Donovan, despite the nasty lamprey hands, isn’t doing
that good a job of kidnapping Stiles and ends up chasing him (neck toothy maw
may have sense organs for extra disturbing). Donavon decides to tell the story
of how his dad was disabled in a gun fight which he totally blames on sheriff
Stilinski. Donovan keeps trying and Stiles responds by throwing every damn
thing he can at guy until he finally ends up brutally impaled.
Whatever he was, impaling kills it. Though, to be fair,
impaling is a pretty all round killer – kind of like decapitation or burning
(Parrish excepted). Donovan’s body oozes silver goo
Stiles calls 911 to get the police sent, but plans to
leave the scene after some of his excellent disturbed acting over leaving a
body behind him. Personally I think it would have been wiser to stay – everyone
heard Donovan’s death threats, self-defence would not have been a hard sell.
But Stiles really sells horrified and disturbed. His hands are shaking too much
to drive away and the cops arrive, search the school… and find nothing. Stiles
hurries into the school where he killed Donovan and finds none of the
destruction – just a tiny spec of blood.
He goes home to his mystery wall to have a well-deserved
freak out while logically considering the options – Donovan not dead and walked
out – or dead and someone took the body.
To Scott and Kira and Kira is taking in her sleep in
Japanese. Scott gets an alarm that there is a break in at the animal clinic
and, after investigating, calls Stiles to tell him someone is stealing the
bodies of the chimera.
That stealing person appears to be Parrish who, in his
probably-a-phoenix-trance, carries Donovan’s body into the woods, probably to
the Nemeton.
To school and Malia brings in her discovery of the Dread
Doctors book – the synopsis is teenagers are taken, buried alive and emerge as
monsters. And there is no sequel to this unfinished story. But Stiles has
realised it’s not the Dread Doctors (I wish to go on record as saying “Bioshock
villains” was a much cooler sobriquet) taking the bodies because they’ve just
walked away from their failures (which makes their success something to fear). Scott
also briefly smells Donovan’s blood – but kind of ignores it because it was
only a drop (and how many people get minor injuries in a school?)
They also bring in Theo to their little book brainstorm
and both Scott and Lydia hit on the book being dedicated to a Dr. Gabriel Valack.
That
would be a patient locked in Eichen House. The man with the freaky third eye.
Theo reports to the Dread Doctors that their plant worked
and the gang is going to see Valack just as they planned.
As they prepare to go Lydia notices Stiles is not
entirely ok but he refuses to let Lydia go see Valack in the terrible terrible
place without him (which has bad memories for all of them).
And to Kira and Scott and some relationship drama because
Scott totally told Kira he loved her last episode and then seems to have
completely forgotten about it and she gave it huge meaning and he’s acting like
it never happened. I generally hate relationship drama but this one works for
being pretty smooth. She’s hurt and he’s smart enough to know something’s up. Because
there’s also another issue - she asks him to look at her with his Alpha eyes
and he sees her surrounded by a burning fox – but he unwisely refuses to tell
her that. Aie, that’s the worst possible idea.
As they go to Eichen House Stiles notices something is up and Scott tells him his concerns about Kira – the flaming fox, the fact she nearly killed someone last week and the fact she’s started speaking Japanese despite it being a language she doesn’t speak. Of course Stiles has his own issues so desperately tries to make the point that killing in self-defence is justified (since he’s just done that himself). Unfortunately, Scott declaring the Chimera to be victims doesn’t really help Stiles’s guilt.
Into Eichen House, the creepiest of Asylums. Where they are made to give up
the contents of their pockets and Kira’s nifty katana belt by creepy orderly
guy. They go down, advised to not make eye contact with anyone or anything.
When they reach Valack’s high security wing they realise it’s sealed by
Mountain Ash, only Lydia and Stiles can go on. They pass various scary inmates
(including Sluagh) before reading Valack
He reveals he wrote the book – it’s a tool to “open your
eyes” to the Dread Doctors. He wrote it because no-one believed him about the
Dread Doctors, scientists who obsessed about the supernatural and used it to
empower themselves; including making everyone who sees them forget them. In
exchange for his help he wants to record Lydia’s scream. When they’re reluctant
he tells them more will die and sort of blames them for igniting the Nemeton –
and shows them his ultra awful third eye.
Back to Scott and Kira who reflect that Lydia and Stiles,
despite lacking physical power, do keep managing to survive and are good
together (there’s also a nod to Stiles still liking Lydia). Then the
electricity starts acting up – and sparking around Kira in particular.
As the lights act up Valack warns them that there’s more
the Mountain Ash locking this place down – there’s also woo-woo electricity.
And a storm Kitsune like Kira disrupts them. The Dread Doctors knew this which
is why they arranged for them to go – and bring down the defences. Kira passes
out
And the Doctors Arrive. Killing people in their way while
Scott tries to move Kira despite the voltage she’s pouring out, carrying her
even as she burns him.
Valack quickly tells them how the book lets people
remember the Dread Doctors, reading the book will help you remember anything
they’ve done. In exchange Lydia records a scream before they run
The Doctors reach Valack and open his cell – and remove
the eye from his forehead.
Scott and Kira collapse on the steps outside the house,
Scott badly burned, and Kira reminds him of what he said – and he says he meant
it.
Inside, Stiles has a huge guilt trip over it all being their
fault, due to the Nemeton – but rather than spirally in angst they accept it as
their responsibility.
Still alive, Valack uses the recorded Banshee scream to break
the glass cell he’s in
Malia refused to go to Eichen House because of her
experiences of the place – so she is in the library and joined by Theo who
decides to help her learn how to drive for the sake of product placement… but
while driving she has another flash of memories, races out of control before
stopping and falling out of the car. She’s paralysed by memories of a woman
firing two guns at a car – she calls them the Desert Wolf.
Yet again, Dylon O’Brien brought out those copious acting
skills. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Teen Wolf has a remarkable cast of talented actors.
Something is happening to Kira – this worries me since it
could be a death knell. It intrigues me because whatever is happening doesn’t seem
to be chimera-related so much as a pure kitsune thing. And it frustrates me
because Scott has decided not to help Kira find the answer (spare me from this whole
“I will keep secrets to protect you” meme, it’s old, patronising and foolish)
and neither of them have thought to go to Noshiko, Kira’s mother, a kitsune who
has lived for centuries.
Curious – why aren’t Banshees stopped by Mountain Ash?
