Teen Wolf recap: 'Triggers'
WHOSE HAND IS THAT?! That’s the question Teen Wolf fans will be asking themselves when this hour ends with a shocking bloodbath. I’m not going to lie: As far as powerful endings go, this was my favorite episode thus far in season 6.
Taking things back to the beginning, Aaron and Gabe — whom I prefer to call “whatshisface” — are taking a scalpel to the hands of every kid in high school to test their healing ability. Okay, I have a few qualms with this:
WHY A SCALPEL? You could prick someone’s finger to find out if they heal; you do not need a SURGICAL instrument that will cut them in a way that means they’ll need stitches.
It’s DIRTY. If you look closely before Aaron cuts poor Edgar’s hand, the scalpel is covered in other people’s blood! Dude, for someone who likes humans so much, you definitely don’t care about their wellbeing because you are spreading all kinds of germs right now.
Long story short, they discover that Edgar is a werecoyote — and a dumb one at that, because he just up and tells them that his whole family is like him, which means now they’re going to kill your whole family, kid. But first, they kill him…though not quickly. Aaron says he’s looking for someone “who can do more than shift…someone like me.” He then sends one of those creepy spiders up Edgar’s arm, and the next time we see him, Edgar is covered in the things and slowly dying.
Monroe orders either Nolan or Gabe to put Edgar out of his misery, but when Nolan can’t do it, Gabe steps up to the plate. And that means Nolan has to prove himself to Monroe…and he has just the way to do it.
When Nolan sees Mason “sneaking” out of the high school with a ton of blankets, we get a brief Toyota commercial as Nolan follows Mason to Hill Valley Zoo, where Liam and Theo are waiting. Turns out, this is all part of Liam’s plan: They want Nolan to lure Gerard’s army here so that Scott, Malia, Lydia, and Argent can break in to the armory and destroy Gerard’s thousands of guns. But when Gerard only sends two men to check out the zoo situation, Liam and Theo are left to improvise.
As Theo punches Liam and yells to “Scott” and “Malia,” his plan starts to work, and it isn’t long before Gerard himself is at the zoo. More importantly, can we talk about the Theo-Liam dynamic this season? I’m really, really enjoying it. Their comedic chemistry works, and we need it in a world without Stiles.
With the plan working, Lydia, Argent, Scott, and Malia move in. Lydia and Argent place themselves in the control room while Scott and Malia are the supernatural beings on the ground. Just as they’re about to head into the weapon room, Lydia hears a gunshot followed by shell casings falling. Earlier, she heard Argent’s windshield shatter. She’s not sure what it all means, but she thinks they should’ve called this mission off — but now it’s too late.
Once Scott and Malia get inside, they realize the room is empty. Gerard knew they were coming, so he moved all the guns, which means they need to get out. And yet, despite the fact that they know Gerard expected them, they STILL fall for his tricks when they catch the scent of the two teenagers from Satomi’s pack. When they open a door to follow the scent, they set off an alarm. Honestly, after all these years, why aren’t they smarter than this?! (Next: Lydia saves the day)
As soon as the alarm goes off, all the doors to the room are locked and sealed, and communications are shut off. To make matters worse, there are now laser sensors scanning the room.
Argent, ever the improviser, manages to bust a hole in a pipe to get a message to them: DON’T TRIP THE SENSORS. With that, Scott and Malia pull a little Oceans 12 maneuver to get to the top of a shelf — where for some reason, the only option seems to be for Malia to lie on Scott’s chest. Because what’s a life-or-death situation without some sexual tension?
Miraculously, Malia comes up with a plan. She’s going to climb to the ceiling and unlock the window so they can escape. The bad news? When she hits the lock, it falls to the floor and sets off the sensors. Just like that, all of the oxygen is sucked out of the room. I guess it’s time to find out how long a werewolf and a werecoyote can hold their breath.
Scott and Malia only have a matter of minutes to live, and with Gerard’s men now back and surrounding them, Lydia and Argent take action. WHY DIDN’T THEY DO THIS EARLIER?!
While Argent takes out the men, we catch up with Malia and Scott, trying their best not to die in each other’s arms. “I don’t want to die like this,” Malia says. She talks about never going to France and how she’s only 18 and there are “still too many things I want to do.” And as Scott takes her hand, Lydia once again saves the day. Standing in front of the steel door, Argent tells her the door will stop a bullet…not a banshee. BOOM.
Lydia uses her powers to crumple the steel door, thereby freeing Scott and Malia. In the end, they escape from Gerard’s grasp — and manage to steal his map. More on that in a moment.
First, we’re back at the zoo, where something is triggering Liam and Theo’s trying to help him get it under control. Liam does his best to resist killing Nolan — even breaking his own hand punching a rock — but it’s Theo who ultimately saves Nolan when he knocks Liam out…five times.
As Theo tells Liam later, his anger is coming from the Anuk-Ite. It might cause fear, but “people only feel one emotion at a time, which is why you get angry when you’re afraid.” And if the Anuk-Ite can do that to Liam, imagine what it can do to humans. Or rather, let us show you…
Back at Scott’s house, we get a brief moment of romance before everything goes to hell. In Scott’s room, Malia asks him if he remembers what she said about all the things she hasn’t done and still wants to do. “This is one of them,” she says as she goes in for the kiss. Because there’s nothing like almost dying to make you kiss the guy you like.
However, the romance doesn’t last long as the two of them head downstairs to look at the map they stole. Melissa, Argent, Mason, and Lydia are already there, and they’ve figured out that Gerard has marked the locations of all the Nemetons — supernatural beacons — in the world. What does that mean? It means he doesn’t just want to wipe out all the supernatural beings in Beacon Hills. He wants to wipe out all the supernatural beings in the world. (Hey, the guy’s pretty confident in his skills; you gotta give him that.)
Just as Scott’s dad shows up to tell them that Gerard has distributed all of his weapons legally, Lydia hears glass shattering and shell casings falling. She yells for them to get down just as gunfire erupts on Scott’s house. By the time it stops, there’s a large pool of blood on the floor. And as Scott looks over in what seems like the Melissa-Argent direction, a bloody hand reaches into the air.
Talk about a cliffhanger. Overall, I really liked this episode, with its ending definitely serving as the highlight. It reminded me of some of the show’s earlier episodes in a great way. But what did you think? Hit the comments with your thoughts or let me know on Twitter @samhighfill.
