Monday, May 6, 2013

Recapturing Teen Wolf: We're all in this together



Previously on Teen Wolf… Peter bit Lydia, Jackson squealed to the hunters and Kate slept with Derek. Scott loves Allison and Allison saw Scott shift.

Note: this is a recap of the extended episode from the Season 1 DVD.


Dramatic sounds cover the mute silence as Allison gazes at a wolfed out Scott, she’s crying. Papa Argent honks his horn and Scott takes one last look at Allison before running.


On the lacrosse field, Stiles is at a stalemate with Peter, he refuses to leave Lydia. He asks Peter to kill him because it’s not worth it anymore. Peter gives him a moment to call Jackson to help Lydia but that’s all he gets. 


Allison steps out of the bus, slow motion, she falls down in despair – as you would having just found out that the boy you love is one of the mythical creatures that your family hunts. Papa Argent catches her before she falls, but it’s clear she’s not okay.


Scott runs through the woods, crying. He screams and the sound comes flooding back. Poor Scott.


Jackson carries an unconscious and bloody Lydia towards the gym screaming desperately for help.

This is a happy little opener.


Stiles drives Peter towards an unknown destination. Peter tells Stiles not to feel bad, if Lydia lives (and there’s a chance she wont) she’ll be a werewolf. She’ll be powerful… and as Stiles adds, once a month she’ll go out of her mind and try to kill him. Peter says that considering she’s a women, it’s twice a month (I’d be offended but this the first period joke on a werewolf show so they’ve had a pretty good run).


At the Argent abode, Papa Argent is angry. So angry that he throws a plate at the wall. Kate thinks it a healthy display of aggression. Chris doesn’t care for her opinion because she’s the reason Allison knows about werewolves. Kate’s all, she figured it out and Chris calls her on it. Allison knows because Kate wanted her to. Chris get’s personal, he finally questions why Kate chose to come back to Beacon Hills. She insists she just wants to kill the Alpha. Chris is starting to question things, the deaths are connected and they all lead back to the Hale fire. Chris has a plan and it starts with Kate getting Allison out of town and he says so in his not for discussion tone. I like it.


Mama Argent helps Allison pack with a cheerful demeanor that is rather unnerving considering the situation. Allison is a little pre-occupied with the fact that she saw her boyfriend turn into a werewolf. Her phone goes off but Mama Argent grabs it before Allison can. It’s nothing, just Jackson. Allison finally finds the courage to ask what’s going to happen to Scott. She’s also a bit upset about the whole family secret thing – but Mama Argent is taking none that.

You can tell me what to do you amazing woman! 

Mrs Argent: Think of it like you just found out your father secretly words for the government and of course he couldn’t tell you but you understand because he’s worked his whole life to make the world safer.


Outside the house Papa Argent says goodbye, he promises they will talk about it but neither Allison nor Kate seem convinced when they drive off. Mama Argent asks if Chris can find the Alpha and he says no but Scott McCall can and he knows how to find Scott.

That's Stiles  Holy-Shit-Dead-Body look.
The Jeep drives into a parking garage and Peter and Stiles hop out. Peter manhandles Stiles towards another car. It was his nurses. Stiles wonders what happened to his nurse but he finds out as soon as the trunk opens and he sees her body inside. Peter’s like, I got better (yes he’s evil as all hell but damn he’s a sassy bastard).

Please don't cry, you're giving me emotions.

The next moment shifts between Scott and Allison as they remember the events of the evening. Scott sits in the corner of the animal clinic, he remembers his mother words and he cries and I cry because Scott as much as you annoy the crap out of me I don’t like seeing you cry. Allison stares out the window of the car as creepy aunt Kate drives remembering Scott’s “because I love you.” Allison looks up, Kate missed the highway exit, they’re not leaving!

Peter opens a computer, Stiles is like – good luck getting signal but Peter has it covered he’s got Wifi. Peter’s a Mac guy… does that go for all werewolves or is it just a personal preference. He’s really killing the werewolf mystique. Peter tells Stiles to shut up and get to work.


Stiles insist that he doesn’t know Scott’s username and password but Peter knows he’s lying. He pushes Stiles head into the computer and insists that he can be very persuasive when he wants to be so it’s probably best not to make him persuade you Stiles.

Jackson rushes into the hospital looking for Lydia… she’s lying in a hospital bed, unconscious. The Sheriff grabs Jackson as he reaches Lydia’s room and questions him forcefully, she’s his girlfriend that’s his responsibility. Jackson says it’s not his problem because he’s not the one that took Lydia to the formal, Stiles did. The Sheriff is shocked, he doesn’t know what to do because if Stiles isn’t there then where is he.

Those are the faced of two men that are terrified to lose the person they love the most.

Stiles is chatting to Peter as he does his tracking magic, he wants to know what’s going to happen after he finds Derek. Stiles knows the answer though, Peter’s going to kill people and he wants Scott left out of it but Peter says no go, he needs Scott because wolves hunt in packs.

Stiles: He’s not going to help you.
Peter: Oh he will because it’ll save Allison and you will because it will save Scott.

This exchange says so much about Scott and Stiles relationship throughout the first season because Stiles first priority is always Scott. Scott is the most important person in Stiles life apart from his dad and Stiles just got bumped to third. It’s not that Stiles is not important to Scott, he is, it’s just that Scott is used to being the weaker one in the relationship.

Before the bite, Stiles was smarter, he was more adventurous and Scott was physically handicapped because of his asthma. Before the bite, Stiles was the alpha of the relationship and Scott still sees it that way. He hasn’t quite grasped the idea that he’s stronger than Stiles now. That Stiles is breakable and he’s the one that needs to be looked after now. This is a lesson that Scott has to learn, I just hope Stiles survives it.

Peter asks Stiles, does he really think the Argents are going to let Scott live. Stiles, unlike Scott, doesn’t automatically sees the good in people knows that logically Peter is right. Peter might not be the good guy but he’s the guy that is most likely to get Scott through this alive. So Stiles does what he says.

The sheer amount of sass in this screencap is astonishing.

Peter: His username is Allison… his password is also Allison?
Stiles: You still want him in your pack?


Meanwhile Scott climbs to the top of Beacon Hills local howling rock and howls to Derek.

In the torture dungeon Derek wakes at the sound of Scott’s howl and howls back in response. Scott knows where Derek is.

Stiles and Peter wait, it’s loading. Stiles is shocked when the GPS points them to the Hale house but they are not in the house, they’re under it. They hear Scott’s howl.


Slow motion: Allison enters the hospital and walks towards Lydia’s room. She see’s flashes of Lydia covered in blood and convulsing in pain. She’s numb to the pain and when she gets back into the car with creepy aunt Kate she has one question: Are they all like that? Kate replies that yes, even Scott is like that.

GORE!!!!!

Back in the parking garage Peter is about to head off in search of Derek but first he takes Stiles keys and bends them until they are unusable. Stiles can’t follow him. Except Stiles can’t let him leave without having the last word because he has a death wish. He questions why Peter hasn’t killed him.

Peter: Don’t you understand yet? I’m not the bad guy here.
Stiles: You turn into a giant monster with red eyes and fangs and you’re not the bad guy here.


Peter thinks Stiles death wish is hilarious so he offers him a gift, he can have the bite if he wants it. The night Scott was bit, it could just as easily been Stiles. He could be just as powerful as Scott, probably more powerful. No more Robin he’d be Batman whenever he wanted to be… except he wouldn’t.

This is another perfect example of the difference between Stiles and Scott. Scott wants a cure because he doesn’t want the power, Stiles refuses the bite because he does. He wants it but for all the wrong reasons and he’s smart enough to realize that. So when Peter raises Stiles wrist to his lips Stiles pulls away at the last moment. Peter’s right, he lied, but he wanted it to be true. Peter leaves Stiles alone to deal with his decision (I’m pretty sure he regrets it the moment he realizes he’s got to run to the hospital).

Scott finds the entrance to the torture dungeon without much trouble and heads down in search of Derek.


At the hospital, Stiles runs in from the elevator but before he reaches Lydia’s room he meets a rather angry Sheriff. Stiles is out of breath, he had to run all the way there, he just wants to know if Lydia’s going to be all right. The Sheriff’s face softens. They don’t know, partly because they don’t know what bit her, it’s like she’s having an allergic reaction to something. Stiles looks distraught and the Sheriff asks if he saw anything. Stiles meets his dads eyes and lies to him saying he has no idea what attacked Lydia.

That’s when the Sheriff let’s slip that hasn’t seen Scott and Stiles really starts to freak out. He’s been trying to call but they’re not going to reach him because Scott doesn’t have his phone… Derek does.


Speaking of the torture dungeon. Generic torture dude is back and he’s brought bat. Derek is pretty unfazed and we find out why when he catches the bat with his free hand on the first swing. He’s had a little help. The camera swings round to reveal Scott and Derek knocks red-shirt torture guy out.

The Sheriff tells Stiles to wait with his friends but Stiles needs to know what his dad knows because you know it has something to do with Derek. The Sheriff’s like, I thought you didn’t know Derek and Stiles has to admit that he knows him a little better than he let on. The Sheriff reminds Stiles that he’s elected to this position… yes and he’ll be re-elected if he lets Stiles help solve this case.


The Sheriff doesn’t believe Lydia’s attack is connected to the Hale fire but he does admit that it is officially arson now that they have a key witness. They don’t know much but they know a young woman with a very distinctive pendant organized it. The Sheriff gets a phone call and it takes Stiles about ten seconds to figure out that Kate Argent did it.

This is entirely gratuitous and I'm not sorry... it's Teen Wolf.
I have been staring at this for literally 20 mins, this recap might never be published.

Meanwhile in the torture dungeon Scott refuses to help Derek out of the second chain unless Derek promises to help him kill Peter. Derek’s like do we have to talk about this while I am still half chained up in the dungeon I have spent the last three days in being tortured by the woman that seduced me and then murdered my entire family… Scott’s like yes because Allison's in trouble

This is my favorite Derek Hale moment because what he does next is he starts to panic. He needs to get out because he doesn’t know when Kate is coming back. This is the guy that’s been gutted by his uncle, wanted for murder, chased, shot at and beaten till he’s broken and this is the first time he genuinely freaks out. He’s been scared before but he always manages to keep it bottled up on the inside. He’s still terrified of facing Kate even though he’s out of his restraints and he has another werewolf as back up. That one little moment of weakness before he pulls it back together shows just how much Kate argent fucked him up.

Then he does the Derek thing where he projects his own problems onto the neighborhood teenagers.


Derek: You want me to risk my life for your girlfriend, huh. For your stupid little teenage crush that means absolutely nothing. You’re not in love, you’re sixteen years old. You’re a child.

As he finishes the speech you can see him realize what he’s done. He knows he’s not talking about Scott and it’s totally heartbreaking but not as heartbreaking as what’s about to happen because Scott knows something Derek doesn’t.


Remember the deer with the spiral. Apparently someone came into the Animal clinic asking for a copy of the police report photo and that someone was Peter’s nurse. They lured Laura back to Beacon Hills specifically to kill her so Peter could become Alpha. Scott says all Derek has to do is promise and he’ll help him unchain. No need. Derek’s used his anger to break the chains but he’s still willing to help.

I just... I know very emotional but really how I am supposed to pay attention.

At the hospital, Stiles is going to find Scott and Jackson’s offering a ride. Stiles doesn’t want to alleviate Jackson’s guilt but he does want to drive the Porsche. Unfortunately before they can leave they are stopped by Hottie Hunter Argent and two of his henchmen. They want to know where Scott is. Stiles tries to act like he hasn’t seen him but Jackson gives up the game almost immediately.

The henchmen throw Stiles and Jackson into an empty hospital room and lock the door behind them. Chris pushes Stiles up against the wall (he’s got a fetish) and tries to give the rabid dog speech but Stiles is having none of it. Chris powers on through Stiles protests and the speech takes a different turn. His best friend was bitten and on his first full moon Chris had to put a bullet in his head after he tried to kill him. He asks if Stiles can understand that… and of course Stiles can understand that.

Chris you can manhandle me anytime?

Chris: Did Scott try to kill you on the full moon? Did you have to lock him up?
Stiles: Yeah I did. I had to handcuff him to a radiator. Why would you prefer I locked him in the basement and burned the whole house around him?


This is without a doubt, Stiles crowning moment of awesome. While the series is all about Scott, this episode is all about Stiles and more importantly about highlighting the differences between the two best friends. They might have been going the same way but they have been on very different journeys. Scott’s quest for the season was to find the cure (a cure that Stiles – and the audience – knew didn’t exist). Stiles on the other hand is a detective. His goal from the start has been to figure it out, to find the truth.

It proves that even if Scott had never been bitten, Stiles would have been involved because these deaths would have kept happening and he would have needed to figure it out.

This moment also showcases the different way that Scott and Stiles see werewolves. Scott can’t reconcile what happened to him so he can only see them as monsters; that’s why he wants the cure so bad because he doesn’t want to be a monster. Stiles doesn’t see monsters because he knows Scott isn’t a monster. And Stiles knows that people can be just as evil as anything that goes bump in the night. As he says to Chris, yeah he had to lock him up, yeah Scott tried to kill him… so what? He’s still Scott. Nothing changes that.  

Then he’s the one to figure it out. Stiles is the first one, besides Derek, to work out that Kate Argent is behind the Hale fire and he doesn’t hesitate to tell Chris.

Derek knows it's not right because nothing good ever happens to him.

Back at the Hale house, Scott carries Derek out of the torture dungeon and unfortunately they found the time for Derek to put a shirt on. They turn towards the Hale house (why???). Derek doesn’t feel right, it’s all a little bit too easy. Scott’s like don’t say too easy people say too easy and bad things happen (I half expected him to literally bury his head in the sand). Derek roles his eyes at Scott but agrees to let it go.

Actual Superhero Allison Argent

That’s when Derek is shot with an arrow. It’s Allison. She shoots Derek again and then loads up a flash bomb Derek tells Scott to cover his eyes but Scott is too confused by the fact that Allison is shooting arrows at them. Scott’s down. Derek manages to break off the arrows and pull Scott towards the Hale house.

Kate tells Allison that she has natural talent. They do an awesome hero slow motion walk and when Derek can’t drag Scott anymore he tells him to run letting himself be used as bait yet again (seriously Derek we need to talk about your sense of self worth).

Allison stalks towards the injured Scott, and Scott begs her to let him explain. Everything he did was to protect her. Well considering one of those things was to lie to her for their entire relationship Allison’s not buying it. Kate’s like oh thank god, now shoot him. Allison is confused, she thought they were just going to catch them. Kate’s like what did you think we were going to do once we caught them. She shoots Derek like it’s nothing and then turns her attention to Scott. Allison tries to stop her but she gets pushed out of the way.


Kate’s about the pull the trigger when Chris arrives telling Kate that he knows what she did. Kate’s like, I did what I was told to do (foreshadowing). Chris gets up on his high horse and reminds Kate that they go by a code: we hunt those that hunt us. Allison looks like it all finally makes sense and Chris shoots the tree next to Kate and she puts the gun down.


Attention shifts to the Hale house as the door opens seemingly of it’s own accord. Scott’s eyes flash amber, it’s the Alpha. Peter comes out in full wolf form, knocking out Chris, Allison and Scott before turning his attention to Kate. He shifts back and grabs Kate breaking her arm and dragging her into the Hale house. Allison screams and runs after her.


Inside the house Peter holds Kate by the neck and comments on how beautiful Allison is. He gives Kate one chance to save Allison she has to apologize. Kate looks at Allison and says: “I’m sorry.” Peter breathes a sigh and rips her throat out letting her fall to the ground before turning his attention back to Allison, he didn’t think that apology was very sincere.

Goodbye Kate, you were crazy and evil but you were a fantastic villain, you will be missed. 

Scott jumps in before Peter can attack Allison, then Derek walks in from the back and Peter realizes he’s fucked up. Scott tells Allison to run and to her credit she actually does.

Meanwhile Stiles is driving Jackson’s Porsche like a maniac, but he it’s not like Jackson actually paid for it.

Derek and Scott fight Peter until he eventually shifts into his full ugly alpha form. Scott is thrown out the window and the Alpha follows him. Stiles honks the horn and the Alpha turns his attention to him. Stiles throws a fire bomb but the Alpha catches it so it doesn’t ignite. Scott yells at Allison throwing her bow towards her. Allison shoots an arrow at the beaker igniting the bomb and setting the Alpha on fire. Then Jackson finally gets in on the action throwing his bomb and setting the rest of the wolf alight.


I can’t express how awesome it is that in the end it was a team effort to defeat the Alpha. It’s the perfect euphoric moment… even Lydia’s part of it in a way. She’s the one that taught Stiles to make the self-igniting Molotov cocktail. It reminded me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in that what makes the hero stronger than the villain is the people that surround them. It’s just the perfect climax..


Peter shifts back to his human form as is again the burning shell of a man he was at the start of the series. It’s almost too poetic for an MTV series about teenage werewolves.

Then the romantic music starts to rise and Allison walks towards Scott. He turns away but she grabs his face and turns it back towards her. She leans in and kisses him as he shifts back.


Scott: Why’d you do that?
Allison: Because I love you.

Aww it’s adorable, even if Allison’s dad is watching which is a little creepy. But not going to lie, he could creep on me any day.


While the happy couple share a moment Derek approaches Peter’s dying body and kneels on top on him. Scott begs him to wait, he needs to kill Peter to get the cure but as Peter says, Derek’s already made his choice. He swipes his claws across his uncles throat killing his last remaining relative.

GORE!!!

Scott looks distraught.
Allison looks scarred for live.
Chris looks stoic.
Jackson looks pleased (for reasons we will find out soon).
And Stiles looks like he knew this was going to happen from the start.

You can be my alpha if you know what I mean... I mean sex. 

Derek turns towards he group, his eyes flashing red. He’s the Alpha now.


Later the Sheriff investigates the Hales house finding Kate’s body with the wolf pendant around her neck. The case is solved.


At the hospital Stiles and Scott sneak into Lydia’s room. Stiles tries to shut the door quietly but it creeks the whole way causing Scott to cringe at him. They’re here to check Lydia’s wound. Scott has to do it because Stiles can’t look he’s too worried. It’s not healed, which means she’s not a werewolf but then she’s not dying either so what the hell is she?


Jackson walks into the Hale house a smug look on his face. He helped Derek and now he wants something in return. He wants the bite. Derek jumps over the stairs (because he doesn’t know how to use them) and smiles at Jackson before extending his fangs.


The Argents are looking at a newspaper article about Kate. Apparently a mysterious “they” is on the way to Beacon Hills. They can handle the ridicule Kate’s conviction will cause and Allison will have to learn and as for Scott he has other things to worry about now.

Speaking of the young lovers, the camera heads up the stairs and out Allison’s window where Scott and Allison are sitting on the roof together starring at the moon as lovers often do... in Shakespeare... and trashy romance novels. 


But really it’s a fitting end to a season that was all about the Romeo and Juliet romance between Scott and Allison and even though they're teenage romance annoyed me a lot of the time, it does make my insides all gooey to see them happy at least for a moment.

And that’s all for Season 1.

Stay tuned for the top ten moments of the season coming later today and you can read more recaps here.