows. Stiles is stunned at how far werewolves are willing to go to avenge their pack members, but Cora explains that losing a pack mate isn't like losing family members for humans-- she compares it more to losing a limb. Peter adds that the authorities wouldn't even let Ennis see his Beta's body, which did nothing to ease the tension that resulted from the Beta's death.
Anyway, so as predicted, "Visionary" was more backstory and mythology than action and plot development, but I still enjoyed it immensely. It was a nice opportunity to take a breather before we resume the usual onslaught of emotional abuse that the show usually provides us, especially in episodes 9-12 of a 12 episode season, which is when everything goes batshit BONKERS. (Although this week was not without it's own sad moments, that is for sure.) I have a lot of feelings about this episode, though, so be warned: this is going to be a doozy, especially when we get into the whole "unreliable narrators" thing, because I have quite a few theories about how much truth we got out of this episode. So, let's start to unpack the info-dump that was this episode, yeah?
Previously, on Teen Wolf: Derek warned Jennifer that she doesn't know anything about him to try to push her away, but then proceeded to do sex to her anyway. Way back in the pilot, Stiles informed Scott that the grumpy, ambiguously-aged dude in the leather jacket was Derek Hale, whose family died in a fire ~6 years ago. Peter Hale invaded Lydia's mind for months, and gave her visions of the former Hale House, pre-fire, accompanied by Young Peter, who was very creepy and stalkery toward our favorite redhead. We learned the Argent family has been hunting werewolves for centuries, and their patriarch, Gerard, has proven he's a sociopath who basically wants to start a werewolf genocide. The spiral was explained as the werewolves' symbol for revenge/vendetta/vengeance. Deucalion warned Scott that someone would die in the last episode, but it wasn't Deaton or Derek, as expected-- it was Boyd (sad face!) Derek confessed to Jennifer that everyone around him gets hurt, including but not limited to: his entire family, Kate Argent, Boyd, and Erica, as well as another young girl we've yet to meet.
We begin with a flashback of a 15-year-old Derek running through the woods from what appears to be at least a dozen hunters. You know, the usual, where Derek's concerned. He trips over an exposed tree root and falls to the ground, not realizing that he was right next to one of those dog whistle glowsticks from "Fireflies", whose ultrasonic emission blasts his eardrums. He manages to get up and run off, and in the process, eventually straight-up runs over a fellow werecub, who immediately recognizes Derek as a Hale.
Before the boys can say any more, an arrow flies from behind the unnamed werecub and impales him right through the throat, which was shot by an approaching hunter. Bb Derek is so stunned that his "fight or flight" instincts completely fail him, and only just misses being shot by another arrow because ambiguously-aged bb Peter comes out of nowhere, fangs out, and catches the arrow in mid-air. The boys run off, finding what looks like an abandoned house and settling into it's basement. The house seems to be built around a tree, whose roots reach into the basement where they're hiding. It is interesting to note that Peter's eyes are gold here, FYI, instead of the usual blue they are in the present day.
Outside, the hunters, which include Gerard and Chris Argent, find the werecub who was shot through the throat, who apparently killed two of the Argents' fellow hunters. Chris orders the other hunters to capture the rest of the wolves they can find and keep them alive, per The Argent Code. He doesn't notice when Gerard, who looks exactly the same (though healthier and without werewolf ink) scowls at the fact that his son doesn't want to murder every werewolf they find. (A weird thing I noticed is that the first time you see the werecub in this scene, the arrow is through his throat; HOWEVER, when Chris looks down at the body again, the arrow isn't shot through his neck/throat, it's shot through his chest. I'm not sure if this is a continuity error or yet another hint of the unreliable narrators theme.)
In the present, Cora is staring out Derek's loft windows into the rain, while she explains to Stiles that Derek and Peter hid in that basement for two days, per The Werewolf Code. Pretty smart, really; it is better to "hide and heal," as Cora says, than to draw the heat of the hunters to the rest of the pack. She explains that Derek is doing that now, since Boyd has been killed by the Alpha Pack. Stiles isn't really fond of that response, though, because they're drowning in several different supernatural threats and kind of need Derek's help at the moment.
When Cora asks why he even gives a fuck about Derek, Stiles is overwhelmed with frustration and starts to rant in reply: "Why do I care? Let's see, because over the last few weeks, my best friend has tried to kill himself, his boss nearly got ritually sacrificed, a girl I've known since I was three was ritually sacrificed, Boyd was killed by Alphas...Do you want me to keep going? "Cause I can, alright? For like an HOUR." How many more episodes before Stiles breaks? If it's not next week, it's gotta be soon, he's been fraying since day one of this season, and he's either been near-tears or has actually outright cried like, four or five times already this season. Not. Good.
Cora asks him why he thinks Derek could help them with anything (which, LOL, Derek isn't exactly super helpful on the best of days, it's true), but Stiles reminds her of the fact that since everyone is going after Derek in the first place-- which has indirectly put the rest of them in the cross-hairs, too-- he should be helping them, regardless. Cora changes the subject to how different Derek is now, compared to what he was like when she knew him, which piques Stiles' interest enough to ask what he was like back then. Of course, that's when Peter decides to take this moment to dramatically walk down the spiral staircase and begin story-time with the children.
"A lot like Scott, actually," Peter snarks. "A lot like most teenagers-- unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic. Basically intolerable, really, except to other teenagers." I hate Peter with the power of a thousand suns, but he really is pretty hilarious sometimes with his wordplay, even if the Scott/Derek comparison isn't really explored any further. Stiles is in investigator-mode now, so he settles down at Derek's table to ask Peter a bunch of questions about what Derek was like as a teenager, while the three of them, I don't know, wait for Derek to return, or something.
Peter explains that Derek went sourwolf when his heart was broken by a girl, and brings up the fact that Derek has blue eyes. Stiles thought wolfie eye color was just a genetic thing, but nope! Apparently, he originally had gold eyes, like Scott, Isaac, Boyd, Erica, etc, until his eye color changed from to blue because of, surprise surprise, something traumatic that happened in his youth. Who could have possibly predicted that!?
Meanwhile, at Beacon Hills Home for Sociopathic Werewolf Slayers, Allison and Scott have arrived to listen to a separate but related story, narrated by Grandpa Murder himself.
The only problem is that Gerard won't talk without payment, and the payment he wants is a hit of Scott's pain-leeching ability. I am really, REALLY nervous about this, you guys, for a couple reasons. Firstly, Scott does it two different times, and both times, it not only looks supremely painful for Scott, but his veins go black all the way to his face! Maybe it's just because of the severity of the pain he was absorbing, but it didn't look good. And besides, if Gerard has no cancer anymore, why does he even have that much pain? Is there some other condition that is causing it, or is that a mountain ash + Alpha werewolf bite side effect?
Peter explains that Derek went sourwolf when his heart was broken by a girl, and brings up the fact that Derek has blue eyes. Stiles thought wolfie eye color was just a genetic thing, but nope! Apparently, he originally had gold eyes, like Scott, Isaac, Boyd, Erica, etc, until his eye color changed from to blue because of, surprise surprise, something traumatic that happened in his youth. Who could have possibly predicted that!?
Meanwhile, at Beacon Hills Home for Sociopathic Werewolf Slayers, Allison and Scott have arrived to listen to a separate but related story, narrated by Grandpa Murder himself.
The only problem is that Gerard won't talk without payment, and the payment he wants is a hit of Scott's pain-leeching ability. I am really, REALLY nervous about this, you guys, for a couple reasons. Firstly, Scott does it two different times, and both times, it not only looks supremely painful for Scott, but his veins go black all the way to his face! Maybe it's just because of the severity of the pain he was absorbing, but it didn't look good. And besides, if Gerard has no cancer anymore, why does he even have that much pain? Is there some other condition that is causing it, or is that a mountain ash + Alpha werewolf bite side effect?
Secondly, Gerard, as psychotic and uncaring as he might be, is not an idiot, and knows wayyy more about werewolves than probably anyone on this show, except for maybe Deaton/Morrell, which is pretty terrifying. I've been reading the Mortal Instruments series the past week, so maybe their influence is just making me think of crazy, unlikely scenarios, but I just keep imagining Scott absorbing some of Gerard's evilness, or his mountain-ash induced sickness, or something that will end up hurting Scott in some way in the future, and I DON'T LIKE IT ONE BIT. Gerard insists on it, though, and since Scott needs answers, he's gotta pay up. TITLE CARD!
(via teenwolf)
Back in flashback mode: At BHHS, a pretty brunette girl practices playing Ave Maria on her cello for a few moments before she's rudely interrupted by a group of douchey jocks playing basketball outside the band room. She goes out into the hall to tell the boys off, and who should appear to be the leader of such a group than the teenage Derek Hale! (Also, Ian Nelson really is a baby-Hoechlin, isn't he? It's uncanny. I won't even go into cello-girl's likeness to Jennifer Blake...) Bb Derek sasses her a bit, and tries to win her over by teasing her with his ~mad skills~, but she gets annoyed and leaves to continue practicing in peace.
(via teenwolf)
Back in flashback mode: At BHHS, a pretty brunette girl practices playing Ave Maria on her cello for a few moments before she's rudely interrupted by a group of douchey jocks playing basketball outside the band room. She goes out into the hall to tell the boys off, and who should appear to be the leader of such a group than the teenage Derek Hale! (Also, Ian Nelson really is a baby-Hoechlin, isn't he? It's uncanny. I won't even go into cello-girl's likeness to Jennifer Blake...) Bb Derek sasses her a bit, and tries to win her over by teasing her with his ~mad skills~, but she gets annoyed and leaves to continue practicing in peace.
He follows her back and half-heartedly apologizes for is douchey behavior, but she doesn't seem impressed. He wants to know her name, but she decides to tease him back: she'll only tell him her name if he can play one of the instruments in the music room. After confirming that it can be any instrument that is kept in the room, he chooses a triangle and easily wins, because he's a cheeky bastard. She's annoyed, but also rather charmed, and reluctantly introduces herself as Paige. But, when he goes to tell her his name, she cuts him off; "I know who you are." Wrong move, girl! Like he needs extra ego-inflating!
In the present, Gerard is expositing, for our benefit, about the third doctor who was found dead right after Scott rescued Deaton from the bank vault. He ponders aloud about how convenient that was, and points out that it's almost as if the Darach knew that Deaton would survive/be rescued, and had a back-up plan just in case. Considering the werewolf sacrifice attempt failing epically back in "Motel California," the Darach would be stupid to not have a back-up plan in case of those wiley kids getting in their way, IMO, so I don't see how that is so suspicious.
In the present, Gerard is expositing, for our benefit, about the third doctor who was found dead right after Scott rescued Deaton from the bank vault. He ponders aloud about how convenient that was, and points out that it's almost as if the Darach knew that Deaton would survive/be rescued, and had a back-up plan just in case. Considering the werewolf sacrifice attempt failing epically back in "Motel California," the Darach would be stupid to not have a back-up plan in case of those wiley kids getting in their way, IMO, so I don't see how that is so suspicious.
Anyway, Scott's like, "The fuck you say?" at this not so subtle dig at his boss and mentor, so Gerard keeps poking the bear and suggests that perhaps it's actually Deaton who is doing all this sacrificing and the whole ~being taken~ thing was just a rouse to avert suspicion from him. Scott, who is well-known for being fiercely loyal to Dr. Deaton, replies that his boss would never kill innocent people, and I have to say I agree with him. Or, at least, I want to, but who knows with this fucking show, man. Gerard disagrees with us, and states that they would be surprised what someone would do to get rid of a guy like Deucalion.
"Or someone like you?" Allison, who has been pretty quiet up to this point, finally pipes up from her spot across the room. Gerard just chuckles and mutters that it's obvious that he can't be taken out that easily before he spits a mouthful of werewolf ink into his handkerchief. He then explains to Scott that he's a celebrity at the nursing home, thanks to Scott's scheme in the season 2 finale "Master Plan," because while his cancer pretty much disappeared, he's still obviously weakened and in a wheelchair, not to mention all the black werewolf ink dripping from his nose and mouth. Gross. I DON'T TRUST HIM. NOT ONE BIT. Scott and Allison are already over this entire charade, so Scott's like, "Yeah, so believe it or not, we didn't come here for the pleasure of your company, so spill already!" He reminds him that he got a hit of Scott's werewolf morphine and now they want to know how to kill Deucalion. Naturally, Gerard's all, "Whoops, sorry guys, you can't, I've tried."
Allison is yet again the underrated and understated badass this episode, and hits her Gramps where it hurts as she walks towards the door. "Then this is a complete waste of time," she says apologetically to Scott as she heads for the door. "He doesn't know anything. Sorry we did this. Let's go." Gerard refuses to be or even appear to be useless, even to a bunch of teenagers, so he stops them, of course, and gives up this zinger: "Deucalion might not have his eyes, but he's not always blind." Of course he fucking isn't. That would be way too easy.
Now, we're about to begin the Great Werewolf-Age/Ageing Debate. During the time of both of the stories we're told this week, Derek was a fifteen year old sophomore at BHHS. But, as we saw, Peter looked pretty young in these memories as well--judging by his appearance, he could be anywhere between eighteen and twenty-five. Stiles tries to ask Peter how old he is, but he answers in riddles, because: Peter. Cora offers that she's seventeen years old, but then clarifies that she's "seventeen in how you'd measure years." That's all the explanation we get.
My current theory is that wolves start aging more slowly once they reach their full adult size/body at around age eighteen, which would account for why Peter and Derek looked within like, 5-10 years of age of each other then but don't look it now. That would make Derek like, 25ish years old now, give or take one or two years (plus, it's actually 2011 in the TW 'verse, which fucks with the age thing too) and Peter is probably older than he looks, like late 30s/early 40s-ish, which would make him roughly the same age as Argent and Melissa. That's just one of my hypotheses, though, but it's gonna be my personal headcanon until I'm told otherwise. My other theory is that Derek wasn't actually actively involved in this story at all, and it was actually Peter who went through all of this stuff, but I will get into that later.
Anyway, Stiles is extremely confused and decides for the sake of time to change the subject to "cello girl." Peter picks up the story at Derek and Paige's make-out spot, which was yet another abandoned building in Beacon Hills, in this case, an old distillery. Peter claims he knows this because he and Derek were BFFs and because of this, Derek spilled all of his deep dark secrets to him, but according to the flashback, it's actually seems to be that he knows because Peter followed Derek wherever he went like a creeper. Peter watches them make out like a weirdo through a peephole in the wall, and after a moment, Derek and Paige pull away to have a conversation about why they like each other.
Paige confesses that she thought Derek only liked her at first because he thought that she didn't like him (OUCH!), and now she's afraid that now that he knows she likes him, he's going to stop liking her. Before Derek has a chance at a rebuttal, their typical teenager love moment is interrupted, because Derek hears footsteps and catches a whiff of blood. He anxiously informs her that they have to leave, but Paige is suspicious, because she can't smell or hear anything. Nonetheless, she still trusts him enough that she listens and leaves with him, despite being super puzzled by his weirdo behavior. Peter stays behind and hides behind a bunch of boxes to eavesdrop on the shit-load of werewolves who waltz in just after Derek and Paige have vacated the premises. The group is composed of the Alphas Deucalion (not blind!), Ennis and Kali, each of whom are accompanied by their own individual packs of Betas. It's possible/likely that one of the girl wolves (I'm guessing the only one with a speaking role, aside from the obvious) is Laura Hale, but it was never stated or suggested outright, so who knows.
Ennis points out that this is where the Argents took Ennis' Beta, the bb werecub who got shot in the throat earlier. The hunters allegedly hung him from the rafters to torture him, only to eventually cut him in half, which is Gerard's MO, as we are all aware. Ennis is fucking enraged, and for good reason--seriously, Gerard is the biggest asshole out there. To get the other packs on his team, he emphasizes that the cub was one of "ours," but Kali argues that it's actually one of "his," and asks him why they should give a fuck about a beta from his pack.
"Or someone like you?" Allison, who has been pretty quiet up to this point, finally pipes up from her spot across the room. Gerard just chuckles and mutters that it's obvious that he can't be taken out that easily before he spits a mouthful of werewolf ink into his handkerchief. He then explains to Scott that he's a celebrity at the nursing home, thanks to Scott's scheme in the season 2 finale "Master Plan," because while his cancer pretty much disappeared, he's still obviously weakened and in a wheelchair, not to mention all the black werewolf ink dripping from his nose and mouth. Gross. I DON'T TRUST HIM. NOT ONE BIT. Scott and Allison are already over this entire charade, so Scott's like, "Yeah, so believe it or not, we didn't come here for the pleasure of your company, so spill already!" He reminds him that he got a hit of Scott's werewolf morphine and now they want to know how to kill Deucalion. Naturally, Gerard's all, "Whoops, sorry guys, you can't, I've tried."
Allison is yet again the underrated and understated badass this episode, and hits her Gramps where it hurts as she walks towards the door. "Then this is a complete waste of time," she says apologetically to Scott as she heads for the door. "He doesn't know anything. Sorry we did this. Let's go." Gerard refuses to be or even appear to be useless, even to a bunch of teenagers, so he stops them, of course, and gives up this zinger: "Deucalion might not have his eyes, but he's not always blind." Of course he fucking isn't. That would be way too easy.
Now, we're about to begin the Great Werewolf-Age/Ageing Debate. During the time of both of the stories we're told this week, Derek was a fifteen year old sophomore at BHHS. But, as we saw, Peter looked pretty young in these memories as well--judging by his appearance, he could be anywhere between eighteen and twenty-five. Stiles tries to ask Peter how old he is, but he answers in riddles, because: Peter. Cora offers that she's seventeen years old, but then clarifies that she's "seventeen in how you'd measure years." That's all the explanation we get.
My current theory is that wolves start aging more slowly once they reach their full adult size/body at around age eighteen, which would account for why Peter and Derek looked within like, 5-10 years of age of each other then but don't look it now. That would make Derek like, 25ish years old now, give or take one or two years (plus, it's actually 2011 in the TW 'verse, which fucks with the age thing too) and Peter is probably older than he looks, like late 30s/early 40s-ish, which would make him roughly the same age as Argent and Melissa. That's just one of my hypotheses, though, but it's gonna be my personal headcanon until I'm told otherwise. My other theory is that Derek wasn't actually actively involved in this story at all, and it was actually Peter who went through all of this stuff, but I will get into that later.
Anyway, Stiles is extremely confused and decides for the sake of time to change the subject to "cello girl." Peter picks up the story at Derek and Paige's make-out spot, which was yet another abandoned building in Beacon Hills, in this case, an old distillery. Peter claims he knows this because he and Derek were BFFs and because of this, Derek spilled all of his deep dark secrets to him, but according to the flashback, it's actually seems to be that he knows because Peter followed Derek wherever he went like a creeper. Peter watches them make out like a weirdo through a peephole in the wall, and after a moment, Derek and Paige pull away to have a conversation about why they like each other.
Paige confesses that she thought Derek only liked her at first because he thought that she didn't like him (OUCH!), and now she's afraid that now that he knows she likes him, he's going to stop liking her. Before Derek has a chance at a rebuttal, their typical teenager love moment is interrupted, because Derek hears footsteps and catches a whiff of blood. He anxiously informs her that they have to leave, but Paige is suspicious, because she can't smell or hear anything. Nonetheless, she still trusts him enough that she listens and leaves with him, despite being super puzzled by his weirdo behavior. Peter stays behind and hides behind a bunch of boxes to eavesdrop on the shit-load of werewolves who waltz in just after Derek and Paige have vacated the premises. The group is composed of the Alphas Deucalion (not blind!), Ennis and Kali, each of whom are accompanied by their own individual packs of Betas. It's possible/likely that one of the girl wolves (I'm guessing the only one with a speaking role, aside from the obvious) is Laura Hale, but it was never stated or suggested outright, so who knows.
Ennis points out that this is where the Argents took Ennis' Beta, the bb werecub who got shot in the throat earlier. The hunters allegedly hung him from the rafters to torture him, only to eventually cut him in half, which is Gerard's MO, as we are all aware. Ennis is fucking enraged, and for good reason--seriously, Gerard is the biggest asshole out there. To get the other packs on his team, he emphasizes that the cub was one of "ours," but Kali argues that it's actually one of "his," and asks him why they should give a fuck about a beta from his pack.
Maybe-Laura points out that the hunters don't discern between packs, especially not the Argents, so all werewolves, regardless of their affiliations, are at risk as long as the hunters are around. Deucalion, who is surprisingly kind and pro-peace at this point in time, frowns and brings up that the Argents do discern motive, as per The Code, and ask Ennis what the Beta did to the hunters to warrant such treatment. Marco, one of Deuc's own Betas, dramatically reveals that Ennis' "naive Beta" killed one of the Argents' fellow hunters, but Ennis claims it was just an accident. (WAIT, I thought Chris said that the cub killed TWO hunters? Goddamnit, I need real answers, here!)
Gerard picks up the story from this point, explaining that all of the packs were visiting Beacon Hills during this time, which was before Deuc, Ennis and Kali killed all of their Betas to form their "all-star team." Allison asks if they all lived here, but they didn't; they had actually traveled to Beacon Hills to meet with a powerful Alpha who lived in the area, one with the rare gift of being able to actually transform into a real wolf. According to Gerard, back then, this werewolf was often approached for advice and counsel. In the flashback, we see the crowd at the distillery part through the middle as a gorgeous black wolf with gray around the eyes approaches them. When she returns to her human form, we see it is Talia Hale, (mama to Derek, Cora and Laura, and sister to Peter) who is naked, though she is quickly covered up in a caftan by Maybe-Laura. Deucalion looks like he's kind of in love with her, and TBH, I kind of am too.
ALSO: Laura Hale could transform into a real wolf too. Peter, as an Alpha, turned into that weird gorilla-wolf, which was still way more wolf-like than any of the other Alpha forms we've seen thus far. We always speculated as to why we have never seen Derek shift into his own Alpha form-- the form we've seen from him thus far is more or less the same as his Beta form, although maybe better looking. I'd blame that on makeup changes, though. ANYWAY, maybe he has the ability to turn into a full wolf too, and just hasn't yet? It would explain why the Alpha Pack still gives a fuck whether or not he joins, since we know now that their true target is Scott. Having an Alpha who could shift into an actual wolf would be quite the addition to the Alpha Pack.
Anyway, after hearing Ennis' story, Talia is mostly on Team Ennis, because, like the hunters, the werewolves also have their own traditions and code of honor, so she believes it's understandable for Ennis to want justice for his dead packmate. Deucalion, however, is surprisingly on Team Keep-The-Peace, and argues that their traditions shouldn't keep them from evolving. Ennis angrily reminds him that the hunters tortured his Beta by ripping out his claws one by one, which isn't exactly evolving, and finally declares their argument a "useless debate." Deuc urges Ennis to not start a war, because "it never stops at an eye-for-an-eye" and he's sure that it's ultimately going to end in a massacre. Unfortunately, Ennis won't be talked down, and makes his stance quite clear when he uses his claws to angrily carve a spiral into the corrugated metal wall of the distillery. Deuc and Talia sigh like, "Here go hell come." The war has begun.
Gerard picks up the story from this point, explaining that all of the packs were visiting Beacon Hills during this time, which was before Deuc, Ennis and Kali killed all of their Betas to form their "all-star team." Allison asks if they all lived here, but they didn't; they had actually traveled to Beacon Hills to meet with a powerful Alpha who lived in the area, one with the rare gift of being able to actually transform into a real wolf. According to Gerard, back then, this werewolf was often approached for advice and counsel. In the flashback, we see the crowd at the distillery part through the middle as a gorgeous black wolf with gray around the eyes approaches them. When she returns to her human form, we see it is Talia Hale, (mama to Derek, Cora and Laura, and sister to Peter) who is naked, though she is quickly covered up in a caftan by Maybe-Laura. Deucalion looks like he's kind of in love with her, and TBH, I kind of am too.
ALSO: Laura Hale could transform into a real wolf too. Peter, as an Alpha, turned into that weird gorilla-wolf, which was still way more wolf-like than any of the other Alpha forms we've seen thus far. We always speculated as to why we have never seen Derek shift into his own Alpha form-- the form we've seen from him thus far is more or less the same as his Beta form, although maybe better looking. I'd blame that on makeup changes, though. ANYWAY, maybe he has the ability to turn into a full wolf too, and just hasn't yet? It would explain why the Alpha Pack still gives a fuck whether or not he joins, since we know now that their true target is Scott. Having an Alpha who could shift into an actual wolf would be quite the addition to the Alpha Pack.
Anyway, after hearing Ennis' story, Talia is mostly on Team Ennis, because, like the hunters, the werewolves also have their own traditions and code of honor, so she believes it's understandable for Ennis to want justice for his dead packmate. Deucalion, however, is surprisingly on Team Keep-The-Peace, and argues that their traditions shouldn't keep them from evolving. Ennis angrily reminds him that the hunters tortured his Beta by ripping out his claws one by one, which isn't exactly evolving, and finally declares their argument a "useless debate." Deuc urges Ennis to not start a war, because "it never stops at an eye-for-an-eye" and he's sure that it's ultimately going to end in a massacre. Unfortunately, Ennis won't be talked down, and makes his stance quite clear when he uses his claws to angrily carve a spiral into the corrugated metal wall of the distillery. Deuc and Talia sigh like, "Here go hell come." The war has begun.
Back in the present, Peter traces the same spiral into the condensation of the loft's windows. Stiles is stunned at how far werewolves are willing to go to avenge their pack members, but Cora explains that losing a pack mate isn't like losing family members for humans-- she compares it more to losing a limb. Peter adds that the authorities wouldn't even let Ennis see his Beta's body, which did nothing to ease the tension that resulted from the Beta's death.
In the flashback, Ennis has showed up at the hospital, where he's threatening an orderly. After a moment, then-Deputy Stilinski comes in to talk him down. Ennis invades Stilinski's personal space as he demands custody of his Beta's body (though, obviously, they don't refer to him as a Beta for supernatural concealment reasons-- he just doesn't have a name, so that's what I'm going with for the descriptions), so the deputy reacts by keeping one hand on his gun in its holster as he uses the other hand to lightly push Ennis a few steps backward. Fortunately for Then-Deputy Stilinski, Ennis does calm down a smidge, not wanting to draw more attention from the authorities.
Stiles' dad points out that the dead Beta is part of a homicide investigation, an especially gruesome one, considering a teenager was literally cut in half after he was killed, and since Ennis is not (technically) family, he's not entitled to his body. Ennis is understandably pissed, because Deputy Stilinski is just a human who (as far as we know) has no idea wtf werewolves are and what packmates mean to them--as far as Stilinski's concerned, Ennis is just a grieving friend who is acting unreasonably and who has no rights with regards to getting his body released to him.
Stiles doesn't get what this story has to do with Derek, but Peter reminds him that it's never just one thing that changes people, it's a confluence of different events. Peter goes on to say that, at the time, he saw Ennis' situation as a profound loss, but Derek instead saw it as an opportunity. I don't believe that for one second, though, because the flashback seems to demonstrate the opposite. Derek felt bad for Ennis, in the kind of vaguely-sad way that teenagers care about things that ultimately don't affect them, but Peter was the one who thought it made the perfect opportunity. Stiles is like, for what? Peter: "To always be with her."
In flashback, we see him in class, listening with his wolf-ears as she practices "Ave Maria" in the music room. After school, he sat in the doorway of the music room while she continues to practice, and she teases him for staring at her. They're teenagers, though, so eventually they get to the flirting and he distracts her from her practice. We're all going to jail for watching what happens next, which is two children creepily making out and breathing into each others' ears and being all sensual and stuff. Creeeeepy! Ew. She's like, "I hate you," because he distracted her, but he's all, "You love me!" and he's totally right. Moving on.
Present-Peter looks really sad as he continues to tell the story, which kind of goes counter to what the flashbacks tell us; it makes me wonder if my second theory isn't actually true. Then again, Peter is dramatic as fuck, so he's probably just acting in order to get maximum drama out of the situation.
In the flashback, we see Young-Peter coming to talk to Derek during his lunch hour at school. Derek is defensive regarding his attempts to insert himself into his life and threatens to get him banned, as though that school actually has security. Peter, deciding to distract him from further threats, changes the subject to Paige, and describes how she and Derek are perfect for each other, "which is rare in an imperfect world," all while he munches on Derek's Reese cups. He continues to say that it'll all be ruined when she finds out he's a wolf. Derek doesn't think this will happen, but his dear uncle is intent on convincing him otherwise. Peter's like, "The only way that you'll always get to be together is if you turn her!" Because agency and consent means absolutely nothing to Peter Hale, as we've already learned over the last two and a half seasons.
Present-Peter explains to Stiles and Cora that he told Derek not to do it, but that his nephew obsessed over it, and because he is literally a psychopath, he even goes as far to suggest that Derek probably blames him for what ultimately happened to her! WHAT A DICKBAG, OMG. It's kind of appalling how openly horrible he is, good gods, which we can see in the gifset below:
(via teenwolf)
We cut back to the flashback, where Derek is in the locker room with Peter. Peter's telling him that Laura confessed that there are a bunch of other packs in town, which means more Alphas than they've ever seen in one place before. Peter thinks that they should take advantage of their proximity by asking one of the visiting Alphas to turn Paige, taking great care to remind him that Talia would never do it. Bb Derek looks very conflicted, so Peter drives it home by describing how Paige would never get sick again, she'd stay younger longer, she'd be strong enough to protect herself, blah blah blah. "The bite is a gift," Peter emphasizes. If there's any truth to Peter's story, I would like to think that he really does believe that statement is true.
Now we're back in Gerard's flashback, where he and Argent are investigating where Derek and Peter had been hiding out from them in the first flashback of the episode. Gerard sees a symbol painted on the tree's base, which Argent identifies as a Celtic five-fold knot, which, like triskeles, can mean different things to various groups of people, though they're both Druid symbols. Gerard notices blood at the base of the tree, which Argent believes is sacrificial blood. He explains that they have found a "Nemeton," or a sacred place where Druids would worship. They usually chose natural places, hence the tree growing in the house, and it would also typically be a tree in a grove. Argent continues the lesson in Celtic Druids by explaining that they believed that the tree represented the center of the earth, and if any harm came to the tree, it would bring disaster to the nearby areas; plagues, fires, general destruction, you get the idea.
In the present, Allison, who is still suspicious about her dad after recently finding out he's been tracking the Darach, asks how he knows so much about Druids. Gerard: "Know thy enemy, Allison." Does this guy ever not speak in literary quotes? Then, we get more mythology time as Professor Gerard, with a little help from Scott, lectures us all on Greek and Druid mythology. Gerard asks Scott if he's ever heard of Lycaon, but all Scott knows is that it's how they came up with the word "lycanthropy." From what I can tell, the first part of the story Gerard is about to tell is more or less true, at least with regard to the actual myth, but the addition of Druids to the end seems to be tailored specific to the Teen Wolf 'verse.
Gerard: "According to myth, some Greek citizens believed they owed their lives more to Prometheus than to the gods of Olympus. Some followers even took names to honor the Titans instead of the gods." Like Deucalion, Scott points out, who in Greek mythology was the son of Prometheus. Gerard seems impressed by Scott's knowledge before he continues, explaining that Lycaon did not honor the gods, and even went so far as to obnoxiously invite Zeus to a banquet with the intention of serving him human food (by which I mean actual human meat, Hannibal-styles.) Zeus was so pissed at this insubordination that he lit the place up with his lightening bolts and turned Lycaon and the rest of his sons into wolves as punishment.
That's where the Celtic Druids came in. Lycaon sought the Druids out, because it was thought that many of them were shapeshifters, and they believed the Druids would somehow have the ability to turn Lycaon and his sons back into humans. However, the Druids were unable to turn them back, though they did not leave completely empty-handed-- instead, they taught Lycaon and his peeps how to shapeshift back and forth from human to wolf at will. Apparently, this is how the Druids got linked to werewolves-- in fact, they eventually became important advisers to the werewolf packs, called "emissaries."
Cora picks up the story from here, and exposits that Druid emissaries keep the werewolves connected to their humanity, but their identities are often kept secret, even to many of the werewolves themselves. In fact, often times, only the Alpha of a werewolf pack knows who the emissary is. That honestly seems kind of counterproductive though, if they're trying to keep all the wolves in touch with their humanity, though I guess the expectation is that the emissary helps the Alpha, who then helps their Betas.
Stiles' dad points out that the dead Beta is part of a homicide investigation, an especially gruesome one, considering a teenager was literally cut in half after he was killed, and since Ennis is not (technically) family, he's not entitled to his body. Ennis is understandably pissed, because Deputy Stilinski is just a human who (as far as we know) has no idea wtf werewolves are and what packmates mean to them--as far as Stilinski's concerned, Ennis is just a grieving friend who is acting unreasonably and who has no rights with regards to getting his body released to him.
Stiles doesn't get what this story has to do with Derek, but Peter reminds him that it's never just one thing that changes people, it's a confluence of different events. Peter goes on to say that, at the time, he saw Ennis' situation as a profound loss, but Derek instead saw it as an opportunity. I don't believe that for one second, though, because the flashback seems to demonstrate the opposite. Derek felt bad for Ennis, in the kind of vaguely-sad way that teenagers care about things that ultimately don't affect them, but Peter was the one who thought it made the perfect opportunity. Stiles is like, for what? Peter: "To always be with her."
In flashback, we see him in class, listening with his wolf-ears as she practices "Ave Maria" in the music room. After school, he sat in the doorway of the music room while she continues to practice, and she teases him for staring at her. They're teenagers, though, so eventually they get to the flirting and he distracts her from her practice. We're all going to jail for watching what happens next, which is two children creepily making out and breathing into each others' ears and being all sensual and stuff. Creeeeepy! Ew. She's like, "I hate you," because he distracted her, but he's all, "You love me!" and he's totally right. Moving on.
Present-Peter looks really sad as he continues to tell the story, which kind of goes counter to what the flashbacks tell us; it makes me wonder if my second theory isn't actually true. Then again, Peter is dramatic as fuck, so he's probably just acting in order to get maximum drama out of the situation.
In the flashback, we see Young-Peter coming to talk to Derek during his lunch hour at school. Derek is defensive regarding his attempts to insert himself into his life and threatens to get him banned, as though that school actually has security. Peter, deciding to distract him from further threats, changes the subject to Paige, and describes how she and Derek are perfect for each other, "which is rare in an imperfect world," all while he munches on Derek's Reese cups. He continues to say that it'll all be ruined when she finds out he's a wolf. Derek doesn't think this will happen, but his dear uncle is intent on convincing him otherwise. Peter's like, "The only way that you'll always get to be together is if you turn her!" Because agency and consent means absolutely nothing to Peter Hale, as we've already learned over the last two and a half seasons.
Present-Peter explains to Stiles and Cora that he told Derek not to do it, but that his nephew obsessed over it, and because he is literally a psychopath, he even goes as far to suggest that Derek probably blames him for what ultimately happened to her! WHAT A DICKBAG, OMG. It's kind of appalling how openly horrible he is, good gods, which we can see in the gifset below:
(via teenwolf)
We cut back to the flashback, where Derek is in the locker room with Peter. Peter's telling him that Laura confessed that there are a bunch of other packs in town, which means more Alphas than they've ever seen in one place before. Peter thinks that they should take advantage of their proximity by asking one of the visiting Alphas to turn Paige, taking great care to remind him that Talia would never do it. Bb Derek looks very conflicted, so Peter drives it home by describing how Paige would never get sick again, she'd stay younger longer, she'd be strong enough to protect herself, blah blah blah. "The bite is a gift," Peter emphasizes. If there's any truth to Peter's story, I would like to think that he really does believe that statement is true.
Now we're back in Gerard's flashback, where he and Argent are investigating where Derek and Peter had been hiding out from them in the first flashback of the episode. Gerard sees a symbol painted on the tree's base, which Argent identifies as a Celtic five-fold knot, which, like triskeles, can mean different things to various groups of people, though they're both Druid symbols. Gerard notices blood at the base of the tree, which Argent believes is sacrificial blood. He explains that they have found a "Nemeton," or a sacred place where Druids would worship. They usually chose natural places, hence the tree growing in the house, and it would also typically be a tree in a grove. Argent continues the lesson in Celtic Druids by explaining that they believed that the tree represented the center of the earth, and if any harm came to the tree, it would bring disaster to the nearby areas; plagues, fires, general destruction, you get the idea.
In the present, Allison, who is still suspicious about her dad after recently finding out he's been tracking the Darach, asks how he knows so much about Druids. Gerard: "Know thy enemy, Allison." Does this guy ever not speak in literary quotes? Then, we get more mythology time as Professor Gerard, with a little help from Scott, lectures us all on Greek and Druid mythology. Gerard asks Scott if he's ever heard of Lycaon, but all Scott knows is that it's how they came up with the word "lycanthropy." From what I can tell, the first part of the story Gerard is about to tell is more or less true, at least with regard to the actual myth, but the addition of Druids to the end seems to be tailored specific to the Teen Wolf 'verse.
Gerard: "According to myth, some Greek citizens believed they owed their lives more to Prometheus than to the gods of Olympus. Some followers even took names to honor the Titans instead of the gods." Like Deucalion, Scott points out, who in Greek mythology was the son of Prometheus. Gerard seems impressed by Scott's knowledge before he continues, explaining that Lycaon did not honor the gods, and even went so far as to obnoxiously invite Zeus to a banquet with the intention of serving him human food (by which I mean actual human meat, Hannibal-styles.) Zeus was so pissed at this insubordination that he lit the place up with his lightening bolts and turned Lycaon and the rest of his sons into wolves as punishment.
That's where the Celtic Druids came in. Lycaon sought the Druids out, because it was thought that many of them were shapeshifters, and they believed the Druids would somehow have the ability to turn Lycaon and his sons back into humans. However, the Druids were unable to turn them back, though they did not leave completely empty-handed-- instead, they taught Lycaon and his peeps how to shapeshift back and forth from human to wolf at will. Apparently, this is how the Druids got linked to werewolves-- in fact, they eventually became important advisers to the werewolf packs, called "emissaries."
Cora picks up the story from here, and exposits that Druid emissaries keep the werewolves connected to their humanity, but their identities are often kept secret, even to many of the werewolves themselves. In fact, often times, only the Alpha of a werewolf pack knows who the emissary is. That honestly seems kind of counterproductive though, if they're trying to keep all the wolves in touch with their humanity, though I guess the expectation is that the emissary helps the Alpha, who then helps their Betas.
Anyway, you can see the puzzle pieces being put together in Stiles' head, and he brings up Dr. Deaton, who always knows what's going on and who was the one who told him about Druids in the first place. Peter explains that Deaton was Talia's emissary (!!!, though we kinda knew this already), and reveals that Deaton's sister, Marin Morrell, is also an emissary, but for the Alpha Pack (!!!!!!!!!!!) Stiles is like, "My guidance counselor?" and promptly freaks the fuck out, immediately yelling at them for not telling him any of this, considering Stiles has unknowingly spilled a LOT of non-common-knowledge information during therapy sessions while under the impression she was just a counselor. Cora is like, "Well, did she give you good advice?" Stiles reluctantly admits that she did, and Peter confirms that it's what emissaries do. Welp, if Cora and Peter aren't worried, I'm not worried, I guess.
In flashback, Deucalion and Talia are meeting with Deaton in his animal clinic. Deaton commends Deucalion's plan to extend an olive branch to the hunters, but warns that they may not be willing to accept it. Talia adds that Gerard is probably not the person with whom to make said truce, either. Deaton agrees, on account of the fact that the Argents have a matriarchal leadership, but Talia clarifies, hilariously, that she meant that Gerard is a psychopath who "cuts people in half with a broadsword." (PREACH, Talia bb!) Deucalion is convinced that Gerard will be receptive, considering how many of his own who he has lost in all this as well-- he's sure that Gerard will be willing to make a truce if it means saving the lives of his people. Oh, Deucalion, you sweet summer child. You have no idea who you're dealing with.
Deaton brings up the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog, and not for the first time in this episode. It goes as follows: A scorpion and a frog meet by a stream, and the scorpion asks for a ride across to the other side. The frog is hesitant because scorpions have stingers, y'know? But the scorpion is like, "Why would I want to sting you? If I did, we'd both die!" Of course, halfway across the stream, the scorpion stings the frog and what are the scorpion's last words, when the frog asks him why he did it? "It's in my nature." Deaton more or less tells them that Gerard's nature is "psychopathic" and that he had better not underestimate him; Talia agrees, and emphasizes that he meet with them on neutral ground and not go alone. Deuc's like, "I'm the fucking Alpha! I'm never alone!" Famous last words, muchacho.
Still in flashback, Paige is wandering around the school late at night, and it's dark and spooky. Glad to see that the school has always been a magnet for death and destruction, and it's not just like a recently-begun thing. She has a note in her hand, presumably from Derek-- or at least who she thinks is Derek-- to meet him at the school. Instead of Derek though, she finds Ennis, in full Alpha-face, who growls menacingly before be starts to chase her through the school. Meanwhile, Derek is seated on a bench in the locker room, bouncing a basketball anxiously against the floor while he listens to his girlfriend getting mauled in the hallway.
Cora is shocked to hear that Bb Derek chose Ennis, of all people, to turn Paige. Peter's like, "Why not?" He goes on to remind them that Ennis had just lost a pack mate that he needed to replace, and adds that by doing a favor for Derek, Ennis would earn good favor with Talia, which every werewolf in that time wanted to do. (Would she really be happy, though? Peter already said that Talia wouldn't turn her, and regardless of whether she died or not, the hunters would still find out about it, which would just make matters worse between them. I have a hard time believing that Ennis would be getting any brownie points from her after this) Stiles asks him if Derek remembers it was Ennis who turned her, but Peter replies that even if he does, it's not like he's going to bring it up now.
Of course, Bb Peter was spying on his nephew at the school, too, because he's a huge creep, and was listening while Ennis attacked Paige. To his credit, he looks pretty freaked out/guilty about it, but we already know Peter's a good actor, so who the fuck knows what that means? I certainly don't. Derek has been listening to Paige get torn up, too, and can't bear it anymore, so he runs out of the locker room and, in true Derek Hale style, immediately tries to tackle Ennis in an effort to help save her. Ennis is a meathead, as you well know, plus he's an actual Alpha and Derek is a literal child, so it takes no effort whatsoever to throw Bb Derek across the hall and into a bunch of lockers. Besides, Derek was too late anyway-- Ennis had already bitten Paige, who is feebly trying to crawl away up the stairs. Since the job's done, Ennis takes one more moment's pleasure at forcing Derek to look at Paige's ravaged body before he leaves.
Over at the nursing home, Gerard describes how he came to meet with Deucalion for peace negotiations, and quotes William Blake like the pretentious monster he is. "When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend." Scott wonders how Gerard knew that Deuc wasn't actually being sincere, but Gramps barks, "Because I'm not an idiot!" Yeah, there's an idiot in this room, but it's not Scott or Allison, buddy.
In flashback, Deucalion and Talia are meeting with Deaton in his animal clinic. Deaton commends Deucalion's plan to extend an olive branch to the hunters, but warns that they may not be willing to accept it. Talia adds that Gerard is probably not the person with whom to make said truce, either. Deaton agrees, on account of the fact that the Argents have a matriarchal leadership, but Talia clarifies, hilariously, that she meant that Gerard is a psychopath who "cuts people in half with a broadsword." (PREACH, Talia bb!) Deucalion is convinced that Gerard will be receptive, considering how many of his own who he has lost in all this as well-- he's sure that Gerard will be willing to make a truce if it means saving the lives of his people. Oh, Deucalion, you sweet summer child. You have no idea who you're dealing with.
Deaton brings up the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog, and not for the first time in this episode. It goes as follows: A scorpion and a frog meet by a stream, and the scorpion asks for a ride across to the other side. The frog is hesitant because scorpions have stingers, y'know? But the scorpion is like, "Why would I want to sting you? If I did, we'd both die!" Of course, halfway across the stream, the scorpion stings the frog and what are the scorpion's last words, when the frog asks him why he did it? "It's in my nature." Deaton more or less tells them that Gerard's nature is "psychopathic" and that he had better not underestimate him; Talia agrees, and emphasizes that he meet with them on neutral ground and not go alone. Deuc's like, "I'm the fucking Alpha! I'm never alone!" Famous last words, muchacho.
Still in flashback, Paige is wandering around the school late at night, and it's dark and spooky. Glad to see that the school has always been a magnet for death and destruction, and it's not just like a recently-begun thing. She has a note in her hand, presumably from Derek-- or at least who she thinks is Derek-- to meet him at the school. Instead of Derek though, she finds Ennis, in full Alpha-face, who growls menacingly before be starts to chase her through the school. Meanwhile, Derek is seated on a bench in the locker room, bouncing a basketball anxiously against the floor while he listens to his girlfriend getting mauled in the hallway.
Cora is shocked to hear that Bb Derek chose Ennis, of all people, to turn Paige. Peter's like, "Why not?" He goes on to remind them that Ennis had just lost a pack mate that he needed to replace, and adds that by doing a favor for Derek, Ennis would earn good favor with Talia, which every werewolf in that time wanted to do. (Would she really be happy, though? Peter already said that Talia wouldn't turn her, and regardless of whether she died or not, the hunters would still find out about it, which would just make matters worse between them. I have a hard time believing that Ennis would be getting any brownie points from her after this) Stiles asks him if Derek remembers it was Ennis who turned her, but Peter replies that even if he does, it's not like he's going to bring it up now.
Of course, Bb Peter was spying on his nephew at the school, too, because he's a huge creep, and was listening while Ennis attacked Paige. To his credit, he looks pretty freaked out/guilty about it, but we already know Peter's a good actor, so who the fuck knows what that means? I certainly don't. Derek has been listening to Paige get torn up, too, and can't bear it anymore, so he runs out of the locker room and, in true Derek Hale style, immediately tries to tackle Ennis in an effort to help save her. Ennis is a meathead, as you well know, plus he's an actual Alpha and Derek is a literal child, so it takes no effort whatsoever to throw Bb Derek across the hall and into a bunch of lockers. Besides, Derek was too late anyway-- Ennis had already bitten Paige, who is feebly trying to crawl away up the stairs. Since the job's done, Ennis takes one more moment's pleasure at forcing Derek to look at Paige's ravaged body before he leaves.
Over at the nursing home, Gerard describes how he came to meet with Deucalion for peace negotiations, and quotes William Blake like the pretentious monster he is. "When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend." Scott wonders how Gerard knew that Deuc wasn't actually being sincere, but Gramps barks, "Because I'm not an idiot!" Yeah, there's an idiot in this room, but it's not Scott or Allison, buddy.
So, it's now Grandpa Argent's turn to tell the story of the Scorpion and the Frog, only this time it's a turtle instead of a frog, but whatever. Scott knows the story too, since he's so well-read now, and finishes the story for Gerard. Gerard looks impressed, and reiterates that he knows a werewolf's nature, and knew that Deucalion's plan for a meeting was a trap. Allison asks if he attacked them, and Gerard lies and corrects her by saying it was an ambush. Gerard is the WORST, and we can tell just by watching the flashbacks that he's a lying liar who lies, although we already knew that, too.
Gerard was waiting at the abandoned distillery with several of his hunter pals when Deucalion approaches with two of his own packmates backing him up. Gerard literally greets them by saying that their meeting place is fitting, because "distillation is the separating of two substances, by pushing them into their individual volatile states." Deuc's like, "That is kinda the opposite of what I wanted, tbh," so Gerard informs him that he's about to be disappointed. Grandpa Murder then cranks a release valve on a pillar in the middle of the room that sends out a bunch of vapor that I'm pretty sure is wolfsbane, which is not only poisonous to wolves, but also to humans in large quantities. He injects himself in the thigh with what appears to be the antidote to aconite poisoning as the fog quickly fills up the room, before he quickly disappears.
Once everyone is down on the ground, coughing, Gerard returns, having grabbed a spiked mace, which he uses to beat down and kill each of his own men before turning on the wolves next. I'm embarrassed to admit that it took me MANY, MANY rewatches of this episode before I realized that it isn't spikes on this mace, but WEREWOLF CLAWS. Gerard truly is a monster in every way possible. Deucalion is appalled, not only that he would renege on their good-faith attempt at a truce, but also that Gerard would kill his own people, just to frame the werewolves. Gerard admits that the two hunters with him wanted peace too, before going on to actually BLAME DEUCALION for the fact that they died, because they took his side. Yeah, just when we think that Gerard couldn't be a worse person, Jeff Davis is like, "I'll take that challenge, thank you!" This is like Voldemort levels of irredeemable.
Peter is winding down to the end of his story, and explains to a teary-eyed Stiles and Cora that the bite nearly always takes, and we know from watching this show that it's true-- just think of all the wolves we've seen bitten who didn't die (from the bite, anyway!): Scott, Jackson, Isaac, Erica, Boyd, Mama Argent, Alexander Argent. All of them lived to turn into wolf pups. In this case, though, her body rejected the bite and she ended up dying a painful death. Stiles is appalled when he realizes that when Peter told him the bite could kill him-- all the way back in Season 1, when he asked Stiles if he wanted the bite as a reward for acquiescing to his threats and blackmail without too much resistance-- he really meant it. Peter is teary eyed as well, and he stares dramatically out the window as he mutters that some people just aren't made to be werewolves.
We flashback to Derek in the Nemeton from earlier, sitting at the base of the tree with Paige in his arms. Peter, of course, is lurking around in the shadows, out of sight.
Still in flashback, only on Gerard's end, Deucalion is trying his hardest to crawl out of the distillery to safety, but he's weakened from the wolfsbane, which is majorly slowing him down. Gerard is completely unaffected though, thanks to his handy antidote, and towers over Deucalion. Deucalion, still thinking there has to be some kind of humanity in him, pleads that he has a vision of peace, and that's all he wanted to achieve.
Of course, Gerard is not at all interested in peace, as we all well know. "A little short-sighted, eh?" Gerard sneers, before he STABS DEUCALION IN THE EYEBALLS WITH TWO FLASH-BANG ARROWS. The arrowheads explode into sparks in his eye sockets, and Deucalion screams the most horrifying screams as he writhes under Gerard's grip. When Gerard finally removes the arrows and walks away, we see Deucalion, still screaming and lying on the dusty pathway, while smoke and blood pour out of his damaged eye sockets.
God, can you imagine how incredibly excruciating that would be? I'm seriously dying just thinking about me. I honestly never thought I would ever feel bad for Deucalion, but despite all the shit he's done to my babies, I really do feel for him. I would say 75% of my hatred of him has been redirected at Gerard now. Also, remember at the abandoned mall, where Allison shot all her flash-bang arrows around to distract the Alpha Pack, and Deuc frantically yelled at everyone to cover their eyes? Now it makes perfect sense as to why. Dude must have been having horrifying PTSD flashbacks.
Back to Paige and Derek. He's laying at the base of the Nemeton in the cellar, gripping onto her tightly as he attempts to take as much pain from her as he can. Unfortunately for him, she's suffering so badly that it seems to be barely taking the edge off. She weakly confesses that she knew all along that Derek was different, because of the way he'd say things like "catch a scent," and how he could hear things no one else could hear. She also says that she has seen weird things in town that no one could explain to her, so she always knew that there was something preternatural afoot in their town. Ugh, pobrecita. :( Living in Beacon Hills is pretty much a death sentence, especially if you're related to werewolves in any capacity.
Gerard was waiting at the abandoned distillery with several of his hunter pals when Deucalion approaches with two of his own packmates backing him up. Gerard literally greets them by saying that their meeting place is fitting, because "distillation is the separating of two substances, by pushing them into their individual volatile states." Deuc's like, "That is kinda the opposite of what I wanted, tbh," so Gerard informs him that he's about to be disappointed. Grandpa Murder then cranks a release valve on a pillar in the middle of the room that sends out a bunch of vapor that I'm pretty sure is wolfsbane, which is not only poisonous to wolves, but also to humans in large quantities. He injects himself in the thigh with what appears to be the antidote to aconite poisoning as the fog quickly fills up the room, before he quickly disappears.
Once everyone is down on the ground, coughing, Gerard returns, having grabbed a spiked mace, which he uses to beat down and kill each of his own men before turning on the wolves next. I'm embarrassed to admit that it took me MANY, MANY rewatches of this episode before I realized that it isn't spikes on this mace, but WEREWOLF CLAWS. Gerard truly is a monster in every way possible. Deucalion is appalled, not only that he would renege on their good-faith attempt at a truce, but also that Gerard would kill his own people, just to frame the werewolves. Gerard admits that the two hunters with him wanted peace too, before going on to actually BLAME DEUCALION for the fact that they died, because they took his side. Yeah, just when we think that Gerard couldn't be a worse person, Jeff Davis is like, "I'll take that challenge, thank you!" This is like Voldemort levels of irredeemable.
Peter is winding down to the end of his story, and explains to a teary-eyed Stiles and Cora that the bite nearly always takes, and we know from watching this show that it's true-- just think of all the wolves we've seen bitten who didn't die (from the bite, anyway!): Scott, Jackson, Isaac, Erica, Boyd, Mama Argent, Alexander Argent. All of them lived to turn into wolf pups. In this case, though, her body rejected the bite and she ended up dying a painful death. Stiles is appalled when he realizes that when Peter told him the bite could kill him-- all the way back in Season 1, when he asked Stiles if he wanted the bite as a reward for acquiescing to his threats and blackmail without too much resistance-- he really meant it. Peter is teary eyed as well, and he stares dramatically out the window as he mutters that some people just aren't made to be werewolves.
We flashback to Derek in the Nemeton from earlier, sitting at the base of the tree with Paige in his arms. Peter, of course, is lurking around in the shadows, out of sight.
Still in flashback, only on Gerard's end, Deucalion is trying his hardest to crawl out of the distillery to safety, but he's weakened from the wolfsbane, which is majorly slowing him down. Gerard is completely unaffected though, thanks to his handy antidote, and towers over Deucalion. Deucalion, still thinking there has to be some kind of humanity in him, pleads that he has a vision of peace, and that's all he wanted to achieve.
Of course, Gerard is not at all interested in peace, as we all well know. "A little short-sighted, eh?" Gerard sneers, before he STABS DEUCALION IN THE EYEBALLS WITH TWO FLASH-BANG ARROWS. The arrowheads explode into sparks in his eye sockets, and Deucalion screams the most horrifying screams as he writhes under Gerard's grip. When Gerard finally removes the arrows and walks away, we see Deucalion, still screaming and lying on the dusty pathway, while smoke and blood pour out of his damaged eye sockets.
God, can you imagine how incredibly excruciating that would be? I'm seriously dying just thinking about me. I honestly never thought I would ever feel bad for Deucalion, but despite all the shit he's done to my babies, I really do feel for him. I would say 75% of my hatred of him has been redirected at Gerard now. Also, remember at the abandoned mall, where Allison shot all her flash-bang arrows around to distract the Alpha Pack, and Deuc frantically yelled at everyone to cover their eyes? Now it makes perfect sense as to why. Dude must have been having horrifying PTSD flashbacks.
Back to Paige and Derek. He's laying at the base of the Nemeton in the cellar, gripping onto her tightly as he attempts to take as much pain from her as he can. Unfortunately for him, she's suffering so badly that it seems to be barely taking the edge off. She weakly confesses that she knew all along that Derek was different, because of the way he'd say things like "catch a scent," and how he could hear things no one else could hear. She also says that she has seen weird things in town that no one could explain to her, so she always knew that there was something preternatural afoot in their town. Ugh, pobrecita. :( Living in Beacon Hills is pretty much a death sentence, especially if you're related to werewolves in any capacity.
You can tell Paige knows she's going to die, but she asks Derek if it's true anyway, which sends them both to tears. After succumbing to the pain and moaning in agony for several moments, she finally asks him to just end it for her. You can tell the thought of it kills him inside, but the pain just gets more intense, and Paige can barely gasp out a plea to him to make it stop. He grabs her in a tight hug, and whispers, "I'm sorry," before his eyes flash gold. He grunts in misery as he quickly breaks her spine, and when she goes limp in his arms, he squeezes his eyes shut and screams in anguish and grief. Ugh, DEREK WHY IS YOUR LIFE SO MISERABLE? THIS IS TERRIBLE.
In Derek's loft, Peter recounts how he took Paige's body to the nature preserve, where she became predator-food and her death was eventually blamed on Beacon Hills' never-ending string of animal attacks. He then explains to the children that taking an innocent life takes a piece of a werewolf's soul, making it darker, and their eyes change to reflect that, going from golden-yellow to steel-blue. I guess now we know why the hunters were always after Derek, especially when he was a Beta-- they'd have to know about the blue-eyed thing, wouldn't they? And if that's the case, it's not like they would care enough to get specifics about the circumstances involved in the death at his hands. All they see is a werewolf who has killed an innocent, which is all the justification they need to kill them. Especially those hunters, like Gerard, and Kate, who are basically begging for an excuse to slaughter them all.
In flashback, we see Deucalion, who is having his bandaged eyes examined by Deaton, with Talia and his Beta, Marco, at his side for moral support. Deaton and Talia look horrified when the bandages are removed and they see his bloody-looking, cloudy eyes, surrounded in dark, painful looking bruises on his eyelids and the skin under his eyes. Deaton breaks it to Deuc that while his eyes will physically heal in time, his eyesight is likely gone for good. There's only so much healing a werewolf can do, I imagine, especially when it's a structure that is as complex as an eye-- knitting skin back together is easy, but replacing/repairing destroyed nerves and ligaments and rods and cones and other sensory cells? MUCH harder.
Deuc takes this about as well as any Alpha werewolf could possibly take it, by yelling a ferocious roar and shouting for everyone to leave him alone. I feel for him, as much as I hate to-- werewolves pride themselves on their heightened senses. In time, I'm sure Deuc's sense of smell/hearing/taste got better to compensate for the time when he doesn't have eyesight, but it's still an important sense to go without. Sigh. Talia and Deaton leave on Deucalion's orders, as he just wants to be alone to wallow for a moment.
In Derek's loft, Peter recounts how he took Paige's body to the nature preserve, where she became predator-food and her death was eventually blamed on Beacon Hills' never-ending string of animal attacks. He then explains to the children that taking an innocent life takes a piece of a werewolf's soul, making it darker, and their eyes change to reflect that, going from golden-yellow to steel-blue. I guess now we know why the hunters were always after Derek, especially when he was a Beta-- they'd have to know about the blue-eyed thing, wouldn't they? And if that's the case, it's not like they would care enough to get specifics about the circumstances involved in the death at his hands. All they see is a werewolf who has killed an innocent, which is all the justification they need to kill them. Especially those hunters, like Gerard, and Kate, who are basically begging for an excuse to slaughter them all.
In flashback, we see Deucalion, who is having his bandaged eyes examined by Deaton, with Talia and his Beta, Marco, at his side for moral support. Deaton and Talia look horrified when the bandages are removed and they see his bloody-looking, cloudy eyes, surrounded in dark, painful looking bruises on his eyelids and the skin under his eyes. Deaton breaks it to Deuc that while his eyes will physically heal in time, his eyesight is likely gone for good. There's only so much healing a werewolf can do, I imagine, especially when it's a structure that is as complex as an eye-- knitting skin back together is easy, but replacing/repairing destroyed nerves and ligaments and rods and cones and other sensory cells? MUCH harder.
Deuc takes this about as well as any Alpha werewolf could possibly take it, by yelling a ferocious roar and shouting for everyone to leave him alone. I feel for him, as much as I hate to-- werewolves pride themselves on their heightened senses. In time, I'm sure Deuc's sense of smell/hearing/taste got better to compensate for the time when he doesn't have eyesight, but it's still an important sense to go without. Sigh. Talia and Deaton leave on Deucalion's orders, as he just wants to be alone to wallow for a moment.
However, Marco seems to have gotten a little power-hungry since they've been in town, and with Deucalion blinded, he sees a perfect opportunity to try to ascend to Alpha-status. He throws Deuc backwards, the shock and anger of which pushes him into wolf-mode. Surprisingly, Deucalion is able to see with his red wolf-vision, and gets super vicious, violently pushing Marco down on the exam table and ripping him to shreds. It's almost comical, the face that Marco makes when Deuc descends upon him, like, "I've made a terrible mistake!" After Deucalion kills him, he looks almost rabid, panting with his crazy-red-eyes and whatnot. And thus, the Demon-Wolf was born!
In the present-day, Scott is shocked to learn that Deucalion actually has sight while he's in wolf-form. Allison wonders if maybe they can't take advantage of that, and they both grab their coats to leave and and start to brainstorm a plan. They're stopped by Gerard, who wants another hit of Werewolf Morphine before they take off, to which Scott complies, despite mine and Allison's protests.
In the present-day, Scott is shocked to learn that Deucalion actually has sight while he's in wolf-form. Allison wonders if maybe they can't take advantage of that, and they both grab their coats to leave and and start to brainstorm a plan. They're stopped by Gerard, who wants another hit of Werewolf Morphine before they take off, to which Scott complies, despite mine and Allison's protests.
Afterward, Gerard tries to play nice with Scott, and confesses that he thinks about him a lot, and wonders how things would have turned out if he had just kindly asked for Scott's help to get the bite as a cancer-cure instead of forcing him to do it via threatening his mother and friends. Scott calls bullshit on that, though, and informs him that he was listening to his heartbeat the entire time he was story-telling, and it never wavered. Gerard tries to play that off as a result of his truthfulness, but Scott thinks it's more likely that he's just a really good liar who has trained himself to pass a werewolf lie-detector test. He forcefully grabs Gramps' hand and squeezes hard before he threatens him; "If you lied and it gets someone hurt, I will be back to take away more than your pain." GET IT SCOTT! GODS, I love Scott when he's in threatening, defend-my-peeps-mode. It gets me so hyped!
(via teenwolf)
Everyone says that this is way OOC for him, but I don't think so, honestly: the dude threatened his mom, hurt his then-girlfriend (who he still loves, and who was Gerard's fucking granddaughter anyway!), and he is likely still trying to fuck them over, so he's pretty much earned whatever he's got coming like tenfold. Just because Scott is a moral guy who doesn't want to hurt or kill people if he can help it doesn't mean he won't do whatever he has to to protect his loved ones and other innocents from whatever evil plot Gerard is working right now. That's the way he is, and that's the way the whole pack seems to be acting these days, thanks to Scott's influence-- they don't want to kill if it can be avoided, but if their loved ones are in danger, all bets are off. They've been through enough supernatural threats by now to know that they can't just play nice and risk the consequences of getting fucked over.
Back at the loft, Peter is off doing whatever, while Stiles sits on the steps by the loft door and thinks hard about what he's just learned today. Cora notices the brainstorming look on his face and asks him about it, but when he asks for clarification, she proves her Hale ancestry to anyone who is still uncertain. "The look that makes me want to punch you." HA! Threatening violence is very much a post-fire Hale trait.
(via teenwolf)
Everyone says that this is way OOC for him, but I don't think so, honestly: the dude threatened his mom, hurt his then-girlfriend (who he still loves, and who was Gerard's fucking granddaughter anyway!), and he is likely still trying to fuck them over, so he's pretty much earned whatever he's got coming like tenfold. Just because Scott is a moral guy who doesn't want to hurt or kill people if he can help it doesn't mean he won't do whatever he has to to protect his loved ones and other innocents from whatever evil plot Gerard is working right now. That's the way he is, and that's the way the whole pack seems to be acting these days, thanks to Scott's influence-- they don't want to kill if it can be avoided, but if their loved ones are in danger, all bets are off. They've been through enough supernatural threats by now to know that they can't just play nice and risk the consequences of getting fucked over.
Back at the loft, Peter is off doing whatever, while Stiles sits on the steps by the loft door and thinks hard about what he's just learned today. Cora notices the brainstorming look on his face and asks him about it, but when he asks for clarification, she proves her Hale ancestry to anyone who is still uncertain. "The look that makes me want to punch you." HA! Threatening violence is very much a post-fire Hale trait.
Stiles confesses that he doesn't believe Peter's story, especially now that he has read Heart of Darkness in Ms. Blake's class, which taught him all about the concept of "unreliable narrators." He knows that they got Peter's perspective today, but he's fairly confident that it wasn't the full truth. I mean, yeah-- we saw ourselves that Peter clearly downplayed his role in the whole orchestrating-Paige's-Alpha-bite situation, so I'm sure the rest of it was also coming from a "Peter is a perfect angel" perspective. Cora asks him if he's really going to ask Derek about it just to get the real answers, considering how obviously traumatizing it was for him, but Stiles' face is steely when he admits that he absolutely will, if he must.
Present-day Derek has returned to (or has maybe even been hiding and healing in) the abandoned distillery, while "Ave Maria" plays again in the background. His face is sad and pained as he stares at the spiral Ennis carved into the metal years ago. Downward spiral, here we come!
Next week, according to the promo: Scott gets approached by Morrell, who warns him that someone else is going to be taken; Lydia coughs up blood or something; Danny looks scared; Scott and Stiles try to figure out who the Darach is; Cora picks a fight with an Alpha Twin and it does not end well; Allison, works with Isaac and comes to the conclusion that her father is involved with the dark Druid (but I'm hoping he's just a red herring); and finally, we figure out WHAT THE FUCK Lydia is AND WHO the FUCK the Darach is, thank fucking gods.
[screencaps via this Screencapped.net album]
Click HERE to read my recap of the next episode!
NOTES/SPECULATION/THEORIES:
-I am almost convinced that Peter was actually in the relationship with Paige, and not Derek, which would explain the weirdly small age-gap that seems to be between them and the fact that Peter lied about Derek's worry about Paige and desire to turn her. The only thing it doesn't explain is how Derek's eyes turn blue, unless maybe Paige was a friend of Derek's too and he found her and mercy-killed her when he realized she was dying. Another theory could be that Peter arranged for Ennis to turn Paige because he felt threatened by how much attention Derek was giving her, so he actually had no idea it would happen NOR did he consent to it, so he would still be getting his blue eyes by mercy-killing her. I would like to believe either are true because otherwise Derek's intentions are really icky. Why would he want to turn Jackson, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd, if he knew how badly it could turn out? Why would he continue to say "the bite is a gift," if that phrase resulted in the death of his girlfriend?
-This is a little more about speculation for next week that discussion about this week, but do you think it's possible Victoria Argent is the Darach? I read some meta forever ago about how Mama Argent was already a werewolf when she died (several days after she had been turned, since her eyes flashed yellow during the full moon.) What if she didn't actually die? I mean, Derek got his heart impaled with a pipe for several hours and didn't die, and Ennis' Beta got shot through the neck and didn't die, so it stands to reason that a knife to the heart wouldn't necessarily kill a werewolf either, especially on a full moon when their powers are strongest. And it would explain why Argent is tracking all this stuff. Plus, the hunters know a shit-load about the Druids anyway, according to Gerard. Just spitballing here.
-Derek is probably the most tragic character ever. No wonder he has like, rarely ever made the right choice-- when that many people die because of you and/or your actions, I can imagine it would fuck with your self-confidence and ability to make good decisions a TON. Jesus, if I were him I would be too overwhelmed with the fear of the consequences of my decisions to actually make decisions in the first place.
-I get that there was no place in the flashbacks or story-telling for them, but I really noticed Lydia and Isaac's absence in this episode and it made me a little sad. Luckily, they seem to have a lot of parts in the action next week!
(via teenwolf)
The last of the flashbacks: Derek is still sitting at the base of the tree at the Nemeton, still covered in Paige's blood and werewolf ink, when his mother walks down the stairs and joins him. He confesses that he did "something terrible," but she replies simply that she already knows. His eyes are closed, and he informs her that his eyes are different. "Different, but still beautiful, just like the rest of you." Have I said how much I fucking love Talia Hale? Because I do, a ton. I really hope this part of the story isn't untrue, because I want Derek to have experienced this kind of unconditional love at least once in his life.
She cups her son's chin in her hand and pushes Bb Derek's face up so they can look each other in the face. When he finally opens his eyes, we see that they have changed to the same shade of blue as Peter's eyes, post-resurrection. It's a darker, deeper shade of blue than Derek's eyes in the first season, which were almost ice blue, so again, I don't know if that is intentional, or if the show just changed the effects that they used on their eyes over the seasons, or what. I know they've been kind of switching back and forth between CGI and contacts so far this season, so maybe it's just a cosmetic change and not lore-related. Regardless, it's the same shade of blue as Jackson's eyes when he finally became his Werewolf self at the end of Season 2, if that matters.
Present-day Derek has returned to (or has maybe even been hiding and healing in) the abandoned distillery, while "Ave Maria" plays again in the background. His face is sad and pained as he stares at the spiral Ennis carved into the metal years ago. Downward spiral, here we come!
Next week, according to the promo: Scott gets approached by Morrell, who warns him that someone else is going to be taken; Lydia coughs up blood or something; Danny looks scared; Scott and Stiles try to figure out who the Darach is; Cora picks a fight with an Alpha Twin and it does not end well; Allison, works with Isaac and comes to the conclusion that her father is involved with the dark Druid (but I'm hoping he's just a red herring); and finally, we figure out WHAT THE FUCK Lydia is AND WHO the FUCK the Darach is, thank fucking gods.
[screencaps via this Screencapped.net album]
Click HERE to read my recap of the next episode!
NOTES/SPECULATION/THEORIES:
-I am almost convinced that Peter was actually in the relationship with Paige, and not Derek, which would explain the weirdly small age-gap that seems to be between them and the fact that Peter lied about Derek's worry about Paige and desire to turn her. The only thing it doesn't explain is how Derek's eyes turn blue, unless maybe Paige was a friend of Derek's too and he found her and mercy-killed her when he realized she was dying. Another theory could be that Peter arranged for Ennis to turn Paige because he felt threatened by how much attention Derek was giving her, so he actually had no idea it would happen NOR did he consent to it, so he would still be getting his blue eyes by mercy-killing her. I would like to believe either are true because otherwise Derek's intentions are really icky. Why would he want to turn Jackson, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd, if he knew how badly it could turn out? Why would he continue to say "the bite is a gift," if that phrase resulted in the death of his girlfriend?
-This is a little more about speculation for next week that discussion about this week, but do you think it's possible Victoria Argent is the Darach? I read some meta forever ago about how Mama Argent was already a werewolf when she died (several days after she had been turned, since her eyes flashed yellow during the full moon.) What if she didn't actually die? I mean, Derek got his heart impaled with a pipe for several hours and didn't die, and Ennis' Beta got shot through the neck and didn't die, so it stands to reason that a knife to the heart wouldn't necessarily kill a werewolf either, especially on a full moon when their powers are strongest. And it would explain why Argent is tracking all this stuff. Plus, the hunters know a shit-load about the Druids anyway, according to Gerard. Just spitballing here.
-Derek is probably the most tragic character ever. No wonder he has like, rarely ever made the right choice-- when that many people die because of you and/or your actions, I can imagine it would fuck with your self-confidence and ability to make good decisions a TON. Jesus, if I were him I would be too overwhelmed with the fear of the consequences of my decisions to actually make decisions in the first place.
-I get that there was no place in the flashbacks or story-telling for them, but I really noticed Lydia and Isaac's absence in this episode and it made me a little sad. Luckily, they seem to have a lot of parts in the action next week!
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