Teen Wolf Recap: No Banshee Left Behind — Plus: Scoop on That 'Ship
I’d like to begin with a big, fat praise dump: Tuesday’s Teen Wolf was the best, most compelling episode in years. The acting, the editing, the action — and, most importantly, the answers — were out in full force this week.
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Let’s start with my favorite, and longest-overdue, part: the answers! A chilling exchange between Lydia and Valack — and aren’t they all chilling? — clarified that the Dread Doctors are trying to get the new Beast of Gévaudan, created in the original’s image, to remember the cold-blooded killer it was in the 1700s, before it became a beast. That will effectively wipe out the teenage chimera living inside of it, allowing it to reach its full potential. It really was kind of him to fill in the blanks… you know, before Lydia blew his freakin’ head off with a single scream. (A round of applause for that, please.)
Theo’s plan was also spelled out nicely for us this week. I know it wasn’t a total mystery before, but Stiles explaining it point-by-point (“You want Lydia because she gets you to Parrish, you want Parrish because he gets you to the Beast”) was a welcome refresher help for those of us who struggle to keep up with the orgy of never-ending supernatural developments that is MTV’s Teen Wolf.
And while I’m discussing Stiles and Lydia, let’s not pretend that this week’s episode wasn’t a golden hour of television for long-suffering “Stydia” supporters. The hand-holding, the look on Stiles’ face when Lydia woke up, her “Stiles saved me” line… it was almost too much to handle. I’d admittedly given up on them as a couple, but after this week’s episode — and this scooplet from executive producer Jeff Davis to TVLine: “This episode starts two characters down a path that’s been building for years” — is giving me new hope.
But I saved my biggest source of excitement — yes, even bigger than those “Stydia” moments — for last: Mrs. Martin is finally in the know! The way she casually popped up from behind Tracy and tased her was some next-level Beyoncé-at-the-Super-Bowl badassery. Now she and Stilinski will have a lot more to talk about on their dates.
Other Assorted Thoughts:
* This entire episode was an incredible achievement in CGI/editing, but I especially loved seeing Parrish dive onto Lydia to prevent her sonic-boom scream from killing her friends. That was tops.
* I think I suddenly love all the little baby chimeras now. This week gave us some real quality time with them, and it was much-appreciated. Don’t die, small ones!
* My love for Mason also grew three times bigger during his pre-crash pep talk.
* And that Hayden/Liam sex scene? Yowza!
(Lastly, a retraction of sorts: I got some heat for referring to last week’s episode as “filler,” and after seeing this week’s, I now realize there’s no way these two installments could have been chimera-merged into one.)
So, Teen Wolf Nation, did you enjoy this episode as much as I did? Any new theories about who’s lurking beneath the Beast? Drop a comment with all of your thoughts below.
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