Teen Wolf Season 3, Episode 12: "Lunar Ellipse" Recap/Review

So, there was an...interesting development in the Teen Wolf fandom last weekend. Somehow, "Lunar Ellipse," the mid-season finale of Season 3, was released on iTunes on Friday, four days early. And then, of course, it was only a matter of time before it was on all over the torrent and streaming video sites as well. This was apparently not at all what the TW execs wanted, although I still have no idea who leaked it in the first place, so fans were left with a moral dilemma: do we watch it early, and try to hold in all our feelings about it until it airs, or do we wait until Monday, and try our best to avoid spoilers about it online? I waffled over it for a while, and finally decided I should probably watch it before my tumblr dashboard was full of spoilers and I ruined it for myself. So, I let myself watch it once and it took most of my willpower not to talk about it, for fear of spoiling others. Then, I didn't watch it again until Monday, when it aired, in hopes that the ratings would still be okay. (And they were, apparently there were like, 2 million viewers for the 3A finale, versus 1.8 million for the season 2 finale. Woo!)

SO, I am so excited now that I can talk about it, because a lot of stuff happened, which set us up for the next twelve episodes that are coming up in January. From what it looks like, 3B will likely deal with the implications of Scott, Stiles and Allison's (temporary) ritual sacrifice, as well as some story lines that we haven't fleshed out yet, like Lydia's banshee abilities, Derek being a Beta again, etc. Anyway, enough babbling about what we're going to talk about, let's dig in!

Previously, on Teen Wolf: Allison and Isaac became closer friends as they worked together to figure out who the Darach was, and where she was hiding. The Scooby Gang have been worried about the fact that the upcoming full moon is also a lunar eclipse, which will leave all the werewolves powerless. Chris Argent got himself captured by Jennifer on purpose, under the delusion that he'd be able to break himself, Mama McCall & Papa Stilinski out of wherever they're being held. Unfortunately, his plans were thwarted when he woke up in the Nemeton's root cellar, bound to a post with a bump on his head, and stripped of all his weapons. Marin Morrell, with the help of Lydia and her constant tree doodles, eventually led the gang to where their parents are being held-- the Nemeton. 

The problem is, as it turns out, that nobody knows where exactly the Nemeton is. Deaton suggested a possibly dangerous Druid ritual to find the parents, which required Scott, Stiles and Allison to act as surrogate sacrifices for them, though Deaton seemed pretty certain that he would be able to bring them all back. The downside, however, is that being brought back from life will cause darkness to surround their hearts like a scar, and will turn Beacon Hills into a magnet that will draw more supernatural baddies into their town. The kids ultimately agreed to the plan, and were each drowned in their own metal bathtub full of ice and herbs, clutching personal items belonging to their parents, which is where we pick up today!

We begin this week's episode immediately where we left off last week, with a close-up of Scott's face underwater. His brown eyes finally open, and suddenly all three of the kids awaken with a gasp from their watery death naps. However, they're no longer in Deaton's animal clinic where they "died"-- instead, they're in a huge, Harry Potter-esque, stark-white purgatory-type place. It looks like a car showroom or something, all shiny tile floors and bright white lights. The Golden Trio are all soaking wet as they climb out of their bathtubs, and for a moment, I am slightly less bitter about the fact that we got no shirtless Stiles last week, because damn, Dylan O'Brien is kind of buff under all of those dripping wet clothes!


















(via gryffindros)
Anyway, they silently look at each other, understandably puzzled, before they turn around to see the stump of the Nemeton near the other end of the room. They slowly and wordlessly walk to the Nemeton, which is huge, by the way-- when they're standing right beside it, the top of the stump hits the kids just below their hips, and it's easily two yards wide, including how far the roots extend outward. As a full grown tree, it must have been HUMONGOUS. Anyway, Scott looks down at it, and then notices the rings of the tree are similar to his tattoo. We flash-back momentarily to "Tattoo," when Scott was explaining to Stiles and Derek what his tattoo means to him. "I don't know. It's just something I trace with my fingers..." When we snap back to the present, he leans forward to touch the Nemeton with his fingertips, and closes his eyes as he makes contact with the stump.

He opens his eyes, but now he's alone, in the woods. He turns around when he hears snapping twigs behind him, and is shocked when he finds his younger, baby-faced past self! It's a flashback to the beginning of the pilot episode. Remember, when Stiles dragged Scott out to help him find the dead body that turned out to be Laura Hale? They were seriously such babies then, it's incredible to see the difference two-ish years have made in video! Baby Scott is wheezing asthmatically, using his phone as a flashlight to find the inhaler he dropped on the ground. He kicks leaves out of his way in frustration as he digs around, and accidentally stumbles across the upper half of Laura's body. When he realizes what he just found, he's so startled he trips, falls, and rolls down a hill.




(via Teen Wolf)
When he finally lands and gets his bearings, he sees Peter in his Alpha form lingering a couple feet away. As soon as he notices him, Peter runs straight to Baby Scott and bites him on his side, while Present-Scott can do nothing but watch in horror as his younger self screams in pain and frantically runs away. Present Scott-- who is extremely unnerved, as you would be when you witness your past self experiencing the moment that literally changed your life for the crazy but can't do anything to change or stop it-- backs up and stumbles over some tree roots. When he turns around, we see that he's standing right beside the Nemeton! Hooray, he found it! And not only that, but he knew where it was the whole time, and just didn't realize it.

Scott vanishes and Stiles appears in the woods, and he is in a similar state of confusion when he sees his own baby-faced self, in the same flashback that Scott had, only slightly earlier in the evening. If you recall the episode "Wolf Moon," Baby Stiles, with his buzz cut, gave Baby Scott shit for wanting to get a good night sleep before lacrosse practice, since he assumes they'll both be warming the bench this season. Baby Stiles is interrupted when the two see flashlights ahead of them, so, he stupidly runs toward the source of the light instead of fleeing in the opposite direction. Present-Stiles watches in shock as his flashback self trips backwards over one of the search dogs, and is discovered by his dad, who grabs him by the collar and yanks him out of the woods. The other deputies flash their flashlights in Present Stiles' face, so he instinctively backs up to avoid detection and, like Scott, backs right up into the stump of the Nemeton.



(viaTeen Wolf)
Which means that now we are in for Allison's flashback: a younger, long-haired Allison is riding shotgun in their old burgundy SUV with her Mama Argent (I've missed you, Scary Vicki!). She is lecturing her daughter as she drives. "Your father is a highly respected private security consultant and a federally licensed firearms dealer. It's not exactly a nine-to-five office job! The hours are always going to be like this..." Baby Allison understands, but she's still a little unnerved when her dad leaves the house in the middle of the night with duffel bags full of assault rifles. Oh Allison, you beautiful, naive soul. It's so crazy how much things change in the nine or ten months, give or take, that have passed since the events of the pilot, eh? Victoria chuckles, but is cut off when Allison shouts at her mom to keep an eye on the road, just as a freshly-bitten Scott has wandered out and just barely avoids being run over by them.




(via Teen Wolf)
I LOVE THIS. It's such a little addition to the timeline of the show, but in the pilot, we did see Scott almost get run over by a burgundy SUV, we just never knew who it was until now, and it fits so perfectly that Scott and Allison were connected before they ever even met. Ugh, this is so great!

Anyway, Allison is like, "You could have fucking killed him! We have to go back!", but, of course, Mama Argent is like, "The fuck we do, it's not my fault he decided to walk into oncoming traffic!" Allison is nothing if not persistent, though, and eventually talks her into turning around. As soon as they pull over, Allison runs out in the pouring rain and follows his muddy footprints into the woods, despite her mother shouting after her in protest. After walking a few feet, she finds Scott's inhaler and picks it up to examine it. Mama Argent catches up with her seconds later, grabs her daughter, and orders her to get her ass back in the car. A wolf howls loudly nearby, which spooks Victoria. She notices Allison holding the inhaler, and snatches it out of her hands to toss it aside, where it lands right in front of Present-Allison's bare feet. She looks over, and the Nemeton is right beside her. As soon as she notices, she wakes up from her ice bath with a deep gasp, her face white as a ghost. TITLE CARD!


(via westtly)
THAT COLD OPEN WAS SO COOL. It still gives me goosebumps to look at how much they've aged since the pilot. They've been through so much, and it shows in their faces. Obviously, it's been two or three years (I'm not sure when filming for the first season started and I'm too lazy to look it up) in the real world, versus the nine months-to-one year in the show's universe, so the fact that they look older isn't really shocking. If anything, though, it just adds to the effect of the show and cements the fact that they've had to grow up and mature in their life-or-death battles with supernatural baddies, and are thus now wiser and more mature than they were starting out. It's both depressing and amazing, kind of like watching Supernatural's first season versus the current one, you know?

Back in reality, Allison, Stiles, and Scott all awaken with a gasp, f'realsies this time, and immediately hop out of their tubs and push their soaking hair out of their faces. Lydia, Deaton, and Isaac, who had kept vigil from various chairs near the tubs while the three of them were out, run over to check them over. The Golden Trio excitedly begin to exclaim that they know where the Nemeton is-- Scott and Stiles first reveal that they had both been there before, specifically on the night Scott was bitten, while Allison adds that she has been there, too. 

When she goes on to explain how she and her mom almost ran someone over in her flashback, Scott gasps and reveals that it was actually him who Mama Argent almost killed, which seems to shock them all pretty badly. (You know Victoria is rolling in her grave that she didn't successfully turn Scott into roadkill that night and save her a ton of trouble.) This knowledge has totally pumped energy into the trio's veins, and Scott eagerly exclaims that they know how to find their parents. They all look like they're totally ready to go and find them right meow, you guys, but, unfortunately, our newly awakened heroes don't notice until just now that their emotional tethers all have grim, worried looks on their faces.


Deaton and Isaac share a significant look, sensing the three's confusion, and after a beat, Isaac slowly admits that they were out for quite a while; sixteen hours, to be exact, which means that there's only four hours left until the full moon starts. The three recently drowned teenagers are very concerned about this situation, as am I-- were they dead that entire time, or just sleeping/unconscious? Did Deaton know this would happen or how long it would take? I thought he said last week that they would only be dead for a few seconds/minutes at most? That's kind of weird. For what it's worth, the kids don't seem to exhibit any noticeable physical consequences from being dead, although we do get several hints regarding their new inner "darkness," but I'll get into more about that later. But still-- SIXTEEN HOURS? What would they have done if the three had actually died? Stilinski is still missing, so it'd probably go to Agent McCall, and Deaton would for sure have some 'splaining to do.


At the loft, Derek is on his bed, sitting up against the wall as Cora feeds Derek some Aquafina water product placement. Seriously, this is one of many glaring examples of product placement in this episode. The water seems to wake him up a bit, though, and he smiles weakly when he realizes she's okay. She giggles and plays with his hair. "I'm doing much better than you are right now, and it's all because of you!" Peter's not so impressed, though, and reminds his nephew that healing Cora pretty much drained all of his batteries, and since Kali's likely going to be a'knocking with the force of the full moon behind her, this does not bode well for him. Derek figures he just needs a couple hours to recharge, to which Peter retorts, "I sincerely hope so, because a few hours is all that you have." Oh, please, Peter, like Derek has ever gone into a fight with an advantage to begin with! It's not like this is anything new.


Sidebar: I'm still confused about this whole Derek healing Cora thing-- did she get the Alpha spark? Or does it go to the next person in the pack hierarchy, which would probably be Peter? We don't see either of them in their wolf form, which I think is on purpose, to make us spend the next twenty weeks or so wondering what the fuck happened. Or, I guess it could just possibly have gone *poof* and disappeared after it healed Cora? But that seems wasteful of Alpha power, considering true alphas rarely ever happen, so the number of Alphas in the world would more or less be finite, right? Since werewolves nearly always have to kill/inherit their power from another Alpha, which means that there would have to be a fixed number of Alphas in the world? Are there rituals that can turn a Beta or Omega into an Alpha in the case of an Alpha shortage? Without them, the species could go extinct. 

Sigh. I don't know, I guess that's something we'll all have to meta-out during the hiatus. Wouldn't it be hilarious though, if Peter orchestrated this, thinking that he'd inherit the Alpha power, but instead it ended up going to like, Isaac or something? God, that would be perfect. Unfortunately, we know that Isaac's not an Alpha. Boo!

Back at the animal clinic, the boys have dried off a bit and lean against their tubs, while Allison is wrapped in a fluffy blanket, sitting next to Isaac on an exam table. Stiles tells Scott in no uncertain terms that he will not be returning to Deucalion, but Scott maintains that he has to, because they both made a deal. "Does anyone else think that sounds an awful lot like 'deal with the devil?'" Stiles argues, and Isaac seems to agree. He asks Scott why the deal even matters, since they now know where their parents are, but Scott isn't confident that they can beat Jennifer without the Alphas' backup. 

Allison hates this idea as much as Stiles does, and urges Deaton to talk some sense into Scott by convincing him to stay with them. Unfortunately for her and Stiles, Deaton doesn't necessarily disagree with Scott, and reminds them that sometimes in desperate situations, you have to team up with people who would ordinarily be your enemies. Didn't Peter say that last season? I love Deaton, but this line, while smart advice, still kind of makes me uneasy. It's like when Deuc quoted Gerard earlier in the season-- it just doesn't bode well for anyone.


Isaac's Team Stiles and Allison, too, since he loves Scott and wants him to be safe. "So we're going to trust [Deucalion]? The guy who calls himself 'Death, Destroyer of Worlds,' we're going to trust that guy?" Good point, bb. Deaton is like, "I didn't say trust him, that guy's a wiley bastard at the best of times, but maybe you can use him as the cheese in your Jennifer Blake mousetrap?" They all consider this for a moment, but their thoughts are cut off by the sound of someone entering the animal clinic. Since it's after hours, there's no way that this visit brings good news.

Deaton walks out into the lobby, where he finds Ethan standing in the doorway. My prediction of bad news is confirmed when he confesses that he's here for Lydia, because he needs her help to convince his brother and Kali not to kill the shit out of Derek. YIKES! Once again, there are like sixteen disasters happening in the same tiny window of time. If I were one of them, I would have died of a heart attack/panic attack ages ago. I honestly don't know how they do it. Probably just lots of adrenaline rushes and survival instincts, I'm assuming.


Meanwhile, the parents are still tied up in the root cellar of the Nemeton, where Argent pulls out his tiny ultra-sonic emitter to try to summon their wolf pals again, although he warns Melissa and Stilinski that the batteries won't last much longer. Melissa weakly complains about an unbearable itch that she is unable to scratch, which does get a giggle out of Stilinski, but after at least twenty-four hours tied up in the middle of nowhere, she's having a bit of a hard time masking her fear. She asks Papa Stilinski if Jennifer is really going to eventually come down there to slit all their throats, but Stilinski is a police officer, so he knows how to comfort a lady during a time of crisis: "Nah...[beat] She'll come down and strangle us with a garrote, and then slash our throats." 

Surprisingly enough, Melissa doesn't seem to be the slightest bit reassured by this remark. The cellar starts to creak, and a nearby table holding jars and bottles starts to rattle. They look to Argent for answers, but he just writes it off as a strong gust of wind. But, when we pan above to outside the Nemeton, it looks like a pretty big storm is abrewin'. Dirt, dust and rocks start raining down on the parents, so they all have to duck their heads to keep the debris out of their eyes.

Lydia and Ethan have made it to the loft, where Ethan is informing Derek of what's up: "We know about the lunar eclipse, so don't think Kali's just going to sit around waiting for it to level the playing field. She's coming. My brother's coming with her." Wait, why would anyone assume that the Alphas WOULDN'T know about the lunar eclipse? Isn't losing their werewolf powers kind of a dangerous time for them? Obviously all werewolves would want to plan for it. 

Anyway, Peter figures that's more than enough evidence to convince him that shit's about to hit the fan, and Derek assumes that means Peter wants him to run. "No, I want you to stay and get slaughtered by a psychotic alpha with a foot fetish. [beat] Of course I want you to run! Sprint, gallop, leap your way the hell out of this town!" Cora is cool with him taking the chance of dying, as long as it's for something meaningful. Oh, Cora, that's so not helpful at all.


Derek's a little appalled at the suggestion that he can't win, and while Peter concedes that they don't know for sure that he'll lose, he has a hunch that Lydia has an idea of how this will end. I always had a feeling Peter knew a lot more about Lydia and her abilities than we do/she does, and this just makes me more sure of it. Lydia swears she doesn't know anything, so Peter clarifies. "But you feel something, don't you?" Lydia's face looks guilty, and Derek repeats the question, his face genuinely curious and trusting of her answer, which makes me happy, because it's about time people stopped doubting her. "I feel... like I'm standing in a graveyard." Yikessss! I need to know more about Lydia's powers ASAP, plz & thx. TELL ME EVERYTHING.


Allison, Isaac and Scott have just made it to Allison's apartment, where the wolfies intend to find something for Isaac to use to track Argent's scent. Scott's also on the phone with Stiles, arguing over what Stiles should bring of his dad's to use for the same purpose. Apparently, socks are okay, but he draws the line at the Sheriff's boxers. Allison opens the door to Argent's study, likely to stock up on weapons, where Agent Douchenozzle and a couple of deputy lackeys are sitting at his desk. 

Of course, all of Argent's weapons that they were picking through in "Alpha Pact" are still spread all over the desktop, which just makes ADN even more smug than he normally is. Allison immediately stops in the doorway, and when Scott hears his dad's voice, he pushes past her to see what's up. Once he sees his dad, he wastes no time questioning him on WTF he's doing there. Agent Douchenozzle doesn't waste any time getting right into it. "Following one of the only leads I have. Now, since I don't know where you've been, why don't you have a seat, and we can talk." He waits a beat, before calling out, "You too, Isaac!" Isaac peeks his head in the doorway behind Scott, and nervously asks how he knows his name, but apparently, that's one of the only things Agent Douchenozzle knows about what's happening. To his credit, he does basically admit that he's in way over his head here. Duh, dude. Just go away and leave it to the professionals-- your son and his friends.


Allison and Isaac are still confused, because while they must know Scott's dad's back in town, after what Stiles said, I don't think they would assume off the bat that Scott's dad is a fed. So, Scott's like, "Yeah, you don't have to tell me you're clueless, 'cause I already have a lifetime's worth of proof!" and his dad just sighs, like, "Instead of being kind of polite and supportive so I can earn your trust enough for you to allow me to help, I'm going to be the biggest asshole ever." Allison and Isaac just gape at each other, and wonder why every single plan they have ends up being a million times more complicated than it needs to be.

Kali finally made it to Derek's loft, and is so pissed when she realizes Derek's not there that she kicks his shitty security system with the iPhone alarm off of the wall. Everyone is gone but Ethan and Lydia, the latter of whom sheepishly informs Kali that she thinks Derek's out on the town, all, "He's running errands, you know, buying a new leather jacket, getting his car serviced, all the kind of shit you need to do before you run your ass out of town." Kali is not in the mood for jokes, though, and is like, "Bitch, do you know who I am?" and Lydia hilariously deadpans, verbatim, "Someone in desperate need of a pedicure. I'd be happy to give you a referral!" Ethan is trying to look tough while still holding in his laughter, and when Kali gets all up in Lydia's face, Aiden's instincts totally betray him. He growls at her angrily, and Kali is 1000% DONE at this point, just like, "Are you fucking serious with this shit?" Aiden doesn't take his eyes off of her, and keeps growling angrily.


Meanwhile, Peter is seeing Derek and Cora off in Derek's Toyota in some random parking lot, and leaves them with strict instructions not to call to update him until they're at least one hundred miles away. Derek and Cora give him a look, and he yells at them to go, so they do.

Allison, Isaac, and Scott are still seated in Argent's study, where Agent Douchenozzle is still lecturing them. Two deputies flank him on either side and smirk as they listen to him talk. I'll let the gifs speak for themselves:















(via easygoingmars)
Aw, orphan Isaac! :( I totally understand the need to crack jokes about stuff that pains you, though, I do the same thing. Agent Douchenozzle is not impressed, as you can probably guess, and basically tells him to save his sob story for someone else. He knows that they know something that they're refusing to tell him, and he has no problem keeping them there all night until they throw him a bone, at least. That seems a little counterproductive, considering most law enforcement operate under the belief that, when people are kidnapped, time is of the essence, and after a certain amount of time (two days? I think?) the chances of them being recovered alive basically plummet. But, whatever dude, if you wanna get your ex-wife killed, then lets play it your way.

As he speaks, the kids all roll their eyes and sigh, and in the process, Scott notices a bunch of those exploding arrowheads of Allison's sitting on the desk in front of him. OH SHIT, a Scott-plan is in progress!

Kali's murder spree is put on hold for a second, as she paces around Aiden and mocks him for taking his "assignment" too seriously. Aiden doesn't think Lydia is a threat, nor does he believe she is the problem, but his behavior has led Kali to question his loyalty to the pack, which is a pretty sensitive subject for her, considering everything she gave up to join them-- their circumstances were totally different. Lydia leans to Ethan, who is watching the two of them intently, and whispers, "Oh god, is this about to get really violent?" Ethan sighs defeatedly and mutters, "Probably." Before Kali can rip Aiden's head off with her toe-claws, though, Jennifer crashes through the skylight in the female villain uniform: leggings, boots, mesh top, and leather jacket, all in black. She lands Kali-style in the middle of the loft, and smugs, "Who wants to go first?"


When we get back from the commercials, it's time for a dubstep brawl! Even without the guardian sacrifices, she's pretty tough-- Kali swipes and kicks at her, but never connects with her body. She eventually ends up getting tossed across the room and lands in a heap on the floor. The twins try their luck next, both of whom end up meeting the same fate as Kali. Then, they rip their shirts off and try to form Voltron Wolf to really give her a serious smackdown, but they aren't quick enough-- she's able to grab each of their heads with one hand and wrench them apart, sending them each into opposing walls. Lydia gets up onto her feet and looks just generally terrified as she watches Jennifer, but Jen only has eyes for Kali, who is getting back on her feet as well. Jen struts over to her, and Kali does a flip-kick that Jen dodges swiftly. Kali stands up to her full height and stares Jennifer in the eyes, which is just what she wanted.

"That's right, Kali, look at me. Look at my face. Do you know what it takes to look like this? To be able to look normal?" Kali gives no fucks, and says as much. "It takes power," Jennifer continues, ignoring her. "Power like this." She closes her eyes and lifts her arms into the air; as they rise, the glass shards from the broken skylight rise with them, and the glass pieces spin around in place as they surround her. Kali looks a little alarmed, which makes Jen smile a wicked smile. "I--" Kali stammers, and Jennifer's tough face falters, as if she thinks maybe it's possible that Kali will apologize instead of what she actually says. "I should've--" 

The pieces turn and point toward Kali like arrows, like a warning: Think very carefully about what you're going to say before you say it. Eventually, Kali bellows "I SHOULD'VE RIPPED YOUR HEAD OFF!" That's the last straw-- Jennifer screams at the top of her voice and swoops her arms towards Kali, and the glass shards follow suit, embedding themselves into her her entire body.

(via teenwolfmixtapes)
She drops to the floor, and Lydia, for all the bodies she's found this season, is still understandably having difficulty dealing with people being murdered right in front of her. Jennifer makes a beeline for Lydia, but in a piece of broken mirror, we can see the twins are finally merging into Voltron Wolf. Furious, they run towards Jennifer to protect Lydia/avenge Kali, but she swiftly dodges their blow and gets them in a headlock, easily snapping their neck and dropping them carelessly on the floor. As blood flows from their mouth, Jennifer quips, "What's the line the Coach likes to say? 'The bigger they are...?'" Lydia is 100% horrified, and I don't blame her a bit-- girlfriend just wasted three Alphas in less than five minutes without even breaking a sweat! Oh giiiiiiiirl, this is so not good.

I'm not sure what Stiles has been doing this whole time, but he's driving out to the nature preserve now. The windstorm is still raging outside, which is making it pretty difficult for him to navigate the dark road running alongside the woods. He leans toward the dashboard and squints his eyes as he looks out at the lightning currently lighting up the sky. He sighs, because we're only seventeen minutes in and there is still so much left to do. Haven't they been up for like, seventy-two hours now? They seriously must be running on fumes. Oh, wait, I guess Allison, Scott and Stiles did get a sixteen hour bath-nap, which they probably really needed anyway, whether they were actually dead or not.


Scott and Allison remind Agent Douchenozzle that he can't keep them there without a warrant, but ADN considers the huge amount of arms they found in Argent's study to be enough probable cause to do whatever the fuck he wants. In response, Allison gets AWESOME. "My father is a highly respected private security consultant and a federally licensed firearms dealer. That means he has to own a few weapons." 

She starts to identify the various weapons on the desk like a badass, and Agent Douchenozzle chuckles condescendingly at one of his deputies as she lists them off. "Like this 175-pound-draw tactical cross-bow. Or this carbon-steel marine combat knife. 58-E Desert Eagle. Mmm, smoke grenade with pull-ring igniter!" She pulls the ring on the smoke grenade and lobs it at them, and orders the boys to follow her as she skedaddles the hell out of there. Agent Douchenozzle's cronies, who are trained police officers, and Agent Douchnozzle himself, who is a federal agent of the FBI, are so caught off guard by this tiny bit of smoke that all they can do is shout for them to come back as they watch the teenagers scamper away. It was still so amazing, though. Marry me, Allison Argent? I could listen to you talk weapons all day. I think both Scott and Isaac agree with me, too.

















(via saviourlahey)
Stiles is driving around on a path in the woods now, and the fog and wind is getting worse every second. His brights are on, and he's squinting to figure out where he's going, but it's not until a branch breaks off a tree and hits the side of his Jeep that he realizes that he's in major trouble. By that point, it's too late, and he barely has enough time to hit the breaks before he drives directly into a tree. I don't know if you've ever hit anything head-on in a car going that fast, but it sucks. I lost control of my car on a gravel road, and ended up running into a telephone pole at 55mph, like four years ago. My back hasn't been the same since then. Granted, that was like, less than two weeks after I went on a road trip with my college roommate across the country, where we hit black ice in the country in Montana, swerved off the road and off a ravine, flipping 2.5 times on the way down, all while I stupidly wasn't wearing a seatbelt because I had the flu and was laying down in the backseat, sooo... Moral of the story is, Emily's back is fucked forever and she really should just stay away from cars.

So, yeah, the Jeep is smoking and it's looking pretty dire, here. Seriously, like we really need someone getting into perfectly ordinary accidents right now, with a supernatural battle between a juiced-up dark Druid and the Demon Wolf approaching?!

At the loft, Jennifer, having disposed of 3/4 of the Alpha Pack, now has her eye on Lydia and slowly starts to corner her. Lydia is terrified, and wants to know what Jen wants from her. "I want you to do what you do best, Lydia! I want you to SCREAM!" To make it easier for her, she transforms back into her real face, which has Lydia wailing in fear in less than a nanosecond. Derek and Cora are still close enough to Beacon Hills to where they can still hear it, and Derek quickly pulls over as Cora, completely weirded out, is like, "What the fuck was that?" Derek recognizes that it's Lydia, because he's heard her wail like a banshee before. Cora was unconscious after getting bonked on the head with a barbell weight, if you recall, and was in the hospital during that crazy music recital, so that's probably why she doesn't recognize it. Derek sighs and insists that they turn back, and does a U-turn in the middle of the road before Cora can even argue.


At the nature preserve, Allison is driving with Isaac in her car as Scott follows behind them on his dirtbike. After they've parked their vehicles, Scott gets off his bike and proclaims Allison as their resident badass for how she handled his dad, and regrets the fact that he didn't know what else to say to him. Isaac nervously points out that he hasn't heard back from Stiles since they left, and Scott replies that he doesn't understand where he could be. They decide that they don't have time wait for him and run off. Meanwhile, Stiles is still chilling in his smoking, wrecked Jeep, passed out with a big, bleeding bump on his head. That can't be good. I know they have a ton of important stuff to worry about right now, but the fact that they weren't that concerned that something could have happened to Stiles kind of took me out of the story for a minute. As easy as it is to forget sometimes, Stiles is human, and can't defend or protect himself like they can, so the fact that something ordinary, like a car crash, happened shouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Hopefully they get better about this in 3B.


The three make it to that cliff thing that overlooks the entire city, and stand quietly for a moment until they hear Deucalion's voice behind them. "Cutting it a little close, aren't we, Scott?" Scott stammers that they got held up (Yeah, I'd say so! Getting ritually sacrificed, searching for the Nemeton in your unconscious memories, being brought back to life, and then being interrogated by your deadbeat federal agent father will take up quite a bit of your already limited time, for sure) and asks after the other Alphas. 

Deucalion simply informs them that they're busy (ie: either killing Derek or dead) and that it'll just be the two of them dealing with Jennifer, tonight. "I think you'll find we make a great team." Scott instructs Isaac and Allison to find Stiles and get down to the root cellar. He promises that he and Deuc will hold off Jennifer long enough for them to save their parents. Isaac is like, "Uh, how do you suppose you're going to do that?" but never fear, Scott is allowed one scheme per season, and he's cashing in his season 3A scheme tonight! YES! Scott plan, initiate!


Derek and Cora have just arrived back at the loft. Cora heads straight to Lydia to comfort her, while Derek just stares at Kali and the twins' bodies on the floor of his apartment. He turns to Jennifer and is, like, "So, your gift to me is three more dead werewolves on the floor of my apartment? Every romance I've ever had has ended in death or mass murder and even I know that this is really fucked up." She clarifies that she did it for both of them, and anyone else who would ever be hurt by the Alphas. Derek is pissed, and it's nice to see him yell at someone who actually deserves it, for once. "STOP TALKING TO ME LIKE A POLITICIAN! Stop trying to convince me of your cause!" 


Jen realizes she's getting nowhere with this and changes tactics to one that will better get his attention: the subject of Derek's biggest bromance, AKA Scott McCall. She explains that he can help Scott get his mom and his friends parents back if he helps her kill Deucalion. He's like, "Hey, not sure if you remember, but since you gave me no choice but to have to heal my sister with my werewolf powers, I'm not even an Alpha anymore, so what the fuck do you expect me to do?" 

She exposits that she needs a guardian-- her plan was to kill the parents she "was forced" to take, which she could still do, or Derek can be her living guardian and help by getting Deucalion in the right place at the right time so she can end him for good. Derek reminds her of the three dead wolves currently bleeding out on his floor, and points out that she had no problem taking them out all by herself, so why does she even need him? Jen claims we've never seen Deuc full-strength before, which is true, but she has-- if he has Scott with him, then she'll definitely have no chance in hell of beating him.

Cora wisely urges Derek not to trust her, but Jennifer cuts the crap and lays it out for them: she'll have the lunar eclipse in her favor, but it only lasts fifteen minutes, which isn't a very long time. This is why she needs Derek there with her, to keep her alive long enough for the eclipse to start. She assures them that if Derek helps, the parents will live, but they need to stop arguing and just do it.

Isaac and Allison are still wandering around the woods, looking for the Nemeton. I saw a lot of complaints about how the ritual was supposed to mean that they wouldn't need to look for the Nemeton anymore, but that nature preserve seems to be enormous, and while some of them are werewolves, they're not exactly nature experts or anything, so it's not like they were given an exact GPS location of where the Nemeton is, and it's not like they have street signs or mile markers to help as landmarks. It makes sense that they would need a scent, or in this case, Argent's ultra-sonic emitter, to help zero in on the location from what has to be at least a hundred acres of forest. Isaac hears the high-pitched noise and immediately identifies it as one of the Allison's dad's emitters, and they run toward the sound. The end up finding the stump, and it takes all of two seconds after that to find the cellar door nearby. They sprint to the entrance and fling the doors open as the ground around the stump starts to crumble into sinkholes. Fabulous.


The two make it down the steps, and Argent's face beams with pride when he sees his daughter has found him. She kisses him on the head as Isaac runs over to Melissa to untie her, which warms my heart so much. Isaac is basically a McCall now, which will only make Agent Douchenozzle more pissed, I imagine. Stilinski wastes no time asking about Stiles, but Isaac white-lies and says that Scott and Stiles are on their way to help. As they speak, more dirt and rocks fall onto their heads. The camera pans upward, and we see more sinkholes are forming around the roots of the tree stump, because things just weren't intense enough already.


Back at the loft, Cora helps Lydia up and tells her that they need leave, but promises that they can get help. When Lydia is like, "Help? Who the fuck is there left to help us now?" Cora softens slightly, but is still insistent that they leave. They stop just short of the door when they hear a squelching noise, followed by a thump. They turn around toward the noise, where they see that the twins have fallen apart into their separate bodies (since they died while in their Voltron Wolf form)! The girls run towards them to investigate, and after Lydia checks for a pulse, they realize that the twins are, miraculously, still alive. I knew it! Jeff Davis is way too attracted to the Carver twins to write them off now.


Part of Scott's big plan against Jennifer is to take Deucalion to the old distillery, where all the Alphas and their packs met up in the flashbacks of "Visionary." Even Deucalion is like, "Really? This is your plan?" Scott reminds us all that Ms. Blake sent them all a mass text in the first episode of the season that included the last line of Heart of Darkness, and exclaims that he has a message of his own to send.

And what is Scott's big message? A video text to Jennifer, of course. Jennifer is puzzled as she opens it on her Samsung product-placement phone, which has a clock that is counting down to the lunar eclipse as the wallpaper. (There's 29 minutes and 28 seconds, according to the timer, for what it's worth) As she starts the video, Derek peers over her shoulder to watch as well. Scott is visible in the video, standing in front of the massive spiral that Ennis scratched into the distillery's wall. "See this symbol? It's a symbol of revenge. You talk about balance, about saving people, but we know what you really want. And now you know where to find us." The look on Jennifer's face is of so much murderous rage that Gerard Argent would be proud as hell.


Over in the root cellar, the wind is still whipping so hard that it closes the cellar doors. I imagine it's probably worsened by Jennifer's rage. Isaac and Allison has managed to get all the parents untied, and they're about to get out before the cellar completely caves in on them, but it's Teen Wolf, so we know that nothing is going to go right. Isaac yells at everyone to hurry as a table full of jars and bottles falls over and nicks him in the back of the ankle. Everyone gets to their feet and runs toward the wooden staircase, but it collapses in a mess of broken wood beams and dust, to the point where they can't hope to get out that way any more. Once everything settles, they poke their heads up from where they ducked across the room, and stare at each other in disbelief. SERIOUSLY, DAVIS?


Lydia and Cora have somehow managed to get the twins to Deaton at the Animal Clinic (he must be living there, at this point! So much for being retired) and the three of them clear off two tables and push them together so they can try to save the Alphas. Blood is still trickling out each of the boys' mouths, so Cora asks Deaton cautiously if he can save them. Deaton doesn't look so convinced himself, and admits that they will only live if they can get their bodies to start healing by themselves.


The moon is up and full and ready to go, and Deucalion and Scott stand in the distillery as they wait for Jennifer. We see her shadow strutting towards them, but suddenly, a second figure pops out behind her and walks at her side. When Scott realizes it's Derek, you can just see his brain whirring, "Seriously dude??? Not part of the plan!" and to be honest, Deuc looks a little surprised himself. Do you think he can sense that Kali is dead and the twins basically abandoned him? Wouldn't that affect his power? I doubt he considered the possibility of Derek living through his fight with Kali, and I'm now wondering if he thought Jennifer even had it in her to take out Kali and the twins.


When Jen and Derek approach them, Scott asks him WTF he's doing there, and Derek informs him, not unkindly, that he's actually there to help. "Oooh, like brother against brother! How very American this is," Deuc chuckles with amusement. He turns to Jennifer, who looks pretty terrified, honestly, and gets cold. "Are you ready, Jennifer? Did you gather your herbs? Pray to your ancient gods, and your oak trees? Slit a baby's throat perhaps?" He folds up his cane and removes his jacket, throwing them both aside, and starts to walk towards her as she gets more and more enraged.

To be honest, I kind of doubted Deucalion's alleged power/Demon-Wolfiness, because he never seemed to do anything, instead preferring to send his subordinates to do his dirty work, but this episode had me eating my words, because watching Deucalion turn wolf was pretty fucking creepy. His skin turns black, his teeth get like, Peter-Hale-as-an-Alpha big, and his entire eyeball turns red, with no visible pupils. Wayyyy worse than Peter's weirdo gorilla-Alpha thing! He truly does look like a Demon Wolf, so I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry I ever doubted him. 

Anyway, he finishes his spiel before he lunges at them: "Should we show them why you needed to kill nine innocent people, just to face me? Or is it twelve, now?" Actually, Deuc, it was twelve, maybe fifteen, if you count Scott/Stiles/Allison's little trip to death and back, but who's counting? Certainly not the writers-- we all know Jeff Davis is allergic to numbers and never pays the math budget.


Argent has been looking around the cellar for an escape route, but can't find one; when he asks Isaac, who is crouching below a beam that holds up the ceiling, if he found a way out, he simply shakes his head no. Of course, the wind kicks up and the ceiling starts to collapse, and knocks Isaac down to the floor. Allison calls out for him, and Stilinski manages to grab the back of his coat and pull him over with them. The ceiling where they just moved starts to collapse too, and as the other scurry away, Isaac stands up and uses his hands and arms to push the ceiling back in place. He strains under the weight of it, and his eyes glow gold as he draws on all of his strength to keep it from falling on his friends and family. Isaac saves the day!

(via asloudasourhearts)
Derek, as always, is the first to lunge in the fight, and goes to claw Deucalion, but he's too quick-- he just grabs each of Derek's arms and pushes them down with a giggle that is both hilarious and creepy. Jennifer comes up behind Derek and goes to do one of those sternum-crushing moves she loves so much, but her hand can't even make contact with him. He mocks her sad face, and chokes each of them with one hand, lifting them both up into the air before dropping them on the ground. Derek pops up and once again tries to swipe at Deuc, but he slams him across the room, where he lands in a pile of stacked tires and wooden pallets. Jennifer sprints toward him, and gets back-handed down to the ground hard.

Deucalion strides over quickly and grabs her by the back of the neck. He drags her in front of Scott, who has just been standing there watching this all happen, and orders him to kill her. His eyes go wide, like, "Uh, this wasn't part of the plan either." Sensing Scott's hesitation, the Demon Wolf growls at the top of his lungs, the sound of which forces Scott to transform so powerfully that he falls to his knees. Deucalion reminds him that his parents are dying, and reveals Jennifer's plan: she's currently using her connection to the telluric currents to create the storm that's going to bury them alive, so she gets the power, anyway. If he kills her, her connection to the currents will be cut and it'll be all over.

Jennifer is pleading at this point, and hurriedly tells him that it won't be over, because Deuc's going to make him kill everyone that he loves, because that's totally his thing. Deuc parrots his same old manipulative crap, "Become the Alpha you were meant to be! Become a killer!" Scott points out that his parents aren't dead yet. "And who's going to save them? Your friends?" Deucalion says as he laughs, but Scott's response makes my heart sing. Jennifer looks shocked when Scott's eyes flash gold as he proudly responds, "My PACK." 

Don't mind me, I'm just going to rock back and forth and cry for a minute or two as a result of my infinite love for Scott McCall & his pack. Also, doesn't Scott look even more like a puppy when his wolf is out compared to the Demon Wolf? It's adorable.

















(via coraisaac)
At the Nemeton, Isaac's still struggling with the ceiling that's crumbling around them, but still manages to gasp out a joke; "Is it just me, or is this room getting smaller?" AW ISAAC! Just weeks ago you were having a panic attack due to claustrophobia, and now you're doing whatever you can to save your friends and their parents even in the face of legitimate fear. That, my friends, is what I like to call CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

Deaton wheels in two oxygen tanks and puts masks on each of the twins, before he fills up a syringe with an unknown medicine and injects it into Aiden's arm. Lydia and Cora are still worried and watching.


Deucalion isn't very pleased at Scott's insubordination, so he zoops over to Scott and grabs him behind the neck with one hand as he uses the other to extend Scott's clawed hand in front of him, like how the twins and Kali made Derek kill Boyd. "Maybe you just need a little guidance," Deucalion begins, but Scott interrupts. "I forgot to tell you something, something Gerard told me...'Deucalion isn't always blind.'" With his free hand, he reaches into his pocket and grabs a handful of the Argents' explosive arrowheads, and closes his eyes as he throws them to the ground. They explode into a big fireball, and Deucalion loses the little sight he had left as he paws around in the air helplessly.


Of course, the lunar eclipse is just beginning, and when Scott opens his eyes and looks around, all of the wolves realize that they don't have their powers anymore. Scott sees that Jennifer is gone, and his face is like, "Oh SHIT, I fucked up."

Over at the Nemeton, everyone is holding the ceiling over their heads at this point, and since Isaac is now powerless as well, he doesn't have his usual werewolf strength to hold it up until the eclipse is over. Allison cries out that it's too heavy for all of them, and just as we're about to worry that our heroes are going to get smooshed to death, Stiles comes in with Mama McCall's aluminum baseball bat, and uses it to prop the ceiling up! Stilinski quips, "I always said aluminum was better than wood," and Stiles, who is still bleeding from his head, dives toward his father for a hug. STILINSKI FAMILY FEEEEEEEEELS. The dirt around them is still falling, but the majority of the ceiling seems to be holding up.


Scott sees Jennifer, in her true face and a fancy leather outfit, waltzing back to the distillery. Derek backs up and hides behind a bunch of wooden boxes, but Scott and Deuc aren't so lucky. Scott is immediately thrown back into more pallets, and Deucalion is thrown onto the cement floor, where his head is bashed into the ground again and again and again. Just as his eyes are rolling and his tongue is lolling out, Derek runs out and stops her. He reminds her that Deucalion's never seen her real face (since he was blinded before he started the Alpha Pack, which is when he ordered Kali to kill her pack and Emissary), and that while he knows the price Kali paid to get into the pack, he doesn't know the cost Jennifer (and, by extension, her psyche, and especially her face) paid as a result.


Jennifer agrees with him, and holds a hand over his eyes. He starts to scream in pain (which I thought was kind of weird, since healing Derek didn't seem to hurt him, but maybe it's the complexity of the eye and all the lil aspects healing themselves and the connections between them that is uncomfortable), but eventually just whimpers a bit. There is a huge puddle of blood around his head, though, which brings up a thought I just had-- can Jennifer selectively heal wounds? Like, can she heal his eyes and return his sight without healing the likely concussion and blunt force trauma wound that caused him to lose so much blood? I mean, the eclipse is going to end eventually, so I doubt she's going to want to undo the damage that she herself did in the process of healing what Gerard did, you know? 

Anyway, when she finally removes her hand, we see his eyes look exactly as they did in the flashbacks we saw of him in "Visionary," the sclera is white, his irises are blue/green, and the eyes are no longer clouded over. She orders him to look at her, and when he finally, reluctantly does, he looks like he's about to shit his pants when he finally sees her face. She goes back to her Jennifer-face, which still looks murderous in its expression, and is about to give him the killing blow when she loses her balance and stumbles, her arm continuing to stay extended over her head for a moment. Derek catches her just in time, and she weakly flops in his arms as she asks what happened. He tricked her, that's what happened! Oh Derek, I'm so proud of you.


"Healing him made you weak, just like healing Cora did to me. You won't have your strength for at least a few minutes," he explains, but Jennifer, not realizing that Derek suggested the healing thing specifically and purposely to make sure he wouldn't have the energy to kill Deucalion, still thinks he's on her side and that this was a side effect neither of them considered, so she pleads for him to kill Deucalion for her instead. Surprisingly, his answer is no. "Like my mother used to say: I'm a predator, but I don't have to be a killer." OH MY GOD HALE FAMILY FEELS. I can't with you, Derek. Jennifer is obviously pissed at this, so when Derek puts his hand around her neck and chokes her, and orders her to let them go, she starts to fight back. She may be weak, but he still only has regular human strength, so he's at a disadvantage.

She pushes him onto the ground and smacks him in the face a couple times, but he doesn't fight back. She eventually gets horrified by what she's doing, and whispers, "Derek?" when he's just laying there in a daze, and it's clear that she really does care about him. She sighs and walks away, until she hears him get up. He starts to choke her again, and she pushes him up against one of the distillation machines. We get flashbacks from "Fireflies," where Derek is a werewolf-scratching-post for Cora and Boyd during the full moon, which is a cool parallel, because in both instances, he's allowing himself to be assaulted in hopes that he can stall until the lunar event (in "Fireflies" it was a full moon, and here, it's the lunar eclipse) is over. 

He takes his injury without complaint or fighting back yet again, but when she seemingly regains her strength and pushes him up higher before moving to make a lethal blow, his eyes glow blue. The eclipse is over! He tells her her fifteen minutes are up, and pushes her across the room. She knows she's in trouble now, so she reaches into her pocket and puts up a mountain ash-barrier before anyone can even get close to her.

(via teenwolfmixtapes)
"Like I told you, Derek," she spits, "Either you, or the parents. Well, I guess I'll just have to take them now." Scott stares at her angrily, but Jennifer's not playing. "In a few minutes, they'll be dead, and I won't need a lunar eclipse, even to kill a Demon Wolf." Derek looks at Scott like he feels super guilty for what just happened, but Scott has a plan! Which involves pressing up against the mountain ash barrier with his hands. Jennifer just chuckles, because she somehow remembers that he tried this already in "Currents" when he was trying to save Deaton, and knows it didn't work (and I wanna know how she knows that, because she was being held hostage by Ethan and Aiden during the Kali vs Derek battle at the Hale Loft. Did she install cameras, or does she have clairvoyance, or what?). 

However, what she doesn't remember is the fact that Scott is the True Fucking Alpha because he has stronger will and virtue than any damn person on that show, strong enough to break even the toughest of supernatural barriers! He has spent the last 2.5 seasons standing his ground and maintaining his morals and values while everyone has continued to insist that he, as a werewolf, has to be a violent killer, or at the very least kill in order to solve or remove a problem. Scott has always looked for another way, and because he puts everything he has into doing so, he always does, though circumstances may not always allow his way to succeed (see: "Code Breaker")

Anyway, so, he pushes against the ring of mountain ash as Jennifer watches in amusement. The harder he pushes, the more shocked and confused Derek looks, and the more intrigued Deucalion, who sits up to watch, is. Finally, Scott's eyes glow gold, and after a few moments, fireworks burst in his irises as his eyes shift to bright red. Jennifer's face changes from mocking laughter to "OH SHIT OH SHIT ABORT ABORT ABORT" just as Scott manages to push one foot into the circle. Derek is still watching in amazement, as if he's never seen anything like this happen before. 

Once Scott forces his other foot into the circle, it takes only a moment before the barrier is completely broken, and the force behind breaking it is so strong it knocks Jennifer completely off her feet. Scott takes a deep breath to steady himself and closes his eyes for a moment, like he's meditating, or like he's letting the power of his ascension to True Alpha status wash over him.














(1st via relentlesscimb, 2nd-4th via notasnogbox)
She looks up at him in disbelief and screeches, "How did you do that?" Scott opens his eyes and considers his words before he utters the line we've been waiting for all season: "I'm an Alpha now!" He demands that Jennifer stop whatever it is that she's doing with the storm, or he'll kill her himself, regardless of what it does to the color of his eyes. Deucalion (who must be healed from his head wound, whether it was because of Jennifer's healing powers or just his own healing taking over now that the eclipse is over) announces that killing her won't change his eyes, and offers to do the honors. He limps over and slashes her throat with his claws before anyone can object, and the three watch as she goes back to her real face and slumps on the ground with a gasp.


It seemed like before, Deuc was convinced anything good would be destroyed, and wanted to ruin Scott's chances of True-Alphahood as a way to just get it over with before he'd even begun. Now, he's seen Scott rise to the occasion, and it seems almost like he's done a 180, and now wants to preserve it. Just ten minutes ago, he wanted Scott to kill her, and now he's like, "Nope, it's cool, I got this?" Something tells me we haven't seen the last of ol' Deuc, and I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking so.

Over in the root cellar, the parents and their children breathe sighs of relief when they feel the storm end. Stiles hugs his dad again, and everyone else laughs from happiness and the love (or at least newfound admiration) they've found in each other.

Aiden and Ethan seem to be stable, at this point. Cora helps Ethan stand up, while Lydia stands behind where Aiden is lying on a table, holding his hand. Aiden smiles and weakly whispers, "I knew it." When Lydia gives him a puzzle look, he smiles wider and reveals he knew she liked him. Lydia just rolls her eyes and sighs, and Aiden kisses the inside of her wrist.


Scott calls Stiles to ask him if he's okay. He is, thankfully, and assures Scott that everyone is fine, and as we look around the root cellar, it warms my heart to see them all smiling and cuddled up in their little hidey-hole. Stiles asks Scott if he's okay, and he looks to Derek, who is eavesdropping, and who shrugs hilariously in response. Scott simply replies, "Yeah, sort of!" Stiles asks if he can come get them, and when he instructs him to bring a ladder, everyone in the cellar giggles some more like a big, happy family.



(via qhuinn)
Derek and Scott have one last matter to wrap up before they leave: "My mother told me you were a man of vision, once. We're letting you go, because we hope you can be that man again," Derek begins, much to everyone's confusion, and Deuc seems to agree. Scott finishes Derek's speech, "But if you're not, then having your eyesight back won't matter, because you won't see us coming." 

I love it when Scott is dark like this. Just because he doesn't like to kill or hurt people on principle doesn't mean that he can't do whatever it takes to defend his home and his loved ones Although, I am still kind of side-eyeing the fact that they're just letting him go, although I can't blame either of them for being uncomfortable with killing someone, even an evil Demon Wolf. Deucalion has a very Peter-like expression, where you're not sure if he's like, humbled or scheming. Like I said a few paragraphs ago, something tells me that Deuc will be back as a villain (or at least a Peter-style anti-hero shit-stirrer) sooner than we think.


Finally home at the Argent Abode, Argent is unloading his 58-E Desert Eagle and putting all of his weapons in their cases. Allison stands in the doorway and asks if he's putting everything back in storage, and Argent confirms that that is his plan. Allison has a different plan, though, and reminds him that as a result of their little temporary suicides, Beacon Hills might actually become an actual supernatural beacon again. Argent is like, "Ugh, I fucking hope not, this shit is exhausting," as if he doesn't actually love every moment of it. You're not fooling anyone, Papa Argent! Allison believes that she should be prepared just in case, and explains that she still has a lot of hunter skills to learn, and that he'd be a perfect teacher.


Argent seems pretty partial to this plan, especially when Allison insists that they have a new code: "Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes," or "We protect those who cannot protect themselves." (A pretty significant change from "Nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent," or "We hunt those who hunt us.") He looks so proud of her when she pitches this idea, and his worry about them getting back into this world seems to have dissipated, at least for now. All of this better mean that they'll be teaming up with the McCall Pack (and eventually Derek & co) as well to protect the town from the baddies that will inevitably end up here.

More kudos to the music director of this show, who always seems to find the perfect songs for the perfect moments. The penultimate scene has Mikky Ekko's "Kids" playing over a montage, as Scott, who is talking to Deaton, narrates via voiceover. (The last gifs of this recap are all by snarkyashale, unless noted otherwise)

We see Derek and Cora, duffel bags in hand, stopping in the doorway of the loft to take one last look before they take off. "I honestly don't know if he's ever coming back. Part of me hopes so, but another part of me hopes he'll be okay, somewhere else." Yeah, right! Derek will totally be back, but I get the sentiment all the same.


Agent Douchenozzle is walking down the hallway of the McCall's house, and knocks on Scott's bedroom door. When Scott opens the door, his dad smiles awkwardly and apologetically, but Scott just slams the door in his face without a word. Down the hall, Melissa has ducked behind a wall, and smiles to herself when she hears her ex get rejected. "My dad doesn't look like he's going to be leaving for a while, but just because he's staying, doesn't mean he's welcome."


Scott walks through the front door to the school, his face blank, and he stops in the hallway with his bike helmet in hand, and stares at all of the students milling around him in slow-motion. "Stiles and I both feel it, every day, just like you said we would. And, it makes me think of that quote that Jennifer used in our first class, because when I feel it, it's like I'm looking into the heart of an immense darkness." Deaton kindly asks him what he does instead of succumbing to the darkness, and his answer is simple and beautiful. "I look for my friends."

Oh, I'm going to let the future in,
make it on, make it on my own
Into the fire we go again,
shake it off, shake it off before we get too old

And Scott finds his friends: Aiden is having a whispered conversation with Lydia, who looks amazing in a pretty magenta and blue striped dress, and who is still playing hard to get. They lean against a wall of lockers, lost in their own world. Ethan and Danny are hand in hand, walking down the hallway and smiling as they converse. Isaac and Allison walk down the stairs together, books in hand. Isaac is smiling and says something so funny that Allison stops walking and laughs, throwing her hair back and smiling the first genuine smile we've seen from her in weeks.











Scott smiles at the sight of everyone being happy and together, but there's someone missing, though, not for long--Stiles comes up behind Scott and puts an arm around him, slapping him playfully on the shoulders. Scott smiles when he sees his best bro, and they both smile little smiles at each other as they make their trek down the hallway. All appears to be well for the moment, with everyone with who they're supposed to be with, but there's something more happening below the surface that they're both trying to cover up.

Mikky Ekko sings, "I know the words, but it's not enough, it's not enough..." Scott and Stiles' smiles start to fade back into their blank frowns, as a reminder that the darkness is still present, and that neither of them are nearly as happy as they're pretending. It's a perfect lead in to 3B, which is said to be more psychologically-focused than supernatural, although there will definitely be more creatures of the night to battle, I'm sure. I CAN'T WAIT. Is it January yet?

This story isn't completely over, though, not quite. Deaton inquires, "But what about Ms. Blake?" We return to Deaton's office, where Scott is sitting and talking to his boss. Scott hasn't the foggiest clue where she is, and neither does anyone else--when they went back to the distillery for Jennifer's body, it was gone, which is pretty par for the course when Teen Wolf is concerned. Villains never seem to want to die, and when they do, they don't always stay dead. (At least, the men don't, but that's another story for later, as well) Deaton does not seem comforted one bit by this news.

Aaaand we're back in the woods, where Jennifer, in her illusion face, is crawling desperately toward the stump of the Nemeton, pleading with it to do her a solid and save her one more time. Just as she's about to grip the stump with her hand, another hand grabs her wrist and pulls her arm away from it before she can channel the juice it absorbed from Scott, Allison and Stiles' temporary deaths. A clawed hand, for that matter. She is flipped over onto her back, exposing her still-sliced up throat, and blood drips from her mouth. When she looks up, she's not even surprised at who is there. "Of course it's you," Jennifer laughs darkly, and we see that it's none other than PETER FUCKING HALE, who supposedly had no idea where the Nemeton was, standing over her.


"Everyone else suffers, but somehow you come out on top! And now that Scott's an Alpha, you'll be able to steal it from him. You'll be an Alpha again..." Jennifer deduces. Peter looks pretty satisfied until he hears those last words, which send him into the most epic of tantrums ever. "Again? AGAIN?" he screams, and reaches a clawed hand up in the air to slash her throat before she can even process what happened, killing her f'realsies this time, or so we think. He lifts his head towards the sky dramatically and bellows at the top of his voice, 'I. AM. THE ALPHA! I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE ALPHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" 

It's nice to have yet another line to add to the epic lines of our favorite scenery-chewing villains. First, we have MOUNTAIN ASHHHHHHHH, and then I AM THE DEMON WOLF! Now, Peter ranks third. Ohhhhh, lord, is he going to make a mess this winter.

[screencaps from this Screencapped.net album]

Click HERE to move on to my next recap of Teen Wolf!

NOTES/SPECULATION REGARDING SEASON 3B:
-I need much, much more of Lydia learning about her powers and using them to help the Scooby Gang, preferably by killing Peter violently and then pissing on his grave. :)

-I really want Allison to help train Stiles and Lydia so they're not completely helpless if there isn't a werewolf or a hunter around to help protect them. That would be excellent practice for her, too!

-I have a feeling Derek won't be gone for too long, or at least I'm hoping not. I'm interested to see where his storyline goes in 3B, although I'm curious how they're going to explain Cora's absence, since she has her own CW show now.

-I am so pumped to see Dark!Allison and Dark!Stiles in January, all though I'm sure Scott won't be immune to it either.

-I have to say that I'm not too impressed with the twins being welcomed in with open arms, although I do understand that protecting Lydia and giving Derek time to run from Kali would definitely give them a couple points in the McCall pack's book. That still doesn't change the fact that Erica and Boyd are dead as a result of the alphas, though, and I'm hoping that there will at least be some kind of fallout in 3B regarding it next season. Sometimes you have to team up with enemies in tough situations, but that doesn't mean you should/have to forgive them for everything and become their BFFs.

-I know a lot of people didn't like 3A, and while I do understand and agree with a lot of what the major problems people had (Aiden/Ethan's thing, which I already mentioned; the fact that female villains always get killed off but male villains end up either becoming good guys or coming back from the dead or what have you, etc) I do think that a lot of the complaints about plot-holes are a little premature, though, because we're still only halfway through the season. We still have 12 episodes to tie up loose ends, and a lot of times in TV shows storylines aren't resolved until the show ENDS. So, it's not that I necessarily disagree as much as I just think we need to be patient and see what happens in 3B. Maybe I'm just getting discouraged by all the hate I've been reading, or maybe I'm just too easy to please, but it's just been a little disheartening. I've enjoyed each season more than the one before it, and season 3 has been no exception, but finding good things that people have said about it is way less common than finding hate and criticism, which has been a bit of a downer.

So what'd you think? What are your predictions and/or wishes for 3B? Will you be watching in January?





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Teen Wolf Season 3, Episode 6: "Motel California" Recap/Review

Suits Season 3, Episode 1: "The Arrangement " Recap/Review

Suits Season 3, Episode 3: "Unfinished Business" Recap/Review