Teen Wolf Season 5, Episode 1: "Creatures of the Night" Recap/Review
*singsongs* REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOOOOOOOD. This is exactly how I feel now that Teen Wolf is back! Don't get me wrong, I love The Originals, and despite my issues with The Vampire Diaries, I will always adore it too, but I didn't realize just how much I was missing the McCall Pack and its variety of beasties until last night when the episode aired. And it was GOOD, wasn't it? Kathleen and I still aren't totally sold yet on the whole "5A is probably one big flashback" thing yet, but it's still an interesting change-up from previous seasons. It kind of reminds me of Season 3A's "Frayed," but in a good way.
So, let's run down the amazingness, shall we? Scott and Stiles are the cutest bros to ever bro, as usual, and have literally become Liam's parents. Liam is so precious and cares so much about the pack that it is killing me. Malia is still working her ass off in her academic life and for her pack, and with a perfect haircut to boot. Scott and Kira, you guys-- that's all that needs to be said about that (right now, at least). Kira and her magic katana-belt! Lydia's badass new powers! Confirmation regarding some of Parrish's new powers! Scary wolf-men and even scarier doctors!
Basically, I can already tell that this is going to be a doozy of a season and a recap, so settle in, gentle readers, because we're about to go on an intense ride together. Also, the previouslies were really long for this episode, but I'd be remiss if I didn't go into it, so bear with me while I refresh our memories! Let's talk about "Creatures of the Night!"
Also, here's a warning-- there are a TON of gifs in this recap, because I literally could not choose and decided to throw them all in. So, just a heads up. :)
Previously, on Teen Wolf: Scott McCall is a bitten werewolf who eventually became an Alpha, but not just any Alpha-- a True Alpha, the rarest of all. Unlike most Alphas, who have werewolf packs that include a minimum of three Betas, Scott has an unconventional pack that includes Malia Tate the werecoyote, Lydia Martin the banshee, Kira Yukimura the thunder kitsune, Stiles Stilinski the maybe-human, and baby Liam Dunbar, who was bitten by Scott in emergency and became his first true beta. Malia spent much of her adolescent life in her full-coyote form after accidentally shifting in the car during a full moon and causing a car crash that killed her (adoptive) mother and sister. Then, Scott and the gang helped her turn back, and she's still trying to get the hang of being a teenage girl rather than a forest creature, part of which involves being in an adorable relationship with Stiles and trying her best to pass her classes. Also in an adorable relationship are Scott and Kira, though they have yet to have a date that hasn't been crashed by some kind of supernatural drama.
Meanwhile, at Beacon Hills' finest (ha!) mental health facility, there is a super-secret floor of supernatural creatures who are a menace to society, which includes wendigos, Peter Hale, possibly another kanima or two, and Dr. Valack, a doctor with yet-undefined powers of ESP using his third eye, which he exposed by literally drilling into his skull using the practice of trephination. Speaking of undefined powers, Deputy Sheriff Jordan Parrish was magically drawn to Beacon Hills by the newly-reawakened Nemeton and learned that he was a supernatural creature when his name showed up on the deadpool list with a value of five million dollars. However, he didn't learn why exactly he was on the deadpool until his work partner, Deputy Haigh, kidnapped him and set him on fire to claim his bounty, only to get the shit beaten out of him by Parrish after he healed from the fire with nary a scar left on his fab bod. Of course, he still has no idea what exactly he is, though his glowing eyes the color of flames may be a hint, but Lydia has vowed to help him figure it out using the Argent bestiary, which is now in a book form rather than a .pdf file on one of Gerard's old thumb drives. Finally, Derek informed Scott that he's going to be an excellent Alpha to his new beta and pack of good friends, before presumably fucking off to South America or something without a word. I don't know, maybe he's hunting the Desert Wolf with Braeden? Visiting Isaac at boarding school in France? Or Cora in South America? Beats me, honestly.
Forgive me for doing this, but the first half of this first scene really skeeved me out, and so I'm going to make this brief to prevent myself from having to rewatch more than necessary. I learned the hard way that the unethical treatment of mental hospital patients and especially them being constantly injected with various syringes is more than a little triggering to me, and I'm trying to avoid a repeat performance. Whoops! So, Lydia is inexplicably checked in at Eichen House, where she's standing silently under a shower head in the girl's bathroom that is pouring steaming water all over her. She also has a long, red scar running along the width of the side of her waist, but it looks too fresh and too clean to be from Peter's attack what feels like forever ago-- maybe it's from something else? Who knows. Anyway, the female nurse who is standing at the door tells Lydia that she's been in the shower long enough, and when Lydia doesn't respond, she starts getting really mean about how she doesn't buy Lydia's catatonic act. Of course, Lydia doesn't say anything to that, either, leading her to grab Lydia's face by her hand and order her to look at her. To Lydia's credit, she is a great actress-- she has the dead-eyed look down pat.
So, finally out of the shower and into a loose, oversized white cardigan and the usual sweats, Lydia is in the middle of walk (and by that I mean lifelessly shuffling, like a zombie) down the hall to her room accompanied by the mean nurse from earlier and a second male nurse. On the way, we see that there are other people in the closed (and possibly supernatural) ward, including an elderly woman with white hair and a younger man, both of whom stare at Lydia curiously. The male nurse asks the mean nurse if Lydia is okay, but she just snits that Lydia is a "dedicated performer" and that she refuses to believe that Lydia is anything but a faker. She then orders the guy to give her three milligrams of some drug that I can't make out and insists that if Lydia wants to fake being catatonic, then she can have the real, medically-induced kind.
Once she's alone in the room with the man, he starts apologizing for the mean nurse's lack of bedside manner and kindness, but assures her that he can be gentle. Of course, he totally proves that he's the opposite when he starts poking Lydia in the arm with a syringe full of drugs. The first time, he really does miss a blood vessel and has to try again, but the second time he actually hits it, but when he realizes that she's just lifelessly laying there, he lies and says he missed again so he has an excuse to try a bigger blood vessel. Like, the carotid artery in her neck. UGH, Eichen House and its employees just skeeves me out to no end.
Fortunately for all of us, Lydia included, she's just been lying in wait this entire time, and before the medical sadist can stick her in the neck with the syringe, she flies up into a seated position and banshee-wails so loud that the lights in the room all explode and go out, and the man flies across the room and falls against the wall. Lydia takes advantage of his confusion and makes a break for it, flying through the door to her room and into the hallway. She runs into trouble there, though, when the hall is blocked at both ends by oncoming orderlies. I was originally like "NOOO, LYDIA IS BAREFOOT AND HAS NO WEAPONS, HOW IS SHE GONNA ESCAPE?" But, as it turns out, she's either channeling Allison's fighting skills or Jordan and the others have taught her a few things in the six months that have passed since "Smoke & Mirrors." She gets this annoyed look on her face, like, "REALLY, DUDES?" before she lunges for the orderly on her right, shoving him in the chest with her hands and kicking him hard with her knees and feet. When he tries to right himself, she pulls a Black Widow and jumps on his shoulders, spinning as she twists her legs around his neck and knocking him to the ground.
Once he's out of commission, she turns to the second orderly heading toward her and screams like a banshee again as she shoves him in the chest, which somehow creates this concussive force that throws him across the hallway as though a werewolf had done it while more light bulbs explode above them. I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THESE NEW POWERS, SERIOUSLY. This is amazing and I have waited for what feels like a century for Lydia to be able to defend herself. A lot of people in the fandom seem to be against it, because they believe that you don't have to be physically strong to be a strong character, which is absolutely true; still, in this case, it's only to Lydia's benefit that she learns how to take care of herself when supernatural and human threats come her way, because she can't depend on the rest of the pack to be able to protect her, especially in situations like this when she's all alone.
(via scallydia)
Now that those orderlies are dealt with, she rushes out of the hallway, eventually making it to the front doors that lead outside, where it's pouring down rain yet again. Of course, being able to run away would be too easy, so she's cornered by a handful of security guards armed with cattle-prod tasers. WHY WOULD THEY USE THOSE ON NON-WEREWOLVES? Parrish himself said they were more like lightsabers and could jumpstart a 747, so I'm not a fan of their use against banshees, no matter how badass they may be. Anyway, so Lydia goes back into warrior mode, using more of those concussive blasts to shove them backward, like she's Banshee from X-Men, or maybe Skye/Daisy Johnson from Agents of SHIELD. She rushes down the first section of stairs to flee Eichen House once and for all, but she stops dead in her tracks when she sees someone walking toward her from the opposite direction.
IT'S AIDEN, HOLY SHIT. The sight of him makes Lydia's eyes fill with tears, and to his credit, he does look sad when he states, "Sorry, Lydia, but your treatment's not done. Not yet." Treatment for whaaaat?? Why is she hallucinating him? Or is this Valack using some kind of magical glamour to make himself look like Aiden? I'm so confused. Lydia is shocked enough to see him that she doesn't notice that she's being surrounded by security guards who begin tasing her multiple times in the back with their cattle-prods. "NO!" Lydia shrieks plaintively. "NO!" They begin to restrain her hands behind her back, and she starts to bed. "Please, I have to tell them! They're all going to die. My friends. They're all going to die." Ummmm, I don't like the sound of this at all? Like not even a little. Get away from her, assholes! Ughhhhh my heart. (NEW) TITLE CARD! Also, seeing the "Dedicated to Cyndi Garcia-Posey" (Tyler Posey's mother, who died of cancer this past spring) literally make my heart hurt. Poor Posey :(
When we return, we meet up with Scott and Stiles at Look-Out Point, where Scott is sitting on the hood of Stiles' Jeep and watching the thunder and lightning crack in the sky over the town as "Firestone" by Kygo (ft. Conrad Sewell) plays in the background. Next to him, Stiles has a map and a red Sharpie, which he's using to highlight places in Northern California that are centrally located to all of the colleges they're looking to attend. Stiles is concerned about how expensive places like the Mission District are, and when Scott suggests Berkeley, Stiles points out that the hills would probably cause Roscoe to burn through a lot of clutches. Scott is surprised that Stiles would be bringing the Jeep, which exasperates his best friend and brother. "You know the plan!" Stiles replies, mildly offended. "'Kay? No one gets left behind! That's the plan!" Apparently, Lydia is a shoo-in for Stanford, and Kira is looking into the University of San Francisco, but when the topic turns to Malia, Stiles realizes that her plans aren't concrete yet (we'll learn why in a few) and insists that she'll figure out a plan regardless of what happens. Stiles maintains that his plan is perfect, but Scott wonders if maybe it might be better to wait until they get into college before they decide where to have their pack housing. "I have a vision, Scott!" Stiles argues. "And it is a beautiful vision! Don't ruin the vision!"
Stiles then suggests they check out the East Bay and Oakland, but Scott is suddenly distracted by the full moon above them. When Stiles asks him if he's getting the werewolf-fuel-jitters, Scott admits that he's actually thinking about what Deaton said to him at the end of "The Divine Move." He asks Stiles if he's ever heard of the saying "regression to the mean," and when Stiles states that he hasn't, Scott starts to outline his concerns.
(via teen-wolf)
ANYWAY, Scott and Stiles walk over to him, and Scott pulls out the keys to the padlocks holding the chains together. "It's not that we don't trust you--" Scott begins kindly, only for Stiles to interrupt and adds, "--It's that I don't trust you!" Scott just rolls his eyes and brings up what happened on the last full moon, which Liam maintains was just a single momentary slip-up. "Slip-up?" Stiles replies in exasperation. "A dozen calls to the Sheriff's Department about a monstrous dog-boy running around the streets of Beacon Hills-- NAKED. That's a slip-up?" Scott, who was about to unlock his chains, can't help but laugh as he asks Liam why he was naked, but Liam insists that it was just really hot that night, okay? I hear you, Liam-- if I actually lived alone, I would never wear clothes in the summer. Ohio feels more like the damn Everglades than it does a mideastern state right about now. Anyway, Liam once again begs Scott to let him go, but Scott isn't eager to let his wolf cub of a son go until he knows for sure that Liam is okay, but Liam assures him that he is, and that a naked wolf-romp through town will not be happening again, although he's not entirely convincing. Even still, Scott gives him a gentle smile and says, "You're in complete and total control," more as a statement than as a question, and removes the chains, which he places back in that canvas carpetbag thing of Stiles'.
(via prosciles)
As they two older boys walk back to the Jeep to get ready to head back into town, Liam hangs back for a moment to look down at his closed fists. He sighs as he opens his hands, revealing that he's been clenching his claws into his fists so that they pierce the skin and help him stay in human form, which leaves bloody puncture wounds along the lines of his palms and indicates that he maybe doesn't have quite the handle on being a werewolf as he's letting on. I was actually really surprised to see that Liam was still having some trouble, since like they said, it's been six months since the Season 4 finale, which means that this is the sixth full moon since he learned to use the sun/moon/truth mantra at La Iglesia. On the other hand, that was probably my bad for assuming that everyone can get the hang of werecreature urges in two months like Scott, Isaac and Malia did. Liam does have intermittent explosive disorder, which I keep forgetting because he hasn't had any major explosions since we've met him, and I imagine that makes it much harder to get a grip on things than a neurotypical person. I'm also a little concerned by the fact that this kind of self-harm is accepted as okay, since the last time we saw Scott doing this, he wasn't in a good place at all. Either way, I'm not a werewolf, so what do I know? Maybe if I were, I'd do the same thing.
Meanwhile, at the Sheriff's station, officers are rushing around everywhere as the storm rages on outside. The lights are flickering, since apparently the electrical grid in Beacon Hills sucks (and I'm not even going to get into the fact that the town seems to get torrential rainfall three or four times a week despite the fact that the entire state of California is about a year away from running out of water completely because of the drought), and Jordan is clearly aggravated as he answers non-stop phone calls at the front desk. He tersely informs a woman who called in that the electrical outages are likely from the storm they're getting, which seems silly, because who calls the Sheriff's Department about a power failure? Call AEP or whatever the west-coast equivalent is. Just then, Sheriff walks in and instructs Jordan to go check the back-up generator and make sure it's fueled up in case they lose power, too, which causes him to roll his eyes in annoyance, but when he gets ready to go do that, Sheriff exasperatedly adds, "And Parrish? Answer the phones!" Come on, Sheriff! If you've got him on some kind of weird, super-secret probation or something, you should maybe be a little less of a dick about it.
Once Parrish does as he's told, he stomps on into Sheriff's office, where the man is doing paperwork at his desk. "Six months. six months of directing traffic, doing courthouse security, serving subpoenas!" Jordan says loudly. "And today, I finished a total organizational overhaul of the evidence lock-up! And now, I'm stuck behind the front desk while there's downed power lines, a jack-knifed tractor-trailer, and reports of gunshots downtown!" Sheriff sighs, because he knows that he's right, but at the same time, there's something else going on as well. I love Jordan, and I think he's a good guy, and I'm inclined to believe that Sheriff simply is trying to keep him out of harm's way until they know what he is and the extent of his abilities, especially given he was also literally set on fire by a colleague six months ago as well.
Still, Jordan is convinced that this is happening because Sheriff doesn't trust him anymore, and he insists that whatever the issue is, Sheriff needs all the deputies he has out dealing with the chaos. Sheriff just sighs again and concedes (slightly) by handing him a computer print-out as his next assignment. Jordan's excited at first, but once he reads it, he incredulously asks Sheriff if he's really sending him out to investigate a noise complaint. Sheriff points out that that is how noise complaints work-- someone makes a noise, someone else complains, and a deputy goes to check it out, leaving an exasperated and frustrated Jordan to reluctantly see what's up.
When he gets to the place he was sent, he takes out the noise complaint and checks it one last time. I don't know if any of this information will be relevant/important or not, but I'm adding it just in case. The person who complained is named Kate M. Kasinger, 59 year old retiree who lives at 2216 Astoria Lane in Beacon Hills, and the house she's complaining about is 2218 Astoria Lane. The notes at the bottom read:
He leans toward the wall to try to hear any more noises, which is when the pounding starts up once again, scaring the shit out of Parrish but also lighting a fire under him to actually do something. When he asks the person if they can hear him, they just start pounding harder, and you can hear the cinder blocks crumbling from the other side, which is so not a good sign. Jordan assures them he'll be right back and heads back outside to his cruiser, where he pulls out a hilariously tiny ice-pick looking thing, which he brings back to start breaking through the wall tiny piece by tiny piece. Once he's made an itty-bitty hole, he's about to keep whacking, but he starts seeing what looks like werewolf ink, that black sludgey stuff that always comes from all orifices when supernaturals have been poisoned, sickened, or otherwise seriously injured in some way, pouring through the hole like a sieve. Another pound comes from behind the wall, breaking the stone enough that the black goo gets splattered all over Parrish's precious face.
Before he can start to process this, whatever is on the other side of the wall manages to bust through and instantly grabs Jordan in a choke-hold and holds him up in the air by his throat. Upon closer inspection, the man is mostly naked, covered in werewolf ink, and though he has the blue eyes, fangs, and mutton-chops of a werewolf, he has legit talons in place of standard werewolf claws, which he plunges into Jordan's gut. He groans in pain while the sludgewolf grins at him happily, becoming even more intrigued when Jordan's eyes turn his orange-red flamey color. Just then, the sludgewolf's eyes start to glow the same color, even though we literally just saw him with glowing blue beta eyes only a minute ago. The color fades from both of their eyes quickly, and old wolfy looks kind of impressed by him.
"You're not a werewolf," he lisps around his fangs. "But you're something." He drops Jordan onto the floor, where he groans and flips onto his back so he can keep looking at the gooey villain in front of him. "You're not an ordinary creature, Deputy," the maybe-wolf continues. "But then, neither am I. Not tonight." He lifts up his terrifying hand, whose talons begin to GLOW BLUE, the same color as his eyes have begun to glow again, and insists that he'll spare Jordan's life if he answers one question-- "Where's Scott McCall?" Ha, get in line, bucko-- you're hardly the first to ask that question, and in time, you'll be wishing you hadn't asked like the others. Jordan, who is panting through the pain of his injuries, takes a deep breath and responds, "I've never heard of him." HELL YES! Jordan loves Scott McCall! Everyone loves Scott McCall! But yeah, surprising no one, this answer earns Jordan a set of deep talon-gashes to the chest for his trouble. NOOO! It's too early to be hurting my faves. :(
(via teenwolf)
Meanwhile, Scott, Stiles, and Liam are in the Jeep on their way back into town after playing in the woods. "I'll Die" by My Double, My Brother plays in the background as Liam, who is sitting in the back, leans forward between Scott and Stiles' seats and pepper them with questions about their plans tonight like the most adorable annoying-little-brother ever.
He and Scott get out of the car to check it out, leaving a still full-moon-twitchy Liam in the car. Stiles pops the hood, and Scott looks alarmed to see that pretty much every piece of machinery under it has been duct-taped to oblivion. When he points this out, though, Stiles gives him a serious look, and Scott just smiles that amazing smile of his and assures him that they'll fix it. God, that smile could end wars and cause world peace, it's so beatific it kills me dead. Damn you Tyler Posey, for being so damn attractive and endearing! Stiles admits that he's mostly just nervous, because since it's the last night of summer, he just really wanted them all together for posterity's sake and all that. To say that Stiles has a shitload of senior-year/growing-up anxiety happening right now would be an understatement, and it's only going to get worse as he starts channeling it into all kinds of weird coping mechanisms. Scott assures his bro that they'll make it, but when he asks if he has any tools, Stiles just picks up a half-used roll of duct tape, and Scott can't even help but giggle at it. Oh, Stiles! He rips a piece of tape off just as a loud crack of thunder rumbles overhead.
(via stiles-lydia)
Inside the car, Liam has pulled out his earbuds, and thumbs one of them into his ear, just as a huge volt of lightning strikes the pavement several yards behind the car. Liam, having heard, but not seen, the lightning, turns back to look out the rear window just in time to see yet another crack of lightning come even closer to the car, startling him so badly that he literally jumps. Liam yells out for the boys, but in a hilarious but also kind of alarming reaction, they both just assume he's being his usual annoying-little-brother-self, and are all, "Please just stay in the car, kid," not realizing that there is a freak lightning storm happening all around them. Just as Stiles is about to add another strip of tape to his alternator, another bolt of lightning strikes literally ten feet away from where they're standing, causing them both to jump and flail in fear. "That was close," Scott whispers. "Very close," adds Stiles, just as his car magically turns itself back on again. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT? There is something seriously shady and magical going on, guys, and while I have no idea what it truly is, I have some theories that I'll go into later. Liam sticks his head out the open window and anxiously asks them if they can go now, but I'm pretty sure Stiles and Scott are just as eager to get the hell out of there now as he is, so off they go to town!
Over at the hospital, Father Kieran from The Originals, who if you recall, is Malia's adoptive father who we haven't seen since "More Bad Than Good" in Season 3B, has gathered a group of people to help move a tree that was struck down in the storm. He reminds them to lift with their legs, because that's where all their power is, before they all take a spot along the length of the tree and start lifting it. Suddenly, the tree appears to be lifting itself of its own accord, because the people lifting it are holding their hands out below the tree as it continues to rise. However, it turns out, it's just Malia, who literally lifted the entire tree up with one slender arm, much to the surprise of everyone, including her own father. When he starts side-eyeing her, Malia just shrugs and quips, "Strong legs?" before smiling that cute smile that distracts everyone from her super-strength. Um, can I just say how amazing Malia looks this season? I mean, everyone is their most endearing and attractive selves in this episode, and I love it so damn much, but between Malia/Shelley's new haircut and color, and the cute outfit she's wearing, I basically just want to marry her. I AM SO IN LOVE.
Once they're done, Malia walks over to the parking lot to check her phone and frowns when she can't get a signal. When she asks her dad if he has one, he checks his own phone to find that he doesn't and figures that the storm knocked out the cell tower or something. It's obvious that she's nervous about something, so he smiles and assures her that she'll find out when she finds out, and until then, there's no reason to worry about it. Oooh, intriguing! He asks her if she needs a ride to the high school, but Malia sees Stiles, Scott, and Liam pull up in the Jeep a few feet away and honk at her, so she tells him that she already has one.
She then proceeds to adorably skip over to them, and when Stiles apologizes for being late, she just smiles and kisses him through the window, right there in front of her dad and everything. Stiles even moans a little while she's doing it, which is cute, gross, and awkward for her father, all rolled into one. Liam, being the little shit that he is, leans forward between the driver and passenger seats up front and smirks, "I'm sorry, too," which confirms my suspicions that Liam is simultaneously terrified of and low-key crushing on all of the girls in the pack, hence the attempts to snag some Malia smoochies. "You boys do remember that I own a gun?" Father Kieran retorts gruffly, but when Stiles looks at him warily and replies, "Vividly," the man just walks away, but not before winking at Malia before he goes. Aw, I like him! Stick around, Father Kieran! I honestly thought that he like died somehow, and I just forgot for whatever reason, and that's why Malia was pretty much living with the Stilinskis in Season 4. Whoops!
(via joeeytribbiani)
Once Malia gets into the car, Scott, Stiles, and Liam all turn toward her and stare at her expectantly. clearly eager to hear if she's gotten any good news recently. Malia, not wanting to get into it in front of Liam, who still has one earbud in so his music can chill him out, tells Scott and Stiles that they're going to email her the results. Liam totally realizes that they're talking about Malia's summer school grades and says as much, which doesn't please Malia at ALL, so she shoots Stiles a glare and gives him shit for spilling the beans to him. "Oh, no!" Liam says kindly, as Stiles and Scott each look down at the floor, unable to look Malia in the eyes when they realize what he's about to say.
"All they said was that you had to go to summer school 'cause the principal said your test scores weren't good enough and you might have to repeat junior year." Liam finishes up the statement with a casual shrug, so you can tell that Liam isn't judging her at all, he just has no filter whatsoever. Aw, Malia! She works so damn hard. So, predictably, Malia isn't at all happy to hear that Skittles have been flapping their gums about her personal life, and when she shoots them another withering glare, Scott has the good sense to look truly guilty, whereas Stiles just gives Liam a look and tells Scott they should have kept him chained to the tree. The pack interactions are already killing me so much because they're so realistic and funny! MORE OF THIS AND LESS TORTURE, PLEASE.
In another humorous scene, Melissa returns to the McCall house after a long shift at work, and immediately starts shouting upstairs to apprise Scott on her evening's plans-- basically, she's home just long enough to grab some clean scrubs from the dryer, because all of the medical professionals at the hospital have been called back for a double shift thanks to all the calamities caused by the aforementioned thunderstorm, jack-knifed tractor trailer, and gunfight downtown. Since she's not going to be home for dinner, she shouts that there is dinner in the fridge for him, only to open said fridge and find that there's not actually anything that could make a meal in there, so she instead says that she'll leave him money to order in.
Of course, when she looks into her billfold, she finds that she also doesn't have any cash on her, so she then yells that he should buy himself something with vet. tech money and she'll pay him back later. HAHAHAHA, oh, Melissa, you could totally be my mother right now, because she is the exact same way. Then, she realizes that she's been shouting for like five minutes straight now with no response, which means Scott isn't even here anyway. That's when she notices the note on the fridge from Scott that reads, "Senior Scribe. Back by 1:30," and she sighs in relief when she remembers that everyone is at the high school. Unfortunately, what she doesn't notice is that the gooey sludgewolf who attacked Jordan earlier is standing in the next room, his taloned hands illuminated by the occasional lightning strike outside the house. Once Melissa leaves, Sludgewolf takes the note off of the fridge and examines it in hopes of finding the True Alpha of all our hearts. STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM SCOTT MCCALL, DAMNIT.
After the break, we return to Route 115, where the Yukimuras are in their red Toyota and trying to get back to Beacon Hills after spending the summer (or at least part of it) in New York. Traffic is at a complete standstill, and the cell phone signal disruption seems to be city-wide, because Kira is literally standing on top of the family car in an attempt to get enough bars to call or text someone. The background on her phone is a very cute selfie of Scott, so you know she's been missing her boo quite a bit. After a moment, Noshiko sticks her head out of the passenger window and instructs Kira to get back in the car, so Kira sighs and reluctantly jumps down onto the ground. Before she gets into the car, she catches the attention of a very cute blonde boy with an angel face that rivals Garrett from last season, who is standing a couple car lengths in front of her-- it's our new boy, Theo Raeken, played by Cody Christian! He smiles at her and holds up his phone before admitting that he can't get any signal either, and Kira smiles weakly at him before getting back into the car with her parents.
She immediately flings herself onto the backseat and complains about the fact that since they haven't moved in fifteen minutes, she's likely going to be late to the evening's festivities. Noshiko turns to face her and ask what exactly she's doing this evening, anyway, but all Kira will say is that it's called Senior Scribe and she's not supposed to tell any non-seniors about it. Noshiko doesn't like the sound of this at all and looks to Ken for some backup, but he doesn't know either, he just assumed it had to do with writing something. Noshiko remarks that it sounds like vandalism, but Kira just replies, "It's not vandalism! ...At least, I don't think it is."
As you can probably guess, this isn't really what Overprotective-Mom Noshiko wanted to hear, but she doesn't say anything. Kira waits for a long moment before her impatience gets the best of her, and she decides she's just going to walk/run there so she'll make it in time. So, naturally, the rain starts pouring down just as Kira opens the back passenger door to crawl out. When she sighs and closes the door, her dad gives her a look, and she looks slightly bashful before replying that she's going to wait a few minutes before she leaves. Kira, you absolute doll! Like Liam, she seems a lot more confident and comfortable as well, and I love it so much. I've missed my thunder princess!
When it comes to best scenes of this episode, this one is definitely top three, because it is too precious. Scott and Liam are walking through the halls of the hospital together, where Liam is explaining that since his dad is in surgery all evening, he can either hang around there until he's done, or he can forego his curfew in favor of continuing to hang out with Scott and the others. Wait, where is Liam's mom in all this? I know she exists, since Liam was afraid that she'd get mad when he twisted his ankle in "Muted," but apparently she works late or something, too, because otherwise why would he be able to stay out later than he's normally allowed without getting in trouble? Anyway, just as they're approaching the elevator, Scott stops and asks Liam to show him his hands. Liam looks alarmed for a moment, since he totally just got called out, but he doesn't try to deny it-- he just pulls his hands out of his hoodie pockets and opens them to reveal that his palms are all cut up and his fingernails are coated in blood from clenching his fists to stay in control all night.
"Okay, so I'm still having trouble..." Liam begins defensively, looking more than a little embarrassed by but Scott just smiles affectionately at him and corrects him. "No, you're still learning." Bless you, you understanding Alpha you! Scott then asks him what he's been focusing on to keep from changing during this full moon, so Liam pulls out the earbuds that he's threaded through the neck of his tshirt, though he admits that it's not really working this time around. "It's working enough," Scott assures him, though as I said earlier, I'm still a little concerned by the nonchalant self-harm going on in this pack in the name of control and triggering healing and all that.
(via crystalsreed)
"Listen," Scott continues. "Derek told me you're one of the strongest that he's ever seen at your age. And coming from him? That means a lot." The elevator doors open, and Scott keeps talking as he walks into it, putting his hand in front of the door to keep it from closing. "And maybe it means things are gonna be harder for you for a little while, but it also means something else, doesn't it?" Liam looks confused, and is like, "I'm really strong?", thinking Scott is only talking about his physical strength. However, I'm pretty sure Scott means mentally and emotionally strong as well when he smiles and replies, "Hell yeah!" before he leaves to meet up with his friends. Aw, Scott is seriously such a great Alpha, it's making my heart explode. He's not just a natural leader, but he's a compassionate presence as well, acting as a mentor and cheerleader for his pack, caring for them, giving them pep talks when needed and helping them heal physically and emotionally, and that's what makes a good Alpha, in my opinion. Also, I'm kind of sad that Liam didn't get to come along, but at the same time, it makes sense-- this is a senior thing for sure, and it was nice for Scott, Stiles, Kira and Lydia to have their time together.
Downstairs, Scott meets up with Stiles, who is looking super anxious about the fact that neither of them can get in touch with Lydia or Kira. Stiles asks Scott if he remembered to remind Kira about their plans, but Scott is confident that he did. So, Stiles decides, for some weirdly out-of-character moment, to crush that confidence by suggesting that Scott's decision to tell Kira not to worry about anything and to have fun on her vacation meant that he unintentionally told her that they're not exclusive and thus can hook up with any other guys (or girls) while she was away. Stiles, what the hell? Kira is a ride-or-die girl, she'd never pull that shit! And the fact that his mind instantly went there is troubling to me. Anyway, Stiles decides to get backup from Malia and asks her what she would think if he told her "don't worry and have fun" before she left for vacation. "Fun as in bowling?" Malia asks with a confused expression. "Or sex with other guys?"
Oh, good gods, whyyyyyy. This was like the one scene of the episode that just took me straight out of the story. I guess you can't love 100% of anything, eh? Just then, a bloodied woman is wheeled down the hallway in a stretcher, which leads Scott to ask his mother where all these injured people are coming from. She explains that there was a jack-knifed tractor-trailer on 115 that caused a huge traffic jam. Scott and Stiles' eyes widen in alarm when they realize that 115 is conveniently (or, in this case, inconveniently), like, the ONLY road that leads into Beacon Hills, which means Kira is probably on it right now and is stuck in the clogged traffic as they speak. So, Scott decides that he's going to go rescue her and instructs Stiles and Malia to go to the school and meet the two of them and Lydia there for Senior Scribe at midnight. Stiles doesn't understand how he thinks he's going to get there in time, but Scott assures him that they will before he rushes out the door. Yay! Save your girl from the boredom of parental conversation and no cell phone service! He's a king among men.
Back over at the Sheriff's station, there's a new delinquent character to be introduced this season as well, although he instantly gets on the fandom's bad side in a moment. I'm getting ahead of myself, though! So, Sheriff is in the middle of paperwork in his office when two deputies, a man and a woman, start dragging this new kid named Donovan (played by Ashton Moio), who is desperately struggling against their hold, into the station. The boy insists that the officers are making a mistake, and the commotion he's causing leads Sheriff to come out into the bullpen to see what's going on. "Donovan!" Sheriff shouts gruffly. "You forgot what the judge said, didn't you? Next time is jail time." The kid's eyes widen in alarm at this reminder, as though he had no idea that getting busted committing a crime again would lead him to major trouble, even though this has to be at least the third time in recent history that it's happened.
Donovan sees Sheriff's mixed expression of disappointment, exasperation and annoyance at the sight of him and immediately starts begging him to listen to his explanation, but when Sheriff asks the female deputy what he's in for, she informs him that not only did they find him breaking and entering, but he also had a loaded .38mm gun on him. YIKES! That's intense for a teenager! At least, I think he's a teenager. anyway. When I was in high school, if people got busted, it was for underaged drinking, drug possession, or vandalism. Beacon Hills kids are hardcore. Predictably, Donovan plays the Lindsey Lohan card, all, "The gun isn't mine! Just holding it for a friend" but as you can probably guess, Sheriff can't exactly let such him off for such a blatant disregard for the law, so he tells his deputies to book him. That's when Donovan gets super scary. "Oh, you're DEAD!" Donovan spits angrily, as the two officers start to drag him back into a room to process him. Sheriff, embarrassed and feeling a smidge guilty, looks down at the floor, which only angers the kid more. "HEY! Look at me! You're dead! You hear that? You're dead! You're gonna do this to me? You son of a bitch, you're dead! Look at me!" Sheriff can't even bear to look at him any more, so he quickly heads back into his office, but not before yelling into the bullpen if anyone can tell him what the hell is taking Parrish so long to get back.
Back at the McCall house, Scott has just returned home for some reason or another, and has just walked down the stairs from his room and into the kitchen. What the hell is with these kids tonight? They're all over the place. Scott, Stiles, and Liam started in the woods, and then when they determined Liam wasn't a danger to himself or others, they went to the hospital, where they met up with Malia, where she was helping with the tree. Then they hung around with Melissa and Liam there for a bit, and Scott left to go get Kira, but first he had to stop at home? And then they all end up meeting at the high school? Seems overly complicated, but whatever. So, anyway, he's just grabbed his motorbike helmet and has walked into the kitchen, where his wolfy-senses start kicking in and telling him that something weird is going on. He sees the note he left for his mother on the floor with five little punctures in the paper where the glow!wolf grabbed it earlier. He's just started to ponder how the note got the holes in it when he hears the sound of small objects falling onto the floor, and looks over to find that all of the magnets on the fridge have inexplicably fallen off.
Unnerved, Scott picks up one of the magnets and replaces it on the fridge, only to fall off again, as though the magnets have all been mystically demagnetized. He frowns in confusion before turning his head and glancing at the clock on the wall, whose second hand is flicking back and forth from the eight to the ten in a jerky motion. Scott is even more bewildered now, and is about to become even more so, because then all of the magnets get remagnetized and return to where they were originally stuck onto the fridge. I AM STILL SO CONFUSED. Is this magic? Is Kira playing tricks? Is it some kind of new superpower? I don't understand! And then, to make matters worse, the ground beneath Scott's feet begins to quake violently in what seems like a mild to moderate earthquake, shaking everything so hard that a bunch of dishes fall off of the counter and crash onto the floor, the kitchen chairs topple over, and the light fixture rattles above Scott's head. Scott is super alarmed now, and jumps when the microwave starts beeping behind him, its display reading 12:00, as though the power flickered on and off. What the hell is happening? This is literally my nightmares come to life.
Time to check back up on Jordan, yeah? So, his chest is still ripped up from the sludgewolf clawing him in addition to the stab wounds in his abdomen when he tried to suck his powers, and he's managed to crawl over to a nearby wall so he can lean against it and catch his breath while he prays that he has the ability from wounds not caused by burns. Speaking of his wounds, he looks down to check on them and winces when he sees that the claw marks are literally smoking, like steam is rising from the lacerations. He tries to radio in an "officer down" alert, but like the cell phones in Beacon Hills, the police radios aren't working either-- it's just nothing but static and feedback. Jordan is fading fast, and things are starting to look pretty grim, but suddenly, a soft, familiar female voice calls out through the static, "Jordan?" LYDIAAAAA. Excuse me while I die over the fact that she's the first person to actually call him Jordan. He looks over at the nearby doorway, where Lydia has quite literally appeared out of thin air. At first, she looks like a ghost/hallucination, but she then becomes corporeal and quietly assures him that she's there. He clearly can't believe what he's seeing, but seems comforted by her presence nonetheless.
She puts her hands against the wounds of his chest, dragging her fingers through the blood, and urges him to stay conscious and with her. She leans forward as though she's going to kiss him, and he looks as though he's about to let her, but just as her lips are about to brush against his, Sheriff appears in the doorway with a flashlight and calls out to him, causing Lydia to dematerialize before Jordan's eyes as his boss rushes toward him when he realizes that he's hurt. Just as Sheriff kneels next to him, Jordan starts to fall unconscious, almost as though he's so relieved to have been found that he can finally stop fighting.
(via gunprincesss)
Aw, Parrish! I know everyone isn't thrilled about the possibility of the Jordan/Lydia pairing because of the age difference, but I don't know. Lydia turned eighteen in mid-March, which was probably a week or two after the events of "Smoke & Mirrors," which means that she became legal at least six months ago, while Jordan is between 24-25 years of age. Kind of a big difference, but not that big, you know? Especially since she's not a minor anymore. Plus, since Holland Roden is actually older than Ryan Kelley is, I guess I have a hard time being squicked out about it like I was with Kate/Bb Derek in "117." So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I understand and respect why people are against it, I myself have no issue with it, so you're probably not going to find Jordia/Marrish/Deputy Banshee hate on this blog. Sorry, guys!
After the break, we catch up with Sheriff, who has just met Melissa at the hospital so they could take Parrish down to the morgue to check him out properly without any prying eyes. Melissa brings up the fact that she thought Sheriff put Jordan on desk duty, but Sheriff insists that it was just a noise complaint, and he wasn't expecting something like this to happen. Hold that thought, because I'm going to come back to it in a moment. So, Melissa sees the smoke coming from his wounds and asks Sheriff if he was on fire at any point, but Sheriff doesn't think so, so she assumes that maybe it's part of his healing process, since they're still not sure what he is or what his range of abilities are. All these comments seem to suggest that Sheriff and Melissa have discussed Jordan's supernatural status at length before now, and possibly even actually experienced something like this with him at some point during the time jump, don't you think? It's definitely weird.
Anyway, just then, Jordan jumps to his feet, breathing deeply and quickly as though he's enraged, and his eyes blaze orange-red. After a moment, he turns toward Sheriff and Melissa, the former of which has his gun pointed at him while he stands behind Melissa, and glares at them for what feels like an eternity while he gets his bearings. Finally, his eyes fade back to their usual green, and Melissa instructs Sheriff to put the gun down, since they're not in any danger. See what I mean? Why would Sheriff point his gun at his own friend and colleague unless something bad had happened prior to this point that scared him enough to feel it necessary? Maybe sometime shortly after the events of the finale, Jordan got hurt on the job and something similar happened, where he got hurt and Sheriff brought him to Melissa for his injuries and his healing process triggered a sort of overwhelmed and confused rage? I'm seriously starting to think that maybe he is a barghest or a hellhound, like I considered in my pre-Season 5 write-up, because they're known for their eyes glowing when enraged or otherwise excited, and Jordan got really angry after Haigh set him on first in "Perishable," too, although he had every right to be pissed in that case.
Either way, something is up, but I'm going to get into it more in the notes. Okay, back on topic-- so Jordan finally calms down, and when Melissa asks him if he's okay, he looks down at his chest to see that he's totally healed, and the only indication that he was injured in the first place is the fact that he still has blood smeared all over him. He notices that his hands are covered in that black goo from the sludgewolf, which reminds him of what happened to him, and most importantly, the fact that the guy who attacked him is now after Scott, which means they need to get a hold of him pronto!
Meanwhile, Kira, Noshiko, and Ken are still stuck in traffic on 115 as the rain continues to pour down on all of them while they sit in silence. After a moment, Ken brings up the fact that they have legends for storms like the one they're experiencing. Kira is a total teenager about it and begs him not to turn their forced-family-fun into an opportunity to lecture her, but she really shouldn't, because it's clear that in this universe, like in The Shadowhunter Chronicles, all the stories are true. Noshiko takes over the story and starts dropping some mythology on us.
"He's talking about the Wild Hunt," Kira's mother explains. "About the Ghost Riders. Imagine a night like this, Kira. In storm clouds just like these, phantom hunters would appear, riding black horses with blood-red eyes, and wolves and hounds at their side, baying and snarling." When Kira, who is now totally intrigued by this story, asks her what they were hunting, Noshiko informs her that they were after souls. OH SHIT, THIS IS AWESOME. Even more reason to think Jordan is a barghest or hellhound, just like lydiasdeputy from Tumblr talked about in her awesome meta-- we literally cut from Jordan awakening from healing his wounds, only to hear this story about the Wild Hunt that involves hounds! Plus barghests/hellhounds are associated with fire, just like phoenixes, salamanders, and ravens, which seem to be the most popular guesses in the fandom right now given his fire-related abilities. Eeee! I need to know what he is right meow.
Anyway, Kira suddenly hears a noise in the distance and asks her parents if they hear it, but she doesn't wait long enough to find out their answer-- when she realizes it's the rumbling of her cutie boyfriend's motorbike approaching from the opposite direction of the flow of traffic, she rushes out of the car and into the pouring rain to meet up with him. "Catch the Wind" by High Highs plays while she does so, and a couple cars in front of Ken and Noshiko, Theo is sitting in the backseat, where he watches Kira runs past him toward Scott, who has hilariously parked his bike in the middle of the two lanes of stopped traffic so he can run toward his girl as well. They stop about a foot away from each other and stare at one another for a long moment before Scott sheepishly asks her if she had fun in New York. When she admits that no, she didn't really, since she was packless and boyf-less, Scott just smiles a sweet smile and says "Good," before he gives her the biggest hug and smoochie ever. Awwww, these kids are so cute! I adore them together.
Back at the hospital, Jordan is explaining his run-in with the sludgewolf at that abandoned house. "His claws were different," Jordan explains anxiously. "Twice the size of Scott's-- more like talons." Melissa, ever the optimist, tries to suggest that extra-long claws aren't super alarming on their own, but that's not even the worst part. "They did something to me," Jordan adds with a concerned expression. "I don't know how to describe it, other than it felt as if the life was being drawn out of me through them. Through the claws." Melissa does not like the sounds of that, and I don't blame her, to be honest, so she asks him if he's sure the guy is going after Scott next. Jordan confirms that he is, and brings up his main concern-- he knows that werewolves can steal an Alpha's power by killing them, so could the guy try to steal Scott's Alpha power by killing him that way?
Melissa kindly reminds him that the typical rules don't apply to Scott, and Sheriff adds that from what they know, a True Alpha's power can't be taken by anyone, since he created it from within himself rather than inheriting it or killing for it, but even still, Parrish has seen enough from old Sludgy that he's willing to bet it's possible that this guy can. Fortunately for them, they don't have to worry about letting Scott know what's up, though-- Liam, who has been hanging around trying to focus on not transforming and waiting for his dad to get off work, has been standing outside the morgue's door and has probably been eavesdropping on them ever since Sheriff brought Jordan in for medical attention. I bet you Scott and Stiles taught him how to snoop like a pro, since they've been doing it to the Sheriff for so long now. So, having heard that his Alpha and teen-dad are in danger, Liam instantly runs out of the hospital and toward the high school to warn his pack.
Speaking of Scott, he and Kira have finally just made it to the high school, where they're cutely stomping through humongous puddles in that tunnel thing that leads to the school while "Touch" by Shura plays in the background. Kira giggles as they splash through the water and asks if they're late, but Scott assures her that they aren't before telling her that Stiles, Malia, and Lydia are on their way. He's so excited to have her home that he just keeps smiling that damn smile of his that is truly literal sunshine, and Kira just looks at him affectionately before asking what he's smiling about. "You," Scott replies as he starts kissing her again.
The two eventually push themselves backwards until Kira has Scott up against the wall as they continue to make out in the rain. Of course, these kids can't have one night of hooking up and having teenager-style fun without being cock-blocked by some supernatural villain, so it goes without saying that they only get to kiss for another moment or two before they're distracted by the sound of growling nearby. They pull away and warily look toward the source of the sound, where they discover that the sludgewolf who attacked Jordan earlier is standing menacingly at the other end of the tunnel. The two begin to panic as the sludgewolf roars aggressively before lunging at them. LEAVE MY BABIES ALONE YOU MONSTER.
Meanwhile, Malia and Stiles are already at the school, but they're on the other end of campus, next to the school sign/the entrance to the Hale vault. Malia and Stiles inform each other that their attempts to get in touch with Scott, Kira, and/or Lydia have been fruitless, but I would have assumed that was the case, considering they already established earlier that the cell towers were down? Whatever. Anyway, Malia is clearly worried, both for their friend and about the fact that she still doesn't know if she passed summer school. Stiles, in his own little world made up of his own worries and insecurities, doesn't say anything, and after a moment, Malia decides that she doesn't want to do this unless she knows for sure that she's a senior. Stiles is still too absorbed in his own issues to pay much attention to what his girlfriend is saying, and after a moment, Malia finally catches a whiff of his scent and asks him what the fuck is wrong with him, since he apparently smells terrible. "Yeah, it's called anxiety," Stiles snarks back. "Should be a familiar scent for you now, since it's pretty much a constant state for me." Aw, Stiles, I feel you there. Neuroses are hard.
When Malia asks him why this whole Senior Scribe thing is so important, he claims it isn't, but when she gives him a look, he crumbles and finally admits what's been bothering him-- he asked his dad the other day about his high school ones, only to learn that Sheriff doesn't talk to any of them anymore. "So, I started thinking about things, like I always do-- obsessively," Stiles continues. "Yeah. And so I'm thinking, what if... what if Scott's my best friend now, you know, but he's not my best friend for life?" Malia isn't really 100% up to speed on the affects of growing up on friendships and romantic relationships, but she brings up the fact that she was under the impression that friends drifting apart just happens sometimes, especially once they graduate high school and go to college, but Stiles insists that it only happens because people let it happen and don't bother trying to keep in touch.
"You know, that's what I'm saying-- how come when we graduate, we're just expected to go our separate ways? If I've already found the best people in my life, why am I not trying to stay with them, you know?" AW, PACK LOVE. Malia smiles and points out that Stiles made his whole dream plan. Stiles corrects her and reminds her that it's the vision, and that she shouldn't mock it, but there is no mocking coming from this girl. "I like the vision," Malia replies. "Especially if I'm part of it." She then realizes that Stiles' intense desire to make sure that everyone came to Senior Scribe tonight was because he doesn't want to lose any of his friends after senior year, and he's trying to make sure that he doesn't. "And I hope they don't want to lose me either," Stiles admits, before he and Malia start to get their smoochie on for a few long moments. God, that scene was so good because it's just so relatable, you know? Who hasn't worried about losing all their friends after high school? My best friends from high school are still very good friends of mine, but we definitely don't spend as much time together as any of us would like, since many of us moved out of town/out of the state and are only around occasionally. Growing up is brutal for sure.
However, Malia suddenly hears something and pulls away with a concerned expression, and Stiles adorably calls her "Mal" when he asks her what's going on. Malia says she senses someone very fast coming, and turns around and smacks their visitor onto his back on the ground, not realizing until she's pinned him that it's just a very panicked Liam. Stiles, to his credit, immediately gives Malia this look, like, "Look at how much you scared the runt!" but Liam doesn't have time to worry about things like being offended. "Scott's in trouble!" Liam insists, and Malia gives Stiles this serious look that says she's ready to kick some damn ass.
Back in the tunnel, Scott has wolfed out and started fighting the sludgewolf, who easily tosses him onto the ground. Kira smirks as she unbuckles her silver belt and whips it out, revealing that it's really some like mystically-glamoured version of her magic katana, although it's been cut so that it looks like squares have been punched through the length of it. Unfortunately for her, she barely gets any hits against the guy before she's back-handed onto the ground. The man then walks over to Scott, where he's picking himself up off the ground, and smugs, "A True Alpha? Where's your power, Scott?" Um, his power comes from his pack, and only Kira is near him right now, so I'd guess that probably answers his question.
(via rydeforlife)
Scott demands to know who the fuck he is, but the guy just claims that he's a devoted fan, which makes sense, in a way-- on Wolf Watch, Jeff Davis said that the Dread Doctors worship the supernatural, so it'd stand to reason that a True Alpha would be a person of interest for them, kind of like how Deucalion was trying to collect powerful and unique Alphas like Pokémon. Anyway, the guy continues on, "Show me the man who took down Deucalion and broke the Argents. I came for that Alpha." Ouch! That part about the Argents kills me, and it understandably kills Scott as well, both because it's technically true, and also because Scott loves Chris and Allison and never intended to be used as a tool of their destruction, nor did he ask to be-- that's just how it ended up after Kate and Gerard literally fucked up the entire supernatural balance of Beacon Hills. All the Allison/Argent references are breaking my heart so much. :(
So, when the sludgewolf bellows, "COME ON!" just like Kate and Allison used to say when they were riled up, Scott gets so angry that he roars and leaps to his feet, flipping around and kicking the guy in the head and chest. He gains the upper-hand only for the briefest of moments before the clearly-enhanced wolf grabs Scott into a choke-hold with one hand and snatches his leg with the other and slams him against the wall of the tunnel. Kira gets up off the ground with her sword and screams "NOOO!" as she starts fighting him again while her boo recovers, but yet again, she's overpowered, and he squeezes her arm so tight she's forced to drop her sword before he punches her in the face so hard she's thrown backward. He turns back to Scott, whose are seems to be so injured he's having trouble getting up, and snarls, "And I didn't come just to claim your status." Okay, this is what I don't understand-- does he know that True Alpha power can't be taken? Or does he think that whatever is empowering him will give him the boost he needs to rewrite the mystical laws of the supernatural? I'm really confused, to be honest. I'm guessing it's supposed to be a reference to the fact that he was also going to be killing him? I don't know! Someone please explain it.
The sludgewolf holds up his hand, the talons on which begin to glow blue, but before he can attack Scott with them, another werewolf jumps down from the top of the tunnel, his eyes blazing beta-gold as he roars at Scott's attacker. He immediately rushes toward the sludgewolf, kicking off the wall to get enough momentum to claw across the guy's face before quickly swiping at his joints to weaken him. Unfortunately, while he's smart to go for vulnerable areas to wear the attacker down, he's not exactly a pro fighter, so it takes very little time for the sludgewolf to get back on top and knee him the mystery wolf so hard in the gut that he goes rolling across the ground toward where Kira is still recovering. Scott, who has healed enough to get back into the fight at this point, stands to his feet to distract the guy from further hurting Kira and their mysterious ally, and does a really good job of dodging Mr. Sludgey's swipes and punches for a while, but once again ends up in a choke-hold that has Scott dangling in the air.
Sludgewolf grins in triumph as he rears his hand back and shoves his glowing talons into Scott's chest, causing him to gasp and sputter in pain as his assailant roars in his face. Suddenly, the red fades from Scott's eyes just as Stiles, Malia, and Liam run up to see their best friend appear to be power-sucked by a slime-covered villain. For a moment, I actually thought that this guy succeeded in taking Scott's powers, both because the scene was just so intense, and because I am a huge sucker-- Sludgewolf sets Scott down so that he's on his knees, but doesn't remove his hand from inside Scott's chest, and Liam, Malia, and the mystery werewolf all have their fangs out and are growling menacingly at him while Stiles give the man the death glare to end all death glares. Also, the sludgewolf's arm is visible in the light, and it's really lumpy, as though there are multiple thin rods under the skin of the top of his forearm, which will come into play in a moment.
Just when it looks like it's all over for Scott, the strength of his pack being near him and furious on his behalf gives him the strength he needs to overcome his current predicament. His eyes flare red as he stands to his feet, and Sludgewolf is like, "I'VE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE," and for good reason, because Scott grabs the arm that is attached to the talons in his chest and twists hard, snapping the bones under his forearm, which apparently run down into his hands and attach to his talons to give them extra support. It's actually really gross, the little bones have spiral fractures and are poking out of his skin at various intervals as he moans in pain and falls to his knees, cradling his injured arm in his free one.
Scott quickly rips the now-broken-off talons out of his chest and throws them onto the floor while his packmates, relieved to see him okay, start to swarm around them. "I don't know who you are, or what you thought you were going to do, but I'll give you a choice," Scott growls angrily. "You can stay, and I'll break something else... or you can run." YAS SCOTT YAS, SLAY HIM. Badass!Scott is so damn great, and I will never tire of cocky villains thinking he'll be easy to overpower, only to be lulled into a false sense of security and run out. Just because Scott doesn't use his power unless he needs to doesn't mean he doesn't have it, and if people were smart, they'd stop underestimating him. Stiles, who looks so damn proud of his brother for holding his own, adds, "I'd run," and sure enough, the sludgewolf doesn't need to be told twice-- he stands up, still tenderly cradling his broken arm, and flees the scene before he can be dismembered any more. Scott shifts back into his fully-human form and looks around at his packmates to ensure that they're okay before everyone's attention is turned back to their then-unknown ally who jumped in to help Scott and Kira fight-- it's Theo, the boy from earlier who was stuck in traffic near the Yukimura's car!
However, Theo can tell by looking at them that Scott and Stiles don't recognize him and says as much before conceding that he knows he looks a little different than he did in the fourth grade. Scott finally realizes that it's his childhood friend Theo, and when Malia asks him if he knows him, Theo confirms that he and Stiles both used to, back in the day. "Trust me, I never thought I'd see you guys again," Theo adds. "A couple of months ago, I heard of an Alpha in Beacon Hills. When I found out his name was Scott McCall, I just couldn't believe it. Not just an Alpha, but a True Alpha." Scott is a little less suspicious now that he knows who Theo is, but any time someone brings up his powers, they usually have less-than-admirable intentions, so Scott warily asks him what he wants. "I came back to Beacon Hills," Theo responds. "Back home with my family... because I want to be a part of your pack." Ohhhhhh, this is so not going to end well, since we all know Stiles is probably gonna throw a fit about letting in another Scottsexual outsider.
As predicted, when we cut to Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia walking into the high school earlier to finally get back to their plans, Stiles immediately states, "We haven't seen this kid in years! You don't find that highly suspicious?" Scott is understandably more concerned about the dude who just tried to kill him, though, so he's not really using much of his energy pondering Theo's intentions yet. Just then, Malia's phone buzzes, and when she checks the notification on her phone, she gasps in surprise before sighing in relief. "I'm in!" she exclaims happily, as Stiles fist-pumps for her in celebration. "I passed!" Stiles smiles at her proudly and wastes no time giving her a huge congratulatory hug, and when she excitedly informs them all that she's officially a senior with the rest of them, Kira shares her enthusiasm by cooing and giving Malia a hug as well.
"Thank God!" Lydia's voice rings out, as she rushes down the hall toward them wearing this amazing periwinkle scoop-neck, half-sleeve shirt tucked into a pair of high-waisted baby blue shorts, her presence confirming that she's not in Eichen House (at least not yet, anyway. DUN DUN DUN). "Where have you guys been?" she demands, as she finally joins them, "The whole senior class is here. Are we doing this, or not?" The group starts to walk toward the library, Stiles and Malia arm-in-arm on the one side, where Scott, Kira, and Lydia have their arms around each other on the other side in a heartwarming display of pack unity. Speaking of the library, it is most certainly not the library that Jackson and Scott destroyed in the Season 2 episode "Restraint," most likely because it's in Atlanta, Georgia, where Seasons 1-2 were filmed, and this one is in California, where Seasons 3A-5 have been filmed, but it's a really cool new addition to the Teen Wolf sets, and I'm really digging it. Anyway, as it turns out, Senior Scribe is when the senior class comes to the library and signs the shelf that holds all the yearbooks with their signatures/initials.
The song that plays during this scene, "Ava" by FAMY, is so great absolutely perfect for this scene while the kids get ready to start leaving their mark on their high school. Stiles goes first, and if you were hoping that we would finally figure out what Stiles' real name is, or at least learn the first letter of it, you're sorely mistaken-- we just see him noticing Derek's initials on the shelf below the one he's leaning on, but we don't see his initials like we do the others. Lydia goes next, scribbling an "L.M." followed by Kira, who adorably asks Lydia if this is vandalism, after her earlier conversation with her mother. Lydia just shrugs and replies, "...Not technically" before flouncing away to join Stiles. Once Kira has scrawled her "KY" onto the shelf, she gives the Sharpie to Malia, who starts writing an "M" for her first name and hesitates for a long moment on the second initial, since she has two family names to choose from. Eventually, she finishes so that her initials read "MT" for Malia Tate, and she smiles the most heartwarming smile before handing the pen to Scott.
(via joeeytribbiani)
Poor Scott looks exhausted, bleary-eyed, and a little sad as he scribbles "SM" on the shelf, and he, too, pauses for a moment with tears in his eyes before deciding to write "AA" right underneath it for our dearly departed warrior goddess Allison Argent. The others watch him do this, and they both look somber when Scott finally returns to them.
(via stiles-lydia)
"This world is learning, this world is pure / But she could be my valentine / underneath my sheets on the bedroom floor"
They all stand with their arms around each other for a beat, Kira's face resting on Scott's shoulder, before Stiles pipes up, "She would have been with us." Scott nods, and Kira and Malia give the others sympathetic looks before Lydia just smiles and replies, "She still is." HELL YEAH SHE IS. My favorite part about the seasons following 3B is that Allison's presence has continued to linger despite her absence. She's still so important to all of them, even Kira, who only knew her for a short time but who fought by her side on multiple occasions, and Malia, whose life was saved by Allison when she shot Father Kieran with the tranq gun before he could shoot her. I have a headcanon that since Allison was part of the surrogate sacrifice to the Nemeton in place of their parents, she (and Scott and Stiles) unintentionally bound themselves to it, so now that she's dead, she's kind of still tethered to the Nemeton, which allows her to keep watching out for the gang in some kind of Teen Wolf-equivalent to the Other Side in The Vampire Diaries, or Ancestral Limbo on The Originals.
(via stiles-lydia)
So anyway, now that they've done their senior-scribing, the five of them walk down the steps to the ground floor of the library, led by their True Alpha Scott, followed by Kira, Lydia, Malia, and Stiles bringing up the rear in this really great tableau shot that I just loved so much that I made a new paragraph just to have another excuse to stick in more screencaps/gifs. Behold!
We cut to this grimy, scary-looking basement medical facility of some sort, where the lighting is all yellow and terrifying. Not only are there weird pieces of scientific and mechanical equipment around, like switchboards and pressure-release valves and whatnot, but there are also these horrifying tanks full of weird fluids and actual humanoid bodies attached to gas masks. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS INFERNAL PLACE? Nightmares. Forever. Sludgewolf is kneeling on the tiled floor of this makeshift laboratory, where he's still clutching his injured hand and groaning in pain. "Give me another chance," he begs to someone standing in the shadows. "A little more power. I could do it with a little more."
The Dread Doctors, who file into the room in their creepy, horror-movie jerky style and head straight for them, make this super creepy noise; it's like the sound of bugs skittering around, or this quiet, sustained clicking noise. I don't know how to explain it, but it's creepy as fuck. There are three of them total, from what I can gather, each of which in their own steampunk-inspired green get-ups with bronze-y colored masks, red or yellow-tinted goggles, and mechanical Bane-style voices. From what my Google-fu has told me, their names are apparently The Pathologist, The Surgeon, and The Geneticist, though I'm not 100% positive that it's accurate, nor can I really tell them apart, because they only come up in brief flashes. To make them even more scary to look at, they sort of flicker in and out, as though they're not fully corporeal. It's weird, kind of like what the Reverse Flash does in The Flash when he moves so fast that he leaves speed mirages/after-images. Whatever it is they're doing, I'm honestly terrified as hell.
Sludgewolf realizes they're totally gonna kill his ass for failing and starts to beg them to stop, but they remind him that his condition is worsening with every moment they spend arguing. When he insists that he's okay and can continue on, one of the DDs replies, "You were supposed to remove the obstacles. Our time is limited." Sludgewolf, not wanting to die, points out that while he doesn't know what they're trying to do, he can still help them do it, but one by one, the Doctors repeat, "No second chances. No second chances. No second chances." One of the Doctors, who was using a cane to walk into the room, lifts it to reveal that it's actually a sword cane, which he quickly unsheaths and plunges into Sludgewolf's chest despite his desperate pleas. Damn, that's cold!
And, of course, it's not enough that they just stabbed him in the chest with a long-bladed sword, either-- when the wolf dies and falls backward to the floor, his chest bursts open to release what has to be anywhere from half a dozen to a full dozen of crows/ravens/blackbirds/whatever they are so they can squawk and fly away. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT? If any of you read my pre-Season 5 Teen Wolf write-up, I discussed the new supernatural creature that is supposed to show up this season, the Sluagh, from Celtic folklore. When I did a Google Image search for "sluagh" to add pictures to the post, one of the first results was a flock of black birds as well, which makes me think that perhaps the Dread Doctors have one and are using it to give a power boost to their test subject, but I'll get into that more in my notes later. My main question is-- what the fuck are they really after? I just wish I understood.
If you thought we had already seen all the fucked up things we could see in this episode, you're about to stand corrected, because HOLY SHIT. I'm anxious just thinking about this scene again. So, we cut back to what happened after the first scene of the episode with Lydia, but whether this is the present and what we saw is the past, or if what we saw was the present and this is the future remains to be seen. Lydia is in a single-occupant room at Eichen House that only has a steel bedside table, a bed, a chair, and a toilet, and she's strapped to the bed with their favorite five-point restraint system while "Aiden" sits at her bedside and gently strokes her forehead with his fingers. "No one saw him again, did they?" "Aiden" gently asks her, but Lydia, who seems to be mega-drugged up on something judging by her sedated demeanor, weakly confirms that they didn't. "But that was the start of it, wasn't it?" "Aiden" continues. "The beginning of senior year. What happened after that, Lydia?" Lydia may be terrified, exhausted, and drugged up to her eyeballs, but she's still smart enough to know that it's not really Aiden talking to her, so she tells him that he's not real.
When "Aiden" starts to speak again, his voice warps into a deeper, growlier British accent, and after a moment, Aiden's visage blinks out and is replaced by Dr. Valack, last seen in "Smoke & Mirrors," only back then, he was a resident of Eichen House who had a third eye that was visible through a hole drilled into his forehead using trephination, and he wasn't ever allowed to see anyone because he was unable to resist putting them in vision-quest-comas with his still-undefined powers. Now, instead of his plain white tshirt, pajama pants, and a dirty bandage around his head, he has a dress shirt, bow tie, and sweater vest on, looking much more like a doctor than a patient. How he ended up out of his mountain-ash lined cell, why his third eye/skull hole isn't visible right now/any more, and why he's so eager to get answers out of Lydia isn't explained whatsoever, and I'm honestly so confused about it that I can't even begin to come up with possible theories. What say you, amigos?
"Tell me what happened to them," Valack says impatiently. "What happened to your friends?" Lydia weakly protests that he doesn't remember, but he's convinced that he'll be getting answers one way or another. "It started just after you began senior year," he prompts her again. "What happened?" Lydia continues to insist that she doesn't remember, but we still get tiny flashes of whatever it is through her perspective, so either she really can't remember anything and this is all for our benefit to outline what is going to happen by the end of Season 5A, or she can remember bits and pieces but is just too high on whatever they gave her to understand what they mean, or she can remember and she's just a really tough cookie who refuses to out her friends.
It starts with a fight between Scott and Liam, both of whom are wolfed-out. Liam swings his fist at Scott in a right cross, but Scott blocks him and punches him in the face. Liam recovers quickly and wraps his hands around Scott's throat, but Scott uses his arms to break his grip and punches him in the face again. NOOO! I refuse to believe that this sort of throwdown could happen without some sort of manipulation. I don't know if it's Scott being manipulated, or Liam, or both, but they would never do that under normal circumstances.
"What happened?" Valack asks again, and though Lydia claims she can't remember, we see another flashback/flash-forward. It looks like it's at the McCall house, where a furious Melissa smacks Sheriff Stilinski across the face. He looks at her with guilt and frustration, but she continues to glare at him. UH OH. That sort of thing could only happen if Sheriff did something to put Scott in danger, whether directly or indirectly. I just can't see her getting that upset with him otherwise. Or maybe the speculation that they're dating are true and he really fucked up somehow. Still, I think it's more likely it has to do with Scott or the pack in general.
"What happened to Kira?" Valack asks her again, and we cut to a clip of Kira standing in the middle of the road while rain pours down on them. She looks at Scott sadly, and Scott looks devastated as he stands drenched in the storm. Behind him, a streetlight explodes in a shower of sparks, and Kira gets into the backseat of her parents' Honda. She looks back at Scott one last time through the windshield as they drive away. I wonder if this has something to do with Kira's alleged out-of-control powers? Maybe Noshiko and Ken are trying to take her away somewhere where she's less of a danger? Interviews and trailers for the season seem to indicate that the addition of a new tail and the kitsune spirit struggling within her is going to be a problem sooner rather than later. I don't want Kira to leave, though, nooooooooo!
"Tell me about Parrish." We cut to a flashback/flash-forward to Jordan, who is naked. covered in soot, and surrounded by huge flames, which suggests that he either got set on fire again, or set himself on fire with his still undiscovered powers, or something like that. His eyes are glowing their orange-red hue, but there are also flames reflected in his pupils, as though there was a literal fire happening behind his eyes. His face is set in a scowl and he definitely looks unhappy, though whether it's from anger or fear or something else entirely is unknown for now.
"And Malia? What happened when the Desert Wolf finally found her?" We cut to Malia's former coyote den, where she's curled up in a corner, whimpering in absolute terror and watching with wide eyes as a huge, shadowy figure stalks toward her slowly. UHHH THIS IS SO NOT GOOD. Malia is easily the most fearless of the McCall Pack, so if something has her at, like, Isaac-in-a-freezer levels of sheer terror and panic, then the Desert Wolf is seriously going to be a big problem.
"You remember what happened to Stiles," Valack states, mildly exasperated as Lydia flashes to a clip of Stiles. His beloved Jeep has been overturned, and he's laying either dead or unconscious inside against the roof. He's covered in blood and bruises, and a fire is raging all around him. YIKES! There have been rumors that Stiles could be seriously wounded this season after a photograph of spinal CT scans leaked online, and people are thinking that he'll either be paralyzed, or it'll be an injury that will ultimately prove that Stiles is *something* when he ends up healing from the injuries? I have no idea what to believe at this rate, because there is so little information, so I'm going to have to think on it a bit more.
(all gifs from this scene are via teenwlof)
Back in Lydia's room, she continues to insist that she doesn't remember, so Valack sighs and states that there are other ways that they can get the details of what happened. He turns and picks up what at first glance looks like a power tool of some kind, but is really one of the same drills from "Eichen House" that the nogitsune-influenced Oliver almost used on Malia to drill a hole into her skull. I DO NOT LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING. "This special device is used for trephination-- the medical art of drilling into the human skull," Valack sneers. He pushes the button, causing the large drill-bit at the end to spin menacingly as he leans over Lydia's bed with it. "Let me show you how it works." The drill whirs loudly as he reaches closer to Lydia to perform trephination on her. NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE. Somebody better stop her in time, because while I can handle a lot of things, body horror is NOT one of them. Ugh, now I've got the wiggins. Again. God damn you, Teen Wolf, and the things you do to me!
Next episode: The pack returns for their first day of the school year at Beacon Hills High School, A fellow student, Tracy Stewart, starts experiencing night terrors that could be very much related to what the pack is currently dealing with. Stiles is super suspicious of Theo and tries to get the rest of them on board with mixed results, and Liam and Mason get put into a situation where Liam is forced to do some explaining.
NOTES/COMMENTS:
-Okay, as usual, I have way too many notes and theories about what is going on in this season, so I'm probably going to be giving them their own post, since this is already too long as it is. Since there were two episodes that aired this week, the notes/theories post will likely follow the recap for "Parasomnia," which will be posted next, just FYI! Included in the post is: who the fuck is Theo, what the fuck is happening with Kira/Jordan/Scott/Stiles, speculation regarding the Sluagh/the Wild Hunt, the Dread Doctors, and Dr. Valack, among other things. Stay tuned!
So, let's run down the amazingness, shall we? Scott and Stiles are the cutest bros to ever bro, as usual, and have literally become Liam's parents. Liam is so precious and cares so much about the pack that it is killing me. Malia is still working her ass off in her academic life and for her pack, and with a perfect haircut to boot. Scott and Kira, you guys-- that's all that needs to be said about that (right now, at least). Kira and her magic katana-belt! Lydia's badass new powers! Confirmation regarding some of Parrish's new powers! Scary wolf-men and even scarier doctors!
Basically, I can already tell that this is going to be a doozy of a season and a recap, so settle in, gentle readers, because we're about to go on an intense ride together. Also, the previouslies were really long for this episode, but I'd be remiss if I didn't go into it, so bear with me while I refresh our memories! Let's talk about "Creatures of the Night!"
Also, here's a warning-- there are a TON of gifs in this recap, because I literally could not choose and decided to throw them all in. So, just a heads up. :)
Previously, on Teen Wolf: Scott McCall is a bitten werewolf who eventually became an Alpha, but not just any Alpha-- a True Alpha, the rarest of all. Unlike most Alphas, who have werewolf packs that include a minimum of three Betas, Scott has an unconventional pack that includes Malia Tate the werecoyote, Lydia Martin the banshee, Kira Yukimura the thunder kitsune, Stiles Stilinski the maybe-human, and baby Liam Dunbar, who was bitten by Scott in emergency and became his first true beta. Malia spent much of her adolescent life in her full-coyote form after accidentally shifting in the car during a full moon and causing a car crash that killed her (adoptive) mother and sister. Then, Scott and the gang helped her turn back, and she's still trying to get the hang of being a teenage girl rather than a forest creature, part of which involves being in an adorable relationship with Stiles and trying her best to pass her classes. Also in an adorable relationship are Scott and Kira, though they have yet to have a date that hasn't been crashed by some kind of supernatural drama.
Meanwhile, at Beacon Hills' finest (ha!) mental health facility, there is a super-secret floor of supernatural creatures who are a menace to society, which includes wendigos, Peter Hale, possibly another kanima or two, and Dr. Valack, a doctor with yet-undefined powers of ESP using his third eye, which he exposed by literally drilling into his skull using the practice of trephination. Speaking of undefined powers, Deputy Sheriff Jordan Parrish was magically drawn to Beacon Hills by the newly-reawakened Nemeton and learned that he was a supernatural creature when his name showed up on the deadpool list with a value of five million dollars. However, he didn't learn why exactly he was on the deadpool until his work partner, Deputy Haigh, kidnapped him and set him on fire to claim his bounty, only to get the shit beaten out of him by Parrish after he healed from the fire with nary a scar left on his fab bod. Of course, he still has no idea what exactly he is, though his glowing eyes the color of flames may be a hint, but Lydia has vowed to help him figure it out using the Argent bestiary, which is now in a book form rather than a .pdf file on one of Gerard's old thumb drives. Finally, Derek informed Scott that he's going to be an excellent Alpha to his new beta and pack of good friends, before presumably fucking off to South America or something without a word. I don't know, maybe he's hunting the Desert Wolf with Braeden? Visiting Isaac at boarding school in France? Or Cora in South America? Beats me, honestly.
Forgive me for doing this, but the first half of this first scene really skeeved me out, and so I'm going to make this brief to prevent myself from having to rewatch more than necessary. I learned the hard way that the unethical treatment of mental hospital patients and especially them being constantly injected with various syringes is more than a little triggering to me, and I'm trying to avoid a repeat performance. Whoops! So, Lydia is inexplicably checked in at Eichen House, where she's standing silently under a shower head in the girl's bathroom that is pouring steaming water all over her. She also has a long, red scar running along the width of the side of her waist, but it looks too fresh and too clean to be from Peter's attack what feels like forever ago-- maybe it's from something else? Who knows. Anyway, the female nurse who is standing at the door tells Lydia that she's been in the shower long enough, and when Lydia doesn't respond, she starts getting really mean about how she doesn't buy Lydia's catatonic act. Of course, Lydia doesn't say anything to that, either, leading her to grab Lydia's face by her hand and order her to look at her. To Lydia's credit, she is a great actress-- she has the dead-eyed look down pat.
So, finally out of the shower and into a loose, oversized white cardigan and the usual sweats, Lydia is in the middle of walk (and by that I mean lifelessly shuffling, like a zombie) down the hall to her room accompanied by the mean nurse from earlier and a second male nurse. On the way, we see that there are other people in the closed (and possibly supernatural) ward, including an elderly woman with white hair and a younger man, both of whom stare at Lydia curiously. The male nurse asks the mean nurse if Lydia is okay, but she just snits that Lydia is a "dedicated performer" and that she refuses to believe that Lydia is anything but a faker. She then orders the guy to give her three milligrams of some drug that I can't make out and insists that if Lydia wants to fake being catatonic, then she can have the real, medically-induced kind.
Once she's alone in the room with the man, he starts apologizing for the mean nurse's lack of bedside manner and kindness, but assures her that he can be gentle. Of course, he totally proves that he's the opposite when he starts poking Lydia in the arm with a syringe full of drugs. The first time, he really does miss a blood vessel and has to try again, but the second time he actually hits it, but when he realizes that she's just lifelessly laying there, he lies and says he missed again so he has an excuse to try a bigger blood vessel. Like, the carotid artery in her neck. UGH, Eichen House and its employees just skeeves me out to no end.
Fortunately for all of us, Lydia included, she's just been lying in wait this entire time, and before the medical sadist can stick her in the neck with the syringe, she flies up into a seated position and banshee-wails so loud that the lights in the room all explode and go out, and the man flies across the room and falls against the wall. Lydia takes advantage of his confusion and makes a break for it, flying through the door to her room and into the hallway. She runs into trouble there, though, when the hall is blocked at both ends by oncoming orderlies. I was originally like "NOOO, LYDIA IS BAREFOOT AND HAS NO WEAPONS, HOW IS SHE GONNA ESCAPE?" But, as it turns out, she's either channeling Allison's fighting skills or Jordan and the others have taught her a few things in the six months that have passed since "Smoke & Mirrors." She gets this annoyed look on her face, like, "REALLY, DUDES?" before she lunges for the orderly on her right, shoving him in the chest with her hands and kicking him hard with her knees and feet. When he tries to right himself, she pulls a Black Widow and jumps on his shoulders, spinning as she twists her legs around his neck and knocking him to the ground.
Once he's out of commission, she turns to the second orderly heading toward her and screams like a banshee again as she shoves him in the chest, which somehow creates this concussive force that throws him across the hallway as though a werewolf had done it while more light bulbs explode above them. I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THESE NEW POWERS, SERIOUSLY. This is amazing and I have waited for what feels like a century for Lydia to be able to defend herself. A lot of people in the fandom seem to be against it, because they believe that you don't have to be physically strong to be a strong character, which is absolutely true; still, in this case, it's only to Lydia's benefit that she learns how to take care of herself when supernatural and human threats come her way, because she can't depend on the rest of the pack to be able to protect her, especially in situations like this when she's all alone.
(via scallydia)
Now that those orderlies are dealt with, she rushes out of the hallway, eventually making it to the front doors that lead outside, where it's pouring down rain yet again. Of course, being able to run away would be too easy, so she's cornered by a handful of security guards armed with cattle-prod tasers. WHY WOULD THEY USE THOSE ON NON-WEREWOLVES? Parrish himself said they were more like lightsabers and could jumpstart a 747, so I'm not a fan of their use against banshees, no matter how badass they may be. Anyway, so Lydia goes back into warrior mode, using more of those concussive blasts to shove them backward, like she's Banshee from X-Men, or maybe Skye/Daisy Johnson from Agents of SHIELD. She rushes down the first section of stairs to flee Eichen House once and for all, but she stops dead in her tracks when she sees someone walking toward her from the opposite direction.
IT'S AIDEN, HOLY SHIT. The sight of him makes Lydia's eyes fill with tears, and to his credit, he does look sad when he states, "Sorry, Lydia, but your treatment's not done. Not yet." Treatment for whaaaat?? Why is she hallucinating him? Or is this Valack using some kind of magical glamour to make himself look like Aiden? I'm so confused. Lydia is shocked enough to see him that she doesn't notice that she's being surrounded by security guards who begin tasing her multiple times in the back with their cattle-prods. "NO!" Lydia shrieks plaintively. "NO!" They begin to restrain her hands behind her back, and she starts to bed. "Please, I have to tell them! They're all going to die. My friends. They're all going to die." Ummmm, I don't like the sound of this at all? Like not even a little. Get away from her, assholes! Ughhhhh my heart. (NEW) TITLE CARD! Also, seeing the "Dedicated to Cyndi Garcia-Posey" (Tyler Posey's mother, who died of cancer this past spring) literally make my heart hurt. Poor Posey :(
When we return, we meet up with Scott and Stiles at Look-Out Point, where Scott is sitting on the hood of Stiles' Jeep and watching the thunder and lightning crack in the sky over the town as "Firestone" by Kygo (ft. Conrad Sewell) plays in the background. Next to him, Stiles has a map and a red Sharpie, which he's using to highlight places in Northern California that are centrally located to all of the colleges they're looking to attend. Stiles is concerned about how expensive places like the Mission District are, and when Scott suggests Berkeley, Stiles points out that the hills would probably cause Roscoe to burn through a lot of clutches. Scott is surprised that Stiles would be bringing the Jeep, which exasperates his best friend and brother. "You know the plan!" Stiles replies, mildly offended. "'Kay? No one gets left behind! That's the plan!" Apparently, Lydia is a shoo-in for Stanford, and Kira is looking into the University of San Francisco, but when the topic turns to Malia, Stiles realizes that her plans aren't concrete yet (we'll learn why in a few) and insists that she'll figure out a plan regardless of what happens. Stiles maintains that his plan is perfect, but Scott wonders if maybe it might be better to wait until they get into college before they decide where to have their pack housing. "I have a vision, Scott!" Stiles argues. "And it is a beautiful vision! Don't ruin the vision!"
Stiles then suggests they check out the East Bay and Oakland, but Scott is suddenly distracted by the full moon above them. When Stiles asks him if he's getting the werewolf-fuel-jitters, Scott admits that he's actually thinking about what Deaton said to him at the end of "The Divine Move." He asks Stiles if he's ever heard of the saying "regression to the mean," and when Stiles states that he hasn't, Scott starts to outline his concerns.
SCOTT: "It's basically his way of saying that life can't ever be all bad or all good. You know, eventually things have to come back to the middle. So, think about the last few months-- things have been good, right? But not amazing."
STILES: [shrugs] "Yeah, but no one's tried to kill us in six months, either!"
SCOTT: [nods] "Right. We've been pretty much in the middle for a while..." [He sighs] "Which means at some point, the scale has to tip one way or the other. Things are either gonna get really good again..."
STILES: [sighs defeatedly] "...Or really bad."Suddenly, two huge cracks of lightning jolt across the sky above them, along with several deep rumbles of thunder, and honestly? I was sure that it was just Kira playing tricks, but now I'm wondering if there isn't some other kind of magic afoot, like sluagh/the Wild Hunt-related mojo. The boys are unsettled for a long moment as they look up at the sky, but Stiles eventually asks Scott if he thinks it's been long enough. Just then, a familiar young voice calls out behind them, "Yes!" It's Liam! YAYYYY LIAM, I'VE MISSED HIM SO MUCH. He's chained to this humongous tree behind them for the full moon, though he's still in human form and mostly just looks exasperated and annoyed. Stiles snits that they're trying to have an adult conversation, solidifying my belief that Stiles and Scott are literally his teen-dads, but Liam just retorts, "Alright, you're two years older than me, and I'm fine! Just let me go!" Aw, Liam. In real life, though, Dylan Sprayberry is actually sixteen years old, whereas Dylan O'Brien and Tyler Posey are closer to my age, like 24/25ish. That will never not be hilarious to me.
(via teen-wolf)
ANYWAY, Scott and Stiles walk over to him, and Scott pulls out the keys to the padlocks holding the chains together. "It's not that we don't trust you--" Scott begins kindly, only for Stiles to interrupt and adds, "--It's that I don't trust you!" Scott just rolls his eyes and brings up what happened on the last full moon, which Liam maintains was just a single momentary slip-up. "Slip-up?" Stiles replies in exasperation. "A dozen calls to the Sheriff's Department about a monstrous dog-boy running around the streets of Beacon Hills-- NAKED. That's a slip-up?" Scott, who was about to unlock his chains, can't help but laugh as he asks Liam why he was naked, but Liam insists that it was just really hot that night, okay? I hear you, Liam-- if I actually lived alone, I would never wear clothes in the summer. Ohio feels more like the damn Everglades than it does a mideastern state right about now. Anyway, Liam once again begs Scott to let him go, but Scott isn't eager to let his wolf cub of a son go until he knows for sure that Liam is okay, but Liam assures him that he is, and that a naked wolf-romp through town will not be happening again, although he's not entirely convincing. Even still, Scott gives him a gentle smile and says, "You're in complete and total control," more as a statement than as a question, and removes the chains, which he places back in that canvas carpetbag thing of Stiles'.
(via prosciles)
As they two older boys walk back to the Jeep to get ready to head back into town, Liam hangs back for a moment to look down at his closed fists. He sighs as he opens his hands, revealing that he's been clenching his claws into his fists so that they pierce the skin and help him stay in human form, which leaves bloody puncture wounds along the lines of his palms and indicates that he maybe doesn't have quite the handle on being a werewolf as he's letting on. I was actually really surprised to see that Liam was still having some trouble, since like they said, it's been six months since the Season 4 finale, which means that this is the sixth full moon since he learned to use the sun/moon/truth mantra at La Iglesia. On the other hand, that was probably my bad for assuming that everyone can get the hang of werecreature urges in two months like Scott, Isaac and Malia did. Liam does have intermittent explosive disorder, which I keep forgetting because he hasn't had any major explosions since we've met him, and I imagine that makes it much harder to get a grip on things than a neurotypical person. I'm also a little concerned by the fact that this kind of self-harm is accepted as okay, since the last time we saw Scott doing this, he wasn't in a good place at all. Either way, I'm not a werewolf, so what do I know? Maybe if I were, I'd do the same thing.
Meanwhile, at the Sheriff's station, officers are rushing around everywhere as the storm rages on outside. The lights are flickering, since apparently the electrical grid in Beacon Hills sucks (and I'm not even going to get into the fact that the town seems to get torrential rainfall three or four times a week despite the fact that the entire state of California is about a year away from running out of water completely because of the drought), and Jordan is clearly aggravated as he answers non-stop phone calls at the front desk. He tersely informs a woman who called in that the electrical outages are likely from the storm they're getting, which seems silly, because who calls the Sheriff's Department about a power failure? Call AEP or whatever the west-coast equivalent is. Just then, Sheriff walks in and instructs Jordan to go check the back-up generator and make sure it's fueled up in case they lose power, too, which causes him to roll his eyes in annoyance, but when he gets ready to go do that, Sheriff exasperatedly adds, "And Parrish? Answer the phones!" Come on, Sheriff! If you've got him on some kind of weird, super-secret probation or something, you should maybe be a little less of a dick about it.
Once Parrish does as he's told, he stomps on into Sheriff's office, where the man is doing paperwork at his desk. "Six months. six months of directing traffic, doing courthouse security, serving subpoenas!" Jordan says loudly. "And today, I finished a total organizational overhaul of the evidence lock-up! And now, I'm stuck behind the front desk while there's downed power lines, a jack-knifed tractor-trailer, and reports of gunshots downtown!" Sheriff sighs, because he knows that he's right, but at the same time, there's something else going on as well. I love Jordan, and I think he's a good guy, and I'm inclined to believe that Sheriff simply is trying to keep him out of harm's way until they know what he is and the extent of his abilities, especially given he was also literally set on fire by a colleague six months ago as well.
Still, Jordan is convinced that this is happening because Sheriff doesn't trust him anymore, and he insists that whatever the issue is, Sheriff needs all the deputies he has out dealing with the chaos. Sheriff just sighs again and concedes (slightly) by handing him a computer print-out as his next assignment. Jordan's excited at first, but once he reads it, he incredulously asks Sheriff if he's really sending him out to investigate a noise complaint. Sheriff points out that that is how noise complaints work-- someone makes a noise, someone else complains, and a deputy goes to check it out, leaving an exasperated and frustrated Jordan to reluctantly see what's up.
When he gets to the place he was sent, he takes out the noise complaint and checks it one last time. I don't know if any of this information will be relevant/important or not, but I'm adding it just in case. The person who complained is named Kate M. Kasinger, 59 year old retiree who lives at 2216 Astoria Lane in Beacon Hills, and the house she's complaining about is 2218 Astoria Lane. The notes at the bottom read:
"19:21 Citizen K. Kasinger called about a noise coming from the vacant house next door. She reports hearing a loud hammering sound coming from inside the dwelling over the last few hours. She has not seen anyone enter or leave the home. The home has been vacant for three months due to pending sale. She was unable to provide any information about the current whereabouts of the owners."So, there's that, at least? Jordan stands in front of the abandoned house, which is a decently-sized Romanesque white house with four columns in the front, and is super creepy to the point that our favorite deputy sheriff is a little hesitant to go in there. Still, since this is the first kind-of police-y job he's been given for a while, he does his job as he was asked, and slowly wanders in through the front door with his flashlight in hand. The home is completely empty on the inside, save for the chandelier that has broken and fallen to the ground. He calls out that he's from the Beacon County Sheriff's Department, but no one responds, so he continues wandering until he gets downstairs in the basement. He hears one single pounding noise coming from the other side of a cinder block wall, and once again shouts "Hello?" as he approaches the wall to examine it.
He leans toward the wall to try to hear any more noises, which is when the pounding starts up once again, scaring the shit out of Parrish but also lighting a fire under him to actually do something. When he asks the person if they can hear him, they just start pounding harder, and you can hear the cinder blocks crumbling from the other side, which is so not a good sign. Jordan assures them he'll be right back and heads back outside to his cruiser, where he pulls out a hilariously tiny ice-pick looking thing, which he brings back to start breaking through the wall tiny piece by tiny piece. Once he's made an itty-bitty hole, he's about to keep whacking, but he starts seeing what looks like werewolf ink, that black sludgey stuff that always comes from all orifices when supernaturals have been poisoned, sickened, or otherwise seriously injured in some way, pouring through the hole like a sieve. Another pound comes from behind the wall, breaking the stone enough that the black goo gets splattered all over Parrish's precious face.
Before he can start to process this, whatever is on the other side of the wall manages to bust through and instantly grabs Jordan in a choke-hold and holds him up in the air by his throat. Upon closer inspection, the man is mostly naked, covered in werewolf ink, and though he has the blue eyes, fangs, and mutton-chops of a werewolf, he has legit talons in place of standard werewolf claws, which he plunges into Jordan's gut. He groans in pain while the sludgewolf grins at him happily, becoming even more intrigued when Jordan's eyes turn his orange-red flamey color. Just then, the sludgewolf's eyes start to glow the same color, even though we literally just saw him with glowing blue beta eyes only a minute ago. The color fades from both of their eyes quickly, and old wolfy looks kind of impressed by him.
"You're not a werewolf," he lisps around his fangs. "But you're something." He drops Jordan onto the floor, where he groans and flips onto his back so he can keep looking at the gooey villain in front of him. "You're not an ordinary creature, Deputy," the maybe-wolf continues. "But then, neither am I. Not tonight." He lifts up his terrifying hand, whose talons begin to GLOW BLUE, the same color as his eyes have begun to glow again, and insists that he'll spare Jordan's life if he answers one question-- "Where's Scott McCall?" Ha, get in line, bucko-- you're hardly the first to ask that question, and in time, you'll be wishing you hadn't asked like the others. Jordan, who is panting through the pain of his injuries, takes a deep breath and responds, "I've never heard of him." HELL YES! Jordan loves Scott McCall! Everyone loves Scott McCall! But yeah, surprising no one, this answer earns Jordan a set of deep talon-gashes to the chest for his trouble. NOOO! It's too early to be hurting my faves. :(
(via teenwolf)
Meanwhile, Scott, Stiles, and Liam are in the Jeep on their way back into town after playing in the woods. "I'll Die" by My Double, My Brother plays in the background as Liam, who is sitting in the back, leans forward between Scott and Stiles' seats and pepper them with questions about their plans tonight like the most adorable annoying-little-brother ever.
LIAM: "Is it a party?"
STILES: [annoyed] "It is not a party."
LIAM: "What's at midnight?"
STILES: [sighs] "Your bedtime."
LIAM: "Why aren't the girls going?"
STILES: [frustrated] "They're meeting us there, okay? And just stop asking us questions! Okay? It's a senior thing. You'll know when you're a senior."I know on paper it doesn't sound that funny, but Dylans Sprayberry and O'Brien have hilarious comedic delivery and it's just super adorable. Also, I love how close the pack seems to have gotten over the time jump, because Liam asking "Why aren't the girls going?" seems to suggest that they've been having pack hang-outs a lot. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. Scott, who has been messing around with his phone the entire time, asks his bros if they have cell signal, which of course they don't, because having cell signal during a supernatural emergency would just be too easy, I guess? And, naturally, to make matters worse, Stiles' Jeep chooses that moment to completely shut down. To be honest, this part immediately made me think of that scene from "The Devil Is Damned" in The Originals (whose recap will be posted after this one and the one for "Parasomnia") where baby Hope magically shuts down Cami's car to protect her from an explosion. THERE IS MAJOR MAGIC AFOOT, YOU GUYS. I'm just still having trouble figuring out who the fuck is doing it. Liam asks Stiles if he's out of gas, but Stiles can tell it's an electrical problem, probably the alternator again, which means that poor old Roscoe is truly on its last legs.
He and Scott get out of the car to check it out, leaving a still full-moon-twitchy Liam in the car. Stiles pops the hood, and Scott looks alarmed to see that pretty much every piece of machinery under it has been duct-taped to oblivion. When he points this out, though, Stiles gives him a serious look, and Scott just smiles that amazing smile of his and assures him that they'll fix it. God, that smile could end wars and cause world peace, it's so beatific it kills me dead. Damn you Tyler Posey, for being so damn attractive and endearing! Stiles admits that he's mostly just nervous, because since it's the last night of summer, he just really wanted them all together for posterity's sake and all that. To say that Stiles has a shitload of senior-year/growing-up anxiety happening right now would be an understatement, and it's only going to get worse as he starts channeling it into all kinds of weird coping mechanisms. Scott assures his bro that they'll make it, but when he asks if he has any tools, Stiles just picks up a half-used roll of duct tape, and Scott can't even help but giggle at it. Oh, Stiles! He rips a piece of tape off just as a loud crack of thunder rumbles overhead.
(via stiles-lydia)
Inside the car, Liam has pulled out his earbuds, and thumbs one of them into his ear, just as a huge volt of lightning strikes the pavement several yards behind the car. Liam, having heard, but not seen, the lightning, turns back to look out the rear window just in time to see yet another crack of lightning come even closer to the car, startling him so badly that he literally jumps. Liam yells out for the boys, but in a hilarious but also kind of alarming reaction, they both just assume he's being his usual annoying-little-brother-self, and are all, "Please just stay in the car, kid," not realizing that there is a freak lightning storm happening all around them. Just as Stiles is about to add another strip of tape to his alternator, another bolt of lightning strikes literally ten feet away from where they're standing, causing them both to jump and flail in fear. "That was close," Scott whispers. "Very close," adds Stiles, just as his car magically turns itself back on again. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT? There is something seriously shady and magical going on, guys, and while I have no idea what it truly is, I have some theories that I'll go into later. Liam sticks his head out the open window and anxiously asks them if they can go now, but I'm pretty sure Stiles and Scott are just as eager to get the hell out of there now as he is, so off they go to town!
Over at the hospital, Father Kieran from The Originals, who if you recall, is Malia's adoptive father who we haven't seen since "More Bad Than Good" in Season 3B, has gathered a group of people to help move a tree that was struck down in the storm. He reminds them to lift with their legs, because that's where all their power is, before they all take a spot along the length of the tree and start lifting it. Suddenly, the tree appears to be lifting itself of its own accord, because the people lifting it are holding their hands out below the tree as it continues to rise. However, it turns out, it's just Malia, who literally lifted the entire tree up with one slender arm, much to the surprise of everyone, including her own father. When he starts side-eyeing her, Malia just shrugs and quips, "Strong legs?" before smiling that cute smile that distracts everyone from her super-strength. Um, can I just say how amazing Malia looks this season? I mean, everyone is their most endearing and attractive selves in this episode, and I love it so damn much, but between Malia/Shelley's new haircut and color, and the cute outfit she's wearing, I basically just want to marry her. I AM SO IN LOVE.
Once they're done, Malia walks over to the parking lot to check her phone and frowns when she can't get a signal. When she asks her dad if he has one, he checks his own phone to find that he doesn't and figures that the storm knocked out the cell tower or something. It's obvious that she's nervous about something, so he smiles and assures her that she'll find out when she finds out, and until then, there's no reason to worry about it. Oooh, intriguing! He asks her if she needs a ride to the high school, but Malia sees Stiles, Scott, and Liam pull up in the Jeep a few feet away and honk at her, so she tells him that she already has one.
She then proceeds to adorably skip over to them, and when Stiles apologizes for being late, she just smiles and kisses him through the window, right there in front of her dad and everything. Stiles even moans a little while she's doing it, which is cute, gross, and awkward for her father, all rolled into one. Liam, being the little shit that he is, leans forward between the driver and passenger seats up front and smirks, "I'm sorry, too," which confirms my suspicions that Liam is simultaneously terrified of and low-key crushing on all of the girls in the pack, hence the attempts to snag some Malia smoochies. "You boys do remember that I own a gun?" Father Kieran retorts gruffly, but when Stiles looks at him warily and replies, "Vividly," the man just walks away, but not before winking at Malia before he goes. Aw, I like him! Stick around, Father Kieran! I honestly thought that he like died somehow, and I just forgot for whatever reason, and that's why Malia was pretty much living with the Stilinskis in Season 4. Whoops!
(via joeeytribbiani)
Once Malia gets into the car, Scott, Stiles, and Liam all turn toward her and stare at her expectantly. clearly eager to hear if she's gotten any good news recently. Malia, not wanting to get into it in front of Liam, who still has one earbud in so his music can chill him out, tells Scott and Stiles that they're going to email her the results. Liam totally realizes that they're talking about Malia's summer school grades and says as much, which doesn't please Malia at ALL, so she shoots Stiles a glare and gives him shit for spilling the beans to him. "Oh, no!" Liam says kindly, as Stiles and Scott each look down at the floor, unable to look Malia in the eyes when they realize what he's about to say.
"All they said was that you had to go to summer school 'cause the principal said your test scores weren't good enough and you might have to repeat junior year." Liam finishes up the statement with a casual shrug, so you can tell that Liam isn't judging her at all, he just has no filter whatsoever. Aw, Malia! She works so damn hard. So, predictably, Malia isn't at all happy to hear that Skittles have been flapping their gums about her personal life, and when she shoots them another withering glare, Scott has the good sense to look truly guilty, whereas Stiles just gives Liam a look and tells Scott they should have kept him chained to the tree. The pack interactions are already killing me so much because they're so realistic and funny! MORE OF THIS AND LESS TORTURE, PLEASE.
In another humorous scene, Melissa returns to the McCall house after a long shift at work, and immediately starts shouting upstairs to apprise Scott on her evening's plans-- basically, she's home just long enough to grab some clean scrubs from the dryer, because all of the medical professionals at the hospital have been called back for a double shift thanks to all the calamities caused by the aforementioned thunderstorm, jack-knifed tractor trailer, and gunfight downtown. Since she's not going to be home for dinner, she shouts that there is dinner in the fridge for him, only to open said fridge and find that there's not actually anything that could make a meal in there, so she instead says that she'll leave him money to order in.
Of course, when she looks into her billfold, she finds that she also doesn't have any cash on her, so she then yells that he should buy himself something with vet. tech money and she'll pay him back later. HAHAHAHA, oh, Melissa, you could totally be my mother right now, because she is the exact same way. Then, she realizes that she's been shouting for like five minutes straight now with no response, which means Scott isn't even here anyway. That's when she notices the note on the fridge from Scott that reads, "Senior Scribe. Back by 1:30," and she sighs in relief when she remembers that everyone is at the high school. Unfortunately, what she doesn't notice is that the gooey sludgewolf who attacked Jordan earlier is standing in the next room, his taloned hands illuminated by the occasional lightning strike outside the house. Once Melissa leaves, Sludgewolf takes the note off of the fridge and examines it in hopes of finding the True Alpha of all our hearts. STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM SCOTT MCCALL, DAMNIT.
After the break, we return to Route 115, where the Yukimuras are in their red Toyota and trying to get back to Beacon Hills after spending the summer (or at least part of it) in New York. Traffic is at a complete standstill, and the cell phone signal disruption seems to be city-wide, because Kira is literally standing on top of the family car in an attempt to get enough bars to call or text someone. The background on her phone is a very cute selfie of Scott, so you know she's been missing her boo quite a bit. After a moment, Noshiko sticks her head out of the passenger window and instructs Kira to get back in the car, so Kira sighs and reluctantly jumps down onto the ground. Before she gets into the car, she catches the attention of a very cute blonde boy with an angel face that rivals Garrett from last season, who is standing a couple car lengths in front of her-- it's our new boy, Theo Raeken, played by Cody Christian! He smiles at her and holds up his phone before admitting that he can't get any signal either, and Kira smiles weakly at him before getting back into the car with her parents.
She immediately flings herself onto the backseat and complains about the fact that since they haven't moved in fifteen minutes, she's likely going to be late to the evening's festivities. Noshiko turns to face her and ask what exactly she's doing this evening, anyway, but all Kira will say is that it's called Senior Scribe and she's not supposed to tell any non-seniors about it. Noshiko doesn't like the sound of this at all and looks to Ken for some backup, but he doesn't know either, he just assumed it had to do with writing something. Noshiko remarks that it sounds like vandalism, but Kira just replies, "It's not vandalism! ...At least, I don't think it is."
As you can probably guess, this isn't really what Overprotective-Mom Noshiko wanted to hear, but she doesn't say anything. Kira waits for a long moment before her impatience gets the best of her, and she decides she's just going to walk/run there so she'll make it in time. So, naturally, the rain starts pouring down just as Kira opens the back passenger door to crawl out. When she sighs and closes the door, her dad gives her a look, and she looks slightly bashful before replying that she's going to wait a few minutes before she leaves. Kira, you absolute doll! Like Liam, she seems a lot more confident and comfortable as well, and I love it so much. I've missed my thunder princess!
When it comes to best scenes of this episode, this one is definitely top three, because it is too precious. Scott and Liam are walking through the halls of the hospital together, where Liam is explaining that since his dad is in surgery all evening, he can either hang around there until he's done, or he can forego his curfew in favor of continuing to hang out with Scott and the others. Wait, where is Liam's mom in all this? I know she exists, since Liam was afraid that she'd get mad when he twisted his ankle in "Muted," but apparently she works late or something, too, because otherwise why would he be able to stay out later than he's normally allowed without getting in trouble? Anyway, just as they're approaching the elevator, Scott stops and asks Liam to show him his hands. Liam looks alarmed for a moment, since he totally just got called out, but he doesn't try to deny it-- he just pulls his hands out of his hoodie pockets and opens them to reveal that his palms are all cut up and his fingernails are coated in blood from clenching his fists to stay in control all night.
"Okay, so I'm still having trouble..." Liam begins defensively, looking more than a little embarrassed by but Scott just smiles affectionately at him and corrects him. "No, you're still learning." Bless you, you understanding Alpha you! Scott then asks him what he's been focusing on to keep from changing during this full moon, so Liam pulls out the earbuds that he's threaded through the neck of his tshirt, though he admits that it's not really working this time around. "It's working enough," Scott assures him, though as I said earlier, I'm still a little concerned by the nonchalant self-harm going on in this pack in the name of control and triggering healing and all that.
(via crystalsreed)
"Listen," Scott continues. "Derek told me you're one of the strongest that he's ever seen at your age. And coming from him? That means a lot." The elevator doors open, and Scott keeps talking as he walks into it, putting his hand in front of the door to keep it from closing. "And maybe it means things are gonna be harder for you for a little while, but it also means something else, doesn't it?" Liam looks confused, and is like, "I'm really strong?", thinking Scott is only talking about his physical strength. However, I'm pretty sure Scott means mentally and emotionally strong as well when he smiles and replies, "Hell yeah!" before he leaves to meet up with his friends. Aw, Scott is seriously such a great Alpha, it's making my heart explode. He's not just a natural leader, but he's a compassionate presence as well, acting as a mentor and cheerleader for his pack, caring for them, giving them pep talks when needed and helping them heal physically and emotionally, and that's what makes a good Alpha, in my opinion. Also, I'm kind of sad that Liam didn't get to come along, but at the same time, it makes sense-- this is a senior thing for sure, and it was nice for Scott, Stiles, Kira and Lydia to have their time together.
Downstairs, Scott meets up with Stiles, who is looking super anxious about the fact that neither of them can get in touch with Lydia or Kira. Stiles asks Scott if he remembered to remind Kira about their plans, but Scott is confident that he did. So, Stiles decides, for some weirdly out-of-character moment, to crush that confidence by suggesting that Scott's decision to tell Kira not to worry about anything and to have fun on her vacation meant that he unintentionally told her that they're not exclusive and thus can hook up with any other guys (or girls) while she was away. Stiles, what the hell? Kira is a ride-or-die girl, she'd never pull that shit! And the fact that his mind instantly went there is troubling to me. Anyway, Stiles decides to get backup from Malia and asks her what she would think if he told her "don't worry and have fun" before she left for vacation. "Fun as in bowling?" Malia asks with a confused expression. "Or sex with other guys?"
Oh, good gods, whyyyyyy. This was like the one scene of the episode that just took me straight out of the story. I guess you can't love 100% of anything, eh? Just then, a bloodied woman is wheeled down the hallway in a stretcher, which leads Scott to ask his mother where all these injured people are coming from. She explains that there was a jack-knifed tractor-trailer on 115 that caused a huge traffic jam. Scott and Stiles' eyes widen in alarm when they realize that 115 is conveniently (or, in this case, inconveniently), like, the ONLY road that leads into Beacon Hills, which means Kira is probably on it right now and is stuck in the clogged traffic as they speak. So, Scott decides that he's going to go rescue her and instructs Stiles and Malia to go to the school and meet the two of them and Lydia there for Senior Scribe at midnight. Stiles doesn't understand how he thinks he's going to get there in time, but Scott assures him that they will before he rushes out the door. Yay! Save your girl from the boredom of parental conversation and no cell phone service! He's a king among men.
Back over at the Sheriff's station, there's a new delinquent character to be introduced this season as well, although he instantly gets on the fandom's bad side in a moment. I'm getting ahead of myself, though! So, Sheriff is in the middle of paperwork in his office when two deputies, a man and a woman, start dragging this new kid named Donovan (played by Ashton Moio), who is desperately struggling against their hold, into the station. The boy insists that the officers are making a mistake, and the commotion he's causing leads Sheriff to come out into the bullpen to see what's going on. "Donovan!" Sheriff shouts gruffly. "You forgot what the judge said, didn't you? Next time is jail time." The kid's eyes widen in alarm at this reminder, as though he had no idea that getting busted committing a crime again would lead him to major trouble, even though this has to be at least the third time in recent history that it's happened.
Donovan sees Sheriff's mixed expression of disappointment, exasperation and annoyance at the sight of him and immediately starts begging him to listen to his explanation, but when Sheriff asks the female deputy what he's in for, she informs him that not only did they find him breaking and entering, but he also had a loaded .38mm gun on him. YIKES! That's intense for a teenager! At least, I think he's a teenager. anyway. When I was in high school, if people got busted, it was for underaged drinking, drug possession, or vandalism. Beacon Hills kids are hardcore. Predictably, Donovan plays the Lindsey Lohan card, all, "The gun isn't mine! Just holding it for a friend" but as you can probably guess, Sheriff can't exactly let such him off for such a blatant disregard for the law, so he tells his deputies to book him. That's when Donovan gets super scary. "Oh, you're DEAD!" Donovan spits angrily, as the two officers start to drag him back into a room to process him. Sheriff, embarrassed and feeling a smidge guilty, looks down at the floor, which only angers the kid more. "HEY! Look at me! You're dead! You hear that? You're dead! You're gonna do this to me? You son of a bitch, you're dead! Look at me!" Sheriff can't even bear to look at him any more, so he quickly heads back into his office, but not before yelling into the bullpen if anyone can tell him what the hell is taking Parrish so long to get back.
Back at the McCall house, Scott has just returned home for some reason or another, and has just walked down the stairs from his room and into the kitchen. What the hell is with these kids tonight? They're all over the place. Scott, Stiles, and Liam started in the woods, and then when they determined Liam wasn't a danger to himself or others, they went to the hospital, where they met up with Malia, where she was helping with the tree. Then they hung around with Melissa and Liam there for a bit, and Scott left to go get Kira, but first he had to stop at home? And then they all end up meeting at the high school? Seems overly complicated, but whatever. So, anyway, he's just grabbed his motorbike helmet and has walked into the kitchen, where his wolfy-senses start kicking in and telling him that something weird is going on. He sees the note he left for his mother on the floor with five little punctures in the paper where the glow!wolf grabbed it earlier. He's just started to ponder how the note got the holes in it when he hears the sound of small objects falling onto the floor, and looks over to find that all of the magnets on the fridge have inexplicably fallen off.
Unnerved, Scott picks up one of the magnets and replaces it on the fridge, only to fall off again, as though the magnets have all been mystically demagnetized. He frowns in confusion before turning his head and glancing at the clock on the wall, whose second hand is flicking back and forth from the eight to the ten in a jerky motion. Scott is even more bewildered now, and is about to become even more so, because then all of the magnets get remagnetized and return to where they were originally stuck onto the fridge. I AM STILL SO CONFUSED. Is this magic? Is Kira playing tricks? Is it some kind of new superpower? I don't understand! And then, to make matters worse, the ground beneath Scott's feet begins to quake violently in what seems like a mild to moderate earthquake, shaking everything so hard that a bunch of dishes fall off of the counter and crash onto the floor, the kitchen chairs topple over, and the light fixture rattles above Scott's head. Scott is super alarmed now, and jumps when the microwave starts beeping behind him, its display reading 12:00, as though the power flickered on and off. What the hell is happening? This is literally my nightmares come to life.
Time to check back up on Jordan, yeah? So, his chest is still ripped up from the sludgewolf clawing him in addition to the stab wounds in his abdomen when he tried to suck his powers, and he's managed to crawl over to a nearby wall so he can lean against it and catch his breath while he prays that he has the ability from wounds not caused by burns. Speaking of his wounds, he looks down to check on them and winces when he sees that the claw marks are literally smoking, like steam is rising from the lacerations. He tries to radio in an "officer down" alert, but like the cell phones in Beacon Hills, the police radios aren't working either-- it's just nothing but static and feedback. Jordan is fading fast, and things are starting to look pretty grim, but suddenly, a soft, familiar female voice calls out through the static, "Jordan?" LYDIAAAAA. Excuse me while I die over the fact that she's the first person to actually call him Jordan. He looks over at the nearby doorway, where Lydia has quite literally appeared out of thin air. At first, she looks like a ghost/hallucination, but she then becomes corporeal and quietly assures him that she's there. He clearly can't believe what he's seeing, but seems comforted by her presence nonetheless.
She puts her hands against the wounds of his chest, dragging her fingers through the blood, and urges him to stay conscious and with her. She leans forward as though she's going to kiss him, and he looks as though he's about to let her, but just as her lips are about to brush against his, Sheriff appears in the doorway with a flashlight and calls out to him, causing Lydia to dematerialize before Jordan's eyes as his boss rushes toward him when he realizes that he's hurt. Just as Sheriff kneels next to him, Jordan starts to fall unconscious, almost as though he's so relieved to have been found that he can finally stop fighting.
(via gunprincesss)
Aw, Parrish! I know everyone isn't thrilled about the possibility of the Jordan/Lydia pairing because of the age difference, but I don't know. Lydia turned eighteen in mid-March, which was probably a week or two after the events of "Smoke & Mirrors," which means that she became legal at least six months ago, while Jordan is between 24-25 years of age. Kind of a big difference, but not that big, you know? Especially since she's not a minor anymore. Plus, since Holland Roden is actually older than Ryan Kelley is, I guess I have a hard time being squicked out about it like I was with Kate/Bb Derek in "117." So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I understand and respect why people are against it, I myself have no issue with it, so you're probably not going to find Jordia/Marrish/Deputy Banshee hate on this blog. Sorry, guys!
After the break, we catch up with Sheriff, who has just met Melissa at the hospital so they could take Parrish down to the morgue to check him out properly without any prying eyes. Melissa brings up the fact that she thought Sheriff put Jordan on desk duty, but Sheriff insists that it was just a noise complaint, and he wasn't expecting something like this to happen. Hold that thought, because I'm going to come back to it in a moment. So, Melissa sees the smoke coming from his wounds and asks Sheriff if he was on fire at any point, but Sheriff doesn't think so, so she assumes that maybe it's part of his healing process, since they're still not sure what he is or what his range of abilities are. All these comments seem to suggest that Sheriff and Melissa have discussed Jordan's supernatural status at length before now, and possibly even actually experienced something like this with him at some point during the time jump, don't you think? It's definitely weird.
Anyway, just then, Jordan jumps to his feet, breathing deeply and quickly as though he's enraged, and his eyes blaze orange-red. After a moment, he turns toward Sheriff and Melissa, the former of which has his gun pointed at him while he stands behind Melissa, and glares at them for what feels like an eternity while he gets his bearings. Finally, his eyes fade back to their usual green, and Melissa instructs Sheriff to put the gun down, since they're not in any danger. See what I mean? Why would Sheriff point his gun at his own friend and colleague unless something bad had happened prior to this point that scared him enough to feel it necessary? Maybe sometime shortly after the events of the finale, Jordan got hurt on the job and something similar happened, where he got hurt and Sheriff brought him to Melissa for his injuries and his healing process triggered a sort of overwhelmed and confused rage? I'm seriously starting to think that maybe he is a barghest or a hellhound, like I considered in my pre-Season 5 write-up, because they're known for their eyes glowing when enraged or otherwise excited, and Jordan got really angry after Haigh set him on first in "Perishable," too, although he had every right to be pissed in that case.
Either way, something is up, but I'm going to get into it more in the notes. Okay, back on topic-- so Jordan finally calms down, and when Melissa asks him if he's okay, he looks down at his chest to see that he's totally healed, and the only indication that he was injured in the first place is the fact that he still has blood smeared all over him. He notices that his hands are covered in that black goo from the sludgewolf, which reminds him of what happened to him, and most importantly, the fact that the guy who attacked him is now after Scott, which means they need to get a hold of him pronto!
Meanwhile, Kira, Noshiko, and Ken are still stuck in traffic on 115 as the rain continues to pour down on all of them while they sit in silence. After a moment, Ken brings up the fact that they have legends for storms like the one they're experiencing. Kira is a total teenager about it and begs him not to turn their forced-family-fun into an opportunity to lecture her, but she really shouldn't, because it's clear that in this universe, like in The Shadowhunter Chronicles, all the stories are true. Noshiko takes over the story and starts dropping some mythology on us.
"He's talking about the Wild Hunt," Kira's mother explains. "About the Ghost Riders. Imagine a night like this, Kira. In storm clouds just like these, phantom hunters would appear, riding black horses with blood-red eyes, and wolves and hounds at their side, baying and snarling." When Kira, who is now totally intrigued by this story, asks her what they were hunting, Noshiko informs her that they were after souls. OH SHIT, THIS IS AWESOME. Even more reason to think Jordan is a barghest or hellhound, just like lydiasdeputy from Tumblr talked about in her awesome meta-- we literally cut from Jordan awakening from healing his wounds, only to hear this story about the Wild Hunt that involves hounds! Plus barghests/hellhounds are associated with fire, just like phoenixes, salamanders, and ravens, which seem to be the most popular guesses in the fandom right now given his fire-related abilities. Eeee! I need to know what he is right meow.
Anyway, Kira suddenly hears a noise in the distance and asks her parents if they hear it, but she doesn't wait long enough to find out their answer-- when she realizes it's the rumbling of her cutie boyfriend's motorbike approaching from the opposite direction of the flow of traffic, she rushes out of the car and into the pouring rain to meet up with him. "Catch the Wind" by High Highs plays while she does so, and a couple cars in front of Ken and Noshiko, Theo is sitting in the backseat, where he watches Kira runs past him toward Scott, who has hilariously parked his bike in the middle of the two lanes of stopped traffic so he can run toward his girl as well. They stop about a foot away from each other and stare at one another for a long moment before Scott sheepishly asks her if she had fun in New York. When she admits that no, she didn't really, since she was packless and boyf-less, Scott just smiles a sweet smile and says "Good," before he gives her the biggest hug and smoochie ever. Awwww, these kids are so cute! I adore them together.
Back at the hospital, Jordan is explaining his run-in with the sludgewolf at that abandoned house. "His claws were different," Jordan explains anxiously. "Twice the size of Scott's-- more like talons." Melissa, ever the optimist, tries to suggest that extra-long claws aren't super alarming on their own, but that's not even the worst part. "They did something to me," Jordan adds with a concerned expression. "I don't know how to describe it, other than it felt as if the life was being drawn out of me through them. Through the claws." Melissa does not like the sounds of that, and I don't blame her, to be honest, so she asks him if he's sure the guy is going after Scott next. Jordan confirms that he is, and brings up his main concern-- he knows that werewolves can steal an Alpha's power by killing them, so could the guy try to steal Scott's Alpha power by killing him that way?
Melissa kindly reminds him that the typical rules don't apply to Scott, and Sheriff adds that from what they know, a True Alpha's power can't be taken by anyone, since he created it from within himself rather than inheriting it or killing for it, but even still, Parrish has seen enough from old Sludgy that he's willing to bet it's possible that this guy can. Fortunately for them, they don't have to worry about letting Scott know what's up, though-- Liam, who has been hanging around trying to focus on not transforming and waiting for his dad to get off work, has been standing outside the morgue's door and has probably been eavesdropping on them ever since Sheriff brought Jordan in for medical attention. I bet you Scott and Stiles taught him how to snoop like a pro, since they've been doing it to the Sheriff for so long now. So, having heard that his Alpha and teen-dad are in danger, Liam instantly runs out of the hospital and toward the high school to warn his pack.
Speaking of Scott, he and Kira have finally just made it to the high school, where they're cutely stomping through humongous puddles in that tunnel thing that leads to the school while "Touch" by Shura plays in the background. Kira giggles as they splash through the water and asks if they're late, but Scott assures her that they aren't before telling her that Stiles, Malia, and Lydia are on their way. He's so excited to have her home that he just keeps smiling that damn smile of his that is truly literal sunshine, and Kira just looks at him affectionately before asking what he's smiling about. "You," Scott replies as he starts kissing her again.
The two eventually push themselves backwards until Kira has Scott up against the wall as they continue to make out in the rain. Of course, these kids can't have one night of hooking up and having teenager-style fun without being cock-blocked by some supernatural villain, so it goes without saying that they only get to kiss for another moment or two before they're distracted by the sound of growling nearby. They pull away and warily look toward the source of the sound, where they discover that the sludgewolf who attacked Jordan earlier is standing menacingly at the other end of the tunnel. The two begin to panic as the sludgewolf roars aggressively before lunging at them. LEAVE MY BABIES ALONE YOU MONSTER.
Meanwhile, Malia and Stiles are already at the school, but they're on the other end of campus, next to the school sign/the entrance to the Hale vault. Malia and Stiles inform each other that their attempts to get in touch with Scott, Kira, and/or Lydia have been fruitless, but I would have assumed that was the case, considering they already established earlier that the cell towers were down? Whatever. Anyway, Malia is clearly worried, both for their friend and about the fact that she still doesn't know if she passed summer school. Stiles, in his own little world made up of his own worries and insecurities, doesn't say anything, and after a moment, Malia decides that she doesn't want to do this unless she knows for sure that she's a senior. Stiles is still too absorbed in his own issues to pay much attention to what his girlfriend is saying, and after a moment, Malia finally catches a whiff of his scent and asks him what the fuck is wrong with him, since he apparently smells terrible. "Yeah, it's called anxiety," Stiles snarks back. "Should be a familiar scent for you now, since it's pretty much a constant state for me." Aw, Stiles, I feel you there. Neuroses are hard.
When Malia asks him why this whole Senior Scribe thing is so important, he claims it isn't, but when she gives him a look, he crumbles and finally admits what's been bothering him-- he asked his dad the other day about his high school ones, only to learn that Sheriff doesn't talk to any of them anymore. "So, I started thinking about things, like I always do-- obsessively," Stiles continues. "Yeah. And so I'm thinking, what if... what if Scott's my best friend now, you know, but he's not my best friend for life?" Malia isn't really 100% up to speed on the affects of growing up on friendships and romantic relationships, but she brings up the fact that she was under the impression that friends drifting apart just happens sometimes, especially once they graduate high school and go to college, but Stiles insists that it only happens because people let it happen and don't bother trying to keep in touch.
"You know, that's what I'm saying-- how come when we graduate, we're just expected to go our separate ways? If I've already found the best people in my life, why am I not trying to stay with them, you know?" AW, PACK LOVE. Malia smiles and points out that Stiles made his whole dream plan. Stiles corrects her and reminds her that it's the vision, and that she shouldn't mock it, but there is no mocking coming from this girl. "I like the vision," Malia replies. "Especially if I'm part of it." She then realizes that Stiles' intense desire to make sure that everyone came to Senior Scribe tonight was because he doesn't want to lose any of his friends after senior year, and he's trying to make sure that he doesn't. "And I hope they don't want to lose me either," Stiles admits, before he and Malia start to get their smoochie on for a few long moments. God, that scene was so good because it's just so relatable, you know? Who hasn't worried about losing all their friends after high school? My best friends from high school are still very good friends of mine, but we definitely don't spend as much time together as any of us would like, since many of us moved out of town/out of the state and are only around occasionally. Growing up is brutal for sure.
However, Malia suddenly hears something and pulls away with a concerned expression, and Stiles adorably calls her "Mal" when he asks her what's going on. Malia says she senses someone very fast coming, and turns around and smacks their visitor onto his back on the ground, not realizing until she's pinned him that it's just a very panicked Liam. Stiles, to his credit, immediately gives Malia this look, like, "Look at how much you scared the runt!" but Liam doesn't have time to worry about things like being offended. "Scott's in trouble!" Liam insists, and Malia gives Stiles this serious look that says she's ready to kick some damn ass.
Back in the tunnel, Scott has wolfed out and started fighting the sludgewolf, who easily tosses him onto the ground. Kira smirks as she unbuckles her silver belt and whips it out, revealing that it's really some like mystically-glamoured version of her magic katana, although it's been cut so that it looks like squares have been punched through the length of it. Unfortunately for her, she barely gets any hits against the guy before she's back-handed onto the ground. The man then walks over to Scott, where he's picking himself up off the ground, and smugs, "A True Alpha? Where's your power, Scott?" Um, his power comes from his pack, and only Kira is near him right now, so I'd guess that probably answers his question.
(via rydeforlife)
Scott demands to know who the fuck he is, but the guy just claims that he's a devoted fan, which makes sense, in a way-- on Wolf Watch, Jeff Davis said that the Dread Doctors worship the supernatural, so it'd stand to reason that a True Alpha would be a person of interest for them, kind of like how Deucalion was trying to collect powerful and unique Alphas like Pokémon. Anyway, the guy continues on, "Show me the man who took down Deucalion and broke the Argents. I came for that Alpha." Ouch! That part about the Argents kills me, and it understandably kills Scott as well, both because it's technically true, and also because Scott loves Chris and Allison and never intended to be used as a tool of their destruction, nor did he ask to be-- that's just how it ended up after Kate and Gerard literally fucked up the entire supernatural balance of Beacon Hills. All the Allison/Argent references are breaking my heart so much. :(
So, when the sludgewolf bellows, "COME ON!" just like Kate and Allison used to say when they were riled up, Scott gets so angry that he roars and leaps to his feet, flipping around and kicking the guy in the head and chest. He gains the upper-hand only for the briefest of moments before the clearly-enhanced wolf grabs Scott into a choke-hold with one hand and snatches his leg with the other and slams him against the wall of the tunnel. Kira gets up off the ground with her sword and screams "NOOO!" as she starts fighting him again while her boo recovers, but yet again, she's overpowered, and he squeezes her arm so tight she's forced to drop her sword before he punches her in the face so hard she's thrown backward. He turns back to Scott, whose are seems to be so injured he's having trouble getting up, and snarls, "And I didn't come just to claim your status." Okay, this is what I don't understand-- does he know that True Alpha power can't be taken? Or does he think that whatever is empowering him will give him the boost he needs to rewrite the mystical laws of the supernatural? I'm really confused, to be honest. I'm guessing it's supposed to be a reference to the fact that he was also going to be killing him? I don't know! Someone please explain it.
The sludgewolf holds up his hand, the talons on which begin to glow blue, but before he can attack Scott with them, another werewolf jumps down from the top of the tunnel, his eyes blazing beta-gold as he roars at Scott's attacker. He immediately rushes toward the sludgewolf, kicking off the wall to get enough momentum to claw across the guy's face before quickly swiping at his joints to weaken him. Unfortunately, while he's smart to go for vulnerable areas to wear the attacker down, he's not exactly a pro fighter, so it takes very little time for the sludgewolf to get back on top and knee him the mystery wolf so hard in the gut that he goes rolling across the ground toward where Kira is still recovering. Scott, who has healed enough to get back into the fight at this point, stands to his feet to distract the guy from further hurting Kira and their mysterious ally, and does a really good job of dodging Mr. Sludgey's swipes and punches for a while, but once again ends up in a choke-hold that has Scott dangling in the air.
Sludgewolf grins in triumph as he rears his hand back and shoves his glowing talons into Scott's chest, causing him to gasp and sputter in pain as his assailant roars in his face. Suddenly, the red fades from Scott's eyes just as Stiles, Malia, and Liam run up to see their best friend appear to be power-sucked by a slime-covered villain. For a moment, I actually thought that this guy succeeded in taking Scott's powers, both because the scene was just so intense, and because I am a huge sucker-- Sludgewolf sets Scott down so that he's on his knees, but doesn't remove his hand from inside Scott's chest, and Liam, Malia, and the mystery werewolf all have their fangs out and are growling menacingly at him while Stiles give the man the death glare to end all death glares. Also, the sludgewolf's arm is visible in the light, and it's really lumpy, as though there are multiple thin rods under the skin of the top of his forearm, which will come into play in a moment.
Just when it looks like it's all over for Scott, the strength of his pack being near him and furious on his behalf gives him the strength he needs to overcome his current predicament. His eyes flare red as he stands to his feet, and Sludgewolf is like, "I'VE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE," and for good reason, because Scott grabs the arm that is attached to the talons in his chest and twists hard, snapping the bones under his forearm, which apparently run down into his hands and attach to his talons to give them extra support. It's actually really gross, the little bones have spiral fractures and are poking out of his skin at various intervals as he moans in pain and falls to his knees, cradling his injured arm in his free one.
Scott quickly rips the now-broken-off talons out of his chest and throws them onto the floor while his packmates, relieved to see him okay, start to swarm around them. "I don't know who you are, or what you thought you were going to do, but I'll give you a choice," Scott growls angrily. "You can stay, and I'll break something else... or you can run." YAS SCOTT YAS, SLAY HIM. Badass!Scott is so damn great, and I will never tire of cocky villains thinking he'll be easy to overpower, only to be lulled into a false sense of security and run out. Just because Scott doesn't use his power unless he needs to doesn't mean he doesn't have it, and if people were smart, they'd stop underestimating him. Stiles, who looks so damn proud of his brother for holding his own, adds, "I'd run," and sure enough, the sludgewolf doesn't need to be told twice-- he stands up, still tenderly cradling his broken arm, and flees the scene before he can be dismembered any more. Scott shifts back into his fully-human form and looks around at his packmates to ensure that they're okay before everyone's attention is turned back to their then-unknown ally who jumped in to help Scott and Kira fight-- it's Theo, the boy from earlier who was stuck in traffic near the Yukimura's car!
However, Theo can tell by looking at them that Scott and Stiles don't recognize him and says as much before conceding that he knows he looks a little different than he did in the fourth grade. Scott finally realizes that it's his childhood friend Theo, and when Malia asks him if he knows him, Theo confirms that he and Stiles both used to, back in the day. "Trust me, I never thought I'd see you guys again," Theo adds. "A couple of months ago, I heard of an Alpha in Beacon Hills. When I found out his name was Scott McCall, I just couldn't believe it. Not just an Alpha, but a True Alpha." Scott is a little less suspicious now that he knows who Theo is, but any time someone brings up his powers, they usually have less-than-admirable intentions, so Scott warily asks him what he wants. "I came back to Beacon Hills," Theo responds. "Back home with my family... because I want to be a part of your pack." Ohhhhhh, this is so not going to end well, since we all know Stiles is probably gonna throw a fit about letting in another Scottsexual outsider.
As predicted, when we cut to Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia walking into the high school earlier to finally get back to their plans, Stiles immediately states, "We haven't seen this kid in years! You don't find that highly suspicious?" Scott is understandably more concerned about the dude who just tried to kill him, though, so he's not really using much of his energy pondering Theo's intentions yet. Just then, Malia's phone buzzes, and when she checks the notification on her phone, she gasps in surprise before sighing in relief. "I'm in!" she exclaims happily, as Stiles fist-pumps for her in celebration. "I passed!" Stiles smiles at her proudly and wastes no time giving her a huge congratulatory hug, and when she excitedly informs them all that she's officially a senior with the rest of them, Kira shares her enthusiasm by cooing and giving Malia a hug as well.
"Thank God!" Lydia's voice rings out, as she rushes down the hall toward them wearing this amazing periwinkle scoop-neck, half-sleeve shirt tucked into a pair of high-waisted baby blue shorts, her presence confirming that she's not in Eichen House (at least not yet, anyway. DUN DUN DUN). "Where have you guys been?" she demands, as she finally joins them, "The whole senior class is here. Are we doing this, or not?" The group starts to walk toward the library, Stiles and Malia arm-in-arm on the one side, where Scott, Kira, and Lydia have their arms around each other on the other side in a heartwarming display of pack unity. Speaking of the library, it is most certainly not the library that Jackson and Scott destroyed in the Season 2 episode "Restraint," most likely because it's in Atlanta, Georgia, where Seasons 1-2 were filmed, and this one is in California, where Seasons 3A-5 have been filmed, but it's a really cool new addition to the Teen Wolf sets, and I'm really digging it. Anyway, as it turns out, Senior Scribe is when the senior class comes to the library and signs the shelf that holds all the yearbooks with their signatures/initials.
The song that plays during this scene, "Ava" by FAMY, is so great absolutely perfect for this scene while the kids get ready to start leaving their mark on their high school. Stiles goes first, and if you were hoping that we would finally figure out what Stiles' real name is, or at least learn the first letter of it, you're sorely mistaken-- we just see him noticing Derek's initials on the shelf below the one he's leaning on, but we don't see his initials like we do the others. Lydia goes next, scribbling an "L.M." followed by Kira, who adorably asks Lydia if this is vandalism, after her earlier conversation with her mother. Lydia just shrugs and replies, "...Not technically" before flouncing away to join Stiles. Once Kira has scrawled her "KY" onto the shelf, she gives the Sharpie to Malia, who starts writing an "M" for her first name and hesitates for a long moment on the second initial, since she has two family names to choose from. Eventually, she finishes so that her initials read "MT" for Malia Tate, and she smiles the most heartwarming smile before handing the pen to Scott.
(via joeeytribbiani)
Poor Scott looks exhausted, bleary-eyed, and a little sad as he scribbles "SM" on the shelf, and he, too, pauses for a moment with tears in his eyes before deciding to write "AA" right underneath it for our dearly departed warrior goddess Allison Argent. The others watch him do this, and they both look somber when Scott finally returns to them.
(via stiles-lydia)
"This world is learning, this world is pure / But she could be my valentine / underneath my sheets on the bedroom floor"
They all stand with their arms around each other for a beat, Kira's face resting on Scott's shoulder, before Stiles pipes up, "She would have been with us." Scott nods, and Kira and Malia give the others sympathetic looks before Lydia just smiles and replies, "She still is." HELL YEAH SHE IS. My favorite part about the seasons following 3B is that Allison's presence has continued to linger despite her absence. She's still so important to all of them, even Kira, who only knew her for a short time but who fought by her side on multiple occasions, and Malia, whose life was saved by Allison when she shot Father Kieran with the tranq gun before he could shoot her. I have a headcanon that since Allison was part of the surrogate sacrifice to the Nemeton in place of their parents, she (and Scott and Stiles) unintentionally bound themselves to it, so now that she's dead, she's kind of still tethered to the Nemeton, which allows her to keep watching out for the gang in some kind of Teen Wolf-equivalent to the Other Side in The Vampire Diaries, or Ancestral Limbo on The Originals.
(via stiles-lydia)
So anyway, now that they've done their senior-scribing, the five of them walk down the steps to the ground floor of the library, led by their True Alpha Scott, followed by Kira, Lydia, Malia, and Stiles bringing up the rear in this really great tableau shot that I just loved so much that I made a new paragraph just to have another excuse to stick in more screencaps/gifs. Behold!
We cut to this grimy, scary-looking basement medical facility of some sort, where the lighting is all yellow and terrifying. Not only are there weird pieces of scientific and mechanical equipment around, like switchboards and pressure-release valves and whatnot, but there are also these horrifying tanks full of weird fluids and actual humanoid bodies attached to gas masks. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS INFERNAL PLACE? Nightmares. Forever. Sludgewolf is kneeling on the tiled floor of this makeshift laboratory, where he's still clutching his injured hand and groaning in pain. "Give me another chance," he begs to someone standing in the shadows. "A little more power. I could do it with a little more."
The Dread Doctors, who file into the room in their creepy, horror-movie jerky style and head straight for them, make this super creepy noise; it's like the sound of bugs skittering around, or this quiet, sustained clicking noise. I don't know how to explain it, but it's creepy as fuck. There are three of them total, from what I can gather, each of which in their own steampunk-inspired green get-ups with bronze-y colored masks, red or yellow-tinted goggles, and mechanical Bane-style voices. From what my Google-fu has told me, their names are apparently The Pathologist, The Surgeon, and The Geneticist, though I'm not 100% positive that it's accurate, nor can I really tell them apart, because they only come up in brief flashes. To make them even more scary to look at, they sort of flicker in and out, as though they're not fully corporeal. It's weird, kind of like what the Reverse Flash does in The Flash when he moves so fast that he leaves speed mirages/after-images. Whatever it is they're doing, I'm honestly terrified as hell.
Sludgewolf realizes they're totally gonna kill his ass for failing and starts to beg them to stop, but they remind him that his condition is worsening with every moment they spend arguing. When he insists that he's okay and can continue on, one of the DDs replies, "You were supposed to remove the obstacles. Our time is limited." Sludgewolf, not wanting to die, points out that while he doesn't know what they're trying to do, he can still help them do it, but one by one, the Doctors repeat, "No second chances. No second chances. No second chances." One of the Doctors, who was using a cane to walk into the room, lifts it to reveal that it's actually a sword cane, which he quickly unsheaths and plunges into Sludgewolf's chest despite his desperate pleas. Damn, that's cold!
And, of course, it's not enough that they just stabbed him in the chest with a long-bladed sword, either-- when the wolf dies and falls backward to the floor, his chest bursts open to release what has to be anywhere from half a dozen to a full dozen of crows/ravens/blackbirds/whatever they are so they can squawk and fly away. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT? If any of you read my pre-Season 5 Teen Wolf write-up, I discussed the new supernatural creature that is supposed to show up this season, the Sluagh, from Celtic folklore. When I did a Google Image search for "sluagh" to add pictures to the post, one of the first results was a flock of black birds as well, which makes me think that perhaps the Dread Doctors have one and are using it to give a power boost to their test subject, but I'll get into that more in my notes later. My main question is-- what the fuck are they really after? I just wish I understood.
If you thought we had already seen all the fucked up things we could see in this episode, you're about to stand corrected, because HOLY SHIT. I'm anxious just thinking about this scene again. So, we cut back to what happened after the first scene of the episode with Lydia, but whether this is the present and what we saw is the past, or if what we saw was the present and this is the future remains to be seen. Lydia is in a single-occupant room at Eichen House that only has a steel bedside table, a bed, a chair, and a toilet, and she's strapped to the bed with their favorite five-point restraint system while "Aiden" sits at her bedside and gently strokes her forehead with his fingers. "No one saw him again, did they?" "Aiden" gently asks her, but Lydia, who seems to be mega-drugged up on something judging by her sedated demeanor, weakly confirms that they didn't. "But that was the start of it, wasn't it?" "Aiden" continues. "The beginning of senior year. What happened after that, Lydia?" Lydia may be terrified, exhausted, and drugged up to her eyeballs, but she's still smart enough to know that it's not really Aiden talking to her, so she tells him that he's not real.
When "Aiden" starts to speak again, his voice warps into a deeper, growlier British accent, and after a moment, Aiden's visage blinks out and is replaced by Dr. Valack, last seen in "Smoke & Mirrors," only back then, he was a resident of Eichen House who had a third eye that was visible through a hole drilled into his forehead using trephination, and he wasn't ever allowed to see anyone because he was unable to resist putting them in vision-quest-comas with his still-undefined powers. Now, instead of his plain white tshirt, pajama pants, and a dirty bandage around his head, he has a dress shirt, bow tie, and sweater vest on, looking much more like a doctor than a patient. How he ended up out of his mountain-ash lined cell, why his third eye/skull hole isn't visible right now/any more, and why he's so eager to get answers out of Lydia isn't explained whatsoever, and I'm honestly so confused about it that I can't even begin to come up with possible theories. What say you, amigos?
"Tell me what happened to them," Valack says impatiently. "What happened to your friends?" Lydia weakly protests that he doesn't remember, but he's convinced that he'll be getting answers one way or another. "It started just after you began senior year," he prompts her again. "What happened?" Lydia continues to insist that she doesn't remember, but we still get tiny flashes of whatever it is through her perspective, so either she really can't remember anything and this is all for our benefit to outline what is going to happen by the end of Season 5A, or she can remember bits and pieces but is just too high on whatever they gave her to understand what they mean, or she can remember and she's just a really tough cookie who refuses to out her friends.
It starts with a fight between Scott and Liam, both of whom are wolfed-out. Liam swings his fist at Scott in a right cross, but Scott blocks him and punches him in the face. Liam recovers quickly and wraps his hands around Scott's throat, but Scott uses his arms to break his grip and punches him in the face again. NOOO! I refuse to believe that this sort of throwdown could happen without some sort of manipulation. I don't know if it's Scott being manipulated, or Liam, or both, but they would never do that under normal circumstances.
"What happened?" Valack asks again, and though Lydia claims she can't remember, we see another flashback/flash-forward. It looks like it's at the McCall house, where a furious Melissa smacks Sheriff Stilinski across the face. He looks at her with guilt and frustration, but she continues to glare at him. UH OH. That sort of thing could only happen if Sheriff did something to put Scott in danger, whether directly or indirectly. I just can't see her getting that upset with him otherwise. Or maybe the speculation that they're dating are true and he really fucked up somehow. Still, I think it's more likely it has to do with Scott or the pack in general.
"What happened to Kira?" Valack asks her again, and we cut to a clip of Kira standing in the middle of the road while rain pours down on them. She looks at Scott sadly, and Scott looks devastated as he stands drenched in the storm. Behind him, a streetlight explodes in a shower of sparks, and Kira gets into the backseat of her parents' Honda. She looks back at Scott one last time through the windshield as they drive away. I wonder if this has something to do with Kira's alleged out-of-control powers? Maybe Noshiko and Ken are trying to take her away somewhere where she's less of a danger? Interviews and trailers for the season seem to indicate that the addition of a new tail and the kitsune spirit struggling within her is going to be a problem sooner rather than later. I don't want Kira to leave, though, nooooooooo!
"Tell me about Parrish." We cut to a flashback/flash-forward to Jordan, who is naked. covered in soot, and surrounded by huge flames, which suggests that he either got set on fire again, or set himself on fire with his still undiscovered powers, or something like that. His eyes are glowing their orange-red hue, but there are also flames reflected in his pupils, as though there was a literal fire happening behind his eyes. His face is set in a scowl and he definitely looks unhappy, though whether it's from anger or fear or something else entirely is unknown for now.
"And Malia? What happened when the Desert Wolf finally found her?" We cut to Malia's former coyote den, where she's curled up in a corner, whimpering in absolute terror and watching with wide eyes as a huge, shadowy figure stalks toward her slowly. UHHH THIS IS SO NOT GOOD. Malia is easily the most fearless of the McCall Pack, so if something has her at, like, Isaac-in-a-freezer levels of sheer terror and panic, then the Desert Wolf is seriously going to be a big problem.
"You remember what happened to Stiles," Valack states, mildly exasperated as Lydia flashes to a clip of Stiles. His beloved Jeep has been overturned, and he's laying either dead or unconscious inside against the roof. He's covered in blood and bruises, and a fire is raging all around him. YIKES! There have been rumors that Stiles could be seriously wounded this season after a photograph of spinal CT scans leaked online, and people are thinking that he'll either be paralyzed, or it'll be an injury that will ultimately prove that Stiles is *something* when he ends up healing from the injuries? I have no idea what to believe at this rate, because there is so little information, so I'm going to have to think on it a bit more.
(all gifs from this scene are via teenwlof)
Back in Lydia's room, she continues to insist that she doesn't remember, so Valack sighs and states that there are other ways that they can get the details of what happened. He turns and picks up what at first glance looks like a power tool of some kind, but is really one of the same drills from "Eichen House" that the nogitsune-influenced Oliver almost used on Malia to drill a hole into her skull. I DO NOT LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING. "This special device is used for trephination-- the medical art of drilling into the human skull," Valack sneers. He pushes the button, causing the large drill-bit at the end to spin menacingly as he leans over Lydia's bed with it. "Let me show you how it works." The drill whirs loudly as he reaches closer to Lydia to perform trephination on her. NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE. Somebody better stop her in time, because while I can handle a lot of things, body horror is NOT one of them. Ugh, now I've got the wiggins. Again. God damn you, Teen Wolf, and the things you do to me!
Next episode: The pack returns for their first day of the school year at Beacon Hills High School, A fellow student, Tracy Stewart, starts experiencing night terrors that could be very much related to what the pack is currently dealing with. Stiles is super suspicious of Theo and tries to get the rest of them on board with mixed results, and Liam and Mason get put into a situation where Liam is forced to do some explaining.
NOTES/COMMENTS:
-Okay, as usual, I have way too many notes and theories about what is going on in this season, so I'm probably going to be giving them their own post, since this is already too long as it is. Since there were two episodes that aired this week, the notes/theories post will likely follow the recap for "Parasomnia," which will be posted next, just FYI! Included in the post is: who the fuck is Theo, what the fuck is happening with Kira/Jordan/Scott/Stiles, speculation regarding the Sluagh/the Wild Hunt, the Dread Doctors, and Dr. Valack, among other things. Stay tuned!
I have a possible explanation for the de-magnetized fridge magnets and the microwave/clock freaking out in the McCall kitchen: Since Glow-Wolf was there shortly before, it likely has something to do with whatever the Doctors have been doing to him.
ReplyDeleteOn why Scott went back to the house: he had been driving around with the boys in Stiles' jeep, so he ran back home to get his bike and helmet (when he meets Kira later, he's on the bike).
On why Glow Wolf told Scott he wouldn't just take his powers: he's referring to the fact that his claws are somehow enhanced and can "suck away" powers. It's a bit wonky, since he shouldn't normally be able to take a True Alpha's power simply by killing him, but True Alphas have been described as so rare, maybe Glowy just doesn't know? I mean, he didn't exactly seem like the brightest knife in the block.
ETA: I don't think that Parrish did anything in particular in between 4.12 and 5.01; if he's been sitting at the desk for 6 months, it's pretty much the whole time since he was set on fire and beat up Haigh, and I think that might have shocked Sheriff enough to be overly careful - especially since he got hurt during that fight - also, if you recall, he was pretty trigger-happy with Peter in Monstrous, and made a pretty sharp distinction between supernatural people and others. I am sure he is also worried about Parrish, but I think on some sort of level he perhaps cannot deal with the fact that this guy - who is not only his deputy and mentee, but quite close to Sheriff himself in personality - is actually something completely unknown and strange.
ReplyDeleteAll excellent points, as usual, Wendy. :) Especially the first two, since apparently I wasn't paying close enough attention, bahaha.
ReplyDeleteGlow Wolf definitely didn't seem that bright, and probably was just happy to oblige the Doctors if it meant he got more power for himself. And your point about Parrish makes sense as well-- I could easily see Sheriff just being like, "THIS SUPERNATURAL SHIT STILL BLOWS MY MIND AND THE FACT THAT MY FRIEND/DEPUTY/PARTNER IN SUPERNATURAL CRIME IS SUPERNATURAL TOO AND WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE DOES. I agree that Sheriff obviously cares about him a lot, but it makes total sense that he would be uneasy about his non-human side, and obviously Melissa is a close friend and he would be wary of letting her get her when she's not a fighter, nor did she have a weapon on her.
Thank you for the comments! They seriously make me so, so happy. :) And I promise I will get back to your messages ASAP. Damn Independence Day forced-family-fun getting in the way of my online life! ;)
Awww, this is so nice! I have to thank you for writing these recaps. I love talking shows with others, but so many of the conversations in this fandom are about things I'm not really interested in, or are based on dissatisfaction with developments or character stories, and hardly anyone seems to just talk about the show itself? And you're providing this opportunity, which is really awesome.
ReplyDeleteNOOO STILESSS
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I thoroughly enjoyed this recap and I actually read the whole thing through! Please keep posting, I don't really know why I love this so much but I do. Also, thank you so much for posting the songs in here, I've been looking for them for forever!
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