Following last week’s intensely climactic episode of Teen Wolf, team werewolf must now deal with where they find themselves as the dust settles on Matt’s actions last week. Derek skulks in his failure as an Alpha, Stiles struggles with his place in all of this, and Scott now has to contend with Gerard as the new Kanima master. The players are scattered, so here’s hoping they can find the motivation to come together again and stronger than ever to take down this season’s Big Bad in the finale.
The Boy With No Name
Though Peter wasn’t too multifaceted last year, he is sure coming out strong the second time around during his conversations with Derek, making him far more interesting than he ever was. He knows he won’t survive on his own, nor will Derek if he continues as is, so he offers the olive branch of sorts in the form of information.
Throughout the season facts have slowly been creeping out about the Kanima, but Peter is the first one to be the most insightful about the creature, giving it far more depth and mythological character than it previously had. Not only that, but he finally made sense of why Jackson being adopted mattered in all this. Whether his parents were murdered or not (the crazy conspiracy theories would say that Gerard cooked up this plan long ago, killing Jackson’s parents knowing that this orphan factor would lead to a Kanima if he could somehow get bitten), the fact of the matter is Jackson doesn’t really know who he is, which morphs into the idea that the Kanima goes without an identity as well. So instead of searching for a pack to be one within a whole, he searches for someone to give him meaning, give him a purpose, and give him an identity. The problem with this now is that the identity of the Kanima is taking over, and Jackson is losing himself to the beast.
The other shocking moment for Peter is that he surprises Derek with a way to save Jackson that doesn’t involve killing him. Playing into this idea of identity and Jackson losing himself, Peter says that the way to save him from the creature taking over is to remind him of who he is by reaching out to his humanity. Find something his human side can grasp onto. The problem with this is Peter suggests Lydia… Poor Stiles!
Beneath The Water
Starting off a little more stylistically than usual (which felt as a reminder that the season is coming to an end), the episode picks up with Stiles during a rather deep conversation with the guidance counselor in which he shares his extensive knowledge about what it feels like to drown (how he knows this, who knows). At first, it starts out as a refresher of sorts, as exposition tends to do, with a main focus on Matt and everything that has happened since the last episode. Yet as Stiles is telling her all about what’s going on with other people (rather freely, might I add), she does pick away at his words as psychologists tend to do to get to a better understanding of the person choosing to say what they do. In other words, all of this is a lot of weight to deal with on anyone’s shoulders, let alone someone who is “normal,” and Stiles needs to talk to someone outside the group just to get his bearings, someone who he doesn’t see as being better than him for the situation he’s found himself in (think how Xander felt in Buffy, which Stiles expressed to Scott briefly on the sidelines).
Not to be outdone by previous episodes, this one breaks out a Churchill quote when the counselor tells Stiles to consider the words: “If you’re going through Hell, keep going.” Personally I prefer Dory’s “Just keep swimming,” but the point is made that eventually the hope that things will get better may be realized if you just hold out long enough. This seemed like the case for Stiles when he finally got a moment of celebration and joy as a starter on the lacrosse team (if we’re being realistic there’s no way he would have scored three goals in a row coming off a season of bench warming the practices as well), but unfortunately he might have just taken his breath too soon. Hold out a little longer Stiles!
A Game of Chess
Like his daughter, Gerard has passed the safe zone of tiptoeing the line of deranged goal orientation, so it’s only fitting that season one is followed with another season all about revenge. Turns out Gerard’s goal in blackmailing Scott is to seek revenge on Derek and his pack for what happened to Kate, which he is now finally trying to play out thanks to his scaly new toy. Yay hatred formed from stereotyping an entire group based on the actions of one!
As the lacrosse game played out and Gerard upped the stakes by saying that he would kill someone at the game if Scott didn’t bring him what he wanted, the main tension seemed to be in guessing who he was going to send Jackson after. Scott did all he could in reaction to each move Gerard made on the board (even with the help of Isaac, who has now officially become my favorite pack member of the new three), but a master of chess is always steps ahead in a game, ending with the call of “check” when Gerard sacrifices Jackson.
Sacrificing Your Pieces
When I first saw Jackson on the ground with his own blood on his hands, I was really hoping this meant that Jackson was fighting the Kanima on his own, taking himself out of the equation in Gerard’s scheme. Then my gut hope reaction during the confusion passed and I remembered what happened in the episode, mainly his conversation with Danny. As Jackon pleaded with his best friend to stay away from him on the field, it was clear that no matter how few moments of cognizance he has, he knows that he has done some horrible things. Yet with that said, he seems to have lost all hope that he can do anything to change his situation, making him the most sympathetic he has been yet.
Now back to the moment with Jackson on the ground. Mirroring the distraction seeing Jackson on the ground was for me, it was also Gerard’s play to keep everyone distracted as he slipped in and stole Stiles. His goal is most likely to continue his attempts at bargaining with Scott to help smoke Derek out in the open, but I seriously think Gerard underestimated exactly how much Stiles means to everyone. Yes he is Scott’s best friend and we know that he is going to do everything to get Stiles back, but Stiles is also a key member of a little bromance known as Sterek. Last week Derek did overhear that Scott was working for Gerard, but taking Stiles might act as a push all on its own to get Derek out to finally step up against Gerard, especially assuming that Peter’s words about Derek lacking a heart got to him. Don’t listen to him Derek, I think you have a heart, you’re just afraid to show it sometimes! I just think that if he considers Scott a member of his pack (or the pack he wishes he has), there’s no way Stiles isn’t included in there; even if Derek sees him as the annoying little brother often. Still counts as family.
Lost A Wife, Now A Daughter
All season I have been saying that my hope was that Argent was going to switch to the team werewolf (even if just for a moment) in this war because his morals were being tested by the new hunter code (or lack there of). We may be down to the final episode, but there is still a chance this could happen now that Argent has officially lost his daughter to the fight. With the death of her mom, Allison has really shut down emotionally in order to become yet another tool for Gerard against the wolves, and seeing her using a classmate as a pin cushion may just be the final push for Argent to do what he thinks is right instead of just following orders. I wouldn’t want my daughter calling Gerard “grandpa” either. This may still be a reach, and I am not saying that he is going to team up with Scott and Derek to rescue Stiles (I am assuming kidnapping innocent teenagers and punching them in the face isn’t something he’s cool with either), but there’s a strong possibility that he is going to swoop in late in the game as he did with Kate last season.
Final Thoughts
With last week’s intensity and this week’s stylistic opening and evolution of Peter’s character, the show if really picking up steam as it nears the end of the season. Now we just have to wait and see if it is possible to pack everything left into one last episode.
So what did you guys think of this episode of Teen Wolf? Can someone please tell me who the heck this guidance counselor is?! Was anyone else disappointed with the reveal that the howling didn’t signify a whole group of werewolf reinforcements coming to lay the smack down on Gerard? I don’t know where they would have been coming from, or how they would know what was happening here, but for a moment there I really hoped for a large scale battle come season’s end! Are you disappointed that Boyd didn’t turn out to be as BA as we were lead to believe he was going to be? Are you excited that Jackson doesn’t have to die, even if that means Stiles might have to wait even longer for Lydia? How do you think the rest of the season is going to play out? Let me know your thoughts on this and everything else above in the comment section below!
