Today it’s time once again for Leah’s recap of the latest episode of Teen Wolf! 

Title The Overlooked

What Happened? Scott, Stiles, Derek, and Peter are trapped with Jennifer Blake in the evacuated hospital during a bad storm, and they have to deal with trying to save Cora while navigating the struggle between Jennifer and the Alpha Pack, who each have their own agendas. While trapped in an elevator, Jennifer Blake reveals to Derek how she turned into this dark druid. When she escapes the elevator, knocking Derek out before she leaves, she kidnaps Melissa McCall as one of her next sacrifices (guardians). Scott cannot get to his mom in time to save her from Jennifer, and he sees no other option than to join Deucalion in order to get his help in bringing his mother and the sheriff back safely.

Favorite Quotes
“We’ve got a problem. A big problem.” (Peter)

“You know, next time I put my lips to your mouth you better be awake.” (Stiles)

“You know, I actually used to be the one with the plan. Or at least a Plan B. Now, I don’t know; I’m thinking maybe you were right. I mean, we are pretty much useless. Maybe all we really do is find the bodies…I don’t want to find my father’s body.” (Stiles)

“Well if that means I should continue to be profoundly terrified, then don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.” (Melissa McCall)

“We were the overlooked. The emissaries. It was a mistake Deucalion and the Alphas should never have made, because I made an oath of my own. From virgins and warriors, from healers, philosophers, and guardians, to loan me their power so that I could teach these monsters that their monstrous actions would never be overlooked.” (Jennifer Blake, aka Julia Baccari)

My Thoughts I’m going to start off with the bad because I like to keep things positive, but I need to say something about this season of Teen Wolf. While I am enjoying the show, I feel like it has gone a little off the path in a way that has made it less impactful. We are almost all of the way through these first 12 episodes, and yet we have barely had any onscreen development with our main characters or the relationships between them. Most of the development we’ve seen has seemed to happen over the summer—the four months that passed between Season Two and this season.

We’ve had a bit of development for Allison, which has been done well in my opinion, but, other than that, we’ve only had bits and pieces. “Motel California” was possibly the best at showing us character moments, because it gave us time with many of the characters and showed their inner conflicts, while also showing us their relationships with each other. Sure, we’ve seen hints this season that Stiles is cracking under the strain of the events of the past year. We’ve seen Scott wrestling with fears of becoming an Alpha and the responsibilities that could entail, as well as how to deal with fighting the Alphas without doing something he’d regret.

The writers have also added on to the mountain that is Derek Hale’s angst and guilt, multiplying it even further with not only the backstory involving Paige but Derek’s storyline with Jennifer as well—all compounding into one big pile of emotion I like call “Derek’s life is the worst ever; I don’t know how he decides not to just spend all day in bed.” It’s too much; it’s growing to a point where it’s ridiculous rather than horrifying and impactful.

There have been so many missing character moments so far this season. Scott and Allison still haven’t had the relationship talk they meant to have in Episode One. We’ve barely seen how Lydia’s dealing with Jackson being gone other than her getting it on with a few other guys. Derek and Cora haven’t had a proper conversation about the past or about where each of them were during the six years they’ve been apart. We haven’t seen Scott talk to Stiles (or Isaac, potentially his new BFF) about his anxiety over his new Alpha status or how to deal with Deucalion. Most of the episodes and the plot this season are being driven by new characters, and we’re missing out on having moments with our core characters. To me, that is what the crucial missing element has been this season and why, while I am still enjoying this season, I am also disappointed with it.

Now, on to my thoughts for this week!

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It’s time once again for Leah to share her thoughts on the latest episode of Teen Wolf!

If you haven’t watched the episode yet, do that before reading! There are some major events in this episode that you do not want spoiled for you; trust me. Then come back and share your thoughts with me!

Title The Girl Who Knew Too Much

What Happened? In this episode, the Darach continues its sacrifices and our group scrambles to figure out its plan in order to stop it before it kills again. Isaac and Allison try to figure out what Chris Argent is up to, and Stiles tries to tell his father the truth about the supernatural beings that inhabit his town. Ultimately, during the school’s memorial for the recent lives lost in Beacon Hills, Jennifer Blake is revealed to be the Darach when she draws Lydia into an empty classroom in order to silence her and also finally gives us a name for Lydia’s powers—banshee. Sheriff Stilinski interrupts the attempt to kill Lydia, but he gets hurt and is taken by Jennifer as she escapes from Scott and Stiles via the classroom window.

Favorite Quotes
“You found a dead body?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet? What do you mean not yet? Lydia, you’re supposed to call us after you find the dead body.”
“Oh no, I’m not doing that again. You find the dead body from now on.”
“How are we supposed to find the dead body? You’re always the one finding the dead body.”
“Guys…I found the dead body.” (Stiles, Lydia, and Scott)

“I cannot believe that we’ve gotten to the point where a sentence like ‘What if the Darach was an emissary to the Alphas?’ actually makes sense to me.” (Stiles)

“I smell blood.”
“Where? In what direction?”
“I don’t know, I’m not that good at this yet.” (Isaac and Allison)

“I don’t know why I’m the one that keeps finding the bodies. But maybe…if I just stop trying to fight it…I find them before it happens. Maybe with enough time for someone like you to do something about it.”
“You get me the time, and I’ll do something about it. I swear to God, I will.” (Lydia and Scott)

“You’re just like me, Lydia; look like the innocent flower, be the serpent under it.” (Jennifer Blake)

My Thoughts The “sheriff finds out” plot has been one that I’ve been waiting to see happen for a long time, because one of my favorite relationships on the show is between Stiles and his father. The scenes in Season 2 showing the deterioration of that relationship were some of the most painful scenes for me, and I am quite ready for the sheriff to join in on the supernatural-mystery-solving team, especially if he and Melissa McCall work together like they have been lately, because I am very much in favor of them being an awesome parental team helping their boys out. I think this episode showed us just how much their relationship has worsened due to the fallout from the lies Stiles has had to tell his dad to protect him. The emotional climax with Stiles’s line, “Mom would’ve believed me,” just killed me with feelings for the both of them. Hopefully we’ll get a scene in the next few episodes that will deal with the consequences from the sheriff realizing that his son was actually telling him the truth about werewolves, because I feel like the audience still needs some emotional payoff from the sadness in this episode.

On a side note, I feel like the chess scene with Stiles and the sheriff is probably what it is like for non Teen Wolf fans when we try to explain the plot to them. Sorry, everyone who has heard my excited ramblings about the show and wondered What the heck are you talking about?

We can finally put a name to what all of Lydia’s powers add up to! She is a banshee, which explains why we’ve seen her screaming so much in this season and last season. We still don’t know the full extent of her powers, or how her screaming works other than that she screams before a death occurs. What I find interesting is that it appears that Lydia’s scream acts in a similar way to the wolf howl; it gives her a way of calling the pack, as we saw that not only Scott, Ethan, and Aiden heard her scream, but Derek was able to hear Lydia’s scream all the way from the hospital. I’m hoping that we see that Lydia has more powers than just screaming to forewarn of a death and showing up at the place the bodies will be found, or that she at least learns how to gain some control over her powers.

The last major arc in this episode was the reveal that Jennifer Blake, our seemingly innocent English teacher, is the Darach. I knew there was something strange about her! I am quite curious about her past and her motives now, as she clearly knows the Alpha Pack and fears them enough to feel that the sacrifices are a “necessary evil.” That she is clearly being portrayed at the moment as a character who, as Peter would say, “live[s] in shades of gray,” is quite interesting, and I can’t wait to see where they take her character.

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Title Visionary

What Happened? Scott and Allison listen to Gerard’s story about what happened years ago with Deucalion, Kali, and Ennis when they were in Beacon Hills to get advice from Derek’s mother, and the events that resulted in Deucalion’s blinding. Meanwhile, Stiles and Cora hear Peter tell the story of what changed the color of Derek’s eyes to a “cold steel blue,” a tragic story about Derek’s first love, Paige. However, we see, through the flashbacks, that Peter and Gerard are both unreliable narrators; things may not be what they seem.

Favorite Quotes
“Why do I care? Let’s see…because over the last few weeks, my best friend’s tried to kill himself, his boss nearly got ritually sacrificed, a girl that I’ve known since I was three was ritually sacrificed, Boyd was killed by Alphas, I…do you want me to keep going? ‘Cause I can, alright? For like an hour.” (Stiles)

“How old are you now?”
“Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think.”
“Okay, that was frustratingly vague. How old are you?”
“I’m seventeen.”
“See that’s an answer. That’s how we answer people.”
“Well, seventeen in how you’d measure in years.”
“Alright, I’m just gonna drop it.” (Stiles, Peter, and Cora)

“Actually, I was speaking about the fact that he’s a complete psychopath. He cuts people in half with a broadsword.” (Talia Hale, talking about Gerard)

My Thoughts One of the two storylines in this episode was Gerard’s tale of the events in Beacon Hills when most of the Alpha Pack were in town. What I found quite interesting is that we’re shown that Deucalion wasn’t always a conniving evildoer; in the past, he strove for peace. His character follows the way Teen Wolf has shown that often evil is not born, but made.

So far, most of the major antagonists on the show have been influenced by Gerard: Kate Argent undoubtedly was influenced by Gerard, considering he is her father, and it is certainly possible that Gerard assigned Kate the task of taking down the Hales; Peter became driven to kill out of pure vengeance because of Kate’s actions that decimated his family (though you could argue that from the events of this episode that it’s likely Peter has always been a sociopath with the potential for murder); and Allison was heavily manipulated by her grandfather, which set her on her grief-stricken and rage-filled hunt for Derek in Season Two. It often comes back to Gerard, which makes me incredibly suspicious as to what he’s up to now—the wheelchair doesn’t necessarily mean anything as, after all, we have previously seen someone appear to be incapable of committing the murders when in truth they were completely capable, as Peter showed us in Season One. Perhaps Gerard is the Darach, and this war between the Darach and the Alpha Pack is one big “Gerard versus Deucalion” rematch?

I also really enjoyed seeing Talia Hale in the flashbacks. Learning about her rare shape-shifting ability and how her power made her extremely respected by other werewolves made me realize even more just how much Derek lost and the weight of the expectations and responsibility that have been on his shoulders for so long.

Speaking of Derek, tonight’s episode was yet another sad story of how Derek Hale has been intimately familiar with tragedy since he was a 15-year-old kid in high school. I thought it was quite interesting that this story ultimately told us more new information about Peter than about Derek. We’ve always known that Derek has a tragic backstory; we just know now that it’s more tragic than we thought.

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Title Currents

What Happened? While visiting his mom at the hospital, Scott realizes that healers are the next on the Darach’s list of sacrificial groups, which is confirmed the next day when Deaton calls to tell Scott that he’s going to be taken. While Scott races to find Deaton before it’s too late, Isaac and Boyd come to Derek with a plan to defend him from the Alpha Pack. Their plan fails, and the Alpha Twins and Kali force Boyd onto Derek’s claws, killing him.

Favorite Quotes
“You know, I’ve read online somewhere that sometimes human contact can help with pain.” (Scott)

“You were on watch last.”
“What are you talking about, you were on watch last.”
“You were on watch last.”
“I might’ve been on watch last.” (Scott and Isaac)

“Sweetheart, my last boyfriend was a homicidal lizard. I think I can handle a werewolf.” (Lydia)

“Why would I dream about you going through my stuff?”
“I don’t know that, Danny. Okay? It’s your dream; take responsibility for it. Shut up and go back to sleep.” (Danny and Stiles)

“Your eyes were red…bright red.”
“How is that possible?”
“It’s rare. It’s something that doesn’t happen within a hundred years, but every once in a while, a Beta can become an Alpha without having to steal or take that power. They call it a true Alpha. It’s one who rises purely on the strength of their character; by virtue, by sheer force of will.”
“You knew this would happen.”
“I believed. From the moment I knew you were bitten, I believed.” (Deaton and Scott)

My Thoughts I am the type of person who, in general, likes to focus on the positive things about the shows I love. While I know they’re flawed, and I acknowledge and think about those flaws, I prefer to focus on what I love about them rather than all the ways in which they make mistakes or are problematic. So while I’m going to start off with a few things that talk about how some of the issues I had with this week’s Teen Wolf, I will keep most of the focus on my favorite and most thought-provoking parts of the episode.

Dear Teen Wolf: You’ve been very good to us viewers and, generally, I think you do things well. But this season you have now killed off two main characters that are not the most well-represented in media—a woman and a person of color. And this show doesn’t have a lot of those characters to begin with. I’m not saying that you’re necessarily consciously doing this, but it is problematic.

I’m wondering why they decided to kill Boyd in the episode right after the one that actually began to give him more backstory. We barely knew anything about Boyd at all, so why bring up all those questions about him and his sister if we’re not going to see any more about it? Perhaps we’ll learn more later, through flashbacks or through relatives, but for now it looks like our questions will have to wait.

I’m hoping that there’s a plan for at least one of our two Beta wolves to somehow come back to life on the show, since, as we’ve seen with Peter, on this show once you’re dead you’re not necessarily completely dead!

Now, on a more positive note, let’s talk about Melissa McCall. We all wish we could be as awesome as she is, am I right? In this episode, she appears to be dealing with a hospital in chaos without much help; saves Danny’s life with her knowledge and skills; figures out how the healers are being killed through examining the evidence of the marks on their bodies; and brings the sheriff into the loop on this without having to tell him about the supernatural elements. I am so happy to have her as part of the “in-the-know team” this year, and I love her character so much.

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Many thanks to Leah for once again sharing her thoughts on Teen Wolf with all of us!

As a quick heads-up before I start: As you probably know if you watched Teen Wolf this week, this episode dealt with heavy, potentially triggering subject matter. My review will discuss some of this, as I will talk about the suicide attempts that were made by each of the characters in this episode, though I will focus on the new information we learned about them through their hallucinations more than recounting the actions of the direct attempts themselves. Please take care of yourself and judge if discussions of the events in this episode will be triggering and/or emotionally distressing to you before reading.

Title Motel California

What Happened? Jennifer Blake helps a severely wounded Derek back to his apartment, where they form a connection. Scott and the rest of the group are stuck spending the night at a creepy motel, which holds the record for being the motel with the most suicides in California. At the motel, Scott, Boyd, Isaac, and Ethan all begin to have horrifying hallucinations, and Lydia hears the last moments of people who have died at the motel.

Favorite Quotes
“I don’t like this place.”
“I don’t think the people who own this place like this place. It’s just for a night.”
“A lot can happen in one night.” (Lydia and Allison)

“Alright, so I have four.”
“Four? Seriously, you have four suspects?”
“Yeah. Seriously—ten. Well, nine, technically, I guess; I had Derek on there twice.” (Stiles and Scott)

“Scott, just listen to me okay. You’re not no one. You’re someone. Scott, you’re my best friend; I need you. Scott, you’re my brother. Alright, so…if you’re gonna do this, then you’re just gonna have to take me with you.” (Stiles)

My Thoughts First, I want to talk about our B-plot for this episode. We have Jennifer Blake helping Derek back to his apartment, where he heals a bit, they talk, and then they have sex. Personally I like Jennifer Blake—from the very little bit we’ve seen of her so far, she’s funny and at times sort of endearingly awkward, she obviously cares about her students (protecting them from the crows, telling Scott she doesn’t want to see his grades drop this year), and is seemingly sweet, or at least a good enough person to help Derek when he is dying on the ground in front of her.

However, the romance between her and Derek feels off somehow—their connection has felt rushed and has been given the appearance of more emotional depth than I feel the two truly have with each other, and for Derek “I don’t trust anyone” Hale to be trusting someone so much when he knows so very little about her seems quite unusual. All of which leads me to wonder if it is supposed to truly be a romance at all, or whether their scenes this episode were merely two people seeking comfort in each other, seeking an escape from the world around them. They even acknowledge in the scenes at Derek’s loft that they are basically strangers, and the lyrics of the part of the song that is playing over the scene when they first kiss seems to indicate that perhaps that scenario is what is truly occurring: Give me touch / cause I’ve been missing it / I’m dreaming of strangers / kissing me in the night / just so I / can feel something. Either way, I feel like something is going on with Jennifer Blake that we don’t know about yet.

I have a lot of feelings about all of the motel scenes this episode, but I’ll try not to spew them all over you. I’ll start by saying how much I appreciated seeing Stiles, Lydia, and Allison working together as a team to save the werewolves. We saw that these three are clever, brave, and work together very well. I especially am enjoying seeing Stiles and Lydia’s friendship grow to this level, where they work well together—for example, Stiles made the realization about the heat taking the werewolves out of their wolfsbane-induced state, and Lydia remembered the bus’s flares—and where they have enough trust and respect for each other that they can be truly honest, as Stiles was when he told Lydia that he thought she might be involved with the deaths because of the similarities with Peter in Season 2.

Isaac broke my heart (bravo, Daniel Sharman), though we didn’t learn much new information about his character in his scenes. The person we learned the most about from our pack was Boyd. Boyd’s nightmarish hallucinations told us how, when he was little, he was ice-skating with his sister Alicia and somehow she disappeared. It’s not quite clear whether she was kidnapped, killed, or if something else happened to her, but it is clear that Boyd blames himself for losing her, and that guilt is what drives him to his attempt to commit suicide.

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