Teen Wolf – 3.02 – Chaos Rising – Recap & Review

‘Fools Rush In’

It’s time to talk about Teen Wolf, episode 3x02: Chaos Rising. This episode was once again written by our fearless leader Jeff Davis and yes, Russell Mulcahy returned for yet another spin in the director’s chair as well. There’s a ton of things squee about so, let’s get to it.


The Recap

We open this week’s episode with a pow wow between Allison and Lydia talking about the bruise that won’t go away and I’m thinking Allison is just using that as an excuse to talk to Scott without having to have ‘that talk’ with Scott. Meanwhile, Stiles has managed to pull Scott away from reading and one handed pull ups to party with him. The agreement is no Allison, no Lydia and try to move on.

Cut to Heather and her sassy best friend discussing the ins and outs (pardon the pun) of managing expectations of one’s first time. As Heather’s friend ask whether or not she has a target in walks Stiles who she promptly tongues down much to a slack-jawed Scott’s amazement. Heather doesn’t waste any time and lures Stiles into her fabulous wine cellar so they can be alone. Scott gets another text message (which makes for twice since the episode started and we’re only two minutes in) from Allison. Meanwhile in the wine cellar, Heather seduces Stiles in a very aggressive manner, only to be stymied by their lack of protection. Stiles gets sent off on mission to find the condoms that are in her brother’s bathroom.

Answering the question of whether or not Scott ignored that last text message, we learn no he didn’t, because who should show up to the party but Allison with Lydia in tow. She shows him the bruise that won’t go away and Scott appears to be truly perplexed and worried (as noted by the deeply furrowed brow).

Breaking up the tension of the last scene with a little comedy relief, we find a frantic Stiles running around like a chicken with its head cut rummaging around the upstairs bathroom trying to find the condoms. He finds them in a drawer but isn’t sure if they’re the kind he should be using.

Strolling around in her bare feet, Heather is starts checking out some bottles of wine while waiting for Stiles to get back from his little errand. All of the sudden the wine racks begin to shake. Then bottles begin to fall and fly off the racks. A freaked out Heather backs into the wall near a window and promptly gets abducted through said window. Stiles returns only find Heather’s shoes. But make note there’s no broken glass or spilled wine, so yeah, something fishy just went down (although I’m not sure what just yet).

But never mind all of that we are getting our first glimpse of Derek’s loft. Isaac is thinking of backing out of something as he is washed over golden sunlight while Derek assures him everything is going to be just fine. Derek, why don’t I believe you? They talk about trusting ‘him’ and liking ‘him’. I assume they’re talking about Peter aka Uncle Douchey and I’m right. Peter stops by to the special alpha thing that Derek doesn’t know how to do: extracting memories with his claws. He says it could paralyze someone and even kill them. Peter assures Isaac he’s never paralyzed someone (but could have quite possibly killed someone) and Isaac tries to ask about that fact but not before Peter jams his claws into his neck. Peter’s eyes go that beautiful glow of blue and we see into his mind eye a foggy, murky muddle of memories. The only thing that can clearly be made out is Deucalion. The process leaves Peter a bit shaken. We do get something to go however. Deucalion plans on killing by the next full moon, which leaves then until the next night to figure everything out.

Later on, at school, in an empty classroom, we see Allison, Lydia, Scott, Stiles and Derek all conversing about that stupid bruise that just won’t go away. Derek is skeptical and Lydia has a small bout of turrets when she accuses Allison of displaying subset symptoms of apophenia. Derek is annoyed (and you can tell by his locked jaw and folded arms) that he has to be in a room with a hunter who shot his pack with arrows and the girl that resurrected his crazy uncle. Stiles breaks the tension by reminding him that no one was killed only maimed and in Beacon Hills that’s a good day. After telling the girls just how he feels about them he storms off, Scott tries to smooth things over but Derek suggests that Scott tell Allison what her mother was actually up to the night she got bit. This is followed by a brief scene in the hallway where Smart!Stiles is on the case and wants to talk about motive for the Alpha Pack’s abduction of Boyd and Erica. Scott senses the Alpha Twins as they go by and Stiles continues has train of thought. He ponders if they’re recruiting Derek, since he’s an alpha.

I guess since they didn’t have time in the premiere for Coach Finstock, this episode would as good a time as any for his season 3 debut. This semester he’s teaching Introduction to Business and they are going to start with learning about the stock market. The coach proposes a question to the class and Scott raises his hand to answer but coach thinks he needs to go to the bathroom. Scott says he knows the answer and indeed he does. This impresses the coach.He needs a quarter. Stiles is sure he has one and indeed he does but as searches his pocket a condom falls to the ground. Coach picks it up and congratulates him as he takes the quarter. He wants to demonstrate a risk versus reward simulation and decides to go with playing quarters (without the alcohol of course). Stiles gets pulled out by his dad to answer some questions about a Heather who is missing as Scott eavesdrops with his wolf hearing.

After that, we come to Allison and Lydia in the library. Allison is doing research on that bruise that won’t go away and Lydia is ogling the Alpha Twins. She says she wants one and makes her way over to the straight one because the gay one has set his sights on Danny. Allison looks at a cup and gets a breakthrough, maybe it isn’t a symbol at all perhaps it’s a logo.

Presumably after Coach Finstock’s class, Scott and Stiles talk about Heather and whether or not the Alpha Pack took her. All they both know is that need to find the Alpha Pack’s lair and quick and Scott knows just the person to help, Deaton. Cut to Derek, Scott and Stiles filling a metal tub with ice as Isaac and Deaton talk about what’s going to happen. Derek reminds Isaac that he doesn’t have to do it if he doesn’t want to but he does and strips off his shirt (guess, who’s been working out) and jumps into the ice bath. Scott and Derek put him under and Deaton talks to him. A spontaneous thunderstorm breaks out for now reason other than to the atmosphere. Isaac remembers the place where Boyd and Erica are being held. The lights flicker as Isaac freaks out. He finally calms down and is able to remember everything. When he comes out of the trance the only thing he doesn’t remember is saying he saw Erica’s dead body.

Derek is in denial about Erica being dead (as the alpha that sired her shouldn’t he felt it or something?). Which brings up the question of if Erica is dead, who was in the vault with Boyd? Scott thinks it could be the girl on the motorcycle but Isaac says she’s not like them. Stiles thinks that maybe Erica and Boyd were pitted against each other like some kind of werewolf Thunderdome and little bickering fest breaks out and the only consensus that can be achieved is agreement that they need a plan. Never fear, Stiles to the rescue on that front. He assures Derek that can they come up with a plan to break into a vault in 24 hours; actually he’s pretty sure it will only take a few minutes thanks to the internet. Ten hours later Scott and Stiles have zilch but a handy dandy news clipping shows that Sheriff Stilenski arrested the robbers, which means Stiles can find out exactly what happened (why he didn’t ask his dad about that in the first place, I’ll never know).

In a time sucking filler scene Allison and Lydia arrive at school, STILL talking about the bruise that won’t go away and how Allison cracked the case. Allison tells Lydia she can’t drive her home because she has something to do as she grabs her purse out of her trunk which was right on top of her handy dandy bolt cutters. As the girls walk by the boys, the camera zooms in on Scott and Stiles and they’re talking about their plan.

Later that night, Allison can be seen breaking into the bank while the boys gather at Derek’s loft to discuss the details of the plan. Stiles starts to talk about drill bits and Derek tells him he can punch the wall. Stiles doubts his ability to do so and Derek punches his hand and Stiles retracts his doubt. Derek wants to know who’s coming with him and Peter bows out and Isaac isn’t fully recovered. That just leaves Scott. Peter outlines all the reasons they shouldn’t do it. Scott gives the only reason they should. He’s pretty sure Erica is dead so he focuses on who the other girl could possibly be. Just as he ponders that, we see the audience, see Boyd locked in the vault with a girl who is definitely not Erica.

Allison is still wandering around the bank when she gets accosted by Ms. Morell, who tells her to hide in a closet and not come out until she hears the fighting. She gets to her hiding spot in the nick of time because who should come strolling along but half of the Alpha Back. Kali (Ms. Loves to walk around barefoot) stops at the storage room door for a brief moment. It appears she smells something. But Allison pours out some ammonia to mask her scent and Kali is on her merry little way. Allison begins to inspect the storage room and discovers she is not alone. There is a corpse in there with her. It looks like Erica but it could be Heather as well. If I were to go with a theory based on decomposition, I’d say Erica.

While all this is going down, back a t Derek’s loft Stiles is standing in the moonlight waxing on about wracked nerves to an annoyed Peter. Stiles' manic train of thought leads him down an interesting rabbit hole about why the Alpha Pack is using the bank to hold Boyd and Erica hostage, which in turn gets Peter’s mind turning about what the vault is made of. Scott’s wheels are turning as well and decides to school Derek about risk versus reward. Derek states that he knows what he’s risking and it’s worth it but doesn’t blame Scott if he doesn’t follow. Scott does follow, duh! Peter searches the materials sheets and discovers the vault’s walls are made of some stone that keeps a werewolf from turning on the full moon.

Right after we learn that little fun fact, Derek crashes through the vault with Scott in tow and they discover an unresponsive Boyd. Scott actually answers when Stiles calls him and a good thing too because this information is very important. But it falls on Derek’s deaf ears because he see his little sister Cora and Scott notices the vault is lined with mountain ash and who should be completing the circle, Ms. Morell of course and if that isn’t enough we see her escorting Deucalion away. Allison hears her cue and comes out of hiding. She stumbles upon the fight, sees that Boyd is really hurting Scott and decides to break the circle of mountain ash. Allison and Derek get into an argument and Derek finally forces Scott to Allison the truth about what happened with her mother.

But they’re going to save that conversation for next week because we’re going to end on Lydia screaming her lungs out.

The Review

Stuff I Liked
• Coach Finstock makes a hilariously triumphant return.
• Another Greenberg shout out! Quick aside: In case you’re wondering, we might not ever find out who this guy is and if we do, it’ll be in one of the following ways: graduation, Greenberg gets killed or the very last episode of Teen Wolf. Jeff Davis just thought it would be funny to create a character that was never seen on screen.
• Peter Hale aka Uncle Douchey, I’m not even sorry a little. Peter plus Stiles equals all aces in my books.
• Cheesy 80’s movie reference? Check, in the form of Thunderdome.
• Way to go MTV, you only played 6 songs this week! That’s almost half of what you did last week.
• The shot of Isaac floating to the surface in ice bath.
• The shot of Isaac bathing in the sunlight at Derek’s loft.

Favorite Moments
1. Scott and Stiles Brotp high five after agreeing it’s time to move on.
2. Scott’s face when watching Heather kiss Stiles.
3. Isaac grabbing Scott’s wrist when he was feeling panicked
4. Derek punching Stiles’ hand
5. Stiles snapping the latex glove on while the others prep the ice bath for Isaac

Favorite Lines
1. Derek: We don’t like you. [Dramatic Pause] Now, shut up and help us.
2. Coach Finstock: Wow, who are you and what have done to McCall? No, don’t answer that, I like you better. I like you better.
3. Danny: Coach, it’s not a pop quiz if you tell us about it.
4. Coach Finstock: Greenberg, put your hand down, you don’t have a chance.
5. Isaac: It’s safe though, right?
Deaton: Do you want me to answer honestly?
Isaac: No. No, not really.
6. Stiles: Can someone kill him again, please?
7. Peter: There werewolves not Bond villains.

Favorite Scenes
1. Isaac and Derek talk about not trusting and liking Peter
2. Learning about the stock market with Coach Finstock
3. Allison and Lydia in the library.
4. Peter and Stiles alone at Derek’s loft.

Fan Girl Moment – Isaac takes his shirt off. My twitter exploded at that exact moment so I’d be remissed to not mention it.

Stuff I Didn’t Like
• Derek Hale you know nothing, not even some things, just worse alpha ever. You were born not bitten Derek, get your stuff together, man.
• What’s so terrible about being a 17 year old virgin? Would you rather be an 18 year old mom?
• Ending on Lydia screaming, are you serious? Are you sure that’s what you wanted to do?
• Again with the werewolf woman’s wolf paws. Just no. I will never be OK with that.

Miscellaneous

• Wait, there’s another high school in Beacon Hills? I bet it’s one of those fancy, high dollar, private schools.
• Derek’s loft, I like it. It’s filled with beautiful golden light during the daytime and is dark and creepy and poorly lit at night, which makes it feel like season 1 of Supernatural. I rather liked the exterior shot of the loft as well.
• Apparently, the girl who rescued Isaac wasn’t a werewolf? He said she wasn’t like them. So either she is a hunter or a different kind of shapeshifter. I better get this question resolved by the end of the first half of this season, or so help me…


My ‘Oh Hon’ moment of the episode
You know I couldn’t resist this one: Allison typed ‘Beacon Hills business logo’s.’
Also she was looking at a website called ‘Ancient Symbols’ and used the search engine QuikLookUp’.

Burning Questions
1. So, was Heather under some weird wolf bane induced hallucination or what? Remember we did not see the broken wine bottle glass on the floor when Stiles returns with the prophylactic.
2. We can all agree that what had Peter Hale visibly shaken when extracting memories was his seeing Cora, right?
3. Was that Erica or it Heather? As, I said in the recap, if we go by decomposition it HAD to be Erica but this is Teen Wolf so one can never really be too sure of anything. They both have a very similar physical stature or at least to me they do.
4. Seriously, what the heck is going on with Lydia? I have a crack pot theory that I may or may not share next week. But feel free to share yours if you have any in the comments below.
5. What is Ms. Morell aka The Guidance Counselor up to exactly and is Deaton in on her plan or pawn in her game? We know she intentionally lied to Allison when she was researching the kanima. So I’m just going to go ahead and put a mark down in the evil column for her.
6. Is it just me or does it feel like Scott should actually be the alpha of Derek’s pack? Everyone seems to trust, like, respect, and look up to Scott more than Derek. Case and point, Isaac grabs Scott wrist for comfort when he’s panicking.
7. Was I the only one who didn’t hear Isaac say Erica was dead while he was in his trance? I swear I watched that scene twenty times and miss it. Even my closed caption didn’t catch that.

Grade: B+. Don’t bite my head off or anything but I feel like this was a transition episode. It’s setting everything up for the rest of the season so obviously it needed a lot ‘talking and standing around’ scenes. But I’m an action kind of gal. What saves the episode from being meh, was the humor, small moments (courtesy of whom else but Stiles) and a few visually stunning shots. Oh yes, and the hope that we have found a member of the Hale family that doesn’t have the douche gene. Cora, girl, you better not disappoint.

Feel free to sound off in the comments and let me know what you think about this little recap and review.