S04.E07: Weaponized

[promethean]

A mysterious outbreak takes over the high school.

 

[redsox7819]

Did we know that Lydia's mom worked at the high school?

[bettername2come]

Did we know that Lydia's mom worked at the high school?

She took over for Harris sometime in 3B.

[HunterHunted]

I've got to say I was tickled to see Rusty Venture (James Urbaniak) cameo as an adult who would callously disregard the health and safety of teenagers. Who would have guessed?

I know this is Teen Wolf world, but there is no way that the CDC would rush to Beacon Hills based on a high school bio teacher's say so. At the very least the show could have coach and the girl oozing black goo.

As much as I liked the of Derek and Braeden if he keeps uncharacteristically mooning over her, I'm done.

[lion10]

That was a pretty dull episode. The only exciting part was Satomi being a BAMF and doing the matrix. I missed a few things. What did Lydia find out? What did Malia find out?

If all werewolves age like Satomi but she's the oldest werewolf around, the species must have an incredibly high death rate.

[bettername2come]

I loved Stiles' refusal to give up his friends, although I immediately thought of school shootings when he lied and said they were in the library or cafeteria. I thought Dylan O'Brien played that moment of terror and bravery really well. Go, Papa McCall for saving him. And for completely trusting Melissa on a cure being in some vault nearby and asking no questions.

 

I bought into the Stalia relationship more this episode. They seemed much closer in the vault than Scott and Kira did. Malia's look of absolute joy when Stiles said he wouldn't leave her was just beautiful and made it more heartbreaking when she found out he'd lied to her. 

 

That being said, this is my least favorite of the annual "Teen Wolf cast is trapped in X" episodes. 

 

As much as I liked the of Derek and Braeden if he keeps uncharacteristically mooning over her, I'm done.

 

But is it uncharacteristic? Wasn't he pretty much like this for Jennifer? And in the flashbacks with Paige? 

[benteen]

I enjoyed it.  I thought the stuff at the end was good although I continue to be confused by the Malia/Peter thing.  Malia was introduced as the long presumed dead daughter of some guy and then all of a sudden they revealed that she was Peter's daughter.  That's a mess even for Teen Wolf.

[HunterHunted]

But is it uncharacteristic? Wasn't he pretty much like this for Jennifer? And in the flashbacks with Paige?

I don't really remember his relationship with Jennifer that way. It seemed to be sexing or fighting, but very little real relationship. Jennifer rather than Derek, seemed to do most of the mooning, begging, and pleading. Paige I'll agree to, but they were teenagers.

I have one other quibble. Why did Melissa give Braeden naloxone? Was it because Braeden was shot and they had given her a megadose of opiates and they needed to wake her up immediately? It makes sense if you try to reason it out. But on its own, it makes it sound like naloxone and epinephrine are substitutes. The bad medical practice always stands out to me on this show.

Edited August 5, 2014 by HunterHunted

[FilmTVGeek80]

 

As much as I liked the of Derek and Braeden if he keeps uncharacteristically mooning over her, I'm done.

 

I didn't really like Derek and Braeden even before this. Like with almost all TW romances, it was forced and very little build up. I rolled my eyes so hard with Braeden just randomly ripping off her shirt in front of Derek and their "ooh look how close they're talking, aren't they sexy?" moment. But Derek looking at Braeden like some kind of lovesick teenager when they've barely spent five minutes together did not help their cause with me, at all.

 

 

But is it uncharacteristic? Wasn't he pretty much like this for Jennifer? And in the flashbacks with Paige?

 

He was a teenager with Paige. He's grown up a lot since then and become a lot more hardened. I don't remember him looking at Jennifer like that at all. Everything with Derek/Jennifer happened at warp speed, like it is with Derek/Braeden, but Derek never mooned over Jennifer. That's the kind of thing he has mocked Scott for in the past.

[Minneapple]

Malia's look of absolute joy when Stiles said he wouldn't leave her was just beautiful and made it more heartbreaking when she found out he'd lied to her.

Stiles and Malia are very sweet together and the last scene was surprisingly crushing. I can't credit the writers for why these two work though -- I think it's more because of Dylan and Shelley.

[bluebonnet]

So they were saved from a deadly virus by tea?  Seriously?  TEA!  Sure, there can be medicinal value in teas, but ffs, deadly virus is cured by tea!  And if Satomi was always drinking it and serving it up and she was caring for her dying pack, wouldn't she have offered them a soothing beverage while they suffered?  Some moms give chicken noodle soup when their pups are sick, some give tea.  I guess I can be glad that chicken noodle soup wasn't the cure.  But still, tea.  omg.  

 

Exactly how much does Papa McCall know?  He went without question to the school to tell about the vault.  Any normal person would have been "wtf, a vault beneath the school in the middle of a sickness and fucking TEA as the cure? You've got to be shitting me, please explain this very instant."  But nope, not Papa McCall, Mr. FBI agent.  He must have missed the asking questions class during training.  Or else he knows a whole lot more than we've been led to believe.  

 

Speaking of, Papa McCall was called the hero of the episode during Wolf Watch.  That should have gone to Stiles who refused to give up his friends despite having good reason to believe he would die in 3-2-1.  

 

And back to the vault.  They made a big deal about getting into the vault, going so far into tricking Malia into opening the door.  They made it seem like it was magically keyed to Hale blood.  So why wouldn't Derek go to the school to open the vault?  It's not like he knows about Malia.  Or does he?  But still, is the vault magically keyed to Hale blood or not?

 

What information did Lydia get from that pic of Meredith (why was there a pic of Meredith)?  

 

The greatest thing I can say about this episode is that the quarantine actually looked like a quarantine.  I'm watching two shows right now based on infectious viruses (The Strain and Last Ship) and those shows totally forget that they are about infectious viruses.  Little to no precautions taken.  I'm glad Teen Wolf at least tried, even if it's implausible that the CDC would show up for some fevered passed out rashed up people.  

 

Finally, when did fingerprinting for tests start happening?  Is that even a thing?  

 

 

I enjoyed it.  I thought the stuff at the end was good although I continue to be confused by the Malia/Peter thing.  Malia was introduced as the long presumed dead daughter of some guy and then all of a sudden they revealed that she was Peter's daughter.  That's a mess even for Teen Wolf.

This is one of those things that does make sense, at least the part where Malia's father was always going to be someone other than who she thought he was.  She wasn't bitten so she was a born werecoyote.  Her mother wasn't a werecreature or else Malia wouldn't have been able to kill them both in that car accident and her dad definitely wasn't a werecreature or he would have found her years ago by sniffing her out and also definitely wouldn't have been trying to hunt and kill a coyote.  So when we go back, it's set up from the start of her introduction that her parentage is suspect and then it would just be a process of elimination.  Peter is the only one in the age bracket who would fit the bill, unless Malia was adopted (but her dad never suggested that) or unless they brought in an entirely new character.  The biggest wtf of it all was that Talia was able to delete memories from people, but at least they had introduced that aspect before dropping the Peter is the daddy thing. 

[ahisma]

There was so much I liked in this episode!

Starting with Natalie Martin—Susan Walters does such an outstanding job of making her really real! Considering she's married to Linden Ashby (Sheriff Stilinski), they are the show's powerhouse acting couple. I suddenly want ALL the fanfic about Natalie's former career in infectious disease research, her friendship with Bobby Finstock, her divorce from her spendthrift husband, her mother the banshee ... everything!

Satomi! She was 100% awesome. And badass. Even more, I knew last week I wanted to see her reconnect with Derek and for them to bond over his mother, and they gave it to me perfectly. I'd also love to see her reconnect with Noshiko. I hope she'll be around.

A+ to Agent McCall for saving Stiles (not going to lie, I hoped it would be Coach, but I guess FBI with a gun makes more sense), and for doing what it takes to save Scott, even if he doesn't understand what it all means.

I like the chemistry between Derek and Braeden (when they're both conscious), though I hope they don't make him too moony. He didn't tip too far over for me here. Agree with others that he wasn't that way with Jennifer, which makes sense—he wasn't actually moony over Jennifer at all, just spellbound to be attracted to her. I'll take more to the relationship thread.

Scott and Kira were sweet here. LOL at only being on top of the bed clothed!

Dylan and Shelley did a good job, too, though the music got a little over the top. But when is Stiles going to learn that keeping secrets is a bad idea?! Their troubles always seem to multiply when they don't give full disclosure up front.

Scott&Stiles friendship continues to be AWESOME. Dylan totally brought it.

For those who missed it, it took me three rewinds to figure it out. The photo of Meredith was taken in the same room Lydia was in. There is distinctive trim on the wall and an odd bump out that make the room very unique. So Meredith was in the Martin lake house at some point.

Edited August 5, 2014 by ahisma

[Yitzhak]

Best episode of S4 so far I'd say. After last week's ep which featured multiple plot threads, none of which were particularly compelling, this week it was great to just have ONE major threat & mystery to solve and one that was genuinely scary too. Even though I'm fully aware that this show would never kill off Scott or Stiles, I was still tensed up until I knew they were both safe. The episode wasn't perfect. The way they figured out the antidote was especially clunky and after all the build up at the Lake house I was disappointed that Lydia wasn't able to contribute anything useful to help her friends. But overall, the quarantine crisis was a good horror scenario and I was also impressed that they were able integrate moving Malia's plotline forwards with the action.    

 

Nice to see Stiles taking a bit more of a leading role again too. I always like how the writers balance Stiles being very brave and loyal with Stiles being morally shady. First we have Stiles wanting to steal the half million of blood money on the justification that it's Peter's money and Peter's an asshole so why not? Then there's Stiles opportunistically finding new ways to lie to his girlfriend while sneakily using her Hale family claws to get shit done. But we also have Stiles refusing to give up his friends location when he has a gun pointed at his head. And while I'm sure Stiles is smart enough to realize that the Chemist wouldn't have let him live even if he had fessed up to where Scott & co were hiding, I was still impressed by Stiles being a true pack soldier. And Scott/Stiles continues to be the best relationship on the show without ever needing to be overdone. Scott's simple "Get Stiles" when he started to lose control spoke volumes and I loved their wordless reunion after the door pulled back too. 

Edited August 5, 2014 by Yitzhak

[AudienceofOne]

That was terrible. The fingerprinting, the virus, the TEA (TEA people, tea cured what they kept telling me was a variation of smallpox). They didn't even drink the tea, They inhaled it when it turned to dust for no reason and then they were INSTAhealed. The plot was ridiculous but it was also rushed and choppy and badly paced. I think this was the worst episode of the show I've seen. And, as much as I usually enjoy it, there have been some bad episode of this show.

[patchwork]

TW has always been a fan of the slowmo but this episode went crazy with it. 

 

Why not make it a special blend of healing herbs that Satomi brought to Tallia so they were put in the vault for safe keeping? And have the kids at least eat them! Yes there had to be a cure but it didn't have to be so badly done.

 

I thought they might be going somewhere interesting with Kira reacting to the virus differently but no kitsunes are last year's toy, Davis has Malia now. 

 

This wasn't a good episode imo, there were scenes I liked as long as I don't try to link them to the larger plot like Lydia going through Meredith's stuff and Stiles facing the assassin. Why wouldn't papa McCall follow Stiles to the vault? Why make it seem like there's going to be big important deaths via Lydia when the only people to die are assassins one of whom isn't even at the school? 

[Gwen-Stacys]

  I will admit that I am a Shelley Hennig fan. I've known her face from back when she was Stephanie Johnson on Days but I didn't become a fan until The Secret Circle. I thought she really brought it this episode, acting wise. It's just the little things she does in character, from the way she stands, the way she can emote with her eyes without going too far. I still maintain that she and Dylan O are the best actors of the teen characters on this show. I could see Jeff putting Malia and Stiles together simply because Shelley and Dylan are on another level (Teen Wolf wise).
The look of pure joy in Malia's eyes when Stiles told her that he wouldn't leave without her and then the crumbling realization (from both of them) that they very well may not see each other again. It was very full circle to her statement in the first episode this season where she admitted that she would leave anyone behind if they were weak or sick and then having someone tell her that they were coming back for her. She believed him because she trusted him. Fast forward to the end of the episode where she finds out the big secret about her parentage and that everyone kept it from her. Compounded by the fact that they had ample opportunities to tell her; one being when she specifically had to open the Hale vault.
 

When Stiles made that speech about why they shouldn't tell her about Peter because he gets into people's heads felt almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. Like, because they kept that secret from her (and Peter has also been pretty mum about it) they've given Peter a way to worm himself into her head. And that makes me wonder if that wasn't his plan all along. This way he could play the "Yes, I knew but I figured your pack would've been open with you and told you and you just weren't ready to have a relationship with me yet" card. Peter is dangerous in the way that great white sharks are dangerous; they stalk their prey for a long time before they attack. Learn their strengths and weaknesses....kind of like a serial killer. Stiles has always been kind of shaky when it comes to morals, I could see Peter figuring out that he'd have no problem dicking his daughter up while lying to her at the same time. If that was his plan all along, it's kind of genius.
Scott and Stiles continues to be the best relationship on this show. And LOL at the assassin not knowing that Stile's would die before he ratted his main-bro (and other friends) out.
I knew Stiles would be all for keeping the money even though it belongs to the Hales. (But it's also Peters! That means we should keep it)
 

I buy Derek's growing feelings for Braden. All the way back in 3b, I think it's safe to say that he had an admiration for her even then. She's blunt and upfront in that you know she will probably kill you if the price was right, but at least you know that going. Derek seems the type to fall hard, fall completely, and quickly (Paige and Kate. He trusted Kate enough to show her his super-secret family vault and he wanted to be with Paige forever, so he tried to have her changed. Even though Jennifer beguiled him with her magic vagina, he fell hard and fast for her as well). Which isn't unbelievable even with his luck in love. That's a mark of someone who is very lonely. His loneliness is why he's so easily manipulated.
 

And yay for Coach Bobby being 15 years sober! That really explains so much about his character, I think.
 

TL;DNR I love Shelley Hennig and think that she and Dylan O's acting styles complement each other nicely. Stile's probably played right into Peter's hands by not telling Malia the truth himself. ScottxStiles continues to be the best! Derek is lonely, therefore he falls in love easy. Etc etc.

[snakenax]

 

What information did Lydia get from that pic of Meredith (why was there a pic of Meredith)?

I think what the photo showed was Meredith in the room at the lakehouse. There was a photo of Meredith because it was part of Meredith's belongings.

[Bruinsfan]

Her mother wasn't a werecreature or else Malia wouldn't have been able to kill them both in that car accident and her dad definitely wasn't a werecreature or he would have found her years ago by sniffing her out and also definitely wouldn't have been trying to hunt and kill a coyote.  So when we go back, it's set up from the start of her introduction that her parentage is suspect and then it would just be a process of elimination.  Peter is the only one in the age bracket who would fit the bill, unless Malia was adopted (but her dad never suggested that) or unless they brought in an entirely new character.  The biggest wtf of it all was that Talia was able to delete memories from people, but at least they had introduced that aspect before dropping the Peter is the daddy thing. 

That makes me wonder... back in Malia's introductory episode, weren't there huge gashes on the outside of the implausibly-still-there wrecked car, as if a wild animal had been attacking it and trying to get in when it crashed? If that was done by Peter in a possessive rage rather than by Malia herself, and resulted in the deaths of two innocent people and Malia's disappearance, it might explain why Talia erased his memory of fathering a child. Better than "Little Bro, you're not ready to be a dad yet. Yoink!" at any rate.

[bluebonnet]

That makes me wonder... back in Malia's introductory episode, weren't there huge gashes on the outside of the implausibly-still-there wrecked car, as if a wild animal had been attacking it and trying to get in when it crashed? If that was done by Peter in a possessive rage rather than by Malia herself, and resulted in the deaths of two innocent people and Malia's disappearance, it might explain why Talia erased his memory of fathering a child. Better than "Little Bro, you're not ready to be a dad yet. Yoink!" at any rate.

I suppose that could work, especially since it's Teen Wolf and Jeff Davis makes up random plots without considering the plausibility.  If it were another show, Talia The Great Peaceful Wolf wouldn't have left a family member to roam around the woods, especially one so special that she could shift her form completely.  But I could see Jeff Davis using the idea that Peter caused the crash as the wedge to be fully driven between Malia and Peter.  Malia is our new favorite character and no one wants to see our bestie team up with Peter.  

 

 

ETA: I'm still laughing my head off today about a virus being cured by freaking tea.  

Edited August 5, 2014 by bluebonnet

[LeisureTime]

Lately I haven't really been feeling the Stiles love, and now I'm just kind of feeling like he's an awful person. Keeping the Hale money, lying to Malia, I feel like there was some stuff last week that I'm forgetting. It's like he's gone from being the most charismatic character to the worst who just makes me angry. I'm glad he didn't die, though. I sort of wish Sheriff Stilininski had been the one to save him, just because if Stiles is the worst, Sheriff's the best and I love their dynamic -- and Melissa knows he knows about the supernatural stuff (sort of). But I suppose it makes more sense that the FBI could finagle his way into the school over the local sheriff.

 

The tea, I think, is one of those things I just have roll with. Does it make sense? Not really. Do I care? Not really. And Bobby! I'm always happy when Coach is in an episode, and I was super worried they were going to kill him off.

 

As for Malia and her Hale heritage, I'm really intrigued by it. I don't feel like anything's been contradicted, it's just been a really slow play. All we really know is that Talia stole those memories from Peter and Malia grew up as Malia Tate (maybe with her real mother, maybe with an entirely adopted family) before shifting in a vehicle at some point. I don't remember if it was confirmed that she killed her family (minus not!daddy), escaped the car and lived in the woods as a coyote, or if there was a wreck (that maybe she caused) that killed them and then she lived in the woods as a coyote, but it just seems to me that whatever Talia's reasoning was for taking the memory of her from Peter, that's going ot be the key to everything.

 

And I'm psyched that we might finally get to explore that.

[ElleryAnne]

I was disappointed in this ep.  Maybe my hopes were too high because it looked from the previews like it would be exciting, but it was ultimately a letdown.  

 

I think the whole episode relied on too many coincidences or miracles to make it work.  Lydia's mom just happens to recognize that a rash is so dangerous it requires the CDC (!!!) to be called in.  When the pack needs a place to hide, they happen to realize that the Hale vault is likely to have a second entrance in the school, and they find it, and they happen to have a handy-dandy Hale with extended claws to let them into it.  Later, Satomi and Derek happen to have a conversation about rare tea in front of Deaton, and Deaton happens to realize that that particular rare tea is also an antidote to the illness, and Derek just happens to remember that there's a stash of that same rare tea and it happens to be in the vault that the kids happen to be hiding in.  And Rafe just happens to get to Stiles just in time to save him from this week's random assassin and to tell Stiles about the tea that happens to be in the vault and Stiles happens to get to the vault just in time to warn Scott, whose vision problems happen to let him see the extra-shiny jar that Kira happened to notice and he happens to knock it over and the dried tea happens to fill the vault enough to cure everyone, and coincidentally everyone else who was sick in the school just happens to get better just before the top of the hour so everyone can go about the rest of their day.  The sad thing is, I think I missed a couple of coincidences in that mix.

 

Rafe shoots a guy in the head so there's an exit wound in the front, but the bullet didn't hit Stiles.  How lucky.

 

I can't give a flying fig about Malia and her problems.  She's taking PSAT"s with other kids, only a few weeks into her first year back at school after nearly a decade?  That's idiotic.  I mean, her being in school at all is idiotic, but even if it's fanwanked into her having a private tutor on the side, that doesn't mean she takes PSAT's already.  

 

And I guess she hasn't been paying attention, if she thinks her being worth 4 million means the assassins will all go after the others first.  Some of the assassins have been going after the lower-priced targets first, so she's not out of danger. 

 

And am I supposed to care about the father reveal?  Maybe I would if the show had taken the time to show her re-adjusting to living with the other guy who's supposed to be her father.  But no, we haven't gotten anything like that this season.  For all we know, she ate him and hid his bones.  But I guess we're supposed to feel for her being mad at Stiles for keeping that a secret - that would explain the slo-mo walk at the end.  But I can't care about that, because Stalia is still creepy.  And can Stiles please stop apologizing for her?  It's not funny for a guy to apologize all the time for the girl he's supposedly trying to shape into an acceptable person.  (Yeesh, that relationship still is very unpleasant.)

 

Kira, um... she was there.  Her hair looked pretty?  IDK, they don't seem to know what to do with her lately.  I like her, but sometimes she just shows up and smiles and she's pretty and it's like they're not sure what else to do.  That could be because they're trying to juggle too many other random new characters, though.  They're spreading their limited storyline effort too thin.  That's hurting a lot of the characters this season, including some of the ones who've been around from the start.  

 

Braeden - I like her.  I want to like her and Derek, because I love Derek and like Braeden and would like Derek to have someone in his life who isn't going to either use him or die.  But  there's no chemistry there.  They're pretty together, but I just can't get invested in anything happening with them.

 

Stiles and Scott talking about the money - does Stiles really want to give Derek some of the money but not Peter?  Or is he just trying to rationalize a way to keep some of it for himself?  

 

 

Alright, so I did like some stuff:

 

Deaton fighting in the rain?  Yeah, Seth Gilliam is hot.  I didn't realize how much so until that scene.

 

Derek coming in from the rain carrying Braedon?  Yummy.  If nothing else, this show does deliver the eye-candy moments.

 

Lydia going through Meredith's things and apologizing to her was lovely.  I'm still mad at the show for killing Meredith off the way they did, but I felt for Lydia trying to cope.  (And my heart broke over the note on Meredith's box.)  I think the whole "I hear dead people" stuff is wearing a bit thin, but HR is really selling those scenes.

 

Coach survives again.  Yay!  Also, interesting tidbit that he's been sober for 15 years.  I wonder if we'll revisit that in the future.

 

 

I love Lydia's mom and Susan Walters.  I'm glad she got an episode where she had something to do, and we got a glimpse of her as a nice person in her reaction to Coach.   I just wish she and Linden had gotten some scenes together.

 

It sounded like Scott wanted to give the money to Derek.  Kudos, because I was afraid the show was going to have him be willing to keep it, and that would have disappointed me greatly.

 

Saving the best for last:  Satomi!  The fact that an older woman got to be a total BAMF saved the episode for me.  Nice of Derek to try to jump in front of her when the bullet was fired, but she didn't need anyone's help.  For a second I was afraid she was going to turn around and Derek would be lying on the floor bleeding, but luckily he was fine.  I would like to dump most of the newbies and just keep Satomi around.   She can act as Derek's mentor while he's acting as Scott's.  

 

 

Question:  Will Lydia or Stiles bother to tell Derek that his name is the third cypher key and that he might be dying soon?  For that matter, did Stiles mention it to Scott when they were talking about the money?

 

 

A+ to Agent McCall for saving Stiles (not going to lie, I hoped it would be Coach, but I guess FBI with a gun makes more sense), and for doing what it takes to save Scott, even if he doesn't understand what it all means.

 

 

Oh, I would've loved if it had been Coach! :)  (Or Natalie - if she turned out to be a badass with a gun, it could hint at backstory that would explain her calling the CDC.)  I don't mind that it was Rafe, though.  FBI thing aside, Rafe needs a bit of character redemption and this helps him.  

 

 

TW has always been a fan of the slowmo but this episode went crazy with it.

 

 

Every time they use it, I want to slap the director with a wet noodle. 

 

 

I thought they might be going somewhere interesting with Kira reacting to the virus differently but no kitsunes are last year's toy, Davis has Malia now.

 

 

The way they hinted at it when her dad mentioned the neurological impact, I thought so too.  But apparently all Kira's good for now is static electricity.  My opinion of Davis steadily declines.

[Yitzhak]

 

Question:  Will Lydia or Stiles bother to tell Derek that his name is the third cypher key and that he might be dying soon?

 

I was predicting last week that this rather important piece of information would either not be passed on or just be forgotten. I mean, okay, Stiles was trapped in the quarantine (though he could have still told Scott) but Lydia spent most of the episode brooding in the lake house, blaming herself for Meredith's death, yet doing nothing to warn the person whose death she'd just predicted with her Banshee powers. I'm really hoping Lydia will get to do something significant in S4 - like be the one to figure out who the Benefactor is - because they are still stuck on Lydia's Banshee powers being confusing and ineffectual. Especially when Lydia doesn't even communicate what she learns through her "feelings".

 

Another question: Will Agent McCall be brought into the supernatural secrets club now? In this episode they didn't even bother to disguise that they weren't telling him the full story. Or will Agent McCall be forgotten next episode too?   

Edited August 5, 2014 by Yitzhak

[lion10]

Every time they use it, I want to slap the director with a wet noodle.

The way they hinted at it when her dad mentioned the neurological impact, I thought so too. But apparently all Kira's good for now is static electricity. My opinion of Davis steadily declines.

IA with the slow mo. Someone needs to tell Jeff that scenes are sometimes more impressive by virtue of how fast they happen. That goes double for fight scenes, which tbh is half the reason I watch Teen Wolf.

And when are going to see from Force Lightning from Kira?! Bonus points if her eyes glow while she does it. I know Jeff's holding out on us.

[blueray]

A+ to Agent McCall for saving Stiles (not going to lie, I hoped it would be Coach, but I guess FBI with a gun makes more sense

 

I thought that too, it would have been awesome.

 

Anyhow, I enjoyed the episode. I loved Stiles not giving up his friends and not really showing fear about having a gun to his head. I liked all the parents in this episode, it was nice that the acknowledge that Kira's dad is in the know. I also felt a bit sad at the end when Malia figures out what they were lying about.

 

I was a bit confused about what Lydia figured out and why no one seemed to care that she wasn't taking the test. Was this addressed?

 

I didn't really care about Derek and whatever her name is, but that's okay.

[galax-arena]

I hope Malia freezes out the others for a while. I understand the others’ reluctance considering Peter is Peter, but it was seriously not their call to make.

[bettername2come]

I was a bit confused about what Lydia figured out and why no one seemed to care that she wasn't taking the test. Was this addressed?

 

I think they said she had taken it the year before.

 

loved Stiles not giving up his friends and not really showing fear about having a gun to his head.

 

I loved that Stiles was totally showing fear. Yes, he turned around and faced his would-be killer, but he was shaking and had tears in his eyes during the countdown. It was bravery not fearlessness.

 

Rafe shoots a guy in the head so there's an exit wound in the front, but the bullet didn't hit Stiles.  How lucky.

 

This did not even occur to me until I read it. Seriously where'd the bullet go?

Edited August 5, 2014 by bettername2come

[galax-arena]

I loved that Stiles was totally showing fear. Yes, he turned around and faced his would-be killer, but he was shaking and had tears in his eyes during the countdown. It was bravery not fearlessness.

Same here, I loved that moment. Stiles was totally afraid and showing it, but he still refused to back down. I think I would have rolled my eyes if he had just stood there completely fearless and full of it; talk about a “defiant to the end” cliché. He’s still a kid, about to be executed, of course he’d be afraid.

 

I tend to admire bravery a lot more than fearlessness in general. 

[Bruinsfan]

It sounded like Scott wanted to give the money to Derek.  Kudos, because I was afraid the show was going to have him be willing to keep it, and that would have disappointed me greatly.

Really, the solution to their money woes would be to return the half-million to Derek ASAP and then sheepishly ask about a finder's fee. 1% of that amount would probably take care of any overdue electric and mental hospital bills the pair have, and it's not as if a guy who was fine living in a burned-down ruin and an abandoned train station has a jet-set lifestyle that would require him to be miserly.

[bluebonnet]

I'm actually surprised that Malia didn't come up in the money talk.  Because as Peter's daughter, they might have considered that some of that money technically or morally belonged to her.  

[wayne67]

I think this episode killed the last remaining shred of affection I had for the show. I spent most of the episode hoping that all the werewolves would just die off so the more interesting stories of Derek and crazy Uncle Peter training up Liam and Brett and telling Jordan that he's a ... would be explored at long last.

 

The nonsense of this episode

With the magic tea that Scott finds because it was glowing for some reason.

Stiles lying about Malia's parentage as if he had the right to keep his girlfriend in the dark about that. Especially frustrating since he was the one saying he felt guilty about it a few episodes ago when he was talking about the morning after scratches/bruises/whatevers.

There was also a noteable lack of Liam . Does he not go to the school any more ? Is he not a werewolf that might have been infected.

No mention by Scott about his vow to keep everyone alive after hearing about an entire pack being killed.

I was waiting for Derek to go to his vault and pick up the magic tea which somehow immunises against weaponised wolf virus. Ignoring that Deaton/ this show seem to not realise that innoculations are not the same thing as a cure.

The super cheesy Matrix bullet dodging. Seriously she could have simply thrown her dagger thing at the assassin. What is up with this hospital that gun fire doesn't warrant any attention from anyone.

Where is Kate ?

Agent McCall shooting someone in a locker room from behind without identifying himself as police or presumably seeing the gun the assassin was holding due to vantage points. Also WTH was up with shooting someone in the head where a second of movement could kill the person they're threatening. Not to mention a single death spasm would have caused Assasin guy to shoot Stiles. Then he just lets a witness wander off without finding out any details about why he was being threatened by a random guy with a gun or checking for injuries.

Edited August 6, 2014 by wayne67

[bettername2come]

There was also a noteable lack of Liam . Does he not go to the school any more ? Is he not a werewolf that might have been infected.

 

This one made sense. It's a Saturday and the characters were only there to take the PSATs which freshman don't take. But yeah to the rest of your post.

Edited August 6, 2014 by bettername2come

[wayne67]

Which would explain Liams absence from the school DURING the test but you'd think he'd spend 5 seconds talking to Lydia about that guy who rescued him from a well last episode. Or maybe wanting to be included in the whole let's figure out whats killing werewolf thing.

It's not so much that he had to have a lot of screen time in the episode but I would have settled for a 3 second text message displayed on screen from Scott to Liam going...

Scott: infectious werewolf poision at school. Hide. Assassins trying to get paid.

Liam : Okay I'm going to stay with Mason and his new bf (danny)

 

Any indication from the show that Scott turned Liam a few days ago and is now technically responsible for getting him on a supernatural kill list and showing any effort to follow through with his promise to stop death. How about a text from Scott to Chris Argent to have him babysit Liam since there are supposedly lots of assassins looking to kill his 3 million dollar beta.

UGH. This show.

*sigh*

[blueray]

I got the impression that Lydia wasn't talking to anyone, she was grieving Maridith and trying to figure things out.

 

They didn't have their phones, at least at first, I can't remember if they got them back or not. But I imagine that Scott if anything told Liam to stay away from the school, which I'm sure he had no problem with.

[Whimsy]

While I agree that this show has (a lot of) problems, I don't particularly blame the writers for not including a quick text message exchange between characters.  There are many, many situations that a throw away line would be appreciated, but this show sucks for continuity and including characters in situations/conversations that they should be a part of so I've learned to just let it go.  ;)

 

I KIND of give a pass about telling Malia about her parentage since Scott and Stiles probably weren't sure how to even bring it up and weren't sure of her reaction.  Malia's still a little unpredictable.  She's getting better, but that's a pretty big thing to put on her.  But, having said that, I completely understand her getting upset.  It's one of those no-win situations I think.

 

My very first thought when Stiles was shot was that the bullet could've (should've, IRL) gone through to hit Stiles in the head too, so that took me way out of the scene.  I also appreciated Dylan's acting in that scene.  He was scared, but not willing to give up his friends. 

 

They have to bring Papa McCall in on the going's-on soon.  This is getting ridiculous. 

[bettername2come]

They have to bring Papa McCall in on the going's-on soon.  This is getting ridiculous.

 

Part of me wants him to know, because as you say, ridiculous. But part of me's like, no, he hasn't earned it yet. It took Mama McCall and Sheriff Stilinski multiple seasons to get there, and that was with being useful parents to their kids. I kind of want him to figure it out on his own. He's gotten enough clues that something weird is going on.

[Whimsy]

@bettername2come- I agree but I also want them to tell him because I fully expect him to be like "I know" or something along those lines.  I just don't think he can be oblivious.  Maybe I give too much credit to the FBI, but as an agent I thought he should be smarter and figure out SOMETHING strange is going on. ;)

[Yitzhak]

 

They didn't have their phones, at least at first, I can't remember if they got them back or not.

 

No they didn't get their phones back. There was a scene where Stiles tried to call his dad and he was told by the Chemist they wouldn't be any phone or wireless access because the cops would want to prevent the quarantine patients from spreading a panic. 

[Gwen-Stacys]

Which would explain Liams absence from the school DURING the test but you'd think he'd spend 5 seconds talking to Lydia about that guy who rescued him from a well last episode. Or maybe wanting to be included in the whole let's figure out whats killing werewolf thing.

It's not so much that he had to have a lot of screen time in the episode but I would have settled for a 3 second text message displayed on screen from Scott to Liam going...

Scott: infectious werewolf poision at school. Hide. Assassins trying to get paid.

Liam : Okay I'm going to stay with Mason and his new bf (danny)

 

Any indication from the show that Scott turned Liam a few days ago and is now technically responsible for getting him on a supernatural kill list and showing any effort to follow through with his promise to stop death. How about a text from Scott to Chris Argent to have him babysit Liam since there are supposedly lots of assassins looking to kill his 3 million dollar beta.

UGH. This show.

*sigh*

Their phones/wifi signals were being blocked by the CDC. Scott couldn't have called Liam if he wanted and I doubt Lydia would think to talk to him/he would talk to Lydia. She's friends with Scott, but she's one of those juniors I think most freshmen would be intimidated of.

 

My very first thought when Stiles was shot was that the bullet could've (should've, IRL) gone through to hit Stiles in the head too, so that took me way out of the scene.  I also appreciated Dylan's acting in that scene.  He was scared, but not willing to give up his friends. 

 

They have to bring Papa McCall in on the going's-on soon.  This is getting ridiculous. 

It would've been better if there was no exit wound at all. Bullet's don't always go all the way through...but JD has a flair for the dramatics

 

@bettername2come- I agree but I also want them to tell him because I fully expect him to be like "I know" or something along those lines.  I just don't think he can be oblivious.  Maybe I give too much credit to the FBI, but as an agent I thought he should be smarter and figure out SOMETHING strange is going on. ;)

I feel like they might pull another Lost Boys with Agent McCall in that he already knows/has an inkling about what's going on. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if the McCall's had a were-something in their ancestery. It'd make sense with the whole "some people turn from the bite, but others die from it." Like Derek said, some people in his family were human which would make them carriers for the Were gene (right? or am I completely forgetting everything I learned in biology?) , it would make sense for people like Isaac, Erica, Scott etc had the "furry gene" and that's why the bite took...I may be thinking about this way too much.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Gwen-Stacys

[ElleryAnne]

It honestly wouldn't surprise me if the McCall's had a were-something in their ancestery. It'd make sense with the whole "some people turn from the bite, but others die from it."

 

 

It could also help explain Scott as a True Alpha, if there's something inherited about it. 

[mac123x]

The tea, I think, is one of those things I just have roll with. Does it make sense? Not really. Do I care? Not really.

 

Magical tea curing a modified version of canine distemper didn't bother me, because, well, Magic.  Last episode they had wolfsbane poisoning being cured by cutting open Liam's chest; again, Magic. 

 

The string of events leading to the cure bothered me. 

 

1.  Satomi happened to drink this kind of tea

2.  Derek and Satomi happened to reminisce about the tea

3.  Derek or Deaton happened to make the incredible leap in logic that the tea provided her an immunity when it could have been due to hundreds of other reasons (like, she'd been exposed to a less veriulent form as a child and developed immunity as a result:  cow pox providing immunity to small pox kind of thing)

4.  Satomi happened to have given some to Talia

5.  Talia for some reason stored that tea in the secret famiy vault rather than someplace sensible like a kitchen cabinet

6.  Derek knew that the tea was in the vault, despite it being a ginormous room with lots of crap in it

7.  Papa McCall accepting a rudimentary "the tea is the cure" explanation from Melissa, invading the school in a Hazmat suit, and stumbling upon the assassin right as he's about to kill Stiles

8.  Scott actually finding the tea in that huge room and being able to cure them in time, as Malia was in the final stages of dying.

 

Miss any one of those steps and they're dead.  "A plausible impossibility is preferable to an implausible possibility" -- Aristotle, or possibly Groucho Marx

[Bruinsfan]

It seems to me that the far more likely conclusion to jump to would be that Satomi's enhanced healing abilities as an alpha would be enough to overcome the illness. (No one at Deaton's office knew at that point that Scott was exhibiting symptoms, did they? It was just a worry since he was in the quarrantined zone.)

[Slovenly Muse]

Yes, the tea being a cure was a wild leap of logic. But I'm not exactly unused to this show making no sense and barrelling on ahead anyway. As others have said, I think the most egregious offence to reason was not the tea being a cure, but the way it was figured out.

 

Satomi: Do you remember when I used to visit your mother?

Derek: I remember you bringing stinky tea.

Deaton: IT WAS THE TEA!

 

There was really nothing linking the tea Satomi used to make for EVERYONE back when Derek was a child, with her being the only one in her pack to have avoided the sickness now. I mean, if Derek had said, "I remember you wore that ugly cardigan every time you came over," they probably would have started looking for the cure at Value Village.

 

Then again, Melissa couldn't keep the lights on at home last week. It's a good thing this show has lots of shirtlessness and hot fang-on-fang action, because I sure don't watch it for the airtight storytelling!

[Gwen-Stacys]

Then again, Melissa couldn't keep the lights on at home last week. It's a good thing this show has lots of shirtlessness and hot fang-on-fang action, because I sure don't watch it for the airtight storytelling!

I thought she made a payment plan with the electric company? I thought that's what Scott was overhearing her do when he was sitting all alone in his room with the duffle bag of money.

[Yitzhak]

 

Magical tea curing a modified version of canine distemper didn't bother me, because, well, Magic.  Last episode they had wolfsbane poisoning being cured by cutting open Liam's chest; again, Magic.

 

Yeah, magical tea has still got nothing on 'Derek has been magically transformed into a teenager with his teenage memories'  or 'Scott, Stiles and Alison were dead in buckets of ice water for 16 hours but are now magically alive again'. But the string of lucky coincidences that led to them discovering the tea was the cure and that Scott had that cure at arms reach was groan inducing. I think the epidemic plotline could have been better if the distemper didn't kill the werewolves, just physically weakened them so they couldn't run or fight back when the Chemist came to finish them off with his gun. They could have still had the scariness of the epidemic and the drama with Stiles being threatened to give up his friends location without the need for a magical cure - simply have the disease be non-fatal.  

Edited August 6, 2014 by Yitzhak

[Bruinsfan]

or 'Scott, Stiles and Alison were dead in buckets of ice water for 16 hours but are now magically alive again'.

I still wish they had awakened to the sight of Deaton wearing a protective visor and coveralls with a bone saw in hand and Isaac standing in the background with shovels and garbage bags. "Oh! You're ali—awake! I mean awake! Back to Plan A it is, then."

[benteen]

The AV Club review brought up a great point.  The CDC literally shows up at Beacon Hill and quarantines it and it's still not enough to get the press down there.  The murder rate has tripled in Beacon Hill over the course of the show and we don't see  a single reporter come to town trying to find out what the hell is going on.  That could easily be a future storyline.

 

Only Papa McCall seems to realize how out of control things have gotten.

[jhlipton]

The "tea" was foreshadowed a bit by Kira's test. I paused it, and it looked like a backwards low-case "t" I wondered at the time what that meant but wasn't totally shocked by "tea"

As for everyone making a full recovery -- the virus was made for dogs and weaponized for werewolves. So the other students might get sick, but would recover just fine!

[Yitzhak]

 

Only Papa McCall seems to realize how out of control things have gotten.

 

Does he though? It remains to be seen how McCall will react to all the very suspicious things he was told and witnessed this episode. Hopefully he'll be demanding answers next week or as soon as he next appears. 

 

I really have to wonder why Melissa called Papa McCall about the antidote and not the Sheriff when he's the one who knows all about the supernatural? Maybe the writers didn't want Stilinski to be the one to save Stiles because it would've become too much of an emotional father/son moment and they needed to rush the action forward to telling Scott about the antidote. But still, logically I can't see any reason why Melissa wouldn't call the Sheriff first. But then I also can't see how McCall managed to get inside. The CDC were aware that both men were conflicted because they had children in the quarantined area, so surely they'd be watching out for them attempting to sneak into the school.   

 

Good point about the press, but I'd say it's one of those things that goes with genre of the show. I can't recall much media frenzy in Sunnydale even though its residents were murdered by vampires and demons every night.   

Edited August 7, 2014 by Yitzhak

[ElleryAnne]

As for everyone making a full recovery -- the virus was made for dogs and weaponized for werewolves. So the other students might get sick, but would recover just fine!

 

 

It was so sloppily done, though.  One minute everyone is sick, and then suddenly everyone is better, just because we'd reached the end of the episode.  And Coach - who was sick the day before - was getting well the same time everyone else was.  I'm still not sure what that was about.  Was some of the virus released the day before, and was he unconscious at the school all night?  Or was sick, but came to school earlier than everyone else, and being sick made him so susceptible that he passed out as soon as he handled the mug?  IDK.  Either way, it was odd that he was getting better the same time as everyone else.  It was also odd that the CDC, having been called in, was letting people have contact with the recently exposed so quickly, but everything about the CDC being there was weird anyway.

[Bruinsfan]

What's weird is, while I know they had to wrap up the episode in short order, there wasn't anything standing in the way of a quick fast-forward to everyone feeling better and the CDC letting quarrantined people go the following Wednesday or Thursday after they were sure the danger was past. That had to happen within a few remaining minutes in real time, but there was no need for it to happen that same Saturday within the show.