Teen Wolf Season 3, Episode 9: "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" Recap/Review
I am so sorry for being such a slacker, you guys. I am in the middle of final exam hell, and trying to find time to sit down and write for several hours has been a little difficult, since my nose has been in a chemistry book all week. My promises don't mean much at this point, but after this Wednesday, I will be done with school for several weeks, which will give me much more time to devote to word-vomiting my TV feelings! Anyway, enough about me, let's talk about teenage werewolves!
I think we can all agree that this episode was definitely a highlight of the first half of the season, yeah? We learned who the Darach is and what Lydia is, and despite the fact that many of us had already guessed what and who they were, it was still thrilling to watch. We also learned more about the Alpha Pack's plans, and all the pieces seem to be set up for plenty of bombshells for the last three episodes of 3A. So, to refresh our memories in preparation of what's to come...
Previously, on Teen Wolf: We learned that a Darach is a Druid who "went down the wrong path," aka turned evil, and Lydia caught a glimpse of the Darach in the flames at the Suicide Motel, after she saved Scott and Stiles from being burnt to a crisp in a puddle of gasoline. The many murders that have occurred recently in Beacon Hills were revealed to not be random killings, but instead are actually ritual sacrifices. Each set of three sacrifices has had a different theme, or power, and so far, there has been a virgin trio, a warrior trio, and a healer trio. Gerard tried to suggest to Scott and Allison that Deaton is the Darach, but they refuse to believe it (and so do I, if we're being honest.) Argent was also revealed to have been tracking every person who has been sacrificed thus far, both the places where they were taken, and the places where their bodies were found. Also, Lydia has been insisting to everyone who mentions it that she's not a psychic, but she's something. Something that is likely related to the fact that she is the resident Scream Queen of Beacon Hills...
It's been a while since we had a murdery cold-open! This week, it's late at night at Beacon Hills High School, where Sheriff Stilinski's favorite deputy, whose name apparently is Tara Graeme, has just arrived. Considering she is both a person of color and a woman, and knowing this show the way that I do, I would definitely put money on her being the one to die this week, if I were a betting girl, which is super gross, honestly. This show is amazing in many ways, but Jeff Davis needs to do better about this. So does Julie Plec (the showrunner of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals), while we're on the topic...
ANYWAY, Tara has one hand on her side-arm as she looks around, slowly walking down the hallway. The music is your typical all-strings horror movie music, and it's getting louder and screechier to trick us into thinking something wicked is afoot, but no worries! It's just our sweet prince Danny and a bunch of his band buddies, practicing for the recital that they have the next day. You know, because it's Beacon Hills, where people just happen to be inside that school at all hours of the day like that's a normal thing, despite the fact that, you know, 97.6% of all assaults, kidnappings, and murders seem to occur there, and almost always in the hours between sundown and sunrise. But, sure, have a late-night band practice. That's fine.
Danny doesn't need to be a member of the human-contingent of the Beacon Hills Pack to know something dangerous is going on (though I very much want him to be, damnit!), so he asks her what's up. Tara briefly explains to them that she received a 911 call from inside the school, and instructs them to GTFO of there, stat.
I think we can all agree that this episode was definitely a highlight of the first half of the season, yeah? We learned who the Darach is and what Lydia is, and despite the fact that many of us had already guessed what and who they were, it was still thrilling to watch. We also learned more about the Alpha Pack's plans, and all the pieces seem to be set up for plenty of bombshells for the last three episodes of 3A. So, to refresh our memories in preparation of what's to come...
Previously, on Teen Wolf: We learned that a Darach is a Druid who "went down the wrong path," aka turned evil, and Lydia caught a glimpse of the Darach in the flames at the Suicide Motel, after she saved Scott and Stiles from being burnt to a crisp in a puddle of gasoline. The many murders that have occurred recently in Beacon Hills were revealed to not be random killings, but instead are actually ritual sacrifices. Each set of three sacrifices has had a different theme, or power, and so far, there has been a virgin trio, a warrior trio, and a healer trio. Gerard tried to suggest to Scott and Allison that Deaton is the Darach, but they refuse to believe it (and so do I, if we're being honest.) Argent was also revealed to have been tracking every person who has been sacrificed thus far, both the places where they were taken, and the places where their bodies were found. Also, Lydia has been insisting to everyone who mentions it that she's not a psychic, but she's something. Something that is likely related to the fact that she is the resident Scream Queen of Beacon Hills...
It's been a while since we had a murdery cold-open! This week, it's late at night at Beacon Hills High School, where Sheriff Stilinski's favorite deputy, whose name apparently is Tara Graeme, has just arrived. Considering she is both a person of color and a woman, and knowing this show the way that I do, I would definitely put money on her being the one to die this week, if I were a betting girl, which is super gross, honestly. This show is amazing in many ways, but Jeff Davis needs to do better about this. So does Julie Plec (the showrunner of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals), while we're on the topic...
ANYWAY, Tara has one hand on her side-arm as she looks around, slowly walking down the hallway. The music is your typical all-strings horror movie music, and it's getting louder and screechier to trick us into thinking something wicked is afoot, but no worries! It's just our sweet prince Danny and a bunch of his band buddies, practicing for the recital that they have the next day. You know, because it's Beacon Hills, where people just happen to be inside that school at all hours of the day like that's a normal thing, despite the fact that, you know, 97.6% of all assaults, kidnappings, and murders seem to occur there, and almost always in the hours between sundown and sunrise. But, sure, have a late-night band practice. That's fine.
Danny doesn't need to be a member of the human-contingent of the Beacon Hills Pack to know something dangerous is going on (though I very much want him to be, damnit!), so he asks her what's up. Tara briefly explains to them that she received a 911 call from inside the school, and instructs them to GTFO of there, stat.
I started to wonder why she didn't escort them out or something, because what if they ran into whoever it was on their way out? But after the kiddies skip off, she radios in for back up, and gets no response, so that kind of answers my question-- she can't keep searching and clear the area by herself. She tries again, but still gets nothing but silence. She stays on the line a few more seconds, in case of a delayed response, but no dice. What she gets instead is the creepy Darach-chanting song that we've heard all season. Scared shitless, as we all would be, she decides she's had enough and shuts it off. She hears a slamming noise behind her, she whips around, gun at the ready, where she catches a glimpse of a boot-clad body being dragged down the adjacent hallway.
Tara follows the person into the locker room, identifies herself as a sheriff's deputy and orders them to reveal themselves. Of course, she gets no response, because villains in this town never follow the rules. She suddenly hears the shower running and follows the noise; when she gets into the showers, she sees her own dead body propped up against the wall under the running water. YIKES. Confused and terrified, she's about to scream in terror when the Darach, complete with shredded up face, garrotes her to death and drops her under the running water, right where she hallucinated seeing her body just seconds earlier. What a horrible way to go! So long, Tara; we hardly knew ye.
Out in the school parking lot, Scott and Stiles speed to the school in their respective vehicles, where Lydia and Allison are waiting for them outside. When the boys meet up with them, Lydia explains that it's just like what happened at the pool: she was intending to drive somewhere completely different, and ended up here, with no recollection of driving there and no clue as to why she came here in the first place. When they both look at her in confusion, she reminds them that Stiles instructed her to call them if she found a dead body, and they're both like, "Wait, hold up-- you found a dead body?"
She didn't though, at least not yet, and she has no interest in finding another one, thank you very much. She tells them to go ahead and find it themselves, for once, but Stiles, ever the squeamish one, argues that she's the one who is supposed to be finding the bodies. While they're bickering over who should go a-snooping, Scott goes ahead and finds it for them in like, five seconds flat-- I'm serious, literally all he had to do was take a couple more steps forward and keep looking straight ahead. Sigh, amateurs. Anyway, as predicted, it's Tara, laying beaten and bloodied on top of the school's sign. SHIT. TITLE CARD!
It's morning now, and Stiles is at school, hiding (poorly) behind a pillar and eavesdropping on his dad, who is talking to some teachers. Stilinski spots him easily, though, and warns him right off the bat not to go off on him about how these are ritual sacrifices that are happening in threes and whatnot. Stiles was totally about to do just that, of course, but his dad cuts him off before he can begin and informs Stiles that they're getting help from the FBI and some other nearby police stations, taking great care to assure him that this murderer isn't getting away with killing one of their fellow cops. Stiles mournfully reminds him that it was Tara who was murdered, who had helped him with his homework when his dad was working late for as long as he could remember. Man, Stiles is just getting the monopoly on "important people in my life who we have no idea exist until they're killed" tropes this season, isn't he? Stilinski is clearly grieving as well, though, and it's obvious he doesn't want to talk about it, because he just shakes his head and sadly urges Stiles to go back to school for the millionth time.
At the Argent Abode, Allison is faking sick and curled up in her bed, while her dad, who is checking up on her, inquires about the recital at school that evening. Apparently, it's being held to honor all the people who were killed as sacrifices; Argent refers to them as "losses," but Allison corrects him and calls them what they are-- "murders." He turns the topic back to the concert, and asks if she'd like him to take her tonight, but she begs off on account of her fake-illness. He buys it, or seems to, at least. Before he leaves, he stops in the doorway and tells her to take as much time off school as she needs. (He doesn't say "I have top-secret Darach business to tend to anyway," but since she's onto him, she can read between the lines.) Man, Argent does not care at all about school and it's hilarious! My mom would have been, all, "Well, if you're too sick to go to school, you're too sick to go to the recital/hang out with your friends/go to band practice." Argent is just like, "Oh, you wanna skip school forever? Sounds good to me! Whatever you want, sweetie."
Once he's left the room, Allison immediately flings off her comforter to reveal that she's already dressed for ass-kicking in an amazing blue shirt-dress with a wide, brown leather belt, burgundy fishnets and these sick platform boots. I need this outfit on my body ASAP. At the very least, the boots, but preferably all of it. She walks into her closet, and goes straight for the black case that holds her Chinese ring daggers (as opposed the case that holds her titanium and explosive arrowheads, or the one that holds her crossbow, of course.) With a dagger in hand, she grabs her coat and returns to her room, only to notice that the window, which was closed when she left, is now open a crack.
She drops her coat and struts over to the window in slo-mo, where she throws the window wide open and pulls an unidentified dude inside as she drops him onto the floor. She flips him over in one swift movement, straddles him to pin him down, and pushes her dagger to his throat before realizing that it's just Isaac. Hahaha, LOVE IT! Pretty hot, tbh. I'd be happy to be in either of their places.
She's like, "Are werewolves physically unable to use the front door? What are you doing here?" Since she's got a knife to his jugular, he's can't exactly lie, so he admits that Scott was worried about her because she wasn't at school. She reminds him for the billionth time that she can take care of herself, and he's like, "Yeah, girl, I know that. This isn't my first time on the receiving end of one of your ring daggers, BTW." She giggles down at him at mention of her badassery, but she doesn't move. YOU TWO NEED TO JUST HAVE A THREESOME WITH SCOTT ALREADY, OMFG.
It's time to have English class with Ms. Blake! Today's lesson-- which is about idioms, analogies, metaphors and similes-- has all kind of weird, vague subtext hidden in it as a bonus. After explaining that the aforementioned terms are "tools writers use to tell their stories," she notices that Lydia is doodling a tree in her notebook, yet again. She blurts out that she had no idea Lydia had so many hidden talents, to which Lydia retorts that the dudes she's dated have all said the same thing. This makes Jennifer look really uncomfortable for some reason, but she quickly regains her composure and moves on with the lecture.
"Idioms are something of a secret to the people who know the language, or the culture," she explains, as she gives Stiles an obvious knowing look. Stiles catches it and frowns in confusion when she turns to Scott and gives him the same look before picking up where she left off. "They're phrases that only make sense if you know key words; saying 'Jump the gun,' is meaningful only if you know about the starting gun in a race. Or a phrase like, 'Seeing the whole board...'" Stiles, who is paying close attention at this point, mutters "...chess" under his breath, which seems to please Ms. Blake. She smiles, "That's right, Stiles. Do you play?" He lies that he doesn't, but his father does. She smiles really weirdly at this information, like the weirdest of all of her faces during this scene, but after a moment, she walks across the room and moves on to the topic of clichés.
When she's far enough away not to overhear him, Scott turns to Stiles and suggests that they should take advantage of Ethan's sudden nice-streak and try to get him to tell them what he knows about what the fuck is going on lately. Stiles doesn't follow, so Scott reminds him that Druids are often emissaries to wolf packs, which means that the Darach could have possibly been a former emissary to one of the Alphas' old packs, before they killed them all and formed their own. And, if that's the case, then that would explain why the Darach would want to go to war with the Alphas. Stiles, hilariously, responds: "First of all, I can't believe we've gotten to the point where the sentence 'What if the Darach was an emissary to the Alphas' actually makes sense to me. And second of all, we're going to have a huge problem getting to Ethan." Why? Because they have to get through Aiden, who hasn't left Ethan's side since they murdered Boyd. (Boyd!!! :(!!!)
Speak of the devil, the Alpha Twins are hanging out at Ethan's locker, where Aiden is giving his brother shit about the fact that Ethan is continuing to date Danny. Ethan argues that Danny is harmless, now that they know that Lydia is the one in the Scooby Gang or whatever, so what does it matter if they're dating or not? Aiden: "What do you think we're doing here? You know we're not actual high school students, right? We're here to eliminate a threat, not hold hands and pass notes in class."
Two things to note: 1) I'm glad we finally have an idea of their age now, since I wasn't sure whether they were the same age as the high school kids, like 16-17ish, or closer to being in their early-mid 20's like Derek, and 2) a lot of us have already had the impression that the twins were eventually going to turn on each other, and this interaction just seems to be more evidence to prove that theory. I think Ethan is eventually going to choose Danny over Aiden, and maybe even over their "mission" and/or the Alpha Pack entirely, and shit is gonna hit the fan. I cannot wait!
Tara follows the person into the locker room, identifies herself as a sheriff's deputy and orders them to reveal themselves. Of course, she gets no response, because villains in this town never follow the rules. She suddenly hears the shower running and follows the noise; when she gets into the showers, she sees her own dead body propped up against the wall under the running water. YIKES. Confused and terrified, she's about to scream in terror when the Darach, complete with shredded up face, garrotes her to death and drops her under the running water, right where she hallucinated seeing her body just seconds earlier. What a horrible way to go! So long, Tara; we hardly knew ye.
Out in the school parking lot, Scott and Stiles speed to the school in their respective vehicles, where Lydia and Allison are waiting for them outside. When the boys meet up with them, Lydia explains that it's just like what happened at the pool: she was intending to drive somewhere completely different, and ended up here, with no recollection of driving there and no clue as to why she came here in the first place. When they both look at her in confusion, she reminds them that Stiles instructed her to call them if she found a dead body, and they're both like, "Wait, hold up-- you found a dead body?"
She didn't though, at least not yet, and she has no interest in finding another one, thank you very much. She tells them to go ahead and find it themselves, for once, but Stiles, ever the squeamish one, argues that she's the one who is supposed to be finding the bodies. While they're bickering over who should go a-snooping, Scott goes ahead and finds it for them in like, five seconds flat-- I'm serious, literally all he had to do was take a couple more steps forward and keep looking straight ahead. Sigh, amateurs. Anyway, as predicted, it's Tara, laying beaten and bloodied on top of the school's sign. SHIT. TITLE CARD!
It's morning now, and Stiles is at school, hiding (poorly) behind a pillar and eavesdropping on his dad, who is talking to some teachers. Stilinski spots him easily, though, and warns him right off the bat not to go off on him about how these are ritual sacrifices that are happening in threes and whatnot. Stiles was totally about to do just that, of course, but his dad cuts him off before he can begin and informs Stiles that they're getting help from the FBI and some other nearby police stations, taking great care to assure him that this murderer isn't getting away with killing one of their fellow cops. Stiles mournfully reminds him that it was Tara who was murdered, who had helped him with his homework when his dad was working late for as long as he could remember. Man, Stiles is just getting the monopoly on "important people in my life who we have no idea exist until they're killed" tropes this season, isn't he? Stilinski is clearly grieving as well, though, and it's obvious he doesn't want to talk about it, because he just shakes his head and sadly urges Stiles to go back to school for the millionth time.
At the Argent Abode, Allison is faking sick and curled up in her bed, while her dad, who is checking up on her, inquires about the recital at school that evening. Apparently, it's being held to honor all the people who were killed as sacrifices; Argent refers to them as "losses," but Allison corrects him and calls them what they are-- "murders." He turns the topic back to the concert, and asks if she'd like him to take her tonight, but she begs off on account of her fake-illness. He buys it, or seems to, at least. Before he leaves, he stops in the doorway and tells her to take as much time off school as she needs. (He doesn't say "I have top-secret Darach business to tend to anyway," but since she's onto him, she can read between the lines.) Man, Argent does not care at all about school and it's hilarious! My mom would have been, all, "Well, if you're too sick to go to school, you're too sick to go to the recital/hang out with your friends/go to band practice." Argent is just like, "Oh, you wanna skip school forever? Sounds good to me! Whatever you want, sweetie."
Once he's left the room, Allison immediately flings off her comforter to reveal that she's already dressed for ass-kicking in an amazing blue shirt-dress with a wide, brown leather belt, burgundy fishnets and these sick platform boots. I need this outfit on my body ASAP. At the very least, the boots, but preferably all of it. She walks into her closet, and goes straight for the black case that holds her Chinese ring daggers (as opposed the case that holds her titanium and explosive arrowheads, or the one that holds her crossbow, of course.) With a dagger in hand, she grabs her coat and returns to her room, only to notice that the window, which was closed when she left, is now open a crack.
She drops her coat and struts over to the window in slo-mo, where she throws the window wide open and pulls an unidentified dude inside as she drops him onto the floor. She flips him over in one swift movement, straddles him to pin him down, and pushes her dagger to his throat before realizing that it's just Isaac. Hahaha, LOVE IT! Pretty hot, tbh. I'd be happy to be in either of their places.
She's like, "Are werewolves physically unable to use the front door? What are you doing here?" Since she's got a knife to his jugular, he's can't exactly lie, so he admits that Scott was worried about her because she wasn't at school. She reminds him for the billionth time that she can take care of herself, and he's like, "Yeah, girl, I know that. This isn't my first time on the receiving end of one of your ring daggers, BTW." She giggles down at him at mention of her badassery, but she doesn't move. YOU TWO NEED TO JUST HAVE A THREESOME WITH SCOTT ALREADY, OMFG.
It's time to have English class with Ms. Blake! Today's lesson-- which is about idioms, analogies, metaphors and similes-- has all kind of weird, vague subtext hidden in it as a bonus. After explaining that the aforementioned terms are "tools writers use to tell their stories," she notices that Lydia is doodling a tree in her notebook, yet again. She blurts out that she had no idea Lydia had so many hidden talents, to which Lydia retorts that the dudes she's dated have all said the same thing. This makes Jennifer look really uncomfortable for some reason, but she quickly regains her composure and moves on with the lecture.
"Idioms are something of a secret to the people who know the language, or the culture," she explains, as she gives Stiles an obvious knowing look. Stiles catches it and frowns in confusion when she turns to Scott and gives him the same look before picking up where she left off. "They're phrases that only make sense if you know key words; saying 'Jump the gun,' is meaningful only if you know about the starting gun in a race. Or a phrase like, 'Seeing the whole board...'" Stiles, who is paying close attention at this point, mutters "...chess" under his breath, which seems to please Ms. Blake. She smiles, "That's right, Stiles. Do you play?" He lies that he doesn't, but his father does. She smiles really weirdly at this information, like the weirdest of all of her faces during this scene, but after a moment, she walks across the room and moves on to the topic of clichés.
When she's far enough away not to overhear him, Scott turns to Stiles and suggests that they should take advantage of Ethan's sudden nice-streak and try to get him to tell them what he knows about what the fuck is going on lately. Stiles doesn't follow, so Scott reminds him that Druids are often emissaries to wolf packs, which means that the Darach could have possibly been a former emissary to one of the Alphas' old packs, before they killed them all and formed their own. And, if that's the case, then that would explain why the Darach would want to go to war with the Alphas. Stiles, hilariously, responds: "First of all, I can't believe we've gotten to the point where the sentence 'What if the Darach was an emissary to the Alphas' actually makes sense to me. And second of all, we're going to have a huge problem getting to Ethan." Why? Because they have to get through Aiden, who hasn't left Ethan's side since they murdered Boyd. (Boyd!!! :(!!!)
Speak of the devil, the Alpha Twins are hanging out at Ethan's locker, where Aiden is giving his brother shit about the fact that Ethan is continuing to date Danny. Ethan argues that Danny is harmless, now that they know that Lydia is the one in the Scooby Gang or whatever, so what does it matter if they're dating or not? Aiden: "What do you think we're doing here? You know we're not actual high school students, right? We're here to eliminate a threat, not hold hands and pass notes in class."
Two things to note: 1) I'm glad we finally have an idea of their age now, since I wasn't sure whether they were the same age as the high school kids, like 16-17ish, or closer to being in their early-mid 20's like Derek, and 2) a lot of us have already had the impression that the twins were eventually going to turn on each other, and this interaction just seems to be more evidence to prove that theory. I think Ethan is eventually going to choose Danny over Aiden, and maybe even over their "mission" and/or the Alpha Pack entirely, and shit is gonna hit the fan. I cannot wait!
Anyway, Ethan is like, "Well, Danny's not a threat, so that means the threat is eliminated!" Aiden finally realizes that his bro actually likes Danny, and asks him if he could kill Danny if Deucalion ordered it; Ethan responds with his own question, "If Deucalion asks you, would you kill me?" Instead of answering, Aiden urges him to stop talking to Danny, "...or I'm going to rip the flesh off his face. And EAT it."
Back in class, Stiles reiterates the fact that the twins are never apart, and wonders aloud how they can get Ethan alone. Scott gives him a look, and Stiles immediately understands; they both turn around to stare at Lydia, who isn't the least bit impressed. She sighs and stops sketching. "What now?"
(via fyeahdylanobrien)
Of course, Scott's big idea was to have Lydia take one for the team and distract Aiden with another sexy rendezvous in Coach's office. After some groping, Aiden stops in the middle of making out to voice his surprise at her invitation, expositing that she hasn't spoken to him since Boyd died. Lydia corrects him by reminding him that he killed Boyd, but Aiden defensively puts the blame solely on Kali, who gave them the orders to do it. Lydia points that she was under the impression that he was an Alpha, but Aiden lets it slip that the Alpha Pack isn't as democratic as it looks, which we all could have guessed.
Back in class, Stiles reiterates the fact that the twins are never apart, and wonders aloud how they can get Ethan alone. Scott gives him a look, and Stiles immediately understands; they both turn around to stare at Lydia, who isn't the least bit impressed. She sighs and stops sketching. "What now?"
(via fyeahdylanobrien)
Of course, Scott's big idea was to have Lydia take one for the team and distract Aiden with another sexy rendezvous in Coach's office. After some groping, Aiden stops in the middle of making out to voice his surprise at her invitation, expositing that she hasn't spoken to him since Boyd died. Lydia corrects him by reminding him that he killed Boyd, but Aiden defensively puts the blame solely on Kali, who gave them the orders to do it. Lydia points that she was under the impression that he was an Alpha, but Aiden lets it slip that the Alpha Pack isn't as democratic as it looks, which we all could have guessed.
He adds that Derek started it by killing Ennis, anyway. (LIES!) Lydia: "So, it's his turn to kill someone now, is that it?" Aiden's like, "Maybe, kinda like that one time he ordered his pack to kill you?" Lydia has no idea how he could know that, but before they can get into it, someone outside the room scratches a spiral into the fogged glass of the door with their claws. Lydia has no idea WTF that means, or who did it, but Aiden does, and is sure it was Derek. And, predictably, he's pissed.
In an abandoned hallways, Stiles and Scott have cornered Ethan. He's like, "Why are you guys even talking to me? Did you forget I just killed your friend? What if I just kill more?" Stiles has had enough of that, though, and will hold his tongue NO LONGER! So, he promptly turns into a badass. Behold this beauty:
(#1 & 2 via Teen Wolf, #3 via ctrlcutcopy)
Before Stiles can get his ass kicked, Alpha-styles, Scott intervenes and tells him to chill before turning back to Ethan to get to the point: he doesn't think E actually wanted to kill Boyd, and knows he feels bad about it. Ethan really does look like he feels a little guilty, as he explains that they don't understand how much the twins owe the Alpha Pack, and Deucalion specifically. Apparently, the twins weren't Alphas when they met Deuc, Kali and Ennis-- they were Omegas.
While Ethan is being interrogated, Aiden is busting into the locker room with Lydia in tow, yelling for Derek to fight him or whatever macho Alpha-werewolf bullshit. All the while, Lydia is yelling at him to stop and threatening to scream for help, but it's not phasing him a bit. However, it's not Derek who has the suicidal tendencies this week, though, it's the youngest Hale, Cora! She leaps at him out of nowhere and furiously claws the hell out of Aiden's chest.
Meanwhile, out in the hall, Ethan continues telling Scott and Stiles his story. Basically, Omegas who run with a pack, like the twins did, are literally the bitches of the group, since they're not technically members of the pack so much as hangers-on; they were constantly shit on by the Betas and by their Alpha, who was the worst of them. He goes as far to say that it was their old pack who gives werewolves the reputation for being killers to emphasize just how awful these guys were. At this time, the twins couldn't control what Stiles calls their "Voltron Wolf" ability (which I am adopting/borrowing/stealing because it's way better than XXL Alpha,) and Ethan reveals that it was Deucalion who taught them how to control it and use it to defend themselves. In doing this, he also helped them fight back against their former abusers and take them down one by one. They saved their Alpha for last, and both ended up becoming Alphas themselves in the process.
In an abandoned hallways, Stiles and Scott have cornered Ethan. He's like, "Why are you guys even talking to me? Did you forget I just killed your friend? What if I just kill more?" Stiles has had enough of that, though, and will hold his tongue NO LONGER! So, he promptly turns into a badass. Behold this beauty:
(#1 & 2 via Teen Wolf, #3 via ctrlcutcopy)
Before Stiles can get his ass kicked, Alpha-styles, Scott intervenes and tells him to chill before turning back to Ethan to get to the point: he doesn't think E actually wanted to kill Boyd, and knows he feels bad about it. Ethan really does look like he feels a little guilty, as he explains that they don't understand how much the twins owe the Alpha Pack, and Deucalion specifically. Apparently, the twins weren't Alphas when they met Deuc, Kali and Ennis-- they were Omegas.
While Ethan is being interrogated, Aiden is busting into the locker room with Lydia in tow, yelling for Derek to fight him or whatever macho Alpha-werewolf bullshit. All the while, Lydia is yelling at him to stop and threatening to scream for help, but it's not phasing him a bit. However, it's not Derek who has the suicidal tendencies this week, though, it's the youngest Hale, Cora! She leaps at him out of nowhere and furiously claws the hell out of Aiden's chest.
Meanwhile, out in the hall, Ethan continues telling Scott and Stiles his story. Basically, Omegas who run with a pack, like the twins did, are literally the bitches of the group, since they're not technically members of the pack so much as hangers-on; they were constantly shit on by the Betas and by their Alpha, who was the worst of them. He goes as far to say that it was their old pack who gives werewolves the reputation for being killers to emphasize just how awful these guys were. At this time, the twins couldn't control what Stiles calls their "Voltron Wolf" ability (which I am adopting/borrowing/stealing because it's way better than XXL Alpha,) and Ethan reveals that it was Deucalion who taught them how to control it and use it to defend themselves. In doing this, he also helped them fight back against their former abusers and take them down one by one. They saved their Alpha for last, and both ended up becoming Alphas themselves in the process.
This story fits in well with Deucalion's obsession with collecting rare Alphas for his pack; what the twins can do seems to be pretty uncommon, along with Kali's weird toe-claws. Ennis, on the other hand, seemed to be favored solely for his brute strength. What I don't understand, though, is how they could have absorbed all of the power of the Betas if they weren't Alphas when they killed them? Maybe it was just partially a revenge mission and partially to show Deuc they were serious about joining the Alpha Pack, and had nothing to do with gaining their power like Deucalion, Kali, and Ennis? I don't know.
Scott asks about their emissary, but Ethan just shakes his head. Scott's asks, "All of them? Kali and Ennis' too?" Ethan responds that yes, all of the emissaries were taken out, with the exception of Deucalion's. Stiles assumes he means Marin Morrell, but Ethan doesn't get a chance to confirm or deny this fact, because he gets a pain in his chest that alerts him that his brother is injured. Oh shit, they have so many superpowers! This sympathetic pain thing is especially helpful, though, I can imagine.
In the locker room, Aiden is wolfed out and ready to fight, and growls in Cora's face as he grabs her in a choke-hold. He then throws her across the room, where she slides against the wall. In doing so, her head inadvertently slams against the pipes under the sink, and you can tell just by the "thump" sound that it makes that she's already pretty hurt. While Cora tries to shake off how disoriented she is, Aiden picks up one of the bench press weights, ignoring Lydia's shouts to leave Cora alone, and literally whacks Cora in the side of the head with it before she can pull herself to her feet. My head throbs just watching that happen, with or without slo-mo. Cora is thrown once again from the force of the blow, and rolls across the tile floor toward Lydia before eventually landing at her feet. Ethan and Scott run into the locker room to restraint Aiden and keep him from finishing Cora off, which gives Lydia the opportunity to crouch down and check on her.
Ethan reminds his brother that Kali and Derek have a deal-- they have to give him until the full moon to kill his pack and join them, which means they can't kill Derek or Cora, or any of the pack members, until then. Lydia gives Aiden the biggest stink-eye EVER as he's pulled away by his twin, who gives Scott an apologetic look before they go. Stiles calls out to the rest of the gang that Cora actually looks seriously injured while she writhes around on the floor in pain. Yeah, I'd say so.
Back at the Argent Abode, Allison and Isaac continue to play hooky while she fills him in on what she's gathered from the Darach developments. Isaac is shocked to hear that our favorite hot dad Argent is the one sacrificing people, but Allison is pretty sure that he isn't. Or, at least, she's really, really hoping he isn't. Anyway, they cutely banter a little bit and tease the Allisaac shippers while she shows him the map with the UV ink markings in his study.
Scott asks about their emissary, but Ethan just shakes his head. Scott's asks, "All of them? Kali and Ennis' too?" Ethan responds that yes, all of the emissaries were taken out, with the exception of Deucalion's. Stiles assumes he means Marin Morrell, but Ethan doesn't get a chance to confirm or deny this fact, because he gets a pain in his chest that alerts him that his brother is injured. Oh shit, they have so many superpowers! This sympathetic pain thing is especially helpful, though, I can imagine.
In the locker room, Aiden is wolfed out and ready to fight, and growls in Cora's face as he grabs her in a choke-hold. He then throws her across the room, where she slides against the wall. In doing so, her head inadvertently slams against the pipes under the sink, and you can tell just by the "thump" sound that it makes that she's already pretty hurt. While Cora tries to shake off how disoriented she is, Aiden picks up one of the bench press weights, ignoring Lydia's shouts to leave Cora alone, and literally whacks Cora in the side of the head with it before she can pull herself to her feet. My head throbs just watching that happen, with or without slo-mo. Cora is thrown once again from the force of the blow, and rolls across the tile floor toward Lydia before eventually landing at her feet. Ethan and Scott run into the locker room to restraint Aiden and keep him from finishing Cora off, which gives Lydia the opportunity to crouch down and check on her.
Ethan reminds his brother that Kali and Derek have a deal-- they have to give him until the full moon to kill his pack and join them, which means they can't kill Derek or Cora, or any of the pack members, until then. Lydia gives Aiden the biggest stink-eye EVER as he's pulled away by his twin, who gives Scott an apologetic look before they go. Stiles calls out to the rest of the gang that Cora actually looks seriously injured while she writhes around on the floor in pain. Yeah, I'd say so.
Back at the Argent Abode, Allison and Isaac continue to play hooky while she fills him in on what she's gathered from the Darach developments. Isaac is shocked to hear that our favorite hot dad Argent is the one sacrificing people, but Allison is pretty sure that he isn't. Or, at least, she's really, really hoping he isn't. Anyway, they cutely banter a little bit and tease the Allisaac shippers while she shows him the map with the UV ink markings in his study.
Allison exposits that there are five more bodies to be found, but she could find no indication of who is going to be sacrificed next. Isaac takes a step back away from the desk, which earns him a confused look from Alli. "It's something I learned from my father," Isaac admits, as he stares at the desktop. "Take a step back, look at the whole picture. Sometimes you see things you wouldn't notice if you were up close, when all you're focusing on are the details." OMG ISAAC'S DAD. I have no time for Lahey family feels right now, so you cut that out, show!
Allison backs up and his suggestion, which distracts Isaac a bit, since she's standing super close to him, giving him the opportunity to stare at her and smells her hair a little before Allison brings him back to reality. She notices what I thought were black vinyl records arranged underneath the map on the desk, but it's actually a black Celtic five-fold knot that is carved into the desktop. Allison is holding the UV light, so Isaac takes her hand and uses the light to see words written inside each other of five knots. The outside four knots say "Virgins," "Warriors," "Healers," and "Philosophers." And in the middle knot? "Guardians."
Cora is still in the locker room, peering into the mirror so she can wipe the blood off her forehead. Scott asks her if she's okay, and though Lydia doesn't seem to think so, Cora swears that she'll heal. However, when she steps back, she contradicts that statement by wobbling on her feet like a newborn deer. Actual Pack Mom Stiles catches her, and starts in on her. "Do you realize how suicidally crazy that was? What were you thinking, going after them?" Cora is NOT impressed with Stiles' well-intentioned tough love, and shouts, "I did it for Boyd! None of you were doing anything!" Scott insists that they're doing the best they can, but Cora disagrees. "And you're failing. You're just a bunch of stupid teenagers, running around, thinking you can stop people from getting killed. All you do is show up late. All you really do is find the bodies."
Allison backs up and his suggestion, which distracts Isaac a bit, since she's standing super close to him, giving him the opportunity to stare at her and smells her hair a little before Allison brings him back to reality. She notices what I thought were black vinyl records arranged underneath the map on the desk, but it's actually a black Celtic five-fold knot that is carved into the desktop. Allison is holding the UV light, so Isaac takes her hand and uses the light to see words written inside each other of five knots. The outside four knots say "Virgins," "Warriors," "Healers," and "Philosophers." And in the middle knot? "Guardians."
(via Teen Wolf)
Cora is still in the locker room, peering into the mirror so she can wipe the blood off her forehead. Scott asks her if she's okay, and though Lydia doesn't seem to think so, Cora swears that she'll heal. However, when she steps back, she contradicts that statement by wobbling on her feet like a newborn deer. Actual Pack Mom Stiles catches her, and starts in on her. "Do you realize how suicidally crazy that was? What were you thinking, going after them?" Cora is NOT impressed with Stiles' well-intentioned tough love, and shouts, "I did it for Boyd! None of you were doing anything!" Scott insists that they're doing the best they can, but Cora disagrees. "And you're failing. You're just a bunch of stupid teenagers, running around, thinking you can stop people from getting killed. All you do is show up late. All you really do is find the bodies."
She turns heel and flounces out of the locker room, on that note, and though Stiles jokes, "Well, she's a Hale," none of them laugh; they all look as if they've all been slapped in the face. Which, verbally-speaking, they kind of have, even if it's not really their fault that they're in this position. Stiles runs after her, to make sure she gets home okay, and Scott and Lydia just sigh at the fact that they can't escape this bullshit, ever.
Jennifer is running around outside in her teacher heels, when she spots a shadowy figure in that weird tunnel-thing outside the school. She smiles and runs towards the guy, who looks and sounds like Derek Hale, but who acts more like a love-sick fool than the sour-wolf to which we're so accustomed. They run into each others' arms and kiss like they're in a Nicholas Sparks novel for a bit before she asks where the hell he's been. "And don't say that you needed to be alone for a while, because that is the single-worst excuse ever." WOW. Empathy, Jen. You need it. Remember that kid you just saw get murdered at Derek's own hands, probably no less than a week ago? Who was his Beta? Who he tried (and failed) to give a better life? Kind of traumatizing for all involved parties. Especially Derek.
Ms. Morrell is filing stuff in her office when someone enters. "Sorry, I don't remember having any more appointments..." she mumbles absently, as she skims through a file, not even bothering to look up as she says it. It's not until she hears Scott's voice that she realizes who is waiting for her. "You sure? 'Cause I could use a little guidance right now," Scott retorts exhaustedly. She gives him a hard look before dramatically slamming her filing cabinet shut.
Stiles and Cora are driving in his Jeep when Allison calls to update them on the Darach situation. On speaker-phone, she exposits that the last two groups to be sacrificed are philosophers and guardians, the latter of which likely includes police officers, when you consider Tara's death the previous night. Which, of course, means that Stiles needs to just man up and give his dad the skinny on the monsters of the town already. "Stiles, you have to tell your dad. Tell him whatever you need, but you need to make him believe." When Allison hangs up, Cora asks him what he's going to do. "I'm gonna tell him the truth. And I'm gonna need your help." YESSS FINALLY.
Ms. Morrell and Scott are sitting at her desk, where she asks why he's wasting time talking to her, since he's kind of in a hurry-- it's only a matter of time before someone else gets taken. He asks if she's the one who is doing it. "Come on Scott, shouldn't you be leaving the interrogations to someone like Stilinski?" I wonder if she means Stiles? Or is she talking about his father? Hmmm. It really could go either way. Scott repeats himself, and Marin's like, "Listen to my heartbeat, dumbass. No, I'm not killing people."
She's tired of playing games though, so finally, she levels with him-- she's the only reason why Deuc and his pack haven't gone after Scott and his friends already, because she's been holding them off to buy Scott some time to figure out a plan. When Scott asks what Deucalion wants, she gives him the straight-up truth: he wants a True Alpha, and he's sure it's Scott, so a few murders by a vengeful dark Druid aren't really going to keep him from continuing whatever he's planning in order to add Scott to his collection.
Jennifer is running around outside in her teacher heels, when she spots a shadowy figure in that weird tunnel-thing outside the school. She smiles and runs towards the guy, who looks and sounds like Derek Hale, but who acts more like a love-sick fool than the sour-wolf to which we're so accustomed. They run into each others' arms and kiss like they're in a Nicholas Sparks novel for a bit before she asks where the hell he's been. "And don't say that you needed to be alone for a while, because that is the single-worst excuse ever." WOW. Empathy, Jen. You need it. Remember that kid you just saw get murdered at Derek's own hands, probably no less than a week ago? Who was his Beta? Who he tried (and failed) to give a better life? Kind of traumatizing for all involved parties. Especially Derek.
He just kind of closes his eyes and sighs and looks like a sad puppy, which makes her backpedal, all "Oh your friend died obviously you needed space duh how silly of me teehee!" He assures her that he's here now, and that he's made sure she's been safe this whole time, though the fact that the murderous Alpha Twins are still in her classes doesn't exactly make her feel safe. They're all mushy and kissy a bit more until the bell rings.
When she expresses her hatred for the bell, he asks her to come back to his place, but she has more murders to plan three more classes and a recital to host, in memory of the people she ritually sacrificed people the town has lost. This scene is really visually stunning, though, so much so that it's definitely evidence as to how this season has improved on the last two, especially now that they've moved to California to film, versus Atlanta like they were before, and as a result got some tax credits that really improved the quality. The song in this scene, "I Can't Find You" by SolarSolar, is absolutely amazing, as well. I have been singing it loudly in my car on my way to and from school for about a week now.
Ms. Morrell is filing stuff in her office when someone enters. "Sorry, I don't remember having any more appointments..." she mumbles absently, as she skims through a file, not even bothering to look up as she says it. It's not until she hears Scott's voice that she realizes who is waiting for her. "You sure? 'Cause I could use a little guidance right now," Scott retorts exhaustedly. She gives him a hard look before dramatically slamming her filing cabinet shut.
Stiles and Cora are driving in his Jeep when Allison calls to update them on the Darach situation. On speaker-phone, she exposits that the last two groups to be sacrificed are philosophers and guardians, the latter of which likely includes police officers, when you consider Tara's death the previous night. Which, of course, means that Stiles needs to just man up and give his dad the skinny on the monsters of the town already. "Stiles, you have to tell your dad. Tell him whatever you need, but you need to make him believe." When Allison hangs up, Cora asks him what he's going to do. "I'm gonna tell him the truth. And I'm gonna need your help." YESSS FINALLY.
Ms. Morrell and Scott are sitting at her desk, where she asks why he's wasting time talking to her, since he's kind of in a hurry-- it's only a matter of time before someone else gets taken. He asks if she's the one who is doing it. "Come on Scott, shouldn't you be leaving the interrogations to someone like Stilinski?" I wonder if she means Stiles? Or is she talking about his father? Hmmm. It really could go either way. Scott repeats himself, and Marin's like, "Listen to my heartbeat, dumbass. No, I'm not killing people."
She's tired of playing games though, so finally, she levels with him-- she's the only reason why Deuc and his pack haven't gone after Scott and his friends already, because she's been holding them off to buy Scott some time to figure out a plan. When Scott asks what Deucalion wants, she gives him the straight-up truth: he wants a True Alpha, and he's sure it's Scott, so a few murders by a vengeful dark Druid aren't really going to keep him from continuing whatever he's planning in order to add Scott to his collection.
I love how she and her brother Deaton are the only people on this show who are actually capable of communicating in a way that doesn't involve using vague and cryptic riddles and metaphors. And even then, I still feel like they're not upfront about anything until it's down to the wire. Can't anyone just give people information as it's needed? Anyway, Scott swears that he isn't an Alpha, but they both know that's not exactly true, and she doesn't mince words when she tells him it's obvious that he's well on his way to Alpha-hood. Frustrated, he stands up and slams his palms on her desk, and asks WTF Deucalion is waiting for and/or what he wants. The answer to that is that he wants Scott to be a killer.
Scott states the obvious-- killing someone, even an Alpha, means that he can't become a True Alpha, right? "Exactly. You want the psychologist's perspective? He's an obsessive who both desires you and is threatened by you. If the obsessive can't have the object of his desire, he'll choose to destroy it instead. You'll either willingly become part of his pack, or he'll make a killer out of you, destroying your potential to be a True Alpha." Okay, I have a feeling that this isn't exactly true, and she's only saying this to get him to not kill her (which shouldn't even be an issue, because Scott isn't about murdering unless there's really no other choice, like if someone else's life is on the line at the hands of someone evil) because it never really comes up again.
Scott states the obvious-- killing someone, even an Alpha, means that he can't become a True Alpha, right? "Exactly. You want the psychologist's perspective? He's an obsessive who both desires you and is threatened by you. If the obsessive can't have the object of his desire, he'll choose to destroy it instead. You'll either willingly become part of his pack, or he'll make a killer out of you, destroying your potential to be a True Alpha." Okay, I have a feeling that this isn't exactly true, and she's only saying this to get him to not kill her (which shouldn't even be an issue, because Scott isn't about murdering unless there's really no other choice, like if someone else's life is on the line at the hands of someone evil) because it never really comes up again.
Anyway, Scott doesn't believe in no-win scenarios, as we well know, which is probably what I love most about him, but Morrell tells him not to be so sure that he can find a third path to take; he and his buddies are floundering trying to figure out what is happening, which is exactly what he wants. "While you're trying to figure out what to do next, he's thinking ten moves ahead with checkmate already in sight." Needless to say, Scott looks more defeated-looking leaving that office than he has all season. Aw, pobrecito! Move here to Central Ohio, where nothing exciting ever happens.
In some classroom, Mr. Westover, a history teacher, is writing his notes on World War I on the board in preparation for his next class. He turns to rifle through some papers on his desk, and when he returns to the board, the notes have all been erased and replaced with a crudely-drawn Celtic five-fold knot; instead of it being one smooth, unbroken line, like the carving on Chris' desk, it's like a Venn diagram with five circles that overlap.
Needless to say, the guy is pretty startled, and drops the chalk in his hand in surprise, which rolls out into the hallway and bumps into Lydia's high-heeled feet. She picks up the chalk and curiously walks into the classroom, which now has no one in it. She stops in front of the chalkboard and writes the number "2" in the circle on the right hand side. When she's finished, it's like she's snapped out of a trance, and she screams a wail of a scream. Oh dear, I wonder what on earth Lydia could possibly be?
A few minutes have passed, and it looks like the school finally hired security guards, because they're standing around talking to other teachers. Aiden is standing next to Lydia while she desperately tries to convince Ms. Blake to call the police. There are a bunch of students hovering in the doorway as well, including Scott and Ethan. Jen's skeptical of Lydia's claims, naturally, and even gets kind of patronizing, but Lydia's so not having it. Ms. Blake's like, "Well, for all we know he could have just left early?" but Lydia's just all, "They said the same thing about Mr. Harris, and even YOU don't believe he's actually on vacation, so..."
Lydia is sure that Mr. Westover is going to be the second sacrifice, and points to the chalkboard to emphasize her point, but Jennifer just kind of laughs and reminds her that it was actually Lydia who wrote that number, not the killer. Lydia concedes that point, but tries to lie that she's a psychic, in hopes it will give her argument some credibility. Ms. Blake side-eyes her, like, "You're psychic?" to which Lydia's frustration hits critical mass. "I'm SOMETHING!" she shrieks, which causes everyone in the room to turn and gawk at her. In the doorway, Ethan turns to Scott to ask which of the groups would include a teacher and a sheriff's deputy, but Scott has no idea.
Stiles has gathered Cora and his dad in his room, where he has been pacing back and forth for an unknown length of time. It must have been a while, though, because Stilinski looks as though he's wondering if his son is on the drugs or something, even more than he probably already does. After a couple false starts, Stiles finally blurts out that he has no idea where to begin, but is ultimately forced into action when his dad complains that he doesn't have the luxury of time right now, considering that the murder rates of his small town is like, five people a week at the moment. He suddenly remembers Ms. Blake's chess analogy from earlier, and pulls out a chess set, explaining that his dad hasn't been able to solve his cases because Stiles needs to show him the whole board. Good start, buddy!
Allison is sitting solemnly at her father's desk in his study when she gets a text from Lydia that reads "Mr. Westover missing." She is convinced at this point that her dad is the Darach, and that it's up to her to do something, but Isaac is like, "Uh, if he's the one actually killing all these people, do you really think we can stop him without both getting totally dead?" She reminds him that her dad knows everything, which likely means he's planned everything, and pulls out her map of the telluric currents from her coat pocket. She's sure if they can figure out which spot on the currents the body will be sacrificed, they can figure out where he is. Isaac must have been a Boy Scout back in the day, because he finds the most recently added spot on the map in seconds. With the location in hand, the two take off after Allison's daddy. I'm sorry though, but the fact that anyone, especially his own daughter, actually thought that Chris "I Live By The Code" Argent was ritually sacrificing people is so hilarious to me.
Meanwhile, Stiles has been demonstrating who is what in the supernatural world, by using little sticky flags attached to chess pieces on a chess board. I'm just going to transcribe this part, because it's pretty funny and I'll ruin it by paraphrasing:
Allison and Isaac have pulled in to whatever abandoned building is en vogue this week for murder and maiming, when Isaac asks her if she's sure that they shouldn't call Scott. Her response? "Stay behind me and stay quiet." I do not have a good feeling about this at all, and neither does Isaac:
(via onceuponadylan)
They walk into the building, where Isaac makes it clear that if her dad tries to kill him, he's going to defend himself. "If my dad tries to kill you, you'll be dead," Allison deadpans in response. OUCH. Isaac's a little offended by her lack of confidence, but holds out a hand to stop her when he suddenly smells blood. She asks what direction the scent is coming from, but Isaac's still kind of a n00b when it comes to werewolf stuff, so he's not sure. They hear a noise straight ahead of them, and when they look closer, they see that it was the sound of someone being strangled by the Darach, who peeks out right behind the victim.
In some classroom, Mr. Westover, a history teacher, is writing his notes on World War I on the board in preparation for his next class. He turns to rifle through some papers on his desk, and when he returns to the board, the notes have all been erased and replaced with a crudely-drawn Celtic five-fold knot; instead of it being one smooth, unbroken line, like the carving on Chris' desk, it's like a Venn diagram with five circles that overlap.
Needless to say, the guy is pretty startled, and drops the chalk in his hand in surprise, which rolls out into the hallway and bumps into Lydia's high-heeled feet. She picks up the chalk and curiously walks into the classroom, which now has no one in it. She stops in front of the chalkboard and writes the number "2" in the circle on the right hand side. When she's finished, it's like she's snapped out of a trance, and she screams a wail of a scream. Oh dear, I wonder what on earth Lydia could possibly be?
A few minutes have passed, and it looks like the school finally hired security guards, because they're standing around talking to other teachers. Aiden is standing next to Lydia while she desperately tries to convince Ms. Blake to call the police. There are a bunch of students hovering in the doorway as well, including Scott and Ethan. Jen's skeptical of Lydia's claims, naturally, and even gets kind of patronizing, but Lydia's so not having it. Ms. Blake's like, "Well, for all we know he could have just left early?" but Lydia's just all, "They said the same thing about Mr. Harris, and even YOU don't believe he's actually on vacation, so..."
Lydia is sure that Mr. Westover is going to be the second sacrifice, and points to the chalkboard to emphasize her point, but Jennifer just kind of laughs and reminds her that it was actually Lydia who wrote that number, not the killer. Lydia concedes that point, but tries to lie that she's a psychic, in hopes it will give her argument some credibility. Ms. Blake side-eyes her, like, "You're psychic?" to which Lydia's frustration hits critical mass. "I'm SOMETHING!" she shrieks, which causes everyone in the room to turn and gawk at her. In the doorway, Ethan turns to Scott to ask which of the groups would include a teacher and a sheriff's deputy, but Scott has no idea.
Stiles has gathered Cora and his dad in his room, where he has been pacing back and forth for an unknown length of time. It must have been a while, though, because Stilinski looks as though he's wondering if his son is on the drugs or something, even more than he probably already does. After a couple false starts, Stiles finally blurts out that he has no idea where to begin, but is ultimately forced into action when his dad complains that he doesn't have the luxury of time right now, considering that the murder rates of his small town is like, five people a week at the moment. He suddenly remembers Ms. Blake's chess analogy from earlier, and pulls out a chess set, explaining that his dad hasn't been able to solve his cases because Stiles needs to show him the whole board. Good start, buddy!
Allison is sitting solemnly at her father's desk in his study when she gets a text from Lydia that reads "Mr. Westover missing." She is convinced at this point that her dad is the Darach, and that it's up to her to do something, but Isaac is like, "Uh, if he's the one actually killing all these people, do you really think we can stop him without both getting totally dead?" She reminds him that her dad knows everything, which likely means he's planned everything, and pulls out her map of the telluric currents from her coat pocket. She's sure if they can figure out which spot on the currents the body will be sacrificed, they can figure out where he is. Isaac must have been a Boy Scout back in the day, because he finds the most recently added spot on the map in seconds. With the location in hand, the two take off after Allison's daddy. I'm sorry though, but the fact that anyone, especially his own daughter, actually thought that Chris "I Live By The Code" Argent was ritually sacrificing people is so hilarious to me.
Meanwhile, Stiles has been demonstrating who is what in the supernatural world, by using little sticky flags attached to chess pieces on a chess board. I'm just going to transcribe this part, because it's pretty funny and I'll ruin it by paraphrasing:
STILINSKI: "So...Scott and Derek are...werewolves?"
STILES: "Yes!"
STILINSKI: "And...Kate Argent was a werewolf?"
STILES: "Hunter...purple is 'hunter.'" [He holds up sticky flags and looks at Cora for back-up]
CORA: "...Along with Allison and her father..."
STILINSKI: "Yeah... And my friend Deaton, the veterinarian, is a...kanima?" [He consults a stack of papers in front of him]
STILES: "No, no, no, he's a druid. [beat] Well, we think..."
STILINSKI: "So, who's the kanima?
STILES: "Jackson."
STILINSKI: "No, Jackson's a werewolf."
STILES: "Jackson was a kanima first, then Peter and Derek killed him and he came back to life as a werewolf, and now he's in London..." [He shakes his head in frustration]
STILINSKI: "Who's the darack?"
STILES: "It's Darach--"
CORA: "--We don't know yet..."
STILES: "We don't know yet!" [He points at Cora in agreement]
STILINSKI: "But he was killed by werewolves?"
STILES: "[nods] Slashed up and left for dead..."
CORA: "We think!"
STILES: "We think..." [He points at Cora again]I was so excited because I was like, yay, that was easy! And funny! And now Stilinski knows everything! But no, now he just thinks his son is an asshole who just spent the last hour or so bullshitting him about important stuff and is now totally pissed at him. In a last-ditch effort to get his dad to believe, he confesses that Cora is a werewolf too, and asks for her to turn to prove it to him. Cora reluctantly stands up, but instead of wolfing-out like she was supposed to, she just passes out and drops unconscious to the floor. Wonderful.
Allison and Isaac have pulled in to whatever abandoned building is en vogue this week for murder and maiming, when Isaac asks her if she's sure that they shouldn't call Scott. Her response? "Stay behind me and stay quiet." I do not have a good feeling about this at all, and neither does Isaac:
(via onceuponadylan)
They walk into the building, where Isaac makes it clear that if her dad tries to kill him, he's going to defend himself. "If my dad tries to kill you, you'll be dead," Allison deadpans in response. OUCH. Isaac's a little offended by her lack of confidence, but holds out a hand to stop her when he suddenly smells blood. She asks what direction the scent is coming from, but Isaac's still kind of a n00b when it comes to werewolf stuff, so he's not sure. They hear a noise straight ahead of them, and when they look closer, they see that it was the sound of someone being strangled by the Darach, who peeks out right behind the victim.
Of course, Allison runs right after them, dagger at the ready, and while Isaac tries to stop her, he fails miserably. Thankfully for all of them, Argent saves their asses by running out in front of them with a gun in each hand, firing a hailstorm of bullets at the Darach. Of course, they don't manage to catch or stop them, but at least neither of Team Good Guys were hurt in the process, other than Mr. Westover. Seriously though, look at this hotness:
(via Teen Wolf)
Damn, Argent, why are you so hot? Isaac is shielding Allison, because apparently he shields ladies with his tall, lanky body in high-stress situations, now, but Argent, who is still shooting, yells at them to help their teacher. They run over, but once they realize he's dead, they just stare at him instead of doing anything to help. Maybe they could tell he was past saving? Seems a little negligent though. Allison, noticing that it's a teacher was just sacrificed, realizes it's likely not guardians they're sacrificing right now, but philosophers.
(via Teen Wolf)
Damn, Argent, why are you so hot? Isaac is shielding Allison, because apparently he shields ladies with his tall, lanky body in high-stress situations, now, but Argent, who is still shooting, yells at them to help their teacher. They run over, but once they realize he's dead, they just stare at him instead of doing anything to help. Maybe they could tell he was past saving? Seems a little negligent though. Allison, noticing that it's a teacher was just sacrificed, realizes it's likely not guardians they're sacrificing right now, but philosophers.
We cut to Scott on the phone, updating Stiles, who is at the hospital, of what just occurred with Allison and Isaac. Stiles thinks it makes sense, because Tara was actually a middle school teacher before she was a cop. How does the Darach choose who they sacrifice? Do they have to have specific qualities as well as being a philosopher/healer/whatever? Anyway, the boys guess that the next sacrifice will likely also be a teacher, too, and they suddenly remember that tonight is their band recital or whatever, in memorium of the other sacrificed people, which means that all the teachers will be at school tonight. Scott, who is still at school for whatever reason, looks over to see a bunch of teacher's filing into the auditorium. Ms. Blake is outside, greeting everyone in front of the auditorium doors as she passes out programs. Yeah, this'll all totally end well.
Argent is busy policing his brass so it can't be traced back to him, while Allison questions him on his efforts to track the Darach. He's pissed at her, because he thinks he would have caught them if she hadn't shown up. (Except he wouldn't have, because he didn't even move until after the teacher was already dead, but nice try, Papa Argent.) Allison brings up the fact that he's been lying to her for the past two months about EVERYTHING, but she doesn't know that Argent knows that she lied about helping the rag-tag Beacon Hills Pack fight against the Alphas at the abandoned mall (see "Frayed" for a recap), so her argument is pretty weak. Isaac reminds them that it's not really the time for a family throwdown, so they decide to go to the recital and see if they can't catch the Darach there, instead.
Stilinski's at the hospital now too, where Stiles is still trying to get him to believe him by questioning him about what he saw the night he found Scott rescuing Deaton at the bank, with the mountain ash and accelerated healing and whatnot. (see "Currents" if you need to refresh your memory.) Stilinski has had more than enough at this point, and tells Stiles that he sees stuff that he can't explain all the time, but it doesn't make it real, OR supernatural. However, this new dead body is real, so that's what he's focusing on at the moment. As he walks away, Stiles yells at him to just listen to him, and Stilinski downright EXPLODES, and yells back that he has been listening. Stiles deduces that he just doesn't believe him, and sends the sharpest barb of all to end the fight. "Mom would have believed me." Poor Stilinski looks like he literally got punched in the balls, but just silently and sadly walks away. Stilinski family feels :( :( :( :(
At the recital, Danny is visibly nervous while Ethan is doing the adorable boyfriend thing to help him relax; fussing with his tie, adjusting his hair, and popping an Icebreaker mint into his mouth. What band member would eat Icebreakers before a concert? Unless they want to destroy their trumpet with all the sugary saliva that will be filling it while they're playing, anyway. I don't know Danny's life, though, maybe that's what he's going for? Ethan asks if Danny is still nervous, but he smiles and promises that he's good now. Look at that sweet grin!
Argent is busy policing his brass so it can't be traced back to him, while Allison questions him on his efforts to track the Darach. He's pissed at her, because he thinks he would have caught them if she hadn't shown up. (Except he wouldn't have, because he didn't even move until after the teacher was already dead, but nice try, Papa Argent.) Allison brings up the fact that he's been lying to her for the past two months about EVERYTHING, but she doesn't know that Argent knows that she lied about helping the rag-tag Beacon Hills Pack fight against the Alphas at the abandoned mall (see "Frayed" for a recap), so her argument is pretty weak. Isaac reminds them that it's not really the time for a family throwdown, so they decide to go to the recital and see if they can't catch the Darach there, instead.
Stilinski's at the hospital now too, where Stiles is still trying to get him to believe him by questioning him about what he saw the night he found Scott rescuing Deaton at the bank, with the mountain ash and accelerated healing and whatnot. (see "Currents" if you need to refresh your memory.) Stilinski has had more than enough at this point, and tells Stiles that he sees stuff that he can't explain all the time, but it doesn't make it real, OR supernatural. However, this new dead body is real, so that's what he's focusing on at the moment. As he walks away, Stiles yells at him to just listen to him, and Stilinski downright EXPLODES, and yells back that he has been listening. Stiles deduces that he just doesn't believe him, and sends the sharpest barb of all to end the fight. "Mom would have believed me." Poor Stilinski looks like he literally got punched in the balls, but just silently and sadly walks away. Stilinski family feels :( :( :( :(
At the recital, Danny is visibly nervous while Ethan is doing the adorable boyfriend thing to help him relax; fussing with his tie, adjusting his hair, and popping an Icebreaker mint into his mouth. What band member would eat Icebreakers before a concert? Unless they want to destroy their trumpet with all the sugary saliva that will be filling it while they're playing, anyway. I don't know Danny's life, though, maybe that's what he's going for? Ethan asks if Danny is still nervous, but he smiles and promises that he's good now. Look at that sweet grin!
Ethan suddenly gets serious, and instructs Danny to find him first if anything bad or weird happens. Danny looks a little perplexed, much like the time Ethan cryptically told him he hoped he was a ~survivor~, but still just goes to join his trumpet pals without comment. Ethan then turns to see that his brother has been standing nearby and watching them the whole time. Sigh, I like Dethan/Ethan, but Aiden is an asshole. Unrelated, but I really hope that Danny knows all the supernatural shit that is happening and is just watching and cackling to himself, like, "Oh, amateurs."
(via Teen Wolf)
Scott is standing in the back of the auditorium, keeping an eye on the twins, when he sees Ms. Morrell in the crowd, greeting fellow teachers and taking her own seat in the audience. He runs into Lydia, who he thought went home hours ago, but she confesses that she couldn't-- she doesn't know why she keeps finding these bodies, but she thinks if she quits fighting whatever feelings she's getting from her still-unknown powers and instead chooses to just embrace it, she might be able to learn what's going to happen before they're three-fold death'd. And if she figures it out early enough, it'll give her a chance to tell someone like Scott, who can actually fight and stop the bad guys before anyone gets killed. Scott swears that if she can give him the time, he'll do whatever he can to stop it, and they squeeze each other's hands, stirring up Scott/Lydia feelings I didn't even know I had.
(via sarah-maslany)
At the hospital, Cora is asleep in her bed in the hospital room, her head wrapped in gauze, as Derek is holds her hand and stares at her with eyes full of concern and tears. She wakes up and manages to rasp his name, and he looks SO RELIEVED that she woke up, considering we have barely seen them interact all season. He assures her that he's not leaving again, but when she asks what's wrong with her, he admits that he has no idea. He kisses her forehead, though, in a totally uncharacteristically tender moment. Who is this new Derek? Hale family feels :( :( :( :(
Stilinski is at the nurse's station, where he's asking Melissa about a medical file of an ER patient from around ten years ago. She sadly informs him that if it's about a case, he's going to have to get a court order. His face falls, but then she adds, "Or, someone like me who is willing to bend the rules for a handsome face!" They both smile, and she hands him a note pad and instructs him to write down the details and she will dig up what she can. Can they please just get together and get married already? No one deserves happiness more than they do. Also, this would have been a perfect time for Stilinski to ask her if her son is prone to growing fangs and claws every once and a while, don't you think? It could have saved him a lot of shock later on, really.
The Argents, with Tag-Along Isaac, quickly pull into the school's lot, and the kids immediately run inside to the recital. Argent stands in the moonlight for a moment and makes his best dramatic face as the wind whips around him. Inside, the orchestra starts their music, and the conductor is really into it, it's very entertaining to watch. (Former band nerd, hello!) The music is really sweet and mellow at the beginning, but as it goes on, it gets creepier and the chords switch to minor-key as it starts to resemble the score of a horror movie.
Lydia, still with Scott, gets a text from Aiden, asking to meet her alone in Ms. Blake's room. When she looks over at him, he nods at her, just as she gets another text from him: "Life or death." She sighs, muttering, "It better be," before she walks away without anyone noticing. Scott is too preoccupied by the fact that Argent and Allison have just walked into the auditorium, followed by Isaac, to notice that Lydia left. Allison gives Scott a small smile, and Isaac gives him a weird look that communicates something between, "It's not what it looks like," and, "I miss you, boo!" Scott just looks overwhelmed.
SIDEBAR: Okay, so SPOILER ALERT, Aiden lost his cell phone, so he totally didn't send those message to Lydia, and in about two minutes we're going to figure out who sent it instead. What I'm wondering is, was Aiden in on the Darach's plan somehow? Or was that nod totally innocuous, like a "hey, I'm acknowledging your presence" kind of nod, that just coincidentally happened as she was supposedly received texts from him? Because that nod gave Lydia absolutely no reason to question those texts, to the point where it almost seems to have been deliberate. You never can be sure, with this show. We learn that the Darach is working against the Alpha Pack, so I don't know how Aiden would be working both sides, but weirder stuff has happened, right?
Anyway, back at the hospital, Melissa and Stilinski are in the morgue, where she has found the chart of a patient who fits the description he gave her; a woman who was found in the woods covered in slash marks all over her body, who was assumed to be victim of an "animal attack," per usual. It gets weirder, though.
Meanwhile, at the recital, the music is getting creepier, and the accompanying choir is singing even spookier. Stiles rushes into the auditorium to join Scott. A couple rows in front of them, Ethan notices Aiden searching his pockets, because he thinks he lost his phone. OR MAYBE SOMEONE STOLE IT.
Hospital. Melissa exposits that the night they found the girl in the woods, hundreds of birds flew into the OR, where she was having surgery due to being critically wounded. "They were flying into the walls, the doors, like some kind of mass suicide!" Stilinski has been hearing so many crazy theories all day that he can no longer deny they might just be true, and so he suggests that perhaps they were sacrificing themselves. Melissa asks, "For what?" but Stilinski corrects her. "Not 'what,' 'Who?'"
Over each of these different cuts, you can still hear the creepy music being played at the recital, with the horror-movie strings and muted brass notes and flute trills and whatnot. I don't know how else to describe it, but between the cuts back and forth and the music, I feel tense as hell watching it. Even now, which is my third time watching this episode and I know exactly what is coming.
Lydia wanders warily into Ms. Blake's room, and is clearly not comfortable being alone in this school, and for good reason, since she knows all of the horrifying shit that has gone down here. Hell, she's experienced the majority of it firsthand. She starts to hear the spooky Darach chanting music, loudly, just as Jennifer Blake pops right out to scare the fuck out of our girl. "You recognize it, don't you?" Jennifer asks curiously. Lydia is so confused at this turn of events that she doesn't even have time to react before Ms. Blake bludgeons her right in the head. The camera freezes on Jennifer's face, which is no longer sweet and charming, but instead angry and terrifying. I DIDN'T WANT TO BELIEVE SHE WAS EVIL BUT DEEP INSIDE I KNEW.
Scott and Stiles are slow on the tic, as usual, and have just now realized that Lydia has been out of their sight for too long to be good news. They instantly run outside to look for her, where Scott turns on his wolf vision to try to scope her out, but no dice. Stiles hasn't gotten any responses to his texts to her, either, and now they are both freaking out. If they weren't completely overwhelmed with stress yet, they definitely are now.
The orchestra's strings reach their climax of total creepiness, and all of the musicians and choir singers literally look like they're possessed, so much so that the audience is visibly starting to feel as if maybe they're in a real life horror movie. Then, the orchestra starts playing the creepy Darach music, too! The Alpha Twins look at each other worriedly, Allison is frantically looking around for her friends to brainstorm what's happening, and even Ms. Morrell looks extremely unnerved, and she never looks anything less than slightly annoyed (but still otherwise physically flawless.) I think she probably recognizes the music too, although I don't know if anyone else other than Stiles and Deaton have heard the recording of it at this point. Is it a Druid thing? A Darach thing? Part of the sacrifice ritual?
Lydia has just woken up from having her head beat in, propped up in a Jennifer's teacher chair. She groans in pain and reaches up to touch her hairline; when she withdraws her hand, there's blood on her fingers, and she suddenly begins to remember what just happened. Her vision is still hazy as she looks down to see Jennifer preparing her garrote, and she manages to gasp out a "What are you doing?" Jennifer: "What's necessary. I'm still surprised none of you seem to get that. You call them 'sacrifices,' but you're not understanding the word. It's derived from the Latin 'sacrificium'-- 'in offering to a deity,' 'a sacred rite.' A necessary evil!"
When Lydia pleads for her to stop, she replies that she wishes she could. "But you don't know the Alphas like I do." She continues to monologue to Lydia, assuring her that she isn't a sacrifice, she's just the girl who knew too much. I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE. However, when she goes to strangle her with the garrote, Lydia grabs at the rope and screams the most ear-piercingly shrill scream she has ever screamed, like breaking-the-sound-barrier loud. It just about deafens all of the werewolves in the school, and even Derek can hear her all the way from the hospital; we know this, because he turns away from Cora just to listen to it.
(via Teen Wolf)
Once she's screamed herself to the point of exhaustion, she stops and gasps for breath, and Jen just stares at her in shock and disbelief. "Unbelievable. You have no idea what you are, do you? The Wailing Woman. A banshee right before my eyes! You're just like me, Lydia. 'Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't.' It's too bad, though. And too late." Must all villains on this show quote fucking Shakespeare? Jesus.
(via allteenwolf)
The orchestra is still going nuts, with even the conductor looking super possessed and gesticulating wildly. The pianist is hitting the keys so hard that one of the strings breaks and SLITS HER THROAT WIDE OPEN. HOLY. SHIT. What kind of The Haunting realness? As she falls dead to the floor, people in the audience start to scream and run away. Allison, of course, runs straight to the stage, despite her her dad's protests, so he and Isaac chase after her. Ms. Morrell looks shocked and a bit nauseated at this development. It's chaos, basically.
Once Argent, Allison and Isaac have pushed their way to the stage, they see that before she died, the pianist vomited a bunch of mistletoe into the puddle of blood that surrounds her. I also don't understand what the mistletoe has to do with the sacrifices, because Danny didn't die and neither did Kyle's dog. What's the purpose? Ugh, I need to stop asking so many questions, this recap is already wayyyy too long despite my best efforts to keep it decently sized.
Luckily for Lydia, Jennifer is taking her sweet time to sacrifice Lydia for maximum drama, which give Sheriff Stilinski time to save the day again! He yells at her to drop the knife, but she just smirks and throws it at him like a ninja, lodging the blade in his shoulder. Foul, Jen! FOUL. I can forgive what you've done thus far, but NOBODY TOUCHES SHERIFF STILINSKI. EVER. Scott's here to save the day, too, and he runs in, fully wolfed-out, and howls at Jennifer. She seems to be trained like an Argent though, and manages to palm-thrust Scott in the chest hard enough that he's flung into a bunch of stacks of chairs and coughs up a puddle of blood. Wonderful. Stilinski is still on the ground, knife still lodged in his shoulder, as he sees his son's BFF's werewolf form for the first time while he gets his ass kicked. At least he knows now? Though these are not optimal circumstances whatsover.
Stiles walks past the classroom and sees what's going down, but before he can run in to help, Jen uses her super-strength to shove a heavy desk in front of the door, locking him out. Our poor guy is forced to watch helplessly through the little window as his three favorite people in the whole, wide world are in danger of dying at his evil teacher's hand.
Stilinski manages to get a hold of his side-arm from the floor where he dropped it when he was stabbed, and he aims it at her while he explains what he learned about the case he found from ten years ago, thanks to Mama McCall's sleuthing. He asks if it was really her, but she doesn't answer either way, she just snits that she should have started with philosophers instead of virgins so she could have gained the knowledge and strategy, first-- as we'll learn, she has gained a special power from each of the groups of sacrifices.
He's aiming at her chest and is about to fire when he reconsiders and shifts his shot to her leg instead; it's a well-intentioned, but ultimately stupid move, because she heals immediately, even faster than a werewolf would have. She lists her sacrifices as she demonstrates the power she gained from them: "Healers," which accounts for her mega-healing; "Warriors," which accounts for her fighting skills (and super-strength, which she demonstrates by pulling him up onto his feet by the knife in his shoulder); "Guardians," (she rips off his badge and crushes it in her hand, but this is still her warrior power because she hasn't sacrificed a guardian yet, though this is totally a hint as to who she's picking next!); and "Virgins." She kisses him, which makes him (and the rest of us) extremely uncomfortable, especially once she pulls away...
...and changes back to her her gnarly, nightmare-inducing Darach face, and the scary chanting starts blaring again. Stiles manages to use his adrenaline rush to force the door open enough to get in. Across the room, a window breaks. By the time Stiles manages to get in the room, though, it's too late-- Jen and Stilinski have already disappeared. Scott joins his completely horrified friend as they stare out the broken window. SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT.
Next week, according to the promo: the Alpha Pack figured out who the Darach is too, and wants to kill her, so she's offering to help the Beacon Hills pack in return for protection of some sort; added complications are the fact that she's apparently the only person who can heal Cora AND she that still has Stilinski in her possession as well; apparently Peter finally decides to join the fight, although I won't assume that he's playing solely for the good guys; everyone finally hears that Scott has the potential to be a True Alpha, which will likely make Derek jealous as hell. Oh, and it seems as though Deucalion decides to make matters worse by taking Melissa captive, possibly to get him to hand Jennifer over to him. So many different ways to tear my heart into a million pieces. I AM NOT READY.
So guys, if you made it this far, what did you think of this episode? What do you think about the recaps? Any suggestions on how to make them better? I'd love to hear from you!
[screenshots from this Screencapped.net album]
Click HERE to read my recap of the next episode!
NOTES/SPECULATION:
-There has been some speculation that the Guardians group will be the parents (Melissa McCall, Chris Argent, and Sheriff Stilinski) but that would be THE WORST FUCKING THING EVER YOU GUYS. Seriously! These kids are quite literally RAISED BY WOLVES, we don't need to get rid of the only parents who give the slightest fuck about their kids, and even they still all work like 80 hours a week anyway. And we haven't seen Lydia's mom or dad in ages, although it's possible Lydia's mom is too busy haunting Mystic Falls, Virginia in the ghostly form of Carol Lockwood...
-So yeah, as great of a sacrifice I'm sure the Sheriff would be for Jennifer, I think she's really only has him as a bartering chip to eventually get to Stiles. I read about the theory that Stiles will be the ultimate Guardian sacrifice, and I am totally on board with it. Stiles would be a good Guardian sacrifice. Guardians are in the middle of the five-fold knot, which could indicate that they would need to be able to qualify for each the different groups. We already know he's a virgin, because he harps about it a lot. I'd definitely say he's a philosopher, too, considering he's the research whiz of the group, and I think the argument can be made that he's a warrior and a healer as well, if we look at past events, like throwing the Molotov cocktails at Peter and running over Jackson the kanima with his car for the former, and taking care of Derek when he was poisoned by the wolfsbane bullet/helping Erica when she was having a kanima toxin-induced seizure for the latter. I don't think he'll ACTUALLY be sacrificed, but I have no problem believing that Jennifer plans for him to be one.
-I'm also wondering about Scott's True Alpha dilemma: killing an Alpha to become one is supposed to destroy his potential to be a True Alpha, but if he's FORCED to do it in order to save other people's lives (like his mother, his friends, etc), and the alpha he kills is someone who has done lots of harm himself (like, say, Peter, or Deucalion, or Kali), could it possibly still result in him becoming a True Alpha? Because in the end, he's doing it for good and not for his own gain? I mean, he'd be sacrificing his potential for the sake of others, which would only make him MORE deserving of the power, in my humble opinion. Just a thought!
-I LOVE LYDIA BEING A BANSHEE. I've been researching them, and apparently banshees are fairies. Also, according to Wikipedia, they are usually connected to Irish or Scottish families whose names begin with "O'-" or "Mac-/Mc-" and they predict the deaths of members of that family. Hmm, I wonder who we know with that kind of last name. UMMM SCOTT MCCALL MAYBE? I'm excited to see what other kinds of powers Lydia has besides just predicting death and finding dead bodies. Maybe she has the power to communicate with the dead, or resurrect people? I kind of hope she has more abilities related to the fae, though, just because I love magic and I'd like to see more people using it that aren't strictly witches.
-Next week is called "The Overlooked," and do you know who I feel has been overlooked a lot this season? Stiles. He's been mostly on his own re: the Darach stuff, although he has been getting some help from Allison, Lydia and Cora. He's been emotionally alone, though, because he's always trying to protect everyone else, which results in him having to distance himself from people like his dad. Plus, we've seen a lot of examples of him being angry because people aren't listening to him (his annoyance that Scott didn't believe him about Matt being evil last season, Scott not wanting to talk about the Darach stuff on the bus, his dad not believing him about werewolves really exist, and that's just off the top of my head...) Perhaps this frustration has something to do with the rumor that Stiles will be beating the shit out of someone with a baseball bat? I AM SO EXCITE.
(via Teen Wolf)
Scott is standing in the back of the auditorium, keeping an eye on the twins, when he sees Ms. Morrell in the crowd, greeting fellow teachers and taking her own seat in the audience. He runs into Lydia, who he thought went home hours ago, but she confesses that she couldn't-- she doesn't know why she keeps finding these bodies, but she thinks if she quits fighting whatever feelings she's getting from her still-unknown powers and instead chooses to just embrace it, she might be able to learn what's going to happen before they're three-fold death'd. And if she figures it out early enough, it'll give her a chance to tell someone like Scott, who can actually fight and stop the bad guys before anyone gets killed. Scott swears that if she can give him the time, he'll do whatever he can to stop it, and they squeeze each other's hands, stirring up Scott/Lydia feelings I didn't even know I had.
(via sarah-maslany)
At the hospital, Cora is asleep in her bed in the hospital room, her head wrapped in gauze, as Derek is holds her hand and stares at her with eyes full of concern and tears. She wakes up and manages to rasp his name, and he looks SO RELIEVED that she woke up, considering we have barely seen them interact all season. He assures her that he's not leaving again, but when she asks what's wrong with her, he admits that he has no idea. He kisses her forehead, though, in a totally uncharacteristically tender moment. Who is this new Derek? Hale family feels :( :( :( :(
Stilinski is at the nurse's station, where he's asking Melissa about a medical file of an ER patient from around ten years ago. She sadly informs him that if it's about a case, he's going to have to get a court order. His face falls, but then she adds, "Or, someone like me who is willing to bend the rules for a handsome face!" They both smile, and she hands him a note pad and instructs him to write down the details and she will dig up what she can. Can they please just get together and get married already? No one deserves happiness more than they do. Also, this would have been a perfect time for Stilinski to ask her if her son is prone to growing fangs and claws every once and a while, don't you think? It could have saved him a lot of shock later on, really.
The Argents, with Tag-Along Isaac, quickly pull into the school's lot, and the kids immediately run inside to the recital. Argent stands in the moonlight for a moment and makes his best dramatic face as the wind whips around him. Inside, the orchestra starts their music, and the conductor is really into it, it's very entertaining to watch. (Former band nerd, hello!) The music is really sweet and mellow at the beginning, but as it goes on, it gets creepier and the chords switch to minor-key as it starts to resemble the score of a horror movie.
Lydia, still with Scott, gets a text from Aiden, asking to meet her alone in Ms. Blake's room. When she looks over at him, he nods at her, just as she gets another text from him: "Life or death." She sighs, muttering, "It better be," before she walks away without anyone noticing. Scott is too preoccupied by the fact that Argent and Allison have just walked into the auditorium, followed by Isaac, to notice that Lydia left. Allison gives Scott a small smile, and Isaac gives him a weird look that communicates something between, "It's not what it looks like," and, "I miss you, boo!" Scott just looks overwhelmed.
SIDEBAR: Okay, so SPOILER ALERT, Aiden lost his cell phone, so he totally didn't send those message to Lydia, and in about two minutes we're going to figure out who sent it instead. What I'm wondering is, was Aiden in on the Darach's plan somehow? Or was that nod totally innocuous, like a "hey, I'm acknowledging your presence" kind of nod, that just coincidentally happened as she was supposedly received texts from him? Because that nod gave Lydia absolutely no reason to question those texts, to the point where it almost seems to have been deliberate. You never can be sure, with this show. We learn that the Darach is working against the Alpha Pack, so I don't know how Aiden would be working both sides, but weirder stuff has happened, right?
Anyway, back at the hospital, Melissa and Stilinski are in the morgue, where she has found the chart of a patient who fits the description he gave her; a woman who was found in the woods covered in slash marks all over her body, who was assumed to be victim of an "animal attack," per usual. It gets weirder, though.
Meanwhile, at the recital, the music is getting creepier, and the accompanying choir is singing even spookier. Stiles rushes into the auditorium to join Scott. A couple rows in front of them, Ethan notices Aiden searching his pockets, because he thinks he lost his phone. OR MAYBE SOMEONE STOLE IT.
Hospital. Melissa exposits that the night they found the girl in the woods, hundreds of birds flew into the OR, where she was having surgery due to being critically wounded. "They were flying into the walls, the doors, like some kind of mass suicide!" Stilinski has been hearing so many crazy theories all day that he can no longer deny they might just be true, and so he suggests that perhaps they were sacrificing themselves. Melissa asks, "For what?" but Stilinski corrects her. "Not 'what,' 'Who?'"
Over each of these different cuts, you can still hear the creepy music being played at the recital, with the horror-movie strings and muted brass notes and flute trills and whatnot. I don't know how else to describe it, but between the cuts back and forth and the music, I feel tense as hell watching it. Even now, which is my third time watching this episode and I know exactly what is coming.
Lydia wanders warily into Ms. Blake's room, and is clearly not comfortable being alone in this school, and for good reason, since she knows all of the horrifying shit that has gone down here. Hell, she's experienced the majority of it firsthand. She starts to hear the spooky Darach chanting music, loudly, just as Jennifer Blake pops right out to scare the fuck out of our girl. "You recognize it, don't you?" Jennifer asks curiously. Lydia is so confused at this turn of events that she doesn't even have time to react before Ms. Blake bludgeons her right in the head. The camera freezes on Jennifer's face, which is no longer sweet and charming, but instead angry and terrifying. I DIDN'T WANT TO BELIEVE SHE WAS EVIL BUT DEEP INSIDE I KNEW.
Scott and Stiles are slow on the tic, as usual, and have just now realized that Lydia has been out of their sight for too long to be good news. They instantly run outside to look for her, where Scott turns on his wolf vision to try to scope her out, but no dice. Stiles hasn't gotten any responses to his texts to her, either, and now they are both freaking out. If they weren't completely overwhelmed with stress yet, they definitely are now.
The orchestra's strings reach their climax of total creepiness, and all of the musicians and choir singers literally look like they're possessed, so much so that the audience is visibly starting to feel as if maybe they're in a real life horror movie. Then, the orchestra starts playing the creepy Darach music, too! The Alpha Twins look at each other worriedly, Allison is frantically looking around for her friends to brainstorm what's happening, and even Ms. Morrell looks extremely unnerved, and she never looks anything less than slightly annoyed (but still otherwise physically flawless.) I think she probably recognizes the music too, although I don't know if anyone else other than Stiles and Deaton have heard the recording of it at this point. Is it a Druid thing? A Darach thing? Part of the sacrifice ritual?
Lydia has just woken up from having her head beat in, propped up in a Jennifer's teacher chair. She groans in pain and reaches up to touch her hairline; when she withdraws her hand, there's blood on her fingers, and she suddenly begins to remember what just happened. Her vision is still hazy as she looks down to see Jennifer preparing her garrote, and she manages to gasp out a "What are you doing?" Jennifer: "What's necessary. I'm still surprised none of you seem to get that. You call them 'sacrifices,' but you're not understanding the word. It's derived from the Latin 'sacrificium'-- 'in offering to a deity,' 'a sacred rite.' A necessary evil!"
When Lydia pleads for her to stop, she replies that she wishes she could. "But you don't know the Alphas like I do." She continues to monologue to Lydia, assuring her that she isn't a sacrifice, she's just the girl who knew too much. I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE. However, when she goes to strangle her with the garrote, Lydia grabs at the rope and screams the most ear-piercingly shrill scream she has ever screamed, like breaking-the-sound-barrier loud. It just about deafens all of the werewolves in the school, and even Derek can hear her all the way from the hospital; we know this, because he turns away from Cora just to listen to it.
(via Teen Wolf)
Once she's screamed herself to the point of exhaustion, she stops and gasps for breath, and Jen just stares at her in shock and disbelief. "Unbelievable. You have no idea what you are, do you? The Wailing Woman. A banshee right before my eyes! You're just like me, Lydia. 'Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't.' It's too bad, though. And too late." Must all villains on this show quote fucking Shakespeare? Jesus.
(via allteenwolf)
Anyway, Jennifer tightly binds Lydia's hands to the chair with duct tape and goes to garrote her again, so this time she can't use her hands to interfere. She twists the garrote just enough that Lydia chokes and gags, and Jennifer closes her eyes as she prepares to slit Lydia's throat. She quietly states, "One last philosopher!" (Which I don't get, because I thought she just said that Lydia wasn't actually a sacrifice, she was just tying up loose ends, since Lydia knew enough to get her caught? Did she change her mind? Was it some sort of sympathetic magic thing and she was talking about the recital pianist, and trying to slit Lydia's throat was what trigger the aforementioned actual sacrifice? Was it just a two-birds, one stone thing? Does she get extra power if she uses more than 3? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS.)
The orchestra is still going nuts, with even the conductor looking super possessed and gesticulating wildly. The pianist is hitting the keys so hard that one of the strings breaks and SLITS HER THROAT WIDE OPEN. HOLY. SHIT. What kind of The Haunting realness? As she falls dead to the floor, people in the audience start to scream and run away. Allison, of course, runs straight to the stage, despite her her dad's protests, so he and Isaac chase after her. Ms. Morrell looks shocked and a bit nauseated at this development. It's chaos, basically.
Once Argent, Allison and Isaac have pushed their way to the stage, they see that before she died, the pianist vomited a bunch of mistletoe into the puddle of blood that surrounds her. I also don't understand what the mistletoe has to do with the sacrifices, because Danny didn't die and neither did Kyle's dog. What's the purpose? Ugh, I need to stop asking so many questions, this recap is already wayyyy too long despite my best efforts to keep it decently sized.
Luckily for Lydia, Jennifer is taking her sweet time to sacrifice Lydia for maximum drama, which give Sheriff Stilinski time to save the day again! He yells at her to drop the knife, but she just smirks and throws it at him like a ninja, lodging the blade in his shoulder. Foul, Jen! FOUL. I can forgive what you've done thus far, but NOBODY TOUCHES SHERIFF STILINSKI. EVER. Scott's here to save the day, too, and he runs in, fully wolfed-out, and howls at Jennifer. She seems to be trained like an Argent though, and manages to palm-thrust Scott in the chest hard enough that he's flung into a bunch of stacks of chairs and coughs up a puddle of blood. Wonderful. Stilinski is still on the ground, knife still lodged in his shoulder, as he sees his son's BFF's werewolf form for the first time while he gets his ass kicked. At least he knows now? Though these are not optimal circumstances whatsover.
Stiles walks past the classroom and sees what's going down, but before he can run in to help, Jen uses her super-strength to shove a heavy desk in front of the door, locking him out. Our poor guy is forced to watch helplessly through the little window as his three favorite people in the whole, wide world are in danger of dying at his evil teacher's hand.
Stilinski manages to get a hold of his side-arm from the floor where he dropped it when he was stabbed, and he aims it at her while he explains what he learned about the case he found from ten years ago, thanks to Mama McCall's sleuthing. He asks if it was really her, but she doesn't answer either way, she just snits that she should have started with philosophers instead of virgins so she could have gained the knowledge and strategy, first-- as we'll learn, she has gained a special power from each of the groups of sacrifices.
He's aiming at her chest and is about to fire when he reconsiders and shifts his shot to her leg instead; it's a well-intentioned, but ultimately stupid move, because she heals immediately, even faster than a werewolf would have. She lists her sacrifices as she demonstrates the power she gained from them: "Healers," which accounts for her mega-healing; "Warriors," which accounts for her fighting skills (and super-strength, which she demonstrates by pulling him up onto his feet by the knife in his shoulder); "Guardians," (she rips off his badge and crushes it in her hand, but this is still her warrior power because she hasn't sacrificed a guardian yet, though this is totally a hint as to who she's picking next!); and "Virgins." She kisses him, which makes him (and the rest of us) extremely uncomfortable, especially once she pulls away...
...and changes back to her her gnarly, nightmare-inducing Darach face, and the scary chanting starts blaring again. Stiles manages to use his adrenaline rush to force the door open enough to get in. Across the room, a window breaks. By the time Stiles manages to get in the room, though, it's too late-- Jen and Stilinski have already disappeared. Scott joins his completely horrified friend as they stare out the broken window. SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT.
Next week, according to the promo: the Alpha Pack figured out who the Darach is too, and wants to kill her, so she's offering to help the Beacon Hills pack in return for protection of some sort; added complications are the fact that she's apparently the only person who can heal Cora AND she that still has Stilinski in her possession as well; apparently Peter finally decides to join the fight, although I won't assume that he's playing solely for the good guys; everyone finally hears that Scott has the potential to be a True Alpha, which will likely make Derek jealous as hell. Oh, and it seems as though Deucalion decides to make matters worse by taking Melissa captive, possibly to get him to hand Jennifer over to him. So many different ways to tear my heart into a million pieces. I AM NOT READY.
So guys, if you made it this far, what did you think of this episode? What do you think about the recaps? Any suggestions on how to make them better? I'd love to hear from you!
[screenshots from this Screencapped.net album]
Click HERE to read my recap of the next episode!
NOTES/SPECULATION:
-There has been some speculation that the Guardians group will be the parents (Melissa McCall, Chris Argent, and Sheriff Stilinski) but that would be THE WORST FUCKING THING EVER YOU GUYS. Seriously! These kids are quite literally RAISED BY WOLVES, we don't need to get rid of the only parents who give the slightest fuck about their kids, and even they still all work like 80 hours a week anyway. And we haven't seen Lydia's mom or dad in ages, although it's possible Lydia's mom is too busy haunting Mystic Falls, Virginia in the ghostly form of Carol Lockwood...
-So yeah, as great of a sacrifice I'm sure the Sheriff would be for Jennifer, I think she's really only has him as a bartering chip to eventually get to Stiles. I read about the theory that Stiles will be the ultimate Guardian sacrifice, and I am totally on board with it. Stiles would be a good Guardian sacrifice. Guardians are in the middle of the five-fold knot, which could indicate that they would need to be able to qualify for each the different groups. We already know he's a virgin, because he harps about it a lot. I'd definitely say he's a philosopher, too, considering he's the research whiz of the group, and I think the argument can be made that he's a warrior and a healer as well, if we look at past events, like throwing the Molotov cocktails at Peter and running over Jackson the kanima with his car for the former, and taking care of Derek when he was poisoned by the wolfsbane bullet/helping Erica when she was having a kanima toxin-induced seizure for the latter. I don't think he'll ACTUALLY be sacrificed, but I have no problem believing that Jennifer plans for him to be one.
-I'm also wondering about Scott's True Alpha dilemma: killing an Alpha to become one is supposed to destroy his potential to be a True Alpha, but if he's FORCED to do it in order to save other people's lives (like his mother, his friends, etc), and the alpha he kills is someone who has done lots of harm himself (like, say, Peter, or Deucalion, or Kali), could it possibly still result in him becoming a True Alpha? Because in the end, he's doing it for good and not for his own gain? I mean, he'd be sacrificing his potential for the sake of others, which would only make him MORE deserving of the power, in my humble opinion. Just a thought!
-I LOVE LYDIA BEING A BANSHEE. I've been researching them, and apparently banshees are fairies. Also, according to Wikipedia, they are usually connected to Irish or Scottish families whose names begin with "O'-" or "Mac-/Mc-" and they predict the deaths of members of that family. Hmm, I wonder who we know with that kind of last name. UMMM SCOTT MCCALL MAYBE? I'm excited to see what other kinds of powers Lydia has besides just predicting death and finding dead bodies. Maybe she has the power to communicate with the dead, or resurrect people? I kind of hope she has more abilities related to the fae, though, just because I love magic and I'd like to see more people using it that aren't strictly witches.
-Next week is called "The Overlooked," and do you know who I feel has been overlooked a lot this season? Stiles. He's been mostly on his own re: the Darach stuff, although he has been getting some help from Allison, Lydia and Cora. He's been emotionally alone, though, because he's always trying to protect everyone else, which results in him having to distance himself from people like his dad. Plus, we've seen a lot of examples of him being angry because people aren't listening to him (his annoyance that Scott didn't believe him about Matt being evil last season, Scott not wanting to talk about the Darach stuff on the bus, his dad not believing him about werewolves really exist, and that's just off the top of my head...) Perhaps this frustration has something to do with the rumor that Stiles will be beating the shit out of someone with a baseball bat? I AM SO EXCITE.
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