Teen Wolf Season 4, Episode 7: "Weaponized" Recap/Review
When Teen Wolf's season 4 trailers and promos started coming out, a friend and I were talking about it, and she said, "This season looks so scary!" I figured it would be pretty anxiety-inducing, because it always is, but by now, I feel comfortable saying that this season has stressed me out more than any other, in a good way! This week's episode did nothing to disappoint, either. Between the amazing character moments and the decently-intense plot, there was definitely plenty going on this week! So honestly, I'm just going to cut to the chase and get started, because we have a LOT to discuss, my friends of friends. Let's talk about "Weaponized!'
Previously, on Teen Wolf: Liam's lacrosse rival from his old school, Brett Talbot, was nearly killed by Violet and Garrett at the first lacrosse scrimmage, and was ultimately revealed to be a member of a werewolf pack led by now-alpha Satomi Ito, also known as Noshiko's friend while she was in the Oak Creek Internment camp. (He was also one of the names on the second deadpool list, and was listed as worth $1 million.) Derek and Malia went to track the rest of his pack down to warn them about the deadpool, too. Unfortunately, when they arrived to the pack's secret hiding/meeting place, they ultimately found at least a dozen dead werewolves who appeared to have been poisoned to death. Also with the wolves was Braedon, who was presumably shot by a totally different assassin when she met with the pack. Stiles, Lydia, and Parrish once again went to go talk to Meredith in hopes of getting the third cipher key from her, but she clammed up, only admitting that the Benefactor didn't want her to help them anymore. Lydia once again got a little pushy with her and was ultimately unable to get the key. When she figured it out on her own, she realized that Meredith (and Malia and Liam) were both on the third list, but when she called Parrish to let him know, he informed her that Meredith had allegedly hanged herself in her room. :( Way back when, Allison (*sobs uncontrollably*) and Lydia figured out, thanks in part to Lydia's banshee senses, that Peter is actually Malia's biological father. Scott broke into Garrett's locker in the locker room and found his duffel bag full of cash, along with a mysterious cassette tape, quite similar to one that was somehow slipped into Kate's car's tape deck. He then brought the money home, where he and Stiles proceeded to count it, which is where we left off last week!
This week's cold open begins in what looks like some kind of warehouse that has been repurposed into a laboratory-- the walls are covered in plastic, and there are several cubicles made with the plastic sheeting to presumably be used as treatment rooms for his supernatural test subjects, which, naturally, are reinforced with mountain ash barriers. The place also has some serious lab equipment, not to mention various flasks and test tubes and whatnot that are full of colorful liquids as well. I'm guessing that our mad scientist is getting paid pretty well to be a supernatural bioterrorist. The scientist (who I will henceforth be calling "The Chemist," because that is literally the only name I have been able to find for this guy anywhere online) walks over to his makeshift desk and sits down to jot down some notes on a notepad regarding whatever it is that he's studying. He's quickly interrupted by a menacing growl behind him, and when he sighs and turns to look for the source of the sound, we see that he has a werewolf in one of the cubicles. The poor guy is fully wolfed-out, with black blood running out of his mouth, eyes, and ears as he desperately claws at the plastic separating him from the lab.
Of course, he can't get past the mountain ash, and the Chemist does not appear to be at all perturbed by the poor, suffering werewolf behind him, so he just takes a sip of some nasty-looking tea and goes back to his work. He pushes the play button on a cassette player, and a robotic sounding man on the tape states what sounds like directions from the Benefactor to the prospective assassins. "After entering the IP address, you will be connected to a dark-net portal to an untraceable bank," the voice instructs, as the Chemist continues nonchalantly sipping at his tea. "Once logged in, enter your account number to receive wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate with each transfer..."
We then pan over to Scott's bedroom, where Stiles and Scott have just finished counting the numerous stacks of $100 bills they found in Garrett's duffel, and listen to the exact same recording that was on the cassette tape in the bag. "You will be assigned a new IP address if you choose to continue down the list. Remember-- visual confirmation is ALWAYS required for payment." DAMN. Whoever has set up these protocols is a serious expert when it comes to killing people. I wonder how they communicate to get the new IP addresses? THIS IS ALL SO NUTS. Also, I guess we know why Violet snapped that photo of Demarco after she beheaded him-- that's how she proved that she killed him so they could be wired the money. Stiles stops the tape and asks Scott if he's ever made a wire transfer, but Scott replies that he's never had enough money to do that. "So, you didn't understand a word of that, either?" Stiles asks tiredly, which Scott confirms-- he doesn't understand any of it, including why they would pay so much money just to kill them. "Someone wants you dead, dude!" Stiles retorts with worry. "Badly."
Scott looks supremely stressed out, as anyone in his position would be, and starts to return all of the neatly-stacked money into the bag. Stiles' eyes bug out of his head as he asks him what the hell he's doing, so Scott reminds him that it's late, and they need to get to bed because they have to wake up early to take the PSATs the next morning. Stiles just kind of looks at him, like, "Why do you ALWAYS have to be so moral and responsible? Besides, that's not even what I'm talking about," which ultimately leads Scott and Stiles to have a serious conversation about the money and what exactly they're going to do with it.
Stiles is super frustrated at this point, and insists he's not saying they should just give Derek the money and not Peter (except that's totally what he's saying) but he's acting as though he knows something that he can't or won't tell Scott for whatever reason, and I can't figure out what it is. Is it just that he's suspicious of Peter because of his weird demonstration of strength when he knocked Brett out at the animal clinic? Stiles is ridiculously perceptive, and not only was Peter acting really shady, but Derek looked both stressed about his slowly dwindling powers AND suspicious as hell of Peter's new-found strength, too. But, then again, Stiles doesn't exactly have any proof that Peter's is up to anything, and like I mentioned, he's even helped them out a couple of times in the recent past, like when he assisted Scott and Lydia to get Stiles control over his body again when he was possessed by the nogitsune, or when he helped them track down Kate and figure out her motives when Derek was de-aged, etc. That said, we also know that Peter doesn't really do ANYTHING unless it's going to benefit him in some way, whether it's just to gain a favor from someone/have them be in his debt, or because they have a common enemy, or what have you. I don't know, guys, this is a weird situation.
ANYWAY, Scott asks Stiles what the hell he's trying to say, but he never gets a chance to explain, because Scott hears someone clomping up the steps and reflexively shoves the duffel bag under his bed before anyone can see it. Stiles and Scott are hopping to their feet just as a soaking wet and glowing Malia opens the door. She can tell right off the bat that something is up, but isn't sure what, so she just plows on and informs them that she and Derek finally tracked down Satomi's pack. Unfortunately, all of them (or at least all of the ones they found) are dead. Stiles looks concerned and asks where Derek is...
...just as we cut over to Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, where Derek has just arrived holding a very worse-for-wear Braedon in his arms. Melissa, as always, is working at the nurse's station, and looks up just as Derek yells, "She's been shot! I think she's dying!" Derek always has been known to make a dramatic entrance. Also, shouldn't more people be concerned about HOW Braedon got shot, and/or by whom? Beacon Hills citizens are seriously the least curious people on the planet.
Meanwhile, Deaton is closing up the animal clinic after another long night of treating pets and monsters, when he senses someone nearby and stops what he's doing. As usual, it's pouring down rain, too, just to add to the badass The Matrix-effect they're going for in this scene. Deaton lowers his arm as some kind of metallic weapon slides out of his sleeve and into his hand. What is that, some sort of cane? A werewolf taser? Who knows. However, a figure in a hooded black jacket, who is wielding a metallic spike in one hand, immediately gets into a ninja battle with Deaton. They're both exceptionally skilled at whatever kind of fighting this is supposed to be, but once Deaton realizes who he's dealing with, he immediately stops defending himself and bows slightly. "You could have called, Satomi-san," he says in greeting, as the camera turns to reveal a red-eyed Satomi, grinning like the cat who ate the canary as she spins her spike in her hand like the warrior queen that she is. I LOVE HER SO MUCH ALREADY. Also, how did she become an alpha? Was Talia friends with all the alphas in California? How many alphas are there even in the country? I have so many questions. TITLE CARD!
It's the next morning, now (on a Saturday, just FYI) as we arrive at the school, where a line full of anxious students are waiting in the hallway to take the PSATs to the tune of "Weigh True Words" by I Break Horses. Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia are in the middle of the line, trying their best to quash their nerves. Kira looks around the hallway for Lydia, and when she doesn't find her, she asks where the fuck she is, but Stiles just boredly replies that Lydia took it freshman year, because of course she did. "Does that mean I could have taken it some other time?" Malia demands nervously, though Scott assures her that she'll be fine, because she studied harder than all of them. Uh, except for the fact that she literally missed the last 8 years of her 11 year education? Malia makes the same point by replying, "That doesn't mean I'll do good!"
Stiles tries to subtly correct her grammar, but this only makes Malia more stressed that she's going to fail spectacularly, so Scott steps in to give one of his patented pep talks. "We're doing this! Because while we're trying NOT to die, we still need to LIVE." Malia just rolls her eyes, but Scott's serious, and makes a good point, however depressing and soul-crushing it may be. "If I survive high school, I'd like to go to college. A good college!" OH GOD, the thought of Scott not surviving high school is absolutely crippling to me. DON'T EVEN THINK SUCH THOUGHTS, SHOW. Kira, who as always is on Team Scott, reminds her pals that the test is only three hours, and even THEY should be able to handle staying alive for that long. Scott sighs in reply, while Stiles and Malia just give her this look like, "Uh, yeahhhh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, chica," which ends up being totally accurate, of course.
Inside the Spanish classroom where the test is being given, the kids move their way through the line, and prepare for the test-- they are handed test booklets and answer sheets, on which they put their thumbprints on their tests in a bizarrely secure fashion for a practice test. Before they take their seats, they're required to hand over their cell phones to be locked away until the test is over. And, because everything ALWAYS sucks in Beacon Hills, the proctor for the PSATs is none other than the Chemist, who smiles a creepy, creepy smile as he watches 4/5 of the high school contingent of the McCall Pack each press their thumbs on the ink pad. I'm sure that won't totally end up becoming a problem later on! The kids all take their seats and vibrate with nervous energy as they wait for the test to begin. Stiles is already restlessly gnawing on a pencil before he even sits down, naturally, and like I always did during proficiency tests, he immediately opens his booklet, even though they're not supposed to open it until they're instructed to do so. Likewise, Malia just generally looks like she wants to die or run for the hills coyote-styles. We also get a close-up of the girl sitting next to Stiles and Malia, who is nervously doing deep breathing exercises to keep from freaking out. Sounds about right! Breaking news: American high school is basically just various forms of psychological torture.
The Chemist alerts Mama Martin (who is one of the test monitors, I totally forgot to mention that earlier) to the fact that two teachers are supposed to be there, so she just grins sheepishly and admits that Coach Finstock isn't always the picture of punctuality before leaving to call him. Once in the hallway, she's about to dial his number when she notices that his office window's blinds are up, so she heads toward it to see if he's there. As it turns out, Coach has been at school (presumably) since the previous day, and just passed out in a puddle of his own sweat and drool on top of his desk from likely being overmedicated with cold medicine. Naturally, Mama Martin assumes he fell off the wagon (after supposedly being sober from alcohol for fifteen years?), rather than just being sick, and tries to shake him awake. Important note-- Mama McCall's first name is Natalie, and she also seems to have a long history with Coach Finstock! So yay, character backstories? Anyway, when Coach can barely wake himself out of his dextromethorphan-induced stupor, she promises to bring him some coffee during the break before scampering back to the classroom, where she lies and tells the Chemist that she couldn't get in touch with him. After he determines that they'll get Ken Yukimura to take Coach's place during the first break, he turns back to the class and starts his timer before giving the kids the okay to start their first section.
"Somebody New" by Joywave plays as the kids immediately open their books and start their tests. Stiles has a pencil in each hand and uses both to frantically fill in his test bubbles, all the while chewing away on that third pencil; at least, until he sees a question he doesn't understand, which is when he absentmindedly spits it out on the desk as he gapes in horror. Scott and Kira seem to be handling the pressure pretty well, thankfully for them,, but Malia is so overwhelmed that she starts to sweat, and anxiously shrugs off her jacket as she frantically looks around the room at her fellow students. Just as she forces herself to focus back on the test, the anxious extra from earlier suddenly faints and falls out of her chair and onto the floor, and since this is high school, everyone instantly stops what their doing to stare at her.
Natalie rushes over and whisper-shouts, "Sydney! Are you alright?" Sydney swears that she's fine and insists that she just got dizzy, but Natalie's concern goes to full-blown worry when she sees a pretty gross rash on the insides of Sydney's wrists and asks her how long she's had it. Sydney seems more than a little unnerved, especially considering she hadn't noticed it before now, but the Chemist, who is getting suspiciously impatient, asks Natalie if they need to stop the test. Mama Martin, though she is completely wigged, immediately declares that everything is fine before informing them that they should keep testing while she leaves for just a moment. She grabs her phone before she heads out and leaves a final instruction to the Chemist that no one is allowed to leave the room. Yeah, that's not conspicuous at ALL. Besides, the kids have just wasted 2 of their precious 25 minutes staring at their ill classmate, so they're already too distracted to do well anyway.
Natalie heads straight for Coach's office again, where he is continuing to snooze and drool all over his desk, just as she left him. She gingerly grabs a tissue from the box next to him and uses it as a barrier as she flips over each of his wrists to look for a rash like Sydney's, though his arms are both completely clear. She seems disappointed for a moment, until she gets an idea and rushes around behind his desk so she can check his back. Sure enough, when she hesitantly lifts the back of Coach's no doubt sweat-soaked polo, she finds a blistery, weepy, disgusting-looking rash that covers the entire surface of his back. ICK! That is so gross, tbh, and I've seen some horrifically gross things in my time as a nurse. Natalie is about as disgusted as all of us, if not more so, and wastes no time putting his shirt back down before she rushes back into the hallway.
She's just about to call someone on her phone, when she notices a group of rowdy athletes entering the school. She immediately runs down the hall and yells, "GET BACK! NO! DO NOT COME IN HERE! GET BACK OUTSIDE!" The kids are like, "Aight, chill, lady," and back the hell out the door, but she rushes over to the doors and locks them just to be on the safe side. Of course, all of the juniors taking the PSATS, including the McCall pack members in attendance, flood into the hall to see what the fuck is up, so Mama Martin orders them all to go back in the room and take their seats. Once they're all out of sight, she dials a number on her phone and whispers, "I need the number of the CDC. Yes, the Centers for Disease Control." As usual, Scott is eavesdropping with his super senses and gets a terrible feeling in his tummy. Yeah, you and me both, bb.
When we come back from the break, the school is being invaded by CDC workers decked out in yellow hazmat suits as they start enacting quarantine protocols, including sealing up the school, putting in an air filtration system in case it's an airborne pathogen, and setting up equipment to test all the students and treat the ones who are exhibiting symptoms. Mama Martin looks very stressed, which is understandable, while Scott and Stiles just watch, like, "SERIOUSLY? Can't we get ONE DAY without some major disaster?" And, of course, since Scott, Malia, and Kira have magically healing bodies that are typically unaffected by human diseases, they're not really that concerned about it, because they figure they're not at risk.
After what feels like forever, Sheriff Stilinski arrives with some deputies and instinctively heads for the woman who seems to be running things from the CDC side to ask her what the fuck they're dealing with now. "Hopefully a false alarm," the unnamed CDC lady admits. "The details provided have concerned us and local health authorities enough to order a quarantine. We're going to need your help ensuring that no one gets IN or OUT of the school." Sheriff confesses that his son is in there, so CDC Lady asks him if he's going to have a conflict of interest, but of course Sheriff isn't going to just sit on the sidelines while Stiles and Scott and their friends are in danger, so he assures her that while it's going to be stressful, he can handle it. He asks her what they do from here, just as we cut to...
...inside the school, where Natalie picks up where CDC Lady left off inside one of the makeshift patient rooms, and explains that they're going to isolate the sick students and then wait for the experts to tell them what to do next. "If I'm wrong, they'll be out of here pretty quickly, and then I'm the crazy biology teacher who panicked for nothing," she adds self-deprecatingly as she covers Sydney up with a blanket before taking off. Scott smiles at Sydney sympathetically and assures her that she's going to be okay, because he's an angel baby, but Sydney, like most high school students these days, is super stressed out about what happens if she misses the test. "The PSAT is the national qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship. My parents can't afford to send me to college without it." Welp, this just confirms what I've always suspected about Beacon Hills-- with all the derelict, abandoned buildings and murders, I'm guessing that their fair town is in the middle of a serious depression/recession, yeah? EVERYONE IS BROKE. OH GOD, what if Sydney ends up being a baby assassin, too, to get some cash to pay for her college education? Basically, any person on the show who is human who hasn't proven they are trustworthy have me suspicious that they're assassins-- that goes for police officers/federal agents (I'm looking at you, Deputy Dickweed), teachers, students, medical professionals, etc. Scott pats Sydney's leg in comfort and maintains that they'll let her take it again, considering the fact that it's not her fault that the school got infected with some mysterious virus, but Sydney just kind of smiles a very skeptical smile in return before he leaves.
Back in the classroom, Stiles, Kira, and Malia have huddled up in a corner, where they're currently speculating on what's going on now. Stiles mentions the fact that he heard that it's smallpox, but the Chemist, who has been eavesdropping on the kids while he absentmindedly reads a test booklet for funsies, I guess, interjects that smallpox is unlikely, because it was eradicated globally back in 1979. Since then, only one other virus has ever been eradicated, which was rinderpest, a virus that is lethal to cows. Stiles' spidey-senses start tingling at this teacher's expansive knowledge about pathogens that could possibly be used for bioterrorism, and he sarcastically asks if they're supposed to be comforted by this information. "Unless it's something worse," the Chemist replies drolly. WONDERFUL. Malia suggests that whatever it is, everyone seems to be taking it seriously, based on the scoop she's overheard with her super-hearing, and she watches her boyfriend with interest as he anxiously scratches at his wrists and sides. OH NO, STILES, NO.
Malia hears Sheriff's voice among the noises outside and passes the information to Stiles, who immediately decides to grab his phone from the bin and call his dad, since it's not like they're testing anymore. Before he can find it, the Chemist informs him that trying to call out will be useless as this point, and claims that the CDC uses, like, cell phone scramblers or something so that way no one can start a panic by tweeting about it or something? Yeah, I'm gonna call bullshit on that-- if they're dealing with something they're concerned could be a smallpox variant, I think the workers have more important things to do than monitor everybody's cellular activity, you know? UGH. "Looks like we're going to have to wait here and see what happens," he drawls, before licking a finger and going back to reading a test booklet. Okay, this guy is not even trying to look like he's not some ridiculous mad-scientist-assassin. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? Why are they so bad at being criminals? The Benefactor seems like the only one who has any idea of what he's doing. I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
Over at the animal clinic, Deaton and Satomi have managed to get the sole surviving member of Satomi's pack (aside from herself, of course) to the back room so Deaton can examine him. While he does a physical assessment, Satomi fills him in on the symptoms she saw in her pack's members after he asks how the disease began. "Fever. Then, shifting becomes uncontrollable-- fangs, claws, even full, unwarranted transformations." As she speaks, Deaton checks the man's hands, whose claws are out and which seem to be seeping black blood from his nailbeds, and like Satomi said. He's also bleeding from his eyes, ears and mouth, and growls uncontrollably while Deaton flashes a pen light in his eyes. Satomi informs him that once they couldn't control their shifts anymore, they moved out into their spot in the woods, but once they got there, it progressed more and more quickly until they were so weakened they couldn't even stand, and eventually lost their eyesight as well. Apparently, once that happened, the wolf would die within minutes.
Question-- so, did Brett die from the virus, or is he still out there somewhere? If it's the latter, maybe getting wolfsbane'd and taken to Deatons actually ended up saving his life in two ways, because it kept him from being wherever the pack was that resulted in them being infected? Who knows. Satomi seems absolutely heartbroken at the loss of the majority of her pack, even more so with this beta's deteriorating condition, but Deaton admits cautiously that they need to get her cub to the hospital. Satomi points out that "their kind" can't usually do hospitals, and asks if he knows something she doesn't. "Not something, but someone," Deaton replies, just as we cut to Beacon Memorial, where Melissa Fucking McCall has just exited an elevator. YESSS! Melissa for President tbh, and Satomi as Queen, obviously.
Melissa strides purposefully down the hallway, where she passes a suspicious-looking blonde woman crying on one of the benches. She makes her way into Braedon's treatment room, where Derek is sitting dutifully at her bedside, reading a book while she sleeps. Aw, Derek has a crush, you guys, look at that face! Melissa immediately injects naloxone (which reverses the effects of opiate analgesics/painkillers such as morphine, which Braedon is probably on for her gunshot wounds) into Braedon's IV to wake her up. Derek protests and reminds her that she said Braedon needed rest, but Melissa is insistent, because she was just informed by Sheriff that the CDC has locked down the high school, where her children and their friends (and Derek's packmates) are currently trapped, and Braedon is the only person alive who knows what happened to the wolves out in the woods. Needless to say, they need answers PRONTO.
After a moment, the medication kicks in, and Braedon awakens with a gasp and instantly panics as she takes in her surroundings. I don't blame her, tbh, she's been in enough life-or-death scenarios to immediately look for escape routes when she's been knocked out/injured/captured/whatever. She looks like she's about to hop out of bed and flee until she remembers that she was totally SHOT and winces in pain, which stops her long enough for Melissa to assure her that she's been shot, but she's safe and okay. She sees Derek next to Melissa, who nods at her in encouragement, so she quickly calms down. "Okay," Melissa begins, after Braedon has settled down a little. "Last night, you were in the woods, and you came across another pack? Do you know what happened to them?" Derek interjects that he already told her that they were poisoned, but Braedon corrects him. "No. No, they were infected," she recalls, as Melissa's nervous hand-wringing gets even more intense. "It was a virus, designed to kill werewolves. [beat] And it DID. It killed them ALL." Derek and Melissa's eyes bug out of their head in shock, because that is way worse than just being shot at with wolfsbane bullets.
Cut to the high school locker room, where Mama Martin is pounding on the locked door. "Scott? You've been in there a long time, are you alright? Hey, you need to come back with the others!" Her voice starts to warp in Scott's hypersensitive ears as he leans against one of the sinks, gripping the tile as hard as he can as he tries his best to keep his wolf at bay. He's covered in sweat and looks MISERABLE, tbh, and only gets worse the more Natalie continues to rap her knuckles against the door. Eventually, he can't hold it anymore, and he roars with his fangs out. Also, his fangs are WAY longer, sharper and more vicious than they normally are. I don't know if they changed the prostheses or if this is supposed to be important, but it's scary!
(via teen-wolf)
Meanwhile, Lydia is over at the lake house, where she's locked herself up in her grandmother's soundproofed banshee room in lieu of taking the PSATs. She kneels in front of the record player as if she were praying in front of an altar, and next to her is a box labeled, "MEREDITH WALKER. DESTROY ALL CONTENTS IF NOT CLAIMED," which seems to contain the few possessions Meredith kept in her room at Eichen House. Guess it pays to know the Sheriff, eh? Free access to evidence. Lydia opens the box and gently removes the contents before laying them around her; a nearly-empty old-fashioned perfume bottle, a bouquet of dried yellow roses or carnations, a stuffed koala bear, and a photo. Everyone in Meredith's family is dead, right? Maybe the perfume belonged to her mother or something? Scent is a huge memory trigger-- I would know my parents' and sisters' perfume/cologne ANYWHERE (Chanel No. 5, Gray Flannel, and Vera Wang Princess, respectively, ;)), so maybe that's her way of staying close to her? GOD, if I think any more about Meredith's tragic backstory, I'm going to cry, and this scene already brought me to tears once, so MOVING ON.
After a long moment, Lydia takes a deep breath and flips the record player on and listens for any sign that Meredith is trying to speak to her through the static. "Alright, Meredith?" Lydia whispers softly, clearly still feeling guilty for how she treated Meredith before she died. "I'm not sure how to do this. I'm not a psychic. And apparently, I'm... not much of a banshee, either. But, I'm trying to help my friends." Lydia waits for any kind of response, but the room remains silent, so Lydia sighs and continues her plea. "I don't know if you can hear me...or, uh... what I'm supposed to ask you..." She licks her lips anxiously and pauses, as her eyes fill with tears. "But, if I have this thing... it's GOTTA to work some of the time! ...It's gotta to help someone." The deafening silence is too much for Lydia, so after a moment of hesitation, she gets to her point. "Maybe what I really wanted to say was... I'm sorry. I wish I could have helped you." She waits one more second before whispering, "I'm sorry." She still gets no response, or sign whatsoever that Meredith's presence is there, so she eventually gets frustrated and starts packing Meredith's things back into the box.
(via argents-allison)
That's when she finally actually LOOKS at the photo in her hand, which she barely glanced at the first time-- it's a black and white photo of Meredith, who is standing awkwardly in front of a record player in a room that looks suspiciously like the room Lydia is standing in now. Alarmed and confused, Lydia hops to her feet and looks at the photo, comparing it to the wall in front of her, and she realizes that Meredith was, in fact, in this very room in the photo. WHAT?! WHAAAAAT?! OKAY, so what does this mean? Is Meredith related to Lydia? I don't think it's possible that she's the dead older sister Jeff has teased about in interviews, but maybe she's a cousin? If she's not related to the Martins, then maybe Lydia's grandmother was to Beacon County's banshees what Talia Hale was to Beacon County's werewolves? I NEED TO KNOW MORE MARTIN/MEREDITH BACKSTORY RIGHT MEOW. I'm hoping this means that Meredith's role will still have a part in the plot going forward, even if she's dead. Also, MAJOR kudos to Holland Roden on this scene-- her acting is sometimes hit or miss, especially compared to some of the other actors in the series, like Crystal or Dylan or Daniel, but she seriously knocked this right out of the park. Also also, I desperately need a scene of Lydia trying to use something of Allison's (her bow/arrows, or some of her jewelry, or one of her knives or something) to try to communicate with her, banshee-styles. MAKE IT HAPPEN, DAVIS.
Back at the school, Ken Yukimura is stealthily slinking into the locker room, and tensely looks around until he finds what he's looking for-- Scott, who is sitting on the floor, half-transformed, and leaning against a row of lockers. He's looking ridiculously strung-out (pale, sweaty, big dark circles under his eyes) while he takes deep breaths in an attempt to maintain control. "Get Stiles," Scott lisps around his ginormous fangs, while Ken just looks at him with an intense level of worry. I LOVE how involved Ken is with the pack, now! And since, unlike Melissa or Sheriff, he's actually MARRIED to a supernatural creature, I think it's even easier for him to just be like, "Welp, this is really too much to handle, but I kind of signed up for it by marrying an ancient fox spirit, SO, gather 'round, children, so we can figure this shit out."
Out in the hall, Malia and Kira are waiting in line to have their blood drawn to be tested for whatever mysterious bugger to which they've been exposed. Doesn't that seem like kind of a bad idea for our heroes? What if the CDC noticed that their blood is magical/supernaturally-enhanced when they test it? Seems risky to me. Anyway, after a moment of silence, Malia fake-cheerfully pipes up, "Kira? Do you ever get the feeling that Scott and Stiles aren't telling you everything?" Kira does a very poor job hiding her sudden alarm at this question, and awkwardly asks her what she means. "Like they hide stuff!" Malia chirps as she playfully punches Kira in the arm. Kira grows more awkward by the moment, and vaguely states that if they were, they probably had a good reason, which does nothing but make Malia sigh and drop the pretense and get to the point-- does Kira know what Scott and Stiles are keeping in the bag under Scott's bed? Kira's response is the best: "What? No! I've never been under Scott's bed. Or in it. Just on it, wearing clothes...? *blinks innocently*"
(via makos-lightningrod)
Malia gives Kira some pretty fabulous side-eye at her obvious diversions, but before she can grill Kira further, she's called forward by CDC Lady, who is ready to take Kira's blood sample. Kira seems uneasy, so the woman asks her if she's feeling okay (which she is) and admits that she also hates needles, so she'll make the process as quick as possible. Unfortunately for her, Kira has forgotten all about her foxfire powers, which seem to unconsciously activate when someone tries to inflict bodily injury on her, regardless of whether the person has innocent or malicious intentions. So, as soon as the needle brushes up against her skin, a bolt of electricity surges up the vial, eventually burning a hole in CDC Lady's heavy-duty hazmat suit. CDC Lady looks at Kira in shocked confusion, but is quickly rushed outside by nearby CDC employees, to check and see if she's been exposed to whatever bug the juniors have managed to contract. Kira is still in shock, so Malia gently grabs her by the shoulders and pushes Kira to the back of the line before anyone starts to put the pieces together about what actually happened.
Once outside, CDC Lady determines that the burn mark didn't go all the way through the suit, so she wasn't exposed to the virus, and she ultimately blames the shock on "static electricity" just before she's approached by a very aggressive Agent Douchenozzle. "Any verdict on what we're dealing with, here? My son's in there!" ADN demands. CDC Lady has no time to waste on his dramatics, and points out that Sheriff, as another police officer with a child in the school, can debrief him before she runs off to, I don't know, change into another suit or something. ADN turns to Sheriff and asks him if he knows if there's any truth to the rumors of smallpox, but Sheriff just replies, "You want my opinion? I don't think the Orphans were the only professional killers in Beacon Hills." Okay, so seriously, how much does ADN know about what's going on? Like, he's an idiot, but is he really so clueless that he has NO idea of the supernatural shit that is going on literally at all hours of every day? I'm becoming increasingly suspicious of him, especially after what happens later.
In the locker room, Scott is looking at Ken and trying his best to keep his werewolf side under control, but his eyes keep flashing crimson of their own accord. Similarly, Malia seems to be getting ill as well, because she's super pale and clammy, not to mention the fact that her claws are out and she can't make them retract Ken determines that the virus is affecting them differently than the humans, so Stiles insists that they need to "quarantine them from the quarantine" and keep them out of sight so no one gets suspicious. Probably a good plan, because with the deadpool and all, they can't exactly afford to clue more people in to their supernaturalness, you know? Kira asks where they're supposed to go, especially if the virus ends up making them violent, like a newbie on a full moon, and Scott agrees that staying in the locker room is a bad idea. Malia points out that even a classroom wouldn't hold them if they really went feral, so Scott figures they need to find a place that is secure, where no one at the school would be able to accidentally stumble upon them. Luckily for them, Stiles has an idea-- the Hale vault, which just so happens to be nearby! Scott remembers that the Hale's always have an escape room (like the one in the tunnels by the Hale house, where Derek was held and tortured by Kate all the way back in season 1), which means that there must also be another entrance in the vault.
(via teenwolf)
Somewhere, Ken has procured the blueprints to the school, and Stiles determines the general area of the vault by referring to where the school sign is. Malia dabs at the sweat on her decolletage while Ken brainstorms, eventually guessing that the entrance would be somewhere in the basement, and Stiles goes a step further by suggesting the west corridor. That's when he's overcome by a wave of dizziness, and would have fallen to the floor had it not been for Ken's quick reflexes. When he helps Stiles back to his feet, he notices that Stiles has developed the same rash as the others on his wrists, which means all of them have been infected by the virus. Ken turns to his daughter, but she assures him that she doesn't feel sick, and to be honest, she doesn't look anywhere near as sick as the others. However, her dad fished her test booklet out of the pile, and as he shows it to her, he admits that he's pretty sure she's being affected differently, on a more neurological basis, rather than immunological like Scott, Malia and Stiles. When Kira looks down at her answer sheet, she realizes that she didn't actually fill in the bubbles, but instead scribbled circles in the margins, as though she either couldn't see the sheet properly, or couldn't coordinate her movements correctly.
I think the way that they're each affected is pretty awesome, tbh, even if it's not at all scientifically possible for humans to get a virus that is supposed to be specific to canines. Malia is the coyote-equivalent of a beta werewolf, so that explains why she gets hit more quickly and severely by the virus than the others due to being on the weaker end of the spectrum (comparatively speaking, anyway)-- we saw her getting feverish, sweaty, and restless even while the kids were still taking the test. Scott, who is a true alpha and thus has a stronger healing ability, was able to stave off the worst of the symptoms for a little longer because of that extra spark of power that he has, which is why he was the last one to lose his vision (and even then, he didn't lose it completely) and why he didn't have as hard of a time controlling his transformation as Satomi's beta did. Kira was affected differently than Scott and Malia, which I am guessing is due to what we know about kitsunes-- they are technically considered fox shapeshifters, since they're "trickster spirits," but they don't transform in the same way that werewolves/werecoyotes do, since they don't have claws or fangs that we know of (or, at least, Kira doesn't-- she just has her fox aura). So, I think that's why Kira's symptoms were different, at least at first-- she didn't get the flu symptoms (fever, chills, sweating) nor the bleeding black blood thing. She mostly just got weaker and weaker and then lost her vision.
So, in light of the realization that they've all been infected and are suffering from this virus, Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia march their little feet down into the basement's west corridor so they can all split up and look for the alternate entrance to the vault. After searching around in some bookshelves, Stiles finally finds a Celtic knot grate like the one in the school's sign, and immediately pushes the bookshelf aside to reveal a huge triskele carved into the wall around it. "It's like the entrance outside," Stiles explains, before he realizes that there's only one person in their group who can actually open it, but since Malia doesn't know that she's a Hale yet, and Stiles CLEARLY does not want to tell her, he has to quickly lie, "It only opens with claws. Anyone's claws, right?" Scott looks at him quizzically, because they both know that's totally wrong, but when Stiles shoots him a look that screams, "Do NOT blow this, dude," Scott realizes a cover-up is underway and turns to Malia to ask her if she can try opening it. Malia seems to be pretty suspicious, but when she asks him why she should open it, Scott points out that he doesn't have control over his shift, and holds up his hand, showing her his blunt human nails. "Okay? I'll do it," Malia states. "But first, tell me what you've been hiding from me."
Stiles just stammers, like, "Uh, wut?", while Scott just stares at her in confusion, so Malia adds, "I know you're trying to protect me, but I can handle it!" Kira's eyes are once again ready to bug out of her head, and Stiles and Scott just kind of gape at each other, all, "SHIT SHIT SHIT ABORT ABORT ABORT." Finally, Malia admits that she knows she's on the deadpool, and Stiles about pees his pants in relief and wastes no time pretending like that's what they've been hiding from her this whole time. Malia asks them how much she's worth, so Scott informs her that her bounty is a cool four million dollars, which causes Malia to fall silent. Whether they're afraid that Malia has totally figured out that they're lying out their asses, or worried that Malia is freaking out about being on a hit list, I'm not really sure, but after a moment of awkward silence, Stiles asks her if she's okay. "Yeah!" Malia pipes up. "Scott's worth twenty-five, Kira six-- they'll take you out way before me!" LOL MALIA! That is so hilarious, even though it's not true, since the Walcotts were in the group with the lowest value ($250,000) and they were taken out first, followed by those who were worth $500,000 and $1,000,000, so if anything they seem to be working their way up the list.
(via beaconhillsgifs)
ANYWAY, Kira just kind of stands there awkwardly, because for being one of her best friends, Malia is kind of not at all concerned about Kira's well being, and Stiles once again defends his girlfriend by proclaiming that this is still progress. Oh, Malia, never change! She walks up to the Celtic knot lock and sticks her claws in the slots, which allows her to turn the grate like a dial on a combination lock. Once she's finished, the grate pops itself into the wall and the wall slides to the left as it opens the entrance to the vault. The four hesitantly walk inside, and as soon as they're through the threshold, the door immediately slides closed behind them. Crazy! Inside, it's just as dark, wet, and spooky as it was the first two time we followed the gang inside, and is full to the brim with Hale family heirlooms and possessions.
Back at the hospital, Melissa has finally met up with Deaton, Satomi, and Satomi's poor, unnamed beta, who is now in even worse shape-- his muscles are spasming so much that Deaton and Melissa have to hold him down, and even more black blood is leaking from his mouth. It's likely that he's one of the names on the list, right? I wonder who that would be, then? Elias Town? Steve Grace? Tom Hill? Richard Benefield? I hope we'll get an updated version of the list with all of Satomi's dead betas indicated so we know how much of the list has been taken out so far. Melissa helps Deaton get the beta into a stretcher while she asks him if this is the same kind of sickness that the school is currently dealing with, but apparently Deaton hasn't heard anything about it. Before they can get into it further, the beta starts horrifically vomiting black blood, and Satomi suggests that they get him to a treatment room ASAP to do SOMETHING to help him.
They rush the gurney into the elevator, where Melissa frantically presses the second floor button over and over, but before they manage to get to the second floor, the poor, sick beta gasps a couple wheezy breaths before dying on the stretcher. Satomi looks like she's just been kicked in the gut, and I don't blame her-- her pack was HUGE, and now all of them are apparently dead, so it's like when Derek lost his betas times a hundred. Melissa, too, looks devastated, which surprised me at first-- she's a nurse, so you'd think she would be used to witnessing death. However, I realized that it's completely different when you're constantly seeing people being MURDERED, especially when those people are also gunning for your son's death, you know? God, I just feel so terrible for everyone. The McCall Pack is a literal example of the quote, "You take what's unbearable and you bear it."
In the Hale vault, Scott is sitting on a trunk with his head between his knees, while Kira paces back and forth across an aisle of shelves. A couple feet away, Stiles is sitting on the floor, leaning against a support beam with his arms around Malia, who is adorably snuggled up in his lap, trying to get some sleep. "You know this is where it all started?" Stiles pipes up, as he gently brushes a stray tuft of hair from Malia's face. "That's where the money was," he adds, as he gestures to the large safe next to where Scott is sitting, and goes on to explain that the safe had 117 million dollars worth of bearer bonds inside. Kira notices a jar of what appears to be dried mushrooms one one of the shelves and picks it up as she asks Stiles how you even cash bearer bonds. He guesses it's probably at a bank or something, and bemoans the fact that the bearer bonds (which are basically never used anymore, from what Stiles says) were just chilling in the vault all this time gathering dust. Does that mean that the bonds that were stolen weren't the entirety of the Hale fortune? I hope so, for everyone else's sake-- maybe Derek will want to help his friends with their money problems if he gets his money back? He seems to be doing fine without it so far, and I get the feeling that they're just going to keep taking out/neutralizing the assassins and then taking back the money they've been paid.
(via shelleyhenign)
MY BABIES. This is too much for my poor heart to handle. Kira seems to feel terrible for her friends, and Stiles and Scott are clearly very stressed out about their respective parents' financial difficulties and how much their actions have cost their parents. CUT IT OUT, SHOW. On a more shallow note, Stiles and Malia are so cute together, I can't even deal. Even as much as I would love Stiles and Lydia to get together, I am really enjoying Stiles and Malia's chemistry. And, of course, once I really get invested, it just HAS to end tragically, right? SIGH.
It's night time now, and the CDC has just flipped on external lights to help in their testing when Lydia shows up at the police barricade and starts yelling for Sheriff Stilinski. The police initially block her, but once Sheriff gives the order to let her through, she's finally able to come forward and join him. She automatically asks what's going on, since her mother is inside, but all Sheriff will say is that they're working on figuring it out as they speak. I love how no one, not even Agent Douchenozzle, questioned the fact that Sheriff allowed a seventeen-year-old girl to come in and help them brainstorm what's up with this possible smallpox outbreak. Also, where's Parrish? Shouldn't he be in here helping somehow? Maybe he's off on Saturdays.
Back inside, the kids are still in the vault, and all of them are getting steadily worse. Stiles and Scott, both of whom are pale, clammy, and strung-out looking, are both leaning weakly against the closed vault door, while Kira is comforting a miserable-looking Malia over on the other side of the room. Stiles asks Scott what he can hear about what's going on upstairs, and after a moment, Scott admits that they're looking for them, and that one of them is going to have to run up to distract them soon. Stiles looks around and frowns when he realizes that person is probably going to have to be him, since he's the lone human surrounded by supernaturals who need to stay hidden. Scott notices his best friend looking over at Malia, and whispers that they're eventually going to have to tell her about Peter, especially since at some point, she's going to see the deadpool list and figure it out for herself.
"Try to remember that Peter is the one name missing on that list," Stiles argues. "Which either makes him incredibly lucky, or the Benefactor! If she finds out about him, she's going to go to him, you know she is. And then he's going to twist his way right in like he does with everyone, INCLUDING us! We let him walk around like nothing ever happened, like he's one of the good guys, but Scott, he's NOT one of the good guys!" See what I mean? It's like Stiles' hinkiness-radar is off the charts where Peter is concerned, and though he doesn't have any evidence of Peter's wrongdoing, he KNOWS that something ain't right, and Stiles' insistence that something is up with him seems to be alarming Scott a great deal. Honestly, Stiles isn't wrong to be paranoid about Peter, and if it helps them stay one step ahead of that revenant bastard, then I'm all for it. That said, I hate that he's lying to Malia, and I feel like if they would have been honest to her from the start, she would have probably gotten upset at the news that hey, she was adopted and she didn't realize it, but would have ultimately forgiven them. Bah! "And if she finds out about him, she's gone," Stiles concludes grimly. "And that's probably what he's waiting for. And then he wins, and we lose." Scott looks so sad and exhausted when he replies, "We're already losing." He suddenly winces in pain and holds up his hands, which are leaking black blood from his nail beds. NOOOOOO!
In the morgue of the hospital, Melissa and Deaton are just doing an impromptu autopsy on Satomi's beta , as one does, while Satomi watches on mournfully. How are they able to get away with that? Where are the doctors/nurses who work in the morgue? I guess Melissa is like, one of two whole hospital employees, so it's not like they're going to be disturbed. Man, Beacon Hills is so ridiculous. ANYWAY, so they're just drilling into his skull and flipping his scalp over his face so Deaton can try to determine what exactly they're dealing with, here. "I think I know what this is," Deaton admits worriedly, after he examines the beta's brain. Melissa just gives him a look, like, "Okay, get to it, dude, my kids are dying here," but Deaton confesses that if it is what he thinks it is, Scott and the others are in serious danger, and will most likely die if they don't get an antidote. OF COURSE. Because nothing can ever be easy on this goddamned show.
When we come back from the break, Stiles is crouched over Malia's sleepy face as he tries to gently shake her awake to fill her in on what's happening. "Malia. [beat] I gotta leave for a few, okay?" he admits hesitantly, his face blurry in Malia's quickly deteriorating vision. She's sad that he has to leave, understandably, and asks him what's up, so he replies, "Whatever's happening, it's worse for you guys." Across the room, Kira is rubbing Scott's back soothingly as he continues to hunch over on the trunk. "That means it's not just people getting sick, it's another assassin." Our three canid heroes are clearly getting more miserable by the minute, and when Stiles affectionately rubs Malia's arm, he realizes that she's freezing, and immediately offers her his coat to warm up. He brushes her hair behind her ears and looks at her with so much adoration that it almost makes me sick. HE LOVES HER SO MUCH AND SHE LOVES HIM SO MUCH AND OH MY GODDDD. Malia softly asks, "You're coming back, right?" Stiles just laughs and promises that he would never leave her behind. He kisses her on the forehead and squeezes her hand before getting up to his feet and walking toward the door. Malia smiles at her adorable boyfriend, but as soon as their hands break contact, she starts to cry, and curls back up on her blanket on the floor. Stiles walks out the open door and takes one final look backward before the door closes behind him. THESE ENDEARING KIDS, I S2G.
(via seaquell)
Speaking of endearing, Derek is just sitting at the foot of Braedon's hospital bed, watching her with a certain amount of adoration while she rests, until she totally catches him staring at her and clears her throat. Busted, Derek just smiles and hops to his feet, trying (and failing) to act nonchalant until she finally asks him why the fuck he's still there. "I'm...protecting my investment!" Derek retorts with a smirk. "I've got a lot of money riding on you!" Before they can flirt further, Melissa knocks on the door and informs Derek that she's found someone she found whom Derek was seeking before stepping aside and allowing Satomi to enter the room. WOOT! I am loving Satomi, this better not be the last time we see her this season!
Outside the school, Sheriff has taken Lydia aside in order to talk shop without the CDC or the FBI listening in on them. "Lydia!" Sheriff begins. "All of this is still very new to me, and I don't know how it works, but I still have to ask-- do you have any kind of... instinct, or indication, or any kind of feeling about this..." Lydia frowns in confusion, which causes Sheriff to trail off for a moment before deciding to be bluntly honest. "Is someone in there gonna die?" Lydia doesn't waste a second before replying, "Yes. And it's not just a feeling." SHIT. I'm still not sure what that's supposed to mean-- did she know who was going to die in there? Did she have any ideas of who it would be? Did I miss something, or was it just one of those things that happen when this show is moving too fast for anyone to really think about anything in detail?
Melissa and Satomi have brought Derek down to the morgue, where Deaton reveals that he has finally determined what kind of virus they're dealing with in Satomi's pack and at the school-- it's a variant of canine distemper, which, as I learned in my wikipedia research, is closely related to both measles and rinderpest, which the Chemist mentioned earlier in the episode. According to Deaton, an outbreak of canine distemper infected and killed 40% of the wolf population of Yellowstone National Park last year. "What's it going to do to OUR wolf population?" Melissa demands anxiously. To make matters worse, Deaton explains that this virus has been altered to affect and kill more quickly than the usual version, "weaponizing" it, as Derek helpfully refers to it. Satomi reminds them that the virus infected her entire pack, but Deaton realizes that since she never got sick, they need to figure out if that's because she was never infected, or because she's somehow immune to it.
Mama Martin is standing vigil outside the treatment rooms when Stiles, who is sweatier and paler than ever, and whose bags under his eyes are taking him back into Nogitstiles terriotry, finally catches up with her. She automatically suggests that he should go lie down, but Stiles swears that he's fine and asks her if she's seen Mr. Yukimura. Natalie informs him that he's helping with the other students and once again insists that Stiles go lie down and rest, but Stiles is on a mission, obviously, and has no time to waste. He notices that Coach is passed out in one of the treatment rooms and gets hit with one of his usual dawning realizations-- as far as they know, Coach is the only teacher/adult who was infected, so how did that happen? Stiles realizes he's got some investigating to do, and immediately lies and states he'll be right back before he rushes away to Coach's officer. Yeah, Detective Stiles! He's efficient even when he's feverish and about half-ready to keel over.
Back in the morgue, Melissa looks absolutely exhausted, both emotionally and physically, as she watches Deaton cover up the body of the dead beta on the autopsy table. Derek wonders who was shooting near the entrance to the preserve (since he and Malia found a bunch of what looked like rifle shells on the ground), if the assassin had a virus that could take out all the werecanines who were exposed, but Satomi figures it must have just been ANOTHER assassin. "Personally, I'd rather face a gun than a variant of smallpox," Satomi admits dryly. Melissa humorlessly retorts that she's probably going to get plenty of opportunities, judging by how many assassins seem to have infiltrated their fair city in the last week or so. Satomi gets a little distracted by Derek's beautiful face, and when he catches her staring at him, she confesses that he just reminds her a lot of his mother, Talia. OH MY GOD, LIKE WE NEED TO BE OVERWHELMED WITH HALE FAMILY FEELS RIGHT NOW.
(via teen-wolf)
Derek smiles politely as Satomi continues. "I used to visit her a lot, you know. Do you remember me?" Melissa is just rubbing her temples while Deaton frowns, like, "Should we really be taking a walk down memory lane right now?" But, luckily for them, the conversation ends up being useful-- Derek admits that he does remember the tea she used to bring, which he claimed smelled terrible, and which she argued she brought as a gift to Talia, because she apparently loved it. Deaton gets curious and asks her what kind of tea it was, and when she replies that it was rare wild purple reishi mushrooms, (WHICH, I feel compelled to remind you was what Noshiko fed Ken when he was forced to swallow one of the nogitsune's flies in "The Fox and The Wolf") Deaton realizes that since it's also a powerful remedy against sickness, and determines that Satomi didn't get infected by the virus because the tea effectively acted as a vaccine. We cut to a flashback of the Chemist drinking that gross-looking tea while he was working in his mad scientist lab, but when we return to the present day, Melissa is ready to get her kid and his pack cured ASAP, and asks if it's so rare that they'll have difficulty finding it. Derek's eyes widen in relief when he realizes they won't have to look for it, because he just happens to know that there's a jar in the Hale vault! Woohoo! God bless the Hales for their pack-rat tendencies.
In the vault, we get a brief cut to the jar of mushrooms (which Kira was examining earlier) before we meet back up with the gang. Malia is still tossing and turning restlessly on her little bed of blankets on the floor, and after burrowing in Stiles' coat, she finds a folded up piece of paper in Stiles' coat pocket and pulls it out to see what it is. Of course, it's the most recently-discovered deadpool list, which has Malia listed as "Malia Hale." Scott doesn't realize what she's looking at until it's too late-- he calls out her name to stop her, but she's already unfolded the paper and seemingly begun to skim her eyes across the page with a frown. Scott hesitantly whispers, "Malia?" again, worried that she's totally pissed at them for hiding the big Peter secret, but it's actually not that at all. "I can't see!" Malia exclaims, understandably alarmed. "I can't see anything!" Scott, even more concerned than he was previously, holds up his own hand in front of his face and panics when his usually-sharp wolf vision starts to blur drastically. The rational part of me knew that there was no way that any of our heroes would be dying this week, but I was still RIDICULOUSLY stressed out for the entirety of this episode, you guys.
Meanwhile, Stiles is tearing apart Coach's office looking for ANYTHING that might hint as to how he got infected-- his locker, his desk, his file cabinet. He angrily slams the last drawer in his desk shut and slumps back in Coach's chair, quite visibly feeling like absolute shit thanks to the virus. Suddenly, he notices a stack of permission slips on his desk, and as he flips through them, it becomes clear that at some point, Coach ran out of red ink and switched over to a black ink pad. Then, he notices Coach's coffee mug, which has black smudges where Coach must have accidentally gotten ink on his fingers. Which, naturally, leads Stiles to flash back to this morning, when he and all the other juniors who were taking the PSATs put their thumbs on an ink pad to put their fingerprints on their tests, as the Chemist smiled creepily in the background. OH SHIT! So, the Chemist mixed the virus with something that allows the body to absorb stuff through the skin and put it in the ink pad? That's actually so ridiculous that it kind of swings back around to being awesome.
"I was wondering how that idiot got sick," the Chemist says from the doorway, which startles Stiles so much that he instantly jumps to his feet and knocks Coach's mug onto the floor, shattering it. The Chemist leans against the doorway and screws a silencer onto a handgun as he adds, "I'm also wondering where your friends are, since in order to get paid by the Benefactor, I need to have proof they're dead." Stiles realizes that is what the Benefactor meant by "visual confirmation" in the tape that Scott found in Garrett's duffel, but the Chemist just smiles and quips, "Exactly!" as he aims the gun at Stiles' face. NOOO! That face is precious cargo! Also, why would the guy bring up the Benefactor? Did he know somehow that the kids knew about him anyway? Or is he just a REALLY BAD ASSASSIN, just like everyone else we've met so far? JFC.
After the break, we return to the CDC treatment cubicles, where Coach wakes up when he's hit with an intense coughing fit. Once he hacks up whatever he needed to hack up, he realizes that he's totally being held in an ET-style quarantine room, and asks, "What the hell is going on?" Natalie, who is checking on Sydney, realizes that her rash has completely gone away, just as the rest of the infected human students begin to wake up and show signs that they're all getting better. "Can I take the test again now?" Sydney chirps in true over-achieving fashion, which just makes Mama Martin chuckle. Of course, the same is not happening down in the basement to our werecanine pals, where Malia is shivering in the corner, black werewolf ink dripping from her nose and smeared around her mouth. "What's happening to us?" Malia demands fearfully. Kira, who was kneeling on the floor, falls over over into a puddle and cries that she can't see anything. Scott is a couple feet away from her, where he's weakly grasping onto a shelf so he doesn't fall over as well. When he turns his head to look over at Kira and Malia, his own vision starts to go dark, and we can see that his veins have started to turn black under his skin around his eyes, mouth, nose, and temples. THIS IS SO BAD, THIS IS SO BAD.
Upstairs, Stiles is shoved into the locker room by the Chemist, who holds the gun between his shoulder blades as he follows him. "You still look feverish, Mr. Stilinski, but you should know something. The virus doesn't kill humans. You'll get better! So, don't you think you should tell me where they are? Shouldn't one of you get to live?" You see, the problem with his logic is that Stiles still carries around so much buried self-loathing from what he did when he was possessed by the nogitsune that in his mind, he figures that if any one should have to die, it should be HIM. He's the one who feels the blood still on his hands, he's the one who remembers torturing his best friend, knocking out Kira, blowing up the Sheriff's station, and liking the feeling of power and control the nogitsune gave him. Plus, Scott, Malia and Kira are in the vault, which Stiles can't open himself, since you need Hale werewolf claws to get in from the outside, so it's pointless anyway.
So, Stiles does his nervous smart-ass routine, and replies that he thinks he saw them in the library. Or, you know, the cafeteria. Or maybe it was the gym? He can't remember. "I'm going to count to three, and then I'm going to kill you," the Chemist states in response, not at all impressed by Stiles' smart-mouthed teenagerness. Stiles spins on his heel to face him and sneers, "You think you can scare me?" he retorts, mustering whatever bit of Nogitsune!Stiles swagger he has left, because Stiles has seen way scarier motherfuckers than this pathetic excuse for a villain, you guys. The Chemist retorts that he just thought it would be more exciting that way, and points the barrel of the gun to Stiles' forehead. The fact that Stiles doesn't immediately flinch makes my soul hurt so bad. The Chemist counts to two before Stiles really starts to fear for his life, and the poor kid squeezes his eyes closed and steels himself for the bullet that he believes is surely going to enter his brain...
...but, when he hears the gun go off, his face is completely splattered in a fine mist of blood, and it takes him a whole second to realize that he wasn't actually shot at all, but the Chemist was! He opens his eyes just in time to see the guy collapse onto the floor, revealing that a man in a yellow hazmat suit behind him has killed him with one perfectly-aimed headshot. When the man rips the hood off the suit, we see that it's actually none other than AGENT FUCKING DOUCHENOZZLE, who I am so happy to see for the first time ever that I am going to reward him by actually calling him by his real name. Only for this scene, though, because he's still a douchenozzle in every other way.
Stiles doesn't even have time to process the traumatic event he just experienced, he just gasps and immediately turns to rush down in the basement, leaving a pretty exasperated Agent McCall behind, who once again doesn't get an explanation about what the hell is happening. Here's something I don't understand, though-- why would Melissa call Rafael of all people? Lydia was there at the school. Sheriff Stilinski was there at the school. Why wouldn't she call one of them? They know what's actually going on, not Rafael. I don't know, it just doesn't make sense to me whatsoever. But, whatever! Stiles got the message and that's what is important. Still, I'm pretty damn suspicious of Agent McCall.
Melissa helps Deaton clean up from their impromptu autopsy, while Derek and Satomi walk out of the room. Derek insists that he has to get to the school to help the kids get into the vault for the antidote. Satomi asks him what she should do about the bodies in Look-out Point (I'm guessing that's probably going to be a job for Sheriff Stilinski, poor guy), but before he can answer, the blonde, crying girl from the hallway earlier steps out of the elevator and aims a pistol-grip rifle at Derek and Satomi. HOLY SHIT, ANOTHER FUCKING ASSASSIN. Could she have been the one who shot Braedon? We didn't catch a glimpse of the rifle shells, just the gun itself.
Derek's eyes widen in alarm before he dives out of the way, but Satomi, being the badass she is, just grabs her spike from her coat pocket and starts swinging it around like a ninja, effectively dodging every single bullet that is shot her way. The lady-assassin's face is so hilarious as she continues to shoot, like, "I'VE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE," because Satomi just gets closer and closer, dodging bullets and bending backwards like in the Matrix, until she finally stabs the assassin in the neck with her spike, killing her instantly. Derek gapes at Satomi in awe as the lady-assassin falls dead to the floor, just as Melissa and Deaton run out into the hallway to investigate the gunshots. HOLY SHIT. Satomi for Queen Badass 2014. "I may have learned how to control my anger, but I still know how to use it," Satomi quips, while spinning the bloody spike in her hand. WE ARE NOT WORTHY.
Stiles has finally made it down to the backdoor of the vault, and pounds on the wall in an attempt to get Scott's attention. Inside, Scott blindly paws at the door, unable to do anything else. "Hey, Scott! Scott! It's in the vault, it's in there with you! It's the reishi mushrooms! Scott!" Behind him, we can see the jar of mushrooms, just sitting there on the shelf, where NO ONE can see it because all of them have lost their eyesight. Stiles is still desperately slamming his hand against the wall while he begs Scott to open the door and let him in. Finally, Stiles wears himself out trying to get it, and slides down the wall as he slumps onto the floor. On the other side of the door, Scott is leaning against the wall in the exact same position and place as Stiles. Kira, who is sprawled out on the floor near the shelf inside the vault, is barely able to lift her head enough to call out, "Reishi... Scott, I saw it! In a jar on one of the shelves..."
Scott looks absolutely MISERABLE, and the blackened veins under the skin of his face are even larger and darker, splintering out from his ears, eyes, nose and the corners of his mouth. Of course, he can't let himself and his friends die in there, so after a moment of trying to catch his breath, he coughs and forces himself up to his feet. He turns toward Kira and Malia, and squeezes his eyes shut to summon whatever tiny shred of control over his transformation that he still has. He opens his eyes to reveal his crimson-red alpha irises, which gives him the wolf-vision necessary to make his way toward the shelf, spotting Kira and Malia sprawled out on the floor, completely motionless. He's still ridiculously weak, though, and can barely stay on his feet as he scrabbles at the various shelves and trunks to keep himself upright, aiming for the purpleish glow that is emanating from the jar of mushrooms on the shelf.
He finally makes it to the correct shelf and paws around for the jar, ultimately knocking it onto the floor, which shatters the glass and causes a large cloud of mushroom dust to float into the air and spread out to the three of them, causing them all to gasp as they inhale the powder. After what feels like forever, we cut outside the door to Stiles, who looks absolutely wrecked, and who jumps when he feels the door sliding open behind him. Scott, on his hands and knees, continues to gasp for breath as he slowly begins to heal, and Stiles is so happy to see him that he can't help but clap Scott on the shoulder as he sighs in relief. AWWW SKITTLES FEELS FOR DAYS. I wish they would have hugged, but I think they're both way too physically and emotionally exhausted at this point.
It's daylight, now, when the CDC finally makes their way out of the school, allowing the students (who have been stuck in there for like, 24 hours at this point) to leave, and allowing the frantic friends and family outside to finally be reunited with their loved ones. Of course, Sheriff Stilinski and Lydia are at the forefront of the people shoving their way into the school so they can catch up with Stiles and Natalie, respectively. When Lydia finally finds her mother, they immediately run toward each other and give each other the biggest hug. Natalie starts to profusely apologize to Lydia, and admits that she was just trying to get a little extra over-time, but her daughter just beams at her.
of Verona's "Breathe" starts to play as Stiles is finally able to make his way into the vault, and instantly rushes toward Malia to see how she's doing. She looks horrible, not in a sick way, but in a "holy shit I feel so upset and confused and betrayed" kind of way, though Stiles reads her expression incorrectly at first. He asks her if she's okay, but she doesn't answer him-- she can't even look him in the eyes. Finally, he puts a hand on her shoulder and calls out her name again, but she just grabs his wrist in her hand and shoves him away. Confused, Stiles just stares at her as she gets up to her feet and walks purposefully toward the open door of the vault. Nearby, Scott and Kira have their arms around each other and watch her in worry as she leaves. Stiles doesn't understand what's up with Malia until he finds the unfolded last third of the deadpool, which of course has Malia read the second she got her vision back, and now she knows that the people she has trusted the most since she left Eichen House and joined the pack have been lying to her for half a season.
UGHHHHH like I completely understand Malia's feelings of betrayal, even though I understand that Stiles and Scott were just trying to protect her. This was totally Stiles' mistake, and though I'm hoping that what Stiles predicted would happen (that Malia would run right for Peter, allowing him to weasel and manipulate his way into her head and using her to enact his sinister agendas) won't end up happening, if it does, that's kind of his fault. At least if they had told her from the start, they could have controlled the outcome a little better. Still, Malia isn't an idiot, and I'm hoping she'll take what she knows about Peter to heart while she tries to figure out who she is from a biological standpoint. UGHHHH, THIS SUCKS SO BADLY.
Next week, according to the promo: In an attempt to draw out the Benefactor, Scott and the gang apparently fake his (and possibly Noshiko's?) death, while Malia tries to learn more about her past.
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[screencaps via Screencapped]
NOTES/SPECULATION/QUESTIONS:
-On the wardrobe-recycling front, Malia is wearing a pair of shorts with lace trim on the hem that Allison wore in "Frayed" and "Motel California" back in season 3A, which I thought was interesting! I don't know if that was intentional in some way, like we're supposed to think there's some kind of connection between the two girls, or if it's just that Allison's wardrobe got split between the rest of the girls or something, or what. I noticed in "117" that Kira was wearing a jean skirt that looked suspiciously similar to the one Allison wore in "Silverfinger" in 3B, too! Just an observation.
-I am really starting to get worried about Lydia, you guys. She seems to have had a lot of moments with other characters so far this season (girl time with Kira and/or Malia, investigating with Stiles) but I still feel like she's been alone a lot, too, in a way that she hasn't been since she was finally filled in on the supernatural world. Trying to figure out her banshee abilities so she can figure out the cipher keys, investigating the Walcott murders, being isolated from the rest of the pack while she was in Mexico, Lydia has had plenty of time alone to stew in the intense grief she's still experiencing from Allison's death, in addition to the stress she's been under ever since Peter bit her and she started hearing voices and having hallucinations. Especially now that Stiles is in a relationship with Malia-- he still loves Lydia, that much is obvious, but for the first time ever, he has a girl who is actually interested in dating him, and speaking from experience, that kind of love is incredibly consuming. Lydia has come to depend on Stiles over the course of season 3, but now that he has his first girlfriend, he's a lot less accessible to her than he used to be.
I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this train of thought, but I just have this bad feeling that Lydia is going to be reaching a breaking point here very soon. It seems especially telling in her "conversation" with Meredith this week-- she insists that she just wants to help her friends, but she doesn't say ANYTHING about wanting to protect herself. As far as the deadpool is concerned, Lydia is the second most valuable name on the list at $20 million, and she is topped only by Scott, who is worth $25 million. With her death worth so much money (and knowing that she doesn't have the heightened strength/agility/reflexes/healing that makes werewolves/coyotes/jaguars so dangerous as fighters), you would think that would make her a pretty easy target, and yet she's only concerned with protecting Scott, Kira, Malia, and Liam. Don't get me wrong, I feel like everyone at this point is practically passively suicidal, in the way that all of them would be willing to die if it meant protecting the others (as evidenced by Stiles refusing to run or fight against the Chemist, Scott begging the Calaveras to keep torturing him in exchange for Lydia and Kira being let go, etc), but Lydia especially is very much worrying me.
On an only slightly-related note, I feel comfortable in the assumption that she's so highly valued because she's much more powerful than she or anyone else gives her credit for, even if those powers aren't exactly defensive (at least, that we know of.) She's already shown that she's got somewhat of a gift when it comes to precognition, even if it's really only tied to predicting death. Hell, the only reason why the pack even knows about the Benefactors and the deadpool is because her banshee fugue state led to her transcribing the code to the list, so just from that alone, she's given the supernatural side a heads up as to what the Benefactor and his assassins were planning. She also has heightened hearing and can either communicate with other banshees (dead or alive) or ghosts in general, an ability that has given her some good intel in the past as well. Basically, WE NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT LYDIA'S POWERS, because the list seems to indicate that she's even more powerful than we know of at this point.
-WHO IS THE FUCKING BENEFACTOR? We know that he's a dude, or at least one of them is, if the Benefactor is actually a group of people rather than one single individual, which doesn't do much to narrow things down. I'm still suspicious of Peter, but I'm not sure he's the Benefactor-- I think he might just figure out a way to profit from it (taking advantage of a weakened Scott, maybe?). Gerard seems like a likely candidate, but almost TOO likely, you know? It seems the obvious choice, which means I'm thinking it'll probably be something else. It would be nice to see what he's been doing the last season and a half. Agent Douchenozzle is shady too, but I don't think he would want his son to be killed off by some assassin, either. I JUST DON'T KNOW. I think most of me is still hoping it's Danny, tbh, just because that means he'll actually be around again. I miss that sweet dimpled prince.
Previously, on Teen Wolf: Liam's lacrosse rival from his old school, Brett Talbot, was nearly killed by Violet and Garrett at the first lacrosse scrimmage, and was ultimately revealed to be a member of a werewolf pack led by now-alpha Satomi Ito, also known as Noshiko's friend while she was in the Oak Creek Internment camp. (He was also one of the names on the second deadpool list, and was listed as worth $1 million.) Derek and Malia went to track the rest of his pack down to warn them about the deadpool, too. Unfortunately, when they arrived to the pack's secret hiding/meeting place, they ultimately found at least a dozen dead werewolves who appeared to have been poisoned to death. Also with the wolves was Braedon, who was presumably shot by a totally different assassin when she met with the pack. Stiles, Lydia, and Parrish once again went to go talk to Meredith in hopes of getting the third cipher key from her, but she clammed up, only admitting that the Benefactor didn't want her to help them anymore. Lydia once again got a little pushy with her and was ultimately unable to get the key. When she figured it out on her own, she realized that Meredith (and Malia and Liam) were both on the third list, but when she called Parrish to let him know, he informed her that Meredith had allegedly hanged herself in her room. :( Way back when, Allison (*sobs uncontrollably*) and Lydia figured out, thanks in part to Lydia's banshee senses, that Peter is actually Malia's biological father. Scott broke into Garrett's locker in the locker room and found his duffel bag full of cash, along with a mysterious cassette tape, quite similar to one that was somehow slipped into Kate's car's tape deck. He then brought the money home, where he and Stiles proceeded to count it, which is where we left off last week!
This week's cold open begins in what looks like some kind of warehouse that has been repurposed into a laboratory-- the walls are covered in plastic, and there are several cubicles made with the plastic sheeting to presumably be used as treatment rooms for his supernatural test subjects, which, naturally, are reinforced with mountain ash barriers. The place also has some serious lab equipment, not to mention various flasks and test tubes and whatnot that are full of colorful liquids as well. I'm guessing that our mad scientist is getting paid pretty well to be a supernatural bioterrorist. The scientist (who I will henceforth be calling "The Chemist," because that is literally the only name I have been able to find for this guy anywhere online) walks over to his makeshift desk and sits down to jot down some notes on a notepad regarding whatever it is that he's studying. He's quickly interrupted by a menacing growl behind him, and when he sighs and turns to look for the source of the sound, we see that he has a werewolf in one of the cubicles. The poor guy is fully wolfed-out, with black blood running out of his mouth, eyes, and ears as he desperately claws at the plastic separating him from the lab.
Of course, he can't get past the mountain ash, and the Chemist does not appear to be at all perturbed by the poor, suffering werewolf behind him, so he just takes a sip of some nasty-looking tea and goes back to his work. He pushes the play button on a cassette player, and a robotic sounding man on the tape states what sounds like directions from the Benefactor to the prospective assassins. "After entering the IP address, you will be connected to a dark-net portal to an untraceable bank," the voice instructs, as the Chemist continues nonchalantly sipping at his tea. "Once logged in, enter your account number to receive wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate with each transfer..."
We then pan over to Scott's bedroom, where Stiles and Scott have just finished counting the numerous stacks of $100 bills they found in Garrett's duffel, and listen to the exact same recording that was on the cassette tape in the bag. "You will be assigned a new IP address if you choose to continue down the list. Remember-- visual confirmation is ALWAYS required for payment." DAMN. Whoever has set up these protocols is a serious expert when it comes to killing people. I wonder how they communicate to get the new IP addresses? THIS IS ALL SO NUTS. Also, I guess we know why Violet snapped that photo of Demarco after she beheaded him-- that's how she proved that she killed him so they could be wired the money. Stiles stops the tape and asks Scott if he's ever made a wire transfer, but Scott replies that he's never had enough money to do that. "So, you didn't understand a word of that, either?" Stiles asks tiredly, which Scott confirms-- he doesn't understand any of it, including why they would pay so much money just to kill them. "Someone wants you dead, dude!" Stiles retorts with worry. "Badly."
Scott looks supremely stressed out, as anyone in his position would be, and starts to return all of the neatly-stacked money into the bag. Stiles' eyes bug out of his head as he asks him what the hell he's doing, so Scott reminds him that it's late, and they need to get to bed because they have to wake up early to take the PSATs the next morning. Stiles just kind of looks at him, like, "Why do you ALWAYS have to be so moral and responsible? Besides, that's not even what I'm talking about," which ultimately leads Scott and Stiles to have a serious conversation about the money and what exactly they're going to do with it.
STILES: "No, I meant the money. The five hundred THOUSAND dollars? Do you know how much money that is?"
SCOTT: [confused] "It's...five hundred thousand--"
STILES: [exasperated] "--It's HALF A MILLION DOLLARS, Scott. What are you gonna do with it, you're just gonna slide it under your mattress?"
SCOTT: "I haven't talked to Derek. The money's his!"
STILES: "...His AND Peter's."
SCOTT: [confused] "What does that mean?"
STILES: [hesitates] "It means, maybe we should proceed with caution..."
SCOTT: [frowns] "You don't think we should tell Derek?"
STILES: "No..." [anxiously stands up and turns away from him] "No!" [sighs] "No, of course we HAVE to tell him. I'm just saying... some of that money is Peter's, right?"Scott agrees that yes, some of that money IS Peter's, so Stiles reminds him that Peter is actually a sociopathic killer who everyone just kind of tolerates because sometimes Peter throws them a bone and helps them out every once in a blue moon. As you can see, Stiles is not exactly thrilled just handing him a half million dollars, even if that money is legally his. I don't think Scott necessarily disagrees with Stiles, either, but he just doesn't really understand what Stiles wants to do about it, just give the money to Derek and not Peter? It's not like the two of them can just tell Derek what he's supposed to do with his own money, which, shitty person or not, Peter is legally entitled to as a Hale. Plus, we know Scott-- he always tries to see the best in people, and even though Peter has the blood of at least a dozen people on his hands, not to mention the psychological torture he put Scott, Lydia, and to an extent, Derek, through, he's still helped them out of some pretty tough spots, so Scott isn't going to just outright be antagonistic to someone. Hell, he backed out of killing quite a few villains who quite frankly would have deserved what they got, so it would take Peter doing something pretty bad for Scott to be willing to plan action against him. Which, I'm guessing, is probably foreshadowing for what is yet to come for the rest of the season, if the midseason trailer is any indication.
Stiles is super frustrated at this point, and insists he's not saying they should just give Derek the money and not Peter (except that's totally what he's saying) but he's acting as though he knows something that he can't or won't tell Scott for whatever reason, and I can't figure out what it is. Is it just that he's suspicious of Peter because of his weird demonstration of strength when he knocked Brett out at the animal clinic? Stiles is ridiculously perceptive, and not only was Peter acting really shady, but Derek looked both stressed about his slowly dwindling powers AND suspicious as hell of Peter's new-found strength, too. But, then again, Stiles doesn't exactly have any proof that Peter's is up to anything, and like I mentioned, he's even helped them out a couple of times in the recent past, like when he assisted Scott and Lydia to get Stiles control over his body again when he was possessed by the nogitsune, or when he helped them track down Kate and figure out her motives when Derek was de-aged, etc. That said, we also know that Peter doesn't really do ANYTHING unless it's going to benefit him in some way, whether it's just to gain a favor from someone/have them be in his debt, or because they have a common enemy, or what have you. I don't know, guys, this is a weird situation.
ANYWAY, Scott asks Stiles what the hell he's trying to say, but he never gets a chance to explain, because Scott hears someone clomping up the steps and reflexively shoves the duffel bag under his bed before anyone can see it. Stiles and Scott are hopping to their feet just as a soaking wet and glowing Malia opens the door. She can tell right off the bat that something is up, but isn't sure what, so she just plows on and informs them that she and Derek finally tracked down Satomi's pack. Unfortunately, all of them (or at least all of the ones they found) are dead. Stiles looks concerned and asks where Derek is...
...just as we cut over to Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, where Derek has just arrived holding a very worse-for-wear Braedon in his arms. Melissa, as always, is working at the nurse's station, and looks up just as Derek yells, "She's been shot! I think she's dying!" Derek always has been known to make a dramatic entrance. Also, shouldn't more people be concerned about HOW Braedon got shot, and/or by whom? Beacon Hills citizens are seriously the least curious people on the planet.
Meanwhile, Deaton is closing up the animal clinic after another long night of treating pets and monsters, when he senses someone nearby and stops what he's doing. As usual, it's pouring down rain, too, just to add to the badass The Matrix-effect they're going for in this scene. Deaton lowers his arm as some kind of metallic weapon slides out of his sleeve and into his hand. What is that, some sort of cane? A werewolf taser? Who knows. However, a figure in a hooded black jacket, who is wielding a metallic spike in one hand, immediately gets into a ninja battle with Deaton. They're both exceptionally skilled at whatever kind of fighting this is supposed to be, but once Deaton realizes who he's dealing with, he immediately stops defending himself and bows slightly. "You could have called, Satomi-san," he says in greeting, as the camera turns to reveal a red-eyed Satomi, grinning like the cat who ate the canary as she spins her spike in her hand like the warrior queen that she is. I LOVE HER SO MUCH ALREADY. Also, how did she become an alpha? Was Talia friends with all the alphas in California? How many alphas are there even in the country? I have so many questions. TITLE CARD!
It's the next morning, now (on a Saturday, just FYI) as we arrive at the school, where a line full of anxious students are waiting in the hallway to take the PSATs to the tune of "Weigh True Words" by I Break Horses. Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia are in the middle of the line, trying their best to quash their nerves. Kira looks around the hallway for Lydia, and when she doesn't find her, she asks where the fuck she is, but Stiles just boredly replies that Lydia took it freshman year, because of course she did. "Does that mean I could have taken it some other time?" Malia demands nervously, though Scott assures her that she'll be fine, because she studied harder than all of them. Uh, except for the fact that she literally missed the last 8 years of her 11 year education? Malia makes the same point by replying, "That doesn't mean I'll do good!"
Stiles tries to subtly correct her grammar, but this only makes Malia more stressed that she's going to fail spectacularly, so Scott steps in to give one of his patented pep talks. "We're doing this! Because while we're trying NOT to die, we still need to LIVE." Malia just rolls her eyes, but Scott's serious, and makes a good point, however depressing and soul-crushing it may be. "If I survive high school, I'd like to go to college. A good college!" OH GOD, the thought of Scott not surviving high school is absolutely crippling to me. DON'T EVEN THINK SUCH THOUGHTS, SHOW. Kira, who as always is on Team Scott, reminds her pals that the test is only three hours, and even THEY should be able to handle staying alive for that long. Scott sighs in reply, while Stiles and Malia just give her this look like, "Uh, yeahhhh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, chica," which ends up being totally accurate, of course.
Inside the Spanish classroom where the test is being given, the kids move their way through the line, and prepare for the test-- they are handed test booklets and answer sheets, on which they put their thumbprints on their tests in a bizarrely secure fashion for a practice test. Before they take their seats, they're required to hand over their cell phones to be locked away until the test is over. And, because everything ALWAYS sucks in Beacon Hills, the proctor for the PSATs is none other than the Chemist, who smiles a creepy, creepy smile as he watches 4/5 of the high school contingent of the McCall Pack each press their thumbs on the ink pad. I'm sure that won't totally end up becoming a problem later on! The kids all take their seats and vibrate with nervous energy as they wait for the test to begin. Stiles is already restlessly gnawing on a pencil before he even sits down, naturally, and like I always did during proficiency tests, he immediately opens his booklet, even though they're not supposed to open it until they're instructed to do so. Likewise, Malia just generally looks like she wants to die or run for the hills coyote-styles. We also get a close-up of the girl sitting next to Stiles and Malia, who is nervously doing deep breathing exercises to keep from freaking out. Sounds about right! Breaking news: American high school is basically just various forms of psychological torture.
The Chemist alerts Mama Martin (who is one of the test monitors, I totally forgot to mention that earlier) to the fact that two teachers are supposed to be there, so she just grins sheepishly and admits that Coach Finstock isn't always the picture of punctuality before leaving to call him. Once in the hallway, she's about to dial his number when she notices that his office window's blinds are up, so she heads toward it to see if he's there. As it turns out, Coach has been at school (presumably) since the previous day, and just passed out in a puddle of his own sweat and drool on top of his desk from likely being overmedicated with cold medicine. Naturally, Mama Martin assumes he fell off the wagon (after supposedly being sober from alcohol for fifteen years?), rather than just being sick, and tries to shake him awake. Important note-- Mama McCall's first name is Natalie, and she also seems to have a long history with Coach Finstock! So yay, character backstories? Anyway, when Coach can barely wake himself out of his dextromethorphan-induced stupor, she promises to bring him some coffee during the break before scampering back to the classroom, where she lies and tells the Chemist that she couldn't get in touch with him. After he determines that they'll get Ken Yukimura to take Coach's place during the first break, he turns back to the class and starts his timer before giving the kids the okay to start their first section.
"Somebody New" by Joywave plays as the kids immediately open their books and start their tests. Stiles has a pencil in each hand and uses both to frantically fill in his test bubbles, all the while chewing away on that third pencil; at least, until he sees a question he doesn't understand, which is when he absentmindedly spits it out on the desk as he gapes in horror. Scott and Kira seem to be handling the pressure pretty well, thankfully for them,, but Malia is so overwhelmed that she starts to sweat, and anxiously shrugs off her jacket as she frantically looks around the room at her fellow students. Just as she forces herself to focus back on the test, the anxious extra from earlier suddenly faints and falls out of her chair and onto the floor, and since this is high school, everyone instantly stops what their doing to stare at her.
Natalie rushes over and whisper-shouts, "Sydney! Are you alright?" Sydney swears that she's fine and insists that she just got dizzy, but Natalie's concern goes to full-blown worry when she sees a pretty gross rash on the insides of Sydney's wrists and asks her how long she's had it. Sydney seems more than a little unnerved, especially considering she hadn't noticed it before now, but the Chemist, who is getting suspiciously impatient, asks Natalie if they need to stop the test. Mama Martin, though she is completely wigged, immediately declares that everything is fine before informing them that they should keep testing while she leaves for just a moment. She grabs her phone before she heads out and leaves a final instruction to the Chemist that no one is allowed to leave the room. Yeah, that's not conspicuous at ALL. Besides, the kids have just wasted 2 of their precious 25 minutes staring at their ill classmate, so they're already too distracted to do well anyway.
Natalie heads straight for Coach's office again, where he is continuing to snooze and drool all over his desk, just as she left him. She gingerly grabs a tissue from the box next to him and uses it as a barrier as she flips over each of his wrists to look for a rash like Sydney's, though his arms are both completely clear. She seems disappointed for a moment, until she gets an idea and rushes around behind his desk so she can check his back. Sure enough, when she hesitantly lifts the back of Coach's no doubt sweat-soaked polo, she finds a blistery, weepy, disgusting-looking rash that covers the entire surface of his back. ICK! That is so gross, tbh, and I've seen some horrifically gross things in my time as a nurse. Natalie is about as disgusted as all of us, if not more so, and wastes no time putting his shirt back down before she rushes back into the hallway.
She's just about to call someone on her phone, when she notices a group of rowdy athletes entering the school. She immediately runs down the hall and yells, "GET BACK! NO! DO NOT COME IN HERE! GET BACK OUTSIDE!" The kids are like, "Aight, chill, lady," and back the hell out the door, but she rushes over to the doors and locks them just to be on the safe side. Of course, all of the juniors taking the PSATS, including the McCall pack members in attendance, flood into the hall to see what the fuck is up, so Mama Martin orders them all to go back in the room and take their seats. Once they're all out of sight, she dials a number on her phone and whispers, "I need the number of the CDC. Yes, the Centers for Disease Control." As usual, Scott is eavesdropping with his super senses and gets a terrible feeling in his tummy. Yeah, you and me both, bb.
When we come back from the break, the school is being invaded by CDC workers decked out in yellow hazmat suits as they start enacting quarantine protocols, including sealing up the school, putting in an air filtration system in case it's an airborne pathogen, and setting up equipment to test all the students and treat the ones who are exhibiting symptoms. Mama Martin looks very stressed, which is understandable, while Scott and Stiles just watch, like, "SERIOUSLY? Can't we get ONE DAY without some major disaster?" And, of course, since Scott, Malia, and Kira have magically healing bodies that are typically unaffected by human diseases, they're not really that concerned about it, because they figure they're not at risk.
After what feels like forever, Sheriff Stilinski arrives with some deputies and instinctively heads for the woman who seems to be running things from the CDC side to ask her what the fuck they're dealing with now. "Hopefully a false alarm," the unnamed CDC lady admits. "The details provided have concerned us and local health authorities enough to order a quarantine. We're going to need your help ensuring that no one gets IN or OUT of the school." Sheriff confesses that his son is in there, so CDC Lady asks him if he's going to have a conflict of interest, but of course Sheriff isn't going to just sit on the sidelines while Stiles and Scott and their friends are in danger, so he assures her that while it's going to be stressful, he can handle it. He asks her what they do from here, just as we cut to...
...inside the school, where Natalie picks up where CDC Lady left off inside one of the makeshift patient rooms, and explains that they're going to isolate the sick students and then wait for the experts to tell them what to do next. "If I'm wrong, they'll be out of here pretty quickly, and then I'm the crazy biology teacher who panicked for nothing," she adds self-deprecatingly as she covers Sydney up with a blanket before taking off. Scott smiles at Sydney sympathetically and assures her that she's going to be okay, because he's an angel baby, but Sydney, like most high school students these days, is super stressed out about what happens if she misses the test. "The PSAT is the national qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship. My parents can't afford to send me to college without it." Welp, this just confirms what I've always suspected about Beacon Hills-- with all the derelict, abandoned buildings and murders, I'm guessing that their fair town is in the middle of a serious depression/recession, yeah? EVERYONE IS BROKE. OH GOD, what if Sydney ends up being a baby assassin, too, to get some cash to pay for her college education? Basically, any person on the show who is human who hasn't proven they are trustworthy have me suspicious that they're assassins-- that goes for police officers/federal agents (I'm looking at you, Deputy Dickweed), teachers, students, medical professionals, etc. Scott pats Sydney's leg in comfort and maintains that they'll let her take it again, considering the fact that it's not her fault that the school got infected with some mysterious virus, but Sydney just kind of smiles a very skeptical smile in return before he leaves.
Back in the classroom, Stiles, Kira, and Malia have huddled up in a corner, where they're currently speculating on what's going on now. Stiles mentions the fact that he heard that it's smallpox, but the Chemist, who has been eavesdropping on the kids while he absentmindedly reads a test booklet for funsies, I guess, interjects that smallpox is unlikely, because it was eradicated globally back in 1979. Since then, only one other virus has ever been eradicated, which was rinderpest, a virus that is lethal to cows. Stiles' spidey-senses start tingling at this teacher's expansive knowledge about pathogens that could possibly be used for bioterrorism, and he sarcastically asks if they're supposed to be comforted by this information. "Unless it's something worse," the Chemist replies drolly. WONDERFUL. Malia suggests that whatever it is, everyone seems to be taking it seriously, based on the scoop she's overheard with her super-hearing, and she watches her boyfriend with interest as he anxiously scratches at his wrists and sides. OH NO, STILES, NO.
Malia hears Sheriff's voice among the noises outside and passes the information to Stiles, who immediately decides to grab his phone from the bin and call his dad, since it's not like they're testing anymore. Before he can find it, the Chemist informs him that trying to call out will be useless as this point, and claims that the CDC uses, like, cell phone scramblers or something so that way no one can start a panic by tweeting about it or something? Yeah, I'm gonna call bullshit on that-- if they're dealing with something they're concerned could be a smallpox variant, I think the workers have more important things to do than monitor everybody's cellular activity, you know? UGH. "Looks like we're going to have to wait here and see what happens," he drawls, before licking a finger and going back to reading a test booklet. Okay, this guy is not even trying to look like he's not some ridiculous mad-scientist-assassin. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? Why are they so bad at being criminals? The Benefactor seems like the only one who has any idea of what he's doing. I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
Over at the animal clinic, Deaton and Satomi have managed to get the sole surviving member of Satomi's pack (aside from herself, of course) to the back room so Deaton can examine him. While he does a physical assessment, Satomi fills him in on the symptoms she saw in her pack's members after he asks how the disease began. "Fever. Then, shifting becomes uncontrollable-- fangs, claws, even full, unwarranted transformations." As she speaks, Deaton checks the man's hands, whose claws are out and which seem to be seeping black blood from his nailbeds, and like Satomi said. He's also bleeding from his eyes, ears and mouth, and growls uncontrollably while Deaton flashes a pen light in his eyes. Satomi informs him that once they couldn't control their shifts anymore, they moved out into their spot in the woods, but once they got there, it progressed more and more quickly until they were so weakened they couldn't even stand, and eventually lost their eyesight as well. Apparently, once that happened, the wolf would die within minutes.
Question-- so, did Brett die from the virus, or is he still out there somewhere? If it's the latter, maybe getting wolfsbane'd and taken to Deatons actually ended up saving his life in two ways, because it kept him from being wherever the pack was that resulted in them being infected? Who knows. Satomi seems absolutely heartbroken at the loss of the majority of her pack, even more so with this beta's deteriorating condition, but Deaton admits cautiously that they need to get her cub to the hospital. Satomi points out that "their kind" can't usually do hospitals, and asks if he knows something she doesn't. "Not something, but someone," Deaton replies, just as we cut to Beacon Memorial, where Melissa Fucking McCall has just exited an elevator. YESSS! Melissa for President tbh, and Satomi as Queen, obviously.
Melissa strides purposefully down the hallway, where she passes a suspicious-looking blonde woman crying on one of the benches. She makes her way into Braedon's treatment room, where Derek is sitting dutifully at her bedside, reading a book while she sleeps. Aw, Derek has a crush, you guys, look at that face! Melissa immediately injects naloxone (which reverses the effects of opiate analgesics/painkillers such as morphine, which Braedon is probably on for her gunshot wounds) into Braedon's IV to wake her up. Derek protests and reminds her that she said Braedon needed rest, but Melissa is insistent, because she was just informed by Sheriff that the CDC has locked down the high school, where her children and their friends (and Derek's packmates) are currently trapped, and Braedon is the only person alive who knows what happened to the wolves out in the woods. Needless to say, they need answers PRONTO.
After a moment, the medication kicks in, and Braedon awakens with a gasp and instantly panics as she takes in her surroundings. I don't blame her, tbh, she's been in enough life-or-death scenarios to immediately look for escape routes when she's been knocked out/injured/captured/whatever. She looks like she's about to hop out of bed and flee until she remembers that she was totally SHOT and winces in pain, which stops her long enough for Melissa to assure her that she's been shot, but she's safe and okay. She sees Derek next to Melissa, who nods at her in encouragement, so she quickly calms down. "Okay," Melissa begins, after Braedon has settled down a little. "Last night, you were in the woods, and you came across another pack? Do you know what happened to them?" Derek interjects that he already told her that they were poisoned, but Braedon corrects him. "No. No, they were infected," she recalls, as Melissa's nervous hand-wringing gets even more intense. "It was a virus, designed to kill werewolves. [beat] And it DID. It killed them ALL." Derek and Melissa's eyes bug out of their head in shock, because that is way worse than just being shot at with wolfsbane bullets.
Cut to the high school locker room, where Mama Martin is pounding on the locked door. "Scott? You've been in there a long time, are you alright? Hey, you need to come back with the others!" Her voice starts to warp in Scott's hypersensitive ears as he leans against one of the sinks, gripping the tile as hard as he can as he tries his best to keep his wolf at bay. He's covered in sweat and looks MISERABLE, tbh, and only gets worse the more Natalie continues to rap her knuckles against the door. Eventually, he can't hold it anymore, and he roars with his fangs out. Also, his fangs are WAY longer, sharper and more vicious than they normally are. I don't know if they changed the prostheses or if this is supposed to be important, but it's scary!
(via teen-wolf)
Meanwhile, Lydia is over at the lake house, where she's locked herself up in her grandmother's soundproofed banshee room in lieu of taking the PSATs. She kneels in front of the record player as if she were praying in front of an altar, and next to her is a box labeled, "MEREDITH WALKER. DESTROY ALL CONTENTS IF NOT CLAIMED," which seems to contain the few possessions Meredith kept in her room at Eichen House. Guess it pays to know the Sheriff, eh? Free access to evidence. Lydia opens the box and gently removes the contents before laying them around her; a nearly-empty old-fashioned perfume bottle, a bouquet of dried yellow roses or carnations, a stuffed koala bear, and a photo. Everyone in Meredith's family is dead, right? Maybe the perfume belonged to her mother or something? Scent is a huge memory trigger-- I would know my parents' and sisters' perfume/cologne ANYWHERE (Chanel No. 5, Gray Flannel, and Vera Wang Princess, respectively, ;)), so maybe that's her way of staying close to her? GOD, if I think any more about Meredith's tragic backstory, I'm going to cry, and this scene already brought me to tears once, so MOVING ON.
After a long moment, Lydia takes a deep breath and flips the record player on and listens for any sign that Meredith is trying to speak to her through the static. "Alright, Meredith?" Lydia whispers softly, clearly still feeling guilty for how she treated Meredith before she died. "I'm not sure how to do this. I'm not a psychic. And apparently, I'm... not much of a banshee, either. But, I'm trying to help my friends." Lydia waits for any kind of response, but the room remains silent, so Lydia sighs and continues her plea. "I don't know if you can hear me...or, uh... what I'm supposed to ask you..." She licks her lips anxiously and pauses, as her eyes fill with tears. "But, if I have this thing... it's GOTTA to work some of the time! ...It's gotta to help someone." The deafening silence is too much for Lydia, so after a moment of hesitation, she gets to her point. "Maybe what I really wanted to say was... I'm sorry. I wish I could have helped you." She waits one more second before whispering, "I'm sorry." She still gets no response, or sign whatsoever that Meredith's presence is there, so she eventually gets frustrated and starts packing Meredith's things back into the box.
(via argents-allison)
That's when she finally actually LOOKS at the photo in her hand, which she barely glanced at the first time-- it's a black and white photo of Meredith, who is standing awkwardly in front of a record player in a room that looks suspiciously like the room Lydia is standing in now. Alarmed and confused, Lydia hops to her feet and looks at the photo, comparing it to the wall in front of her, and she realizes that Meredith was, in fact, in this very room in the photo. WHAT?! WHAAAAAT?! OKAY, so what does this mean? Is Meredith related to Lydia? I don't think it's possible that she's the dead older sister Jeff has teased about in interviews, but maybe she's a cousin? If she's not related to the Martins, then maybe Lydia's grandmother was to Beacon County's banshees what Talia Hale was to Beacon County's werewolves? I NEED TO KNOW MORE MARTIN/MEREDITH BACKSTORY RIGHT MEOW. I'm hoping this means that Meredith's role will still have a part in the plot going forward, even if she's dead. Also, MAJOR kudos to Holland Roden on this scene-- her acting is sometimes hit or miss, especially compared to some of the other actors in the series, like Crystal or Dylan or Daniel, but she seriously knocked this right out of the park. Also also, I desperately need a scene of Lydia trying to use something of Allison's (her bow/arrows, or some of her jewelry, or one of her knives or something) to try to communicate with her, banshee-styles. MAKE IT HAPPEN, DAVIS.
Out in the hall, Malia and Kira are waiting in line to have their blood drawn to be tested for whatever mysterious bugger to which they've been exposed. Doesn't that seem like kind of a bad idea for our heroes? What if the CDC noticed that their blood is magical/supernaturally-enhanced when they test it? Seems risky to me. Anyway, after a moment of silence, Malia fake-cheerfully pipes up, "Kira? Do you ever get the feeling that Scott and Stiles aren't telling you everything?" Kira does a very poor job hiding her sudden alarm at this question, and awkwardly asks her what she means. "Like they hide stuff!" Malia chirps as she playfully punches Kira in the arm. Kira grows more awkward by the moment, and vaguely states that if they were, they probably had a good reason, which does nothing but make Malia sigh and drop the pretense and get to the point-- does Kira know what Scott and Stiles are keeping in the bag under Scott's bed? Kira's response is the best: "What? No! I've never been under Scott's bed. Or in it. Just on it, wearing clothes...? *blinks innocently*"
(via makos-lightningrod)
Malia gives Kira some pretty fabulous side-eye at her obvious diversions, but before she can grill Kira further, she's called forward by CDC Lady, who is ready to take Kira's blood sample. Kira seems uneasy, so the woman asks her if she's feeling okay (which she is) and admits that she also hates needles, so she'll make the process as quick as possible. Unfortunately for her, Kira has forgotten all about her foxfire powers, which seem to unconsciously activate when someone tries to inflict bodily injury on her, regardless of whether the person has innocent or malicious intentions. So, as soon as the needle brushes up against her skin, a bolt of electricity surges up the vial, eventually burning a hole in CDC Lady's heavy-duty hazmat suit. CDC Lady looks at Kira in shocked confusion, but is quickly rushed outside by nearby CDC employees, to check and see if she's been exposed to whatever bug the juniors have managed to contract. Kira is still in shock, so Malia gently grabs her by the shoulders and pushes Kira to the back of the line before anyone starts to put the pieces together about what actually happened.
Once outside, CDC Lady determines that the burn mark didn't go all the way through the suit, so she wasn't exposed to the virus, and she ultimately blames the shock on "static electricity" just before she's approached by a very aggressive Agent Douchenozzle. "Any verdict on what we're dealing with, here? My son's in there!" ADN demands. CDC Lady has no time to waste on his dramatics, and points out that Sheriff, as another police officer with a child in the school, can debrief him before she runs off to, I don't know, change into another suit or something. ADN turns to Sheriff and asks him if he knows if there's any truth to the rumors of smallpox, but Sheriff just replies, "You want my opinion? I don't think the Orphans were the only professional killers in Beacon Hills." Okay, so seriously, how much does ADN know about what's going on? Like, he's an idiot, but is he really so clueless that he has NO idea of the supernatural shit that is going on literally at all hours of every day? I'm becoming increasingly suspicious of him, especially after what happens later.
In the locker room, Scott is looking at Ken and trying his best to keep his werewolf side under control, but his eyes keep flashing crimson of their own accord. Similarly, Malia seems to be getting ill as well, because she's super pale and clammy, not to mention the fact that her claws are out and she can't make them retract Ken determines that the virus is affecting them differently than the humans, so Stiles insists that they need to "quarantine them from the quarantine" and keep them out of sight so no one gets suspicious. Probably a good plan, because with the deadpool and all, they can't exactly afford to clue more people in to their supernaturalness, you know? Kira asks where they're supposed to go, especially if the virus ends up making them violent, like a newbie on a full moon, and Scott agrees that staying in the locker room is a bad idea. Malia points out that even a classroom wouldn't hold them if they really went feral, so Scott figures they need to find a place that is secure, where no one at the school would be able to accidentally stumble upon them. Luckily for them, Stiles has an idea-- the Hale vault, which just so happens to be nearby! Scott remembers that the Hale's always have an escape room (like the one in the tunnels by the Hale house, where Derek was held and tortured by Kate all the way back in season 1), which means that there must also be another entrance in the vault.
(via teenwolf)
Somewhere, Ken has procured the blueprints to the school, and Stiles determines the general area of the vault by referring to where the school sign is. Malia dabs at the sweat on her decolletage while Ken brainstorms, eventually guessing that the entrance would be somewhere in the basement, and Stiles goes a step further by suggesting the west corridor. That's when he's overcome by a wave of dizziness, and would have fallen to the floor had it not been for Ken's quick reflexes. When he helps Stiles back to his feet, he notices that Stiles has developed the same rash as the others on his wrists, which means all of them have been infected by the virus. Ken turns to his daughter, but she assures him that she doesn't feel sick, and to be honest, she doesn't look anywhere near as sick as the others. However, her dad fished her test booklet out of the pile, and as he shows it to her, he admits that he's pretty sure she's being affected differently, on a more neurological basis, rather than immunological like Scott, Malia and Stiles. When Kira looks down at her answer sheet, she realizes that she didn't actually fill in the bubbles, but instead scribbled circles in the margins, as though she either couldn't see the sheet properly, or couldn't coordinate her movements correctly.
I think the way that they're each affected is pretty awesome, tbh, even if it's not at all scientifically possible for humans to get a virus that is supposed to be specific to canines. Malia is the coyote-equivalent of a beta werewolf, so that explains why she gets hit more quickly and severely by the virus than the others due to being on the weaker end of the spectrum (comparatively speaking, anyway)-- we saw her getting feverish, sweaty, and restless even while the kids were still taking the test. Scott, who is a true alpha and thus has a stronger healing ability, was able to stave off the worst of the symptoms for a little longer because of that extra spark of power that he has, which is why he was the last one to lose his vision (and even then, he didn't lose it completely) and why he didn't have as hard of a time controlling his transformation as Satomi's beta did. Kira was affected differently than Scott and Malia, which I am guessing is due to what we know about kitsunes-- they are technically considered fox shapeshifters, since they're "trickster spirits," but they don't transform in the same way that werewolves/werecoyotes do, since they don't have claws or fangs that we know of (or, at least, Kira doesn't-- she just has her fox aura). So, I think that's why Kira's symptoms were different, at least at first-- she didn't get the flu symptoms (fever, chills, sweating) nor the bleeding black blood thing. She mostly just got weaker and weaker and then lost her vision.
So, in light of the realization that they've all been infected and are suffering from this virus, Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia march their little feet down into the basement's west corridor so they can all split up and look for the alternate entrance to the vault. After searching around in some bookshelves, Stiles finally finds a Celtic knot grate like the one in the school's sign, and immediately pushes the bookshelf aside to reveal a huge triskele carved into the wall around it. "It's like the entrance outside," Stiles explains, before he realizes that there's only one person in their group who can actually open it, but since Malia doesn't know that she's a Hale yet, and Stiles CLEARLY does not want to tell her, he has to quickly lie, "It only opens with claws. Anyone's claws, right?" Scott looks at him quizzically, because they both know that's totally wrong, but when Stiles shoots him a look that screams, "Do NOT blow this, dude," Scott realizes a cover-up is underway and turns to Malia to ask her if she can try opening it. Malia seems to be pretty suspicious, but when she asks him why she should open it, Scott points out that he doesn't have control over his shift, and holds up his hand, showing her his blunt human nails. "Okay? I'll do it," Malia states. "But first, tell me what you've been hiding from me."
Stiles just stammers, like, "Uh, wut?", while Scott just stares at her in confusion, so Malia adds, "I know you're trying to protect me, but I can handle it!" Kira's eyes are once again ready to bug out of her head, and Stiles and Scott just kind of gape at each other, all, "SHIT SHIT SHIT ABORT ABORT ABORT." Finally, Malia admits that she knows she's on the deadpool, and Stiles about pees his pants in relief and wastes no time pretending like that's what they've been hiding from her this whole time. Malia asks them how much she's worth, so Scott informs her that her bounty is a cool four million dollars, which causes Malia to fall silent. Whether they're afraid that Malia has totally figured out that they're lying out their asses, or worried that Malia is freaking out about being on a hit list, I'm not really sure, but after a moment of awkward silence, Stiles asks her if she's okay. "Yeah!" Malia pipes up. "Scott's worth twenty-five, Kira six-- they'll take you out way before me!" LOL MALIA! That is so hilarious, even though it's not true, since the Walcotts were in the group with the lowest value ($250,000) and they were taken out first, followed by those who were worth $500,000 and $1,000,000, so if anything they seem to be working their way up the list.
(via beaconhillsgifs)
ANYWAY, Kira just kind of stands there awkwardly, because for being one of her best friends, Malia is kind of not at all concerned about Kira's well being, and Stiles once again defends his girlfriend by proclaiming that this is still progress. Oh, Malia, never change! She walks up to the Celtic knot lock and sticks her claws in the slots, which allows her to turn the grate like a dial on a combination lock. Once she's finished, the grate pops itself into the wall and the wall slides to the left as it opens the entrance to the vault. The four hesitantly walk inside, and as soon as they're through the threshold, the door immediately slides closed behind them. Crazy! Inside, it's just as dark, wet, and spooky as it was the first two time we followed the gang inside, and is full to the brim with Hale family heirlooms and possessions.
Back at the hospital, Melissa has finally met up with Deaton, Satomi, and Satomi's poor, unnamed beta, who is now in even worse shape-- his muscles are spasming so much that Deaton and Melissa have to hold him down, and even more black blood is leaking from his mouth. It's likely that he's one of the names on the list, right? I wonder who that would be, then? Elias Town? Steve Grace? Tom Hill? Richard Benefield? I hope we'll get an updated version of the list with all of Satomi's dead betas indicated so we know how much of the list has been taken out so far. Melissa helps Deaton get the beta into a stretcher while she asks him if this is the same kind of sickness that the school is currently dealing with, but apparently Deaton hasn't heard anything about it. Before they can get into it further, the beta starts horrifically vomiting black blood, and Satomi suggests that they get him to a treatment room ASAP to do SOMETHING to help him.
They rush the gurney into the elevator, where Melissa frantically presses the second floor button over and over, but before they manage to get to the second floor, the poor, sick beta gasps a couple wheezy breaths before dying on the stretcher. Satomi looks like she's just been kicked in the gut, and I don't blame her-- her pack was HUGE, and now all of them are apparently dead, so it's like when Derek lost his betas times a hundred. Melissa, too, looks devastated, which surprised me at first-- she's a nurse, so you'd think she would be used to witnessing death. However, I realized that it's completely different when you're constantly seeing people being MURDERED, especially when those people are also gunning for your son's death, you know? God, I just feel so terrible for everyone. The McCall Pack is a literal example of the quote, "You take what's unbearable and you bear it."
In the Hale vault, Scott is sitting on a trunk with his head between his knees, while Kira paces back and forth across an aisle of shelves. A couple feet away, Stiles is sitting on the floor, leaning against a support beam with his arms around Malia, who is adorably snuggled up in his lap, trying to get some sleep. "You know this is where it all started?" Stiles pipes up, as he gently brushes a stray tuft of hair from Malia's face. "That's where the money was," he adds, as he gestures to the large safe next to where Scott is sitting, and goes on to explain that the safe had 117 million dollars worth of bearer bonds inside. Kira notices a jar of what appears to be dried mushrooms one one of the shelves and picks it up as she asks Stiles how you even cash bearer bonds. He guesses it's probably at a bank or something, and bemoans the fact that the bearer bonds (which are basically never used anymore, from what Stiles says) were just chilling in the vault all this time gathering dust. Does that mean that the bonds that were stolen weren't the entirety of the Hale fortune? I hope so, for everyone else's sake-- maybe Derek will want to help his friends with their money problems if he gets his money back? He seems to be doing fine without it so far, and I get the feeling that they're just going to keep taking out/neutralizing the assassins and then taking back the money they've been paid.
(via shelleyhenign)
STILES: "Do you know how many problems that money could solve?"
KIRA: "For you?"
STILES: [shrugs] "For me and my dad." [beat] "The Eichen House and MRI bills are crushing him."
SCOTT: [beat] "Mom does this thing-- she writes down all the items in our budget, how much they cost... and then she adds it all up and figures out how long we have until... we lose the house."
MY BABIES. This is too much for my poor heart to handle. Kira seems to feel terrible for her friends, and Stiles and Scott are clearly very stressed out about their respective parents' financial difficulties and how much their actions have cost their parents. CUT IT OUT, SHOW. On a more shallow note, Stiles and Malia are so cute together, I can't even deal. Even as much as I would love Stiles and Lydia to get together, I am really enjoying Stiles and Malia's chemistry. And, of course, once I really get invested, it just HAS to end tragically, right? SIGH.
It's night time now, and the CDC has just flipped on external lights to help in their testing when Lydia shows up at the police barricade and starts yelling for Sheriff Stilinski. The police initially block her, but once Sheriff gives the order to let her through, she's finally able to come forward and join him. She automatically asks what's going on, since her mother is inside, but all Sheriff will say is that they're working on figuring it out as they speak. I love how no one, not even Agent Douchenozzle, questioned the fact that Sheriff allowed a seventeen-year-old girl to come in and help them brainstorm what's up with this possible smallpox outbreak. Also, where's Parrish? Shouldn't he be in here helping somehow? Maybe he's off on Saturdays.
Back inside, the kids are still in the vault, and all of them are getting steadily worse. Stiles and Scott, both of whom are pale, clammy, and strung-out looking, are both leaning weakly against the closed vault door, while Kira is comforting a miserable-looking Malia over on the other side of the room. Stiles asks Scott what he can hear about what's going on upstairs, and after a moment, Scott admits that they're looking for them, and that one of them is going to have to run up to distract them soon. Stiles looks around and frowns when he realizes that person is probably going to have to be him, since he's the lone human surrounded by supernaturals who need to stay hidden. Scott notices his best friend looking over at Malia, and whispers that they're eventually going to have to tell her about Peter, especially since at some point, she's going to see the deadpool list and figure it out for herself.
In the morgue of the hospital, Melissa and Deaton are just doing an impromptu autopsy on Satomi's beta , as one does, while Satomi watches on mournfully. How are they able to get away with that? Where are the doctors/nurses who work in the morgue? I guess Melissa is like, one of two whole hospital employees, so it's not like they're going to be disturbed. Man, Beacon Hills is so ridiculous. ANYWAY, so they're just drilling into his skull and flipping his scalp over his face so Deaton can try to determine what exactly they're dealing with, here. "I think I know what this is," Deaton admits worriedly, after he examines the beta's brain. Melissa just gives him a look, like, "Okay, get to it, dude, my kids are dying here," but Deaton confesses that if it is what he thinks it is, Scott and the others are in serious danger, and will most likely die if they don't get an antidote. OF COURSE. Because nothing can ever be easy on this goddamned show.
When we come back from the break, Stiles is crouched over Malia's sleepy face as he tries to gently shake her awake to fill her in on what's happening. "Malia. [beat] I gotta leave for a few, okay?" he admits hesitantly, his face blurry in Malia's quickly deteriorating vision. She's sad that he has to leave, understandably, and asks him what's up, so he replies, "Whatever's happening, it's worse for you guys." Across the room, Kira is rubbing Scott's back soothingly as he continues to hunch over on the trunk. "That means it's not just people getting sick, it's another assassin." Our three canid heroes are clearly getting more miserable by the minute, and when Stiles affectionately rubs Malia's arm, he realizes that she's freezing, and immediately offers her his coat to warm up. He brushes her hair behind her ears and looks at her with so much adoration that it almost makes me sick. HE LOVES HER SO MUCH AND SHE LOVES HIM SO MUCH AND OH MY GODDDD. Malia softly asks, "You're coming back, right?" Stiles just laughs and promises that he would never leave her behind. He kisses her on the forehead and squeezes her hand before getting up to his feet and walking toward the door. Malia smiles at her adorable boyfriend, but as soon as their hands break contact, she starts to cry, and curls back up on her blanket on the floor. Stiles walks out the open door and takes one final look backward before the door closes behind him. THESE ENDEARING KIDS, I S2G.
(via seaquell)
Speaking of endearing, Derek is just sitting at the foot of Braedon's hospital bed, watching her with a certain amount of adoration while she rests, until she totally catches him staring at her and clears her throat. Busted, Derek just smiles and hops to his feet, trying (and failing) to act nonchalant until she finally asks him why the fuck he's still there. "I'm...protecting my investment!" Derek retorts with a smirk. "I've got a lot of money riding on you!" Before they can flirt further, Melissa knocks on the door and informs Derek that she's found someone she found whom Derek was seeking before stepping aside and allowing Satomi to enter the room. WOOT! I am loving Satomi, this better not be the last time we see her this season!
Outside the school, Sheriff has taken Lydia aside in order to talk shop without the CDC or the FBI listening in on them. "Lydia!" Sheriff begins. "All of this is still very new to me, and I don't know how it works, but I still have to ask-- do you have any kind of... instinct, or indication, or any kind of feeling about this..." Lydia frowns in confusion, which causes Sheriff to trail off for a moment before deciding to be bluntly honest. "Is someone in there gonna die?" Lydia doesn't waste a second before replying, "Yes. And it's not just a feeling." SHIT. I'm still not sure what that's supposed to mean-- did she know who was going to die in there? Did she have any ideas of who it would be? Did I miss something, or was it just one of those things that happen when this show is moving too fast for anyone to really think about anything in detail?
Melissa and Satomi have brought Derek down to the morgue, where Deaton reveals that he has finally determined what kind of virus they're dealing with in Satomi's pack and at the school-- it's a variant of canine distemper, which, as I learned in my wikipedia research, is closely related to both measles and rinderpest, which the Chemist mentioned earlier in the episode. According to Deaton, an outbreak of canine distemper infected and killed 40% of the wolf population of Yellowstone National Park last year. "What's it going to do to OUR wolf population?" Melissa demands anxiously. To make matters worse, Deaton explains that this virus has been altered to affect and kill more quickly than the usual version, "weaponizing" it, as Derek helpfully refers to it. Satomi reminds them that the virus infected her entire pack, but Deaton realizes that since she never got sick, they need to figure out if that's because she was never infected, or because she's somehow immune to it.
Mama Martin is standing vigil outside the treatment rooms when Stiles, who is sweatier and paler than ever, and whose bags under his eyes are taking him back into Nogitstiles terriotry, finally catches up with her. She automatically suggests that he should go lie down, but Stiles swears that he's fine and asks her if she's seen Mr. Yukimura. Natalie informs him that he's helping with the other students and once again insists that Stiles go lie down and rest, but Stiles is on a mission, obviously, and has no time to waste. He notices that Coach is passed out in one of the treatment rooms and gets hit with one of his usual dawning realizations-- as far as they know, Coach is the only teacher/adult who was infected, so how did that happen? Stiles realizes he's got some investigating to do, and immediately lies and states he'll be right back before he rushes away to Coach's officer. Yeah, Detective Stiles! He's efficient even when he's feverish and about half-ready to keel over.
Back in the morgue, Melissa looks absolutely exhausted, both emotionally and physically, as she watches Deaton cover up the body of the dead beta on the autopsy table. Derek wonders who was shooting near the entrance to the preserve (since he and Malia found a bunch of what looked like rifle shells on the ground), if the assassin had a virus that could take out all the werecanines who were exposed, but Satomi figures it must have just been ANOTHER assassin. "Personally, I'd rather face a gun than a variant of smallpox," Satomi admits dryly. Melissa humorlessly retorts that she's probably going to get plenty of opportunities, judging by how many assassins seem to have infiltrated their fair city in the last week or so. Satomi gets a little distracted by Derek's beautiful face, and when he catches her staring at him, she confesses that he just reminds her a lot of his mother, Talia. OH MY GOD, LIKE WE NEED TO BE OVERWHELMED WITH HALE FAMILY FEELS RIGHT NOW.
(via teen-wolf)
Derek smiles politely as Satomi continues. "I used to visit her a lot, you know. Do you remember me?" Melissa is just rubbing her temples while Deaton frowns, like, "Should we really be taking a walk down memory lane right now?" But, luckily for them, the conversation ends up being useful-- Derek admits that he does remember the tea she used to bring, which he claimed smelled terrible, and which she argued she brought as a gift to Talia, because she apparently loved it. Deaton gets curious and asks her what kind of tea it was, and when she replies that it was rare wild purple reishi mushrooms, (WHICH, I feel compelled to remind you was what Noshiko fed Ken when he was forced to swallow one of the nogitsune's flies in "The Fox and The Wolf") Deaton realizes that since it's also a powerful remedy against sickness, and determines that Satomi didn't get infected by the virus because the tea effectively acted as a vaccine. We cut to a flashback of the Chemist drinking that gross-looking tea while he was working in his mad scientist lab, but when we return to the present day, Melissa is ready to get her kid and his pack cured ASAP, and asks if it's so rare that they'll have difficulty finding it. Derek's eyes widen in relief when he realizes they won't have to look for it, because he just happens to know that there's a jar in the Hale vault! Woohoo! God bless the Hales for their pack-rat tendencies.
In the vault, we get a brief cut to the jar of mushrooms (which Kira was examining earlier) before we meet back up with the gang. Malia is still tossing and turning restlessly on her little bed of blankets on the floor, and after burrowing in Stiles' coat, she finds a folded up piece of paper in Stiles' coat pocket and pulls it out to see what it is. Of course, it's the most recently-discovered deadpool list, which has Malia listed as "Malia Hale." Scott doesn't realize what she's looking at until it's too late-- he calls out her name to stop her, but she's already unfolded the paper and seemingly begun to skim her eyes across the page with a frown. Scott hesitantly whispers, "Malia?" again, worried that she's totally pissed at them for hiding the big Peter secret, but it's actually not that at all. "I can't see!" Malia exclaims, understandably alarmed. "I can't see anything!" Scott, even more concerned than he was previously, holds up his own hand in front of his face and panics when his usually-sharp wolf vision starts to blur drastically. The rational part of me knew that there was no way that any of our heroes would be dying this week, but I was still RIDICULOUSLY stressed out for the entirety of this episode, you guys.
Meanwhile, Stiles is tearing apart Coach's office looking for ANYTHING that might hint as to how he got infected-- his locker, his desk, his file cabinet. He angrily slams the last drawer in his desk shut and slumps back in Coach's chair, quite visibly feeling like absolute shit thanks to the virus. Suddenly, he notices a stack of permission slips on his desk, and as he flips through them, it becomes clear that at some point, Coach ran out of red ink and switched over to a black ink pad. Then, he notices Coach's coffee mug, which has black smudges where Coach must have accidentally gotten ink on his fingers. Which, naturally, leads Stiles to flash back to this morning, when he and all the other juniors who were taking the PSATs put their thumbs on an ink pad to put their fingerprints on their tests, as the Chemist smiled creepily in the background. OH SHIT! So, the Chemist mixed the virus with something that allows the body to absorb stuff through the skin and put it in the ink pad? That's actually so ridiculous that it kind of swings back around to being awesome.
"I was wondering how that idiot got sick," the Chemist says from the doorway, which startles Stiles so much that he instantly jumps to his feet and knocks Coach's mug onto the floor, shattering it. The Chemist leans against the doorway and screws a silencer onto a handgun as he adds, "I'm also wondering where your friends are, since in order to get paid by the Benefactor, I need to have proof they're dead." Stiles realizes that is what the Benefactor meant by "visual confirmation" in the tape that Scott found in Garrett's duffel, but the Chemist just smiles and quips, "Exactly!" as he aims the gun at Stiles' face. NOOO! That face is precious cargo! Also, why would the guy bring up the Benefactor? Did he know somehow that the kids knew about him anyway? Or is he just a REALLY BAD ASSASSIN, just like everyone else we've met so far? JFC.
After the break, we return to the CDC treatment cubicles, where Coach wakes up when he's hit with an intense coughing fit. Once he hacks up whatever he needed to hack up, he realizes that he's totally being held in an ET-style quarantine room, and asks, "What the hell is going on?" Natalie, who is checking on Sydney, realizes that her rash has completely gone away, just as the rest of the infected human students begin to wake up and show signs that they're all getting better. "Can I take the test again now?" Sydney chirps in true over-achieving fashion, which just makes Mama Martin chuckle. Of course, the same is not happening down in the basement to our werecanine pals, where Malia is shivering in the corner, black werewolf ink dripping from her nose and smeared around her mouth. "What's happening to us?" Malia demands fearfully. Kira, who was kneeling on the floor, falls over over into a puddle and cries that she can't see anything. Scott is a couple feet away from her, where he's weakly grasping onto a shelf so he doesn't fall over as well. When he turns his head to look over at Kira and Malia, his own vision starts to go dark, and we can see that his veins have started to turn black under his skin around his eyes, mouth, nose, and temples. THIS IS SO BAD, THIS IS SO BAD.
Upstairs, Stiles is shoved into the locker room by the Chemist, who holds the gun between his shoulder blades as he follows him. "You still look feverish, Mr. Stilinski, but you should know something. The virus doesn't kill humans. You'll get better! So, don't you think you should tell me where they are? Shouldn't one of you get to live?" You see, the problem with his logic is that Stiles still carries around so much buried self-loathing from what he did when he was possessed by the nogitsune that in his mind, he figures that if any one should have to die, it should be HIM. He's the one who feels the blood still on his hands, he's the one who remembers torturing his best friend, knocking out Kira, blowing up the Sheriff's station, and liking the feeling of power and control the nogitsune gave him. Plus, Scott, Malia and Kira are in the vault, which Stiles can't open himself, since you need Hale werewolf claws to get in from the outside, so it's pointless anyway.
So, Stiles does his nervous smart-ass routine, and replies that he thinks he saw them in the library. Or, you know, the cafeteria. Or maybe it was the gym? He can't remember. "I'm going to count to three, and then I'm going to kill you," the Chemist states in response, not at all impressed by Stiles' smart-mouthed teenagerness. Stiles spins on his heel to face him and sneers, "You think you can scare me?" he retorts, mustering whatever bit of Nogitsune!Stiles swagger he has left, because Stiles has seen way scarier motherfuckers than this pathetic excuse for a villain, you guys. The Chemist retorts that he just thought it would be more exciting that way, and points the barrel of the gun to Stiles' forehead. The fact that Stiles doesn't immediately flinch makes my soul hurt so bad. The Chemist counts to two before Stiles really starts to fear for his life, and the poor kid squeezes his eyes closed and steels himself for the bullet that he believes is surely going to enter his brain...
...but, when he hears the gun go off, his face is completely splattered in a fine mist of blood, and it takes him a whole second to realize that he wasn't actually shot at all, but the Chemist was! He opens his eyes just in time to see the guy collapse onto the floor, revealing that a man in a yellow hazmat suit behind him has killed him with one perfectly-aimed headshot. When the man rips the hood off the suit, we see that it's actually none other than AGENT FUCKING DOUCHENOZZLE, who I am so happy to see for the first time ever that I am going to reward him by actually calling him by his real name. Only for this scene, though, because he's still a douchenozzle in every other way.
STILES: [shocked and horrified; spits out the blood splattered over his mouth] "Where the HELL did you come from?"
AGENT MCCALL: [frantic] "Stiles, listen. I got a call from Melissa, I don't know WHAT it means. She said there's an antidote. It's in the vault, reishi mushrooms."
STILES: [hyperventilates] "Wait, what in the vault?"
AGENT MCCALL: "It's in a jar on one of the shelves. She said to tell Scott. It's in the vault!"
Stiles doesn't even have time to process the traumatic event he just experienced, he just gasps and immediately turns to rush down in the basement, leaving a pretty exasperated Agent McCall behind, who once again doesn't get an explanation about what the hell is happening. Here's something I don't understand, though-- why would Melissa call Rafael of all people? Lydia was there at the school. Sheriff Stilinski was there at the school. Why wouldn't she call one of them? They know what's actually going on, not Rafael. I don't know, it just doesn't make sense to me whatsoever. But, whatever! Stiles got the message and that's what is important. Still, I'm pretty damn suspicious of Agent McCall.
Melissa helps Deaton clean up from their impromptu autopsy, while Derek and Satomi walk out of the room. Derek insists that he has to get to the school to help the kids get into the vault for the antidote. Satomi asks him what she should do about the bodies in Look-out Point (I'm guessing that's probably going to be a job for Sheriff Stilinski, poor guy), but before he can answer, the blonde, crying girl from the hallway earlier steps out of the elevator and aims a pistol-grip rifle at Derek and Satomi. HOLY SHIT, ANOTHER FUCKING ASSASSIN. Could she have been the one who shot Braedon? We didn't catch a glimpse of the rifle shells, just the gun itself.
Derek's eyes widen in alarm before he dives out of the way, but Satomi, being the badass she is, just grabs her spike from her coat pocket and starts swinging it around like a ninja, effectively dodging every single bullet that is shot her way. The lady-assassin's face is so hilarious as she continues to shoot, like, "I'VE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE," because Satomi just gets closer and closer, dodging bullets and bending backwards like in the Matrix, until she finally stabs the assassin in the neck with her spike, killing her instantly. Derek gapes at Satomi in awe as the lady-assassin falls dead to the floor, just as Melissa and Deaton run out into the hallway to investigate the gunshots. HOLY SHIT. Satomi for Queen Badass 2014. "I may have learned how to control my anger, but I still know how to use it," Satomi quips, while spinning the bloody spike in her hand. WE ARE NOT WORTHY.
Stiles has finally made it down to the backdoor of the vault, and pounds on the wall in an attempt to get Scott's attention. Inside, Scott blindly paws at the door, unable to do anything else. "Hey, Scott! Scott! It's in the vault, it's in there with you! It's the reishi mushrooms! Scott!" Behind him, we can see the jar of mushrooms, just sitting there on the shelf, where NO ONE can see it because all of them have lost their eyesight. Stiles is still desperately slamming his hand against the wall while he begs Scott to open the door and let him in. Finally, Stiles wears himself out trying to get it, and slides down the wall as he slumps onto the floor. On the other side of the door, Scott is leaning against the wall in the exact same position and place as Stiles. Kira, who is sprawled out on the floor near the shelf inside the vault, is barely able to lift her head enough to call out, "Reishi... Scott, I saw it! In a jar on one of the shelves..."
Scott looks absolutely MISERABLE, and the blackened veins under the skin of his face are even larger and darker, splintering out from his ears, eyes, nose and the corners of his mouth. Of course, he can't let himself and his friends die in there, so after a moment of trying to catch his breath, he coughs and forces himself up to his feet. He turns toward Kira and Malia, and squeezes his eyes shut to summon whatever tiny shred of control over his transformation that he still has. He opens his eyes to reveal his crimson-red alpha irises, which gives him the wolf-vision necessary to make his way toward the shelf, spotting Kira and Malia sprawled out on the floor, completely motionless. He's still ridiculously weak, though, and can barely stay on his feet as he scrabbles at the various shelves and trunks to keep himself upright, aiming for the purpleish glow that is emanating from the jar of mushrooms on the shelf.
He finally makes it to the correct shelf and paws around for the jar, ultimately knocking it onto the floor, which shatters the glass and causes a large cloud of mushroom dust to float into the air and spread out to the three of them, causing them all to gasp as they inhale the powder. After what feels like forever, we cut outside the door to Stiles, who looks absolutely wrecked, and who jumps when he feels the door sliding open behind him. Scott, on his hands and knees, continues to gasp for breath as he slowly begins to heal, and Stiles is so happy to see him that he can't help but clap Scott on the shoulder as he sighs in relief. AWWW SKITTLES FEELS FOR DAYS. I wish they would have hugged, but I think they're both way too physically and emotionally exhausted at this point.
of Verona's "Breathe" starts to play as Stiles is finally able to make his way into the vault, and instantly rushes toward Malia to see how she's doing. She looks horrible, not in a sick way, but in a "holy shit I feel so upset and confused and betrayed" kind of way, though Stiles reads her expression incorrectly at first. He asks her if she's okay, but she doesn't answer him-- she can't even look him in the eyes. Finally, he puts a hand on her shoulder and calls out her name again, but she just grabs his wrist in her hand and shoves him away. Confused, Stiles just stares at her as she gets up to her feet and walks purposefully toward the open door of the vault. Nearby, Scott and Kira have their arms around each other and watch her in worry as she leaves. Stiles doesn't understand what's up with Malia until he finds the unfolded last third of the deadpool, which of course has Malia read the second she got her vision back, and now she knows that the people she has trusted the most since she left Eichen House and joined the pack have been lying to her for half a season.
UGHHHHH like I completely understand Malia's feelings of betrayal, even though I understand that Stiles and Scott were just trying to protect her. This was totally Stiles' mistake, and though I'm hoping that what Stiles predicted would happen (that Malia would run right for Peter, allowing him to weasel and manipulate his way into her head and using her to enact his sinister agendas) won't end up happening, if it does, that's kind of his fault. At least if they had told her from the start, they could have controlled the outcome a little better. Still, Malia isn't an idiot, and I'm hoping she'll take what she knows about Peter to heart while she tries to figure out who she is from a biological standpoint. UGHHHH, THIS SUCKS SO BADLY.
Next week, according to the promo: In an attempt to draw out the Benefactor, Scott and the gang apparently fake his (and possibly Noshiko's?) death, while Malia tries to learn more about her past.
Click HERE to read my next recap of Teen Wolf!
[screencaps via Screencapped]
NOTES/SPECULATION/QUESTIONS:
-On the wardrobe-recycling front, Malia is wearing a pair of shorts with lace trim on the hem that Allison wore in "Frayed" and "Motel California" back in season 3A, which I thought was interesting! I don't know if that was intentional in some way, like we're supposed to think there's some kind of connection between the two girls, or if it's just that Allison's wardrobe got split between the rest of the girls or something, or what. I noticed in "117" that Kira was wearing a jean skirt that looked suspiciously similar to the one Allison wore in "Silverfinger" in 3B, too! Just an observation.
-I am really starting to get worried about Lydia, you guys. She seems to have had a lot of moments with other characters so far this season (girl time with Kira and/or Malia, investigating with Stiles) but I still feel like she's been alone a lot, too, in a way that she hasn't been since she was finally filled in on the supernatural world. Trying to figure out her banshee abilities so she can figure out the cipher keys, investigating the Walcott murders, being isolated from the rest of the pack while she was in Mexico, Lydia has had plenty of time alone to stew in the intense grief she's still experiencing from Allison's death, in addition to the stress she's been under ever since Peter bit her and she started hearing voices and having hallucinations. Especially now that Stiles is in a relationship with Malia-- he still loves Lydia, that much is obvious, but for the first time ever, he has a girl who is actually interested in dating him, and speaking from experience, that kind of love is incredibly consuming. Lydia has come to depend on Stiles over the course of season 3, but now that he has his first girlfriend, he's a lot less accessible to her than he used to be.
I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this train of thought, but I just have this bad feeling that Lydia is going to be reaching a breaking point here very soon. It seems especially telling in her "conversation" with Meredith this week-- she insists that she just wants to help her friends, but she doesn't say ANYTHING about wanting to protect herself. As far as the deadpool is concerned, Lydia is the second most valuable name on the list at $20 million, and she is topped only by Scott, who is worth $25 million. With her death worth so much money (and knowing that she doesn't have the heightened strength/agility/reflexes/healing that makes werewolves/coyotes/jaguars so dangerous as fighters), you would think that would make her a pretty easy target, and yet she's only concerned with protecting Scott, Kira, Malia, and Liam. Don't get me wrong, I feel like everyone at this point is practically passively suicidal, in the way that all of them would be willing to die if it meant protecting the others (as evidenced by Stiles refusing to run or fight against the Chemist, Scott begging the Calaveras to keep torturing him in exchange for Lydia and Kira being let go, etc), but Lydia especially is very much worrying me.
On an only slightly-related note, I feel comfortable in the assumption that she's so highly valued because she's much more powerful than she or anyone else gives her credit for, even if those powers aren't exactly defensive (at least, that we know of.) She's already shown that she's got somewhat of a gift when it comes to precognition, even if it's really only tied to predicting death. Hell, the only reason why the pack even knows about the Benefactors and the deadpool is because her banshee fugue state led to her transcribing the code to the list, so just from that alone, she's given the supernatural side a heads up as to what the Benefactor and his assassins were planning. She also has heightened hearing and can either communicate with other banshees (dead or alive) or ghosts in general, an ability that has given her some good intel in the past as well. Basically, WE NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT LYDIA'S POWERS, because the list seems to indicate that she's even more powerful than we know of at this point.
-WHO IS THE FUCKING BENEFACTOR? We know that he's a dude, or at least one of them is, if the Benefactor is actually a group of people rather than one single individual, which doesn't do much to narrow things down. I'm still suspicious of Peter, but I'm not sure he's the Benefactor-- I think he might just figure out a way to profit from it (taking advantage of a weakened Scott, maybe?). Gerard seems like a likely candidate, but almost TOO likely, you know? It seems the obvious choice, which means I'm thinking it'll probably be something else. It would be nice to see what he's been doing the last season and a half. Agent Douchenozzle is shady too, but I don't think he would want his son to be killed off by some assassin, either. I JUST DON'T KNOW. I think most of me is still hoping it's Danny, tbh, just because that means he'll actually be around again. I miss that sweet dimpled prince.
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