Scott said no to biting Hayden – because he thinks it
will kill her. And while arguing about it with Liam he has another asthma
attack. It doesn’t help when Theo points out she is definitely dying from
whatever the Doctors are doing
Call in a medical professional – go go Melissa. And
things are tense because it’s not just a full moon but a Super Moon. Theo tries
to play confidante to Scott – and how Liam is going to need a lot of Pack help
to support – but the Pack is in ruins and Scott is hyper depressed and
doubtful. Theo says he will help bringing everyone back together.
Liam glares at Scott all glowy eyed and wrathful while he’s
asleep. Hayden doesn’t get any better – and she begs Scott bring her sister to
her. Hayden continues to deteriorate – Melissa takes her to the hospital.
…but that’s not much comfort since it matters a lot to
Stiles.
Meanwhile there’s a police call to dispatch who hears
that a suspect is “loping” and too big to be human. Ah policing in Beacon
Hills. It’s heading towards Beacon Hills School (of course) and menacing
Clarke.
The sheriff runs there to find Clarke – still alive. And
a whole lot of impressive wreckage. It’s the night of the full moon – and the
Dread Doctors ominously declare that success is “imminent”.
When the sheriff returns to the office he checks a note
Clarke left him several episodes – that confirms that Stiles was the one in the
Library when Theo claimed he killed Donovan.
Lydia is in the prison cells where Parrish is locked up
where they vaguely speculate that he also has a death related power – like her.
It’s more flirtiness (and I add further “do not want” again). As well as the
benefit of knowing exactly what kind of supernatural you are, being less unsure
about everything. He also talks about how Lydia once scared him because of her
Bansheenesss. She also ominously talks about the Wild Hunt (which has been
occasionally mentioned from time to time).
This inspires Lydia to go research in to the Wild Hunt
(Odin’s hunt) and his Black dogs – fiery beasts… damn I was so sure he as a
phoenix! A Guardian of the Supernatural, a harbinger of death – a Hellhound.
Parrish’s eyes glow red and Lydia has a vision of death: broken by Theo. He
tells her he can’t let her tell anyone because he wants her – he wants all of
them. Well that’s suitably creepy – and he then hits her, knocking her
unconscious.
Parrish goes all fiery, burning the way out of his cell
and setting off the police station fire alarms. The other police try to stop
him but Stiles tells them to all stand back and let him through (wise – what does
it say that they’re willing to listen to him? That they respect Stiles or are
just too used to freaky stuff). For some reason on Stiles decides to follow the
half-naked Parrish (alas, only half) seeing Parrish steal more Chimera bodies.
Malia is in her hideout in the woods examining some of
her childhood friends and looking angsty when a coyote appears and turns into
Theo… a full canine coyote at that. Malia questions how he can do that. He
promises to teach her (I presume to turn at will since she can change into
coyote) and, again, reveals how he knows everyone’s secrets – in this case how
Malia wants to kill her mother. He’s totally non-judgemental about this and
willing to help, unlike Scott who he knows is super judgy. Which is why Theo
would be a much better leader – and he encourages Malia to go to the hospital
to help them with Hayden.
I think he locks her in a room there, throwing away the
key. Malia doesn’t stay locked up for long and runs into another Chimera – a savage
blood drinking one. He and Malia fight and she doesn’t do well… until she’s
rescued by Braden with a shotgun
Braeden! Where’d you come from? She’s here to warn Malia
that the Desert Wolf knows Malia is alive and she’s heading toe Beacon Hills.
Scott gets a text from Lydia telling her to go to the library
(Ignoring all the desperate calls from Liam) only to find Theo laying down a
circle of Mountain Ash – yes Theo, a werewolf, can touch Mountain Ash. Because he
isn’t a werewolf, he’s the first Chimera, part coyote as well. He was close to
perfect – but not totally because he’s not True Alpha, not perfect. He leaves Scott
trapped with a cell phone blocker so he can’t call out. Trapped and waiting for
the ominous super-moon.
He fights ineffectually against the Mountain Ash – and fails,
only having an Asthma attack. Instead he finds another way out of the library
that Theo may have missed. Except not, because I think he Mountain Ashed the
whole damn school. In fury, Scott destroys his inhaler… full of wolfsbane. Theo
has been poisoning him.
Which is when he is confronted by a raging, furious, Liam, pumped up on the Super Moon. He attacks, unable to listen to reason and they fight. Scott is too reluctant to fight back but after Liam keeps attacking won’t listening, he embraces the moon himself.
Scott still tries to reason with him. Only Liam can take
the True-Alphaness from Scott (because he’s pack?) but when Liam becomes Alpha,
then Theo can take it from him. Of course Liam doesn’t listen to the exposition
and continues to try and kill Scott
Melissa calls in Mason to help her treat Hayden in a
hidden room – because they can’t waste time for some of the mythical medical personnel
in the hospital to treat her like she’s a conventional sick person. But no
matter what Melissa does, Hayden is dying – she sends Mason to find Liam.
Stiles rushes to tell Scott all about Parrish when he
runs into Theo – who tells him how he covered up with the sheriff about the
murder of Donovan. The sheriff is missing. And that cover is now shaking. He
reminds them he came for a Pack – a pack made up of the worst of all of them:
The Werecoyote, the one whose first instinct is to kill
The Banshee: The girl surrounded by Death
The Dark Kitsune
The Beta with Anger Issues
And Void Stiles
It doesn’t include Scott. He does assay Stiles has blood
on his hands and agrees to take him to the Sherriff if he won’t help Scott.
Stiles hits him (which Theo considers “Void Stiles”). He taunts Stiles with
having to choose.
Hayden dies in the hospital. Liam continually attacks Scott… when Mason
arrives and yells at him, seeming to get through to him. He tells Liam that
Hayden is dead.
Liam runs to her while Mason tries to help Scott – when Theo
arrives thoroughly pissed off that Mason interrupted. He knocks Mason out –
then does his own Scott stabbing. Scott tells him he’ll never have his pack
because they’re not like him – he calls Theo “barely even human”. He drives
Scott down and tears into him… the light in his eyes goes out.
Stiles made his choice – he went to find his injured
father, not Scott.
Liam reaches Hayden – and Parrish arrives for her body.
Melissa runs to Scott, trying to use CPR on him. Mason
protests he hasn’t breathed in 15 minutes but Melissa is not having it (because
she is awesome). She refuses to hear differently and demands he roars. And he
does. Don’t Doubt Melissa.
In the aftermath Scott is consumed by the huge loss they’ve
suffered – how they’ve lost, how he failed everyone. Melissa, of course, has a
damn awesome pep talk for him because she’s Melissa and is, as I’ve said, awesome
That roar may wake up Lydia – who has been kidnapped by
Theo who uses claws in her neck to read her mind and see her memories – and where
the Nemeton is. He drags her there – Lydia is almost catatonic after he invaded
her head – and he injects the bodies laid out on the tree stump with a green
liquid – they all come back to life, including Hayden. He tells them all he’s
their Alpha and they belong to him
Lydia remain cataonic on the floor
The dread doctors tear down a wall to reveal a nifty
mural – they declare “success”.
I have to say, Theo’s masterplan is extremely good. I do
appreciate a bit of evil genius and the way he’s torn everyone down is even
better than Stiles when he was possessed by the Nogitsune (though Evil Stiles
was far far far far more creepy). And the whole idea of a Pack made up not of
evil them – but the them we always see but they normally balance out? I love
this idea, it’s a great plot point
I am actually looking forward to the second half of the
season (though, and I seem to be alone in this, I haven’t disliked the first
half. It’s been dark and full of despair, but it has been well done for all
that – and these actors have ALWAYS been able to carry awesome emotional
conflict. They’re very very good at that). Simply because I expect a lot of
gleeful epicness. C’mon that’s how this arc WORKS! Everything is all bleak and despair-y,
Stiles and Scott are sad with each other, Kira can’t control herself and has
left for more despair, everyone is beat up and unconscious and hurting and
dying and we end in a very bleak place. So the second half is the resurgence
when everyone decides they are super awesome and proves it. Yeah, it’s clichéd but
I love that arc.
So yes we end a season of quite painful, unfun bleakness…
but it won’t last and I was still impressed. I think I may be one of the few
people who think Teen Wolf has actually got better through the seasons
So I did like the plot and I am looking forward to where
this is going but now I’m going to have to poke some marginalised people which,
on paper, Teen Wolf actually has a
lot of: but they’re not always well used
One of the most frustrating element of Teen
Wolf is the women. Not because
it has no good female characters – but it has some absolutely awesome female
characters it Does Not Use! Kira has a huge storyline fodder this season and we
hardly saw any of it – where was all the exploration of being a Kitsune, her
conflict over what that meant (beyond the brief, Scott-oriented, scenes we
saw). Here was her talking with her mother? In fact, where was ANYONE talking to
Noshiko – the woman who has lived for centuries and you’d think they’d talk to
occasionally! And then she’s not even in the finale and has, almost literally,
been put on a bus. Lydia, smart, funny, skilled, supernaturally powered and
AGAIN no analysis or development or exploration – just flirting with Parrish
and MORE victimisation. Melissa – Melissa is perfect in every way – she needs
to be on screen more! Malia – she’s gone from coyote to human, has had huge
life, culture, family upheavals and now she has this whole thing with her
mother and we have explored NONE of it. Hayden can basically be summed up as “Liam’s
love interest!”
It’s frustrating because so many of these characters are
amazing. I can’t imagine a writer NOT wanting to write several episodes
focusing on the – how can they just ignore them so?!
Much the same can be said about the POC. Scott is the
most prominent by far – and certainly it’s a rare relief to have a POC
protagonist (I think he may be the only Latino protagonist of any show we
watch) and Scott is, of course, a character who is defined by being, above all,
a very good person. And his interracial romance with Kira is not only rare in
that it’s one I like and don’t want to go away (bring it back!) but is also an
interracial romance that doesn’t involve a White character (inevitably when
people think “interracial romance” we tend to default to White & POC).
But the rest did rather continue the previous patterns –
I’ve mentioned Kira and Noshiko being so under-used. Deacon appeared at the beginning,
dispensed some wisdom then disappeared to parts unknown. I don’t think Braeden
coming back is likely to change her previous non-involvement patterns. Mason is
there and appears in most episodes… briefly. He’s still very much in the outer
orbit, the best friend of a secondary character without storylines or any real
involvement. Introducing Liam (oh WHYYYY does this character exist?!) and Theo has increased the Whiteness of the main
cast and Kira and Mason don’t have enough focus to change that much.
Which leads to the gay characters this season – Mason in
the outer-reaches of the group (yet, at that, still more involved than most of
the previous LGBT characters, which is just sad) and two new gay
characters who were hyped up in the gay press. Again. And again they weren’t
overused and were largely killed off (maybe they’ll come back? Not likely). The
way Teen Wolf tries to promote these
tokens to LGBT isn’t so much rubbing salt in the wounds as pouring acid on them
while making us watch Falling Skies
