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S05.E12: Damnatio Memoriae


Snarkette

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I'm really hoping this season improves on a binge watch. Because I am so confused right now.

 

And while I've been longing for a more S1 Peter-wolf type monster (or even S2 kanima), this new/old thing is laughable so far.

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I'm really hoping this season improves on a binge watch. Because I am so confused right now.

 

Theo's pack was really confusing.  I kept saying to myself, "who was that?  oh yeah, kanima-esque girl who killed her dad or something".  I couldn't remember who the guy in the hospital was that she poisoned.  Does Theo just have 3 minions now:  kanima-girl, electro-guy and invisiboy?

 

I got a genuine laugh out of the scene at Malia's house.  "You can torture me all you want, I'll never talk!"  "How about $10k?"  "Oh, okay then."

 

I enjoyed the call backs to previous seasons, with ghost-banshee and Gerard.  Those were nice surprises, but we already know how the banshee lessons will turn out because this is all preceding the season opener scene where Lydia tries and fails to escape.

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What I loved:

Everything Stiles and Sheriff. "I have ALL your passwords." Hee!

Scott trying to make a case board and failing.

Mason.

Corey. (I was so hopeful he was going to escape the DDs last season when he turned invisible, but nope. I like that he gets a second chance.)

Interesting:

Malia and Braeden are on the hunt for the Desert Wolf, and Deaton's alive. (Although, seriously, they couldn't take a week to help with La Bête?)

Meredith is back, at least on the spiritual plane. Not sure why she's trying to help, since she tried to kill Lydia before, but okay.

Chris had the cure for Gerard all along. Not that I'm in favor of giving it to him. Ever. Dammit.

Kira is finally getting training. Though I'm not sure that I trust TW to handle Native American mythology well.

Eh to Ugh:

Everything else.

Terrible Beast CGI.

Disappointed at Tracy being completely violent. She was very sympathetic as the girl being haunted by the DDs at first. :-/

Theo has his pack attack, destroys a clue, then says, "oh, we're on the same side after this thing"? Uuuuuuuugh.

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Well, that was a typical early-season Teen Wolf mess. Except this is supposed to be halfway through the season, since their A&B plots are supposed to be tied in this year. So... this was a typical mid-season mess for Teen Wolf. And I know the bad guy in the first half is supposed to turn out to not be the real bad guy in the second. But having Theo go "oh, we're totes on the same side now" was painful. 

 

Theo has his pack attack, destroys a clue, then says, "oh, we're on the same side after this thing"? Uuuuuuuugh.

 

 

Yep. Wow. But he's still going to kill Scott because he... wait, why does he want to kill Scott? If what he wanted was a chimera pack why did he bother infiltrating Scott's pack in the first place? Oh, that's right, he wants to be an Alpha. Because there are no other Alphas he could kill to take their Alpha powers. None at all.

 

As with last episode, I spent a lot of this not knowing who anybody was or what was going on. And I still spend half my time wondering where everybody is. Like Zatomi's pack or Derek the rest of the Hunters or Scott's FBI father or...

 

But at least Argent is back and... curing the worst human being alive. One who should have been killed off by the show three seasons ago. That'll end well.

Edited by AudienceofOne
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Theo's pack was really confusing.  I kept saying to myself, "who was that?  oh yeah, kanima-esque girl who killed her dad or something".

 

See, Kanima Girl (Tracy? Is that her name?) is the only one I actually remember. I spent most of last night's episode trying to figure out who the other two were, and while I finally remembered Corey, I think, I still have no clue where Electro-Guy came from. Was he actually in 5A, or was he some unnamed chimera that got killed offscreen? Either way, I keep confusing him with Theo, and it's irritating me to no end.

Edited by Murcielago
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I think Electro Guy (Josh?) was the one coming after Stiles on the hospital roof when Theo killed him. That's when Theo gave his "I'll keep your secret (Donovan) from Scott, if you'll keep mine." Josh may have been somebody from the bi dance club? That would fit with him formerly chasing the drug high, now chasing the electricity/violence high. (And not caring that his pack leader is the one who killed him? Whatever floats your boat...) I'm with you, all the twinks look alike—at first I thought Corey showing up at the library was Josh the electricity junkie. Fortunately Corey is 100% sweetheart, so we can tell them apart by action.

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It was a pretty meh episode. I hated that Stiles forgave Scott without first telling him what an idiot he was for being a self righteous ass, believing Theo and for accusing Stiles of trusting Theo too. (Plus not getting totally weirded out when Theo was creeping on and recording his sleeping girlfriend.) The blacklight ambush scene was ridiculous -- once again a Werewolf loses his sense of hearing or smell when it's convenient to the script. 

 

Malia was great, the Sheriff was great, and I love Gerard because he's a very bad man. It was also a treat to see another Eichen nurse offering caring individual treatment.  I'm not sure how I feel about Lydia and her spirit guide. "Oh Lydia, you're so special that your 6 minutes of athletic training gave you years of experience compared to a normal human, now let me teach you how to canary cry."

 

I love Mason but given the overall threat to the town, perhaps a little less focus on his dating life might be appropriate?

 

Still, the visuals, especially of Liam and Hayden jumping across the crevasse, with the moon behind them, was amazing and I like the shadow melting away from the beast all Oni-like. (Last week's glowing metal hitting the floor was another fine effect. This show does great cinematography.)

 

Structurally, this was very similar to 5-2's Tracy ep, with watching the house, and the dead birds, and the boredom back then too. The pacing kind of sucks and I was hoping for more from the episode.

 

At least I got to see Gerard chow down on some kind of mystic edible flower (the rare Deus Ex Machina orchard) that will never be explained.

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Still, the visuals, especially of Liam and Hayden jumping across the crevasse, with the moon behind them, was amazing

 

 

This show does do visuals well. I'll give it that. It's probably why YouTube have 3000 fan videos that are in many ways superior to the show.

 

At least I got to see Gerard chow down on some kind of mystic edible flower (the rare Deus Ex Machina orchard) that will never be explained.

 

 

It was AntiMoretonAshia. Duh.

 

I love Mason but given the overall threat to the town, perhaps a little less focus on his dating life might be appropriate?

 

 

Nothing compared to the yawn fest of #Layden that they insist on shoving down our throats. Hayden is a plank and watching her "romance" with Liam is like watching moss grow on a plank. The moss is soft and pretty but that doesn't mean I want to watch it and its weird attachment to a plank.

 

Also, they've never explained why the chimeras have an attachment to Theo. It seems supernatural, almost like an "Alpha" and their pack (a phenomena that never applied to Scott anyway, but whatever) but is explained like, "Theo is the reason I'm alive and so I'm loyal to him even though he's the reason I was dead in the first place!"

 

So this Romeo and Juliet "love across the divide" thing is not working, especially when the actors don't have the chops to sell it.

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(edited)
Nothing compared to the yawn fest of #Layden that they insist on shoving down our throats. Hayden is a plank and watching her "romance" with Liam is like watching moss grow on a plank. The moss is soft and pretty but that doesn't mean I want to watch it and its weird attachment to a plank...So this Romeo and Juliet "love across the divide" thing is not working, especially when the actors don't have the chops to sell it.

 

Sprayberry works for me. Moroles doesn't. The bit where she left him with a broken back should have been hilarious. (It's like when she said "I'm vengeful". She can't sell it, she's so...mossy planky.) Edited to correct adjective

 

 

 

Also, they've never explained why the chimeras have an attachment to Theo. It seems supernatural, almost like an "Alpha" and their pack (a phenomena that never applied to Scott anyway, but whatever) but is explained like, "Theo is the reason I'm alive and so I'm loyal to him even though he's the reason I was dead in the first place!"

 

I get the sense that he actually alpha'ed them somehow and that he's better at it than Scott. But then again, I was so distracted by his hair product, his unattractive clothing, and his sudden close shaving technique that I never really thought it through entirely.

 

What is your take on the blond Cop guy? He's showing up a lot. Hunter? Monster? And did they repair the holding cell that Parrish melted already? Is there a 24-hour "Fix Your Jail" hotline?

Edited by Snarkette
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Nothing compared to the yawn fest of #Layden that they insist on shoving down our throats. Hayden is a plank and watching her "romance" with Liam is like watching moss grow on a plank. The moss is soft and pretty but that doesn't mean I want to watch it and its weird attachment to a plank.

Also, they've never explained why the chimeras have an attachment to Theo. It seems supernatural, almost like an "Alpha" and their pack (a phenomena that never applied to Scott anyway, but whatever) but is explained like, "Theo is the reason I'm alive and so I'm loyal to him even though he's the reason I was dead in the first place!"

So this Romeo and Juliet "love across the divide" thing is not working, especially when the actors don't have the chops to sell it.

 

So much YES to this. I didn't think a forced relationship could be as bad as Allison and Isaac until Layden. For the love of our eyes and sanity, make it stop. Neither of those actors have any emotive abilities that I've seen. I can't help but wish that the actor who plays Mason had been cast as Liam instead.

 

The chimera attachment to Theo is about as sensible as the ease with which Scott, Stiles and everyone else in Scott's "pack" were seduced by his charm. It's purely for plot device (and lazy device at that), though there seems to be a glitch in the system when it comes to Corey/Invisi-boy (that's a great moniker btw). He clearly has no desire to do anything other than return to his past pre-chimera life. I too thought it was weird that they brought up Mason's dating life at this juncture. I mean, it's a general rule of thumb to avoid dating zombies methinks, especially when there's a pack of murderous chimeras and a black oily/Wolf-from-Neverending-Story beast running about.

 

I really hope that the s/l with Kira is going somewhere cool. Her character and supernatural storyline have been horribly underutilized thus far.

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She can't sell it, she's so...mossy

 

 

No, she's definitely the plank. Sprayberry's the moss. Because at least the moss is growing and changing colours and does something interesting once in a while. The plank is just there - being a plank.

 

She can't sell it, she's so...mossy planky.) Edited to correct adjective

 

 

EDITED to add this acknowledgement of your edit that I can't replicate because I can't get the strikethrough to stick

Edited by AudienceofOne
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Well, that was messy. I wish they’d stop throwing dozens of snippets of storylines together in the vain hope that it will make a coherent whole.

 

I continue to find everything about Theo and his little band of merry chimeras pointless. I can barely tell the guys apart even from Theo, can’t remember from one episode to the next what powers they’re supposed to have and find everything about them so boring that I don’t even care.

 

 

Lydia’s scenes are very same-y not just this season/storyline but any scene she’s had since she became a banshee. They tend to slow everything down to a standstill, while Lydia just looks confused and scared. Also she’s supposed to be super-brainy and yet she hasn’t made any headway, or even effort, finding out about her powers until now.

 

 

Predictably I liked the Stilinski scenes, not only because Stiles and his dad are always watchable, but also because it’s one of the few relationships left that has any depth. It was a natural follow-on from what went on before and unfortunately continuity and development are all too often sorely missing on this show. Also after the sheriff in the past sometimes seemed like he was nothing but exasperated with his son, Stiles needed him to come through for him. And look, they fixed Stiles and Scott while they were at it.

 

 

Liam actually managed to be more boring than Scott, while Mason nicely held up his end by stealing every scene he was in.

 

I can take or leave Malia and Braeden (is there any hope that anyone will ask her about Derek, like ever?) but wouldn’t mind if Kira came back soon. Unfortunately her First Slayer set-up doesn’t bode well but I guess we’ll just have to suffer through it.

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I have to agree about Lydia's scenes. The thing with Lydia is that she is a very, very interesting character. I'm glad that faux!Meredith is going to teach her how to use her powers for real, because she's been stuck in a rut and only moving a couple of inches with her abilities. She has the most potential to be the most powerful, but the show utilizes her so poorly that I feel bad for Holland Roden. She gets stuck either with other guys as a love interest, or she opens her mouth and screams for a scene. She rarely does anything really useful in terms of the overall arc, not because she can't, but because they don't let her. She starts off doing something interesting, but they fizzle her out. It's really a shame, because I do like Lydia and love her progression from her season 1 self. 

 

I do love Stiles, and I love his relationship with his father. I always forget that they weren't always this close in the series. I think their discussion in the morgue is the strongest this season, although I wish they turned up the audio on Dylan O'Brien, as his dialogue was a little more difficult to understand at times. I think that the Sheriff had it right when he figured out Stiles' guilt. I do think having him forgive someone else will be helpful to let him forgive himself, thus the Scott/Stiles slow rebuilding. Clearly, both boys hold a lot of guilt within themselves so they're going to have to fix themselves ASAP so they can become stronger. Well, I'm guessing Scott's lack of healing has to do with the fact that he may not want to. 

 

And...that ends the most interesting parts of the season for me thus far. Well, actually, no. Kira's return could be interesting, but chances are it'll be a one episode thing that ends in disaster. 

 

The Liam/Hayden thing is STILL boring. I STILL don't care. I feel like they're trying to build this epic Alison/Scott 2.0 romance, but it's just not. It feels more like a failed Alison/Isaac 2.0 romance. 

 

Theo still sucks; I may like the actor, but he sucks and still looks too much like Liam and other dude. 

 

...MOUNTAIN ASHHHHHHHHHHHH. Why couldn't you stay sick? Goddamnit, Argent! If Mountain Ash Gerard doesn't end up dead by the end of the season, I'm gonna be more than annoyed.

 

Malia is more likeable now to me, but I really, really hate this Desert Wolf storyline. Like, I do not want it at all. 

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I get the feeling that the attachment to Theo by his pack isn't just an Alpha thing; there is an undercurrent of threat there. Basically, I brought you back from the dead and I can undo it as well.

The unhinged timeline from last week strikes again. All that cliffhanger of Theo and pack going to Eichen House for Lydia just to draw out Parrish was a flash-forward so we'll have to wait who knows how long for the resolution

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The thing with Lydia is that she is a very, very interesting character. I'm glad that faux!Meredith is going to teach her how to use her powers for real, because she's been stuck in a rut and only moving a couple of inches with her abilities. She has the most potential to be the most powerful, but the show utilizes her so poorly that I feel bad for Holland Roden. She gets stuck either with other guys as a love interest, or she opens her mouth and screams for a scene. She rarely does anything really useful in terms of the overall arc, not because she can't, but because they don't let her. She starts off doing something interesting, but they fizzle her out. It's really a shame, because I do like Lydia and love her progression from her season 1 self.

 

 

Agreed. Lydia had potential right from the beginning even before she became a banshee. But she’s chronically underwritten to the point where I can’t work out if Holland Roden is a one-note actress or if it’s the material. I doubt very much though that she’ll ever become really powerful because if she had the most power and we already know she has brains and ‘leadership potential’ (as established in S1), then the logical conclusion would be that she would lead the pack and what would they do with Scott then because that’s pretty much his only raison d’etre right now?

 

 

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All that cliffhanger of Theo and pack going to Eichen House for Lydia just to draw out Parrish was a flash-forward so we'll have to wait who knows how long for the resolution

Rumor has it at E5 that flash forward meets up with flashback.

Agreed. Lydia had potential right from the beginning even before she became a banshee. But she’s chronically underwritten to the point where I can’t work out if Holland Roden is a one-note actress or if it’s the material. I doubt very much though that she’ll ever become really powerful because if she had the most power and we already know she has brains and ‘leadership potential’ (as established in S1), then the logical conclusion would be that she would lead the pack and what would they do with Scott then because that’s pretty much his only raison d’etre right now?

And the pack would be better off for it, and Stydia would have happened.

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And the pack would be better off for it, and Stydia would have happened.

 

 

Lol. The pack would be better off with more or less anyone else. But Stydia is just about my least favourite pairing, partly because I don’t like the trope, partly because it would put Lydia firmly into a LI corner she’d never resurface from but mostly because I see zero chemistry between DOB and HR. The guy has chemistry of all kinds with lots of people (Posey, Hoechlin, Ashby) but in my opinion the only female he has chemistry with is Melissa Ponzio. Although that’s definitely in the eye of the beholder.

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(edited)

It would have happened, not because of chemistry, but because that's where the plot might have naturally headed after Jackson left the show and they began to build things up in 3A. Both Lydia and Stiles were on character growth arcs but then they brought in Malia and Stiles in 3B, and shoehorned in Kira for nogitsunes ( still the best plotline of the series ) and Lydia's banshee development got sidelined, her family story mostly dropped, etc. I think it would have overwhelmed Scotts story though. On teen wolf it's a given to say that they missed opportunities to create a coherent arc story.

Edited by Snarkette
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Lol. The pack would be better off with more or less anyone else. But Stydia is just about my least favourite pairing, partly because I don’t like the trope, partly because it would put Lydia firmly into a LI corner she’d never resurface from but mostly because I see zero chemistry between DOB and HR. The guy has chemistry of all kinds with lots of people (Posey, Hoechlin, Ashby) but in my opinion the only female he has chemistry with is Melissa Ponzio. Although that’s definitely in the eye of the beholder.

 

Heh, it's funny because I find Derek/Stiles my least favourite pairing. Mostly because it makes no sense to me and it's creepy, especially since Derek has stated no interest in Stiles. But hey, that is a topic for another thread! But logically, Stydia does make sense as they've shown to have their relationship grow, but it's nice to see them as friends right now. 

 

Honestly, the show drops and picks up plots so fast that a lot of potential is wasted. 

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