Teen Wolf - Time of Death - Recap / Review
Aug 18, 2014
DH Reviews Teen WolfPreviously - Scott roared, Benefactor exposited, dead Meredith was in Lydia's lake house, FedDad (formerly DoucheDad) saved Stiles, and Malia learned about Peter despite Stiles hiding it from her. It rocked.
Over in Supernatural Crime Squad Central, Stiles tosses and turns hopefully from a guilty conscience for not telling Malia the truth. I have little sympathy for him right now. He flashes back to Malia sleeping soundly in his bed. Apparently he used to sleep in the middle but with Malia there, it's not an option. Of course she could sleep in her own freaking house. Just saying. He completely douches out by waking her. No wonder she kept scratching him. I'd bloody his nose. You don't get between a girl and her sleep time. Malia cares not one jot about invading his personal space and rolls back over. They snuggle side-by-side with her head on his shoulder but he's still not in the middle. Malia suggests spooning (by name even though it's not a vocab term coyotes likely hear often) with Stiles as the big spoon but that puts his arm to sleep. Next it's back-to-back. Stiles: "Well I don't like this." Malia: "I'm going to kill you." And no one would blame you, Malia. He apologizes and stares adorably at her so she decides to be the big spoon. Rather forcibly. Ha! Stiles: "I think this is good. Yeah this is good." Now wait a minute. Foul on that play. You are all into this position so no fair whining about it to Scott a few episodes ago. Sad Stiles awakes and realizes Malia is not in bed with him. He looks all woebegone alone in the middle of his bed. Good. One because he deserves to be dumped. Two because they are in freaking high school. Having to worry about what position to sleep in with your significant other is a problem for much later in life.
FedDad has much bigger worries though, like explaining why he shot Evil Scientist in the head with Stiles' head right next to him. He records his statement while Scott werelistens and we get a recapitation. Better than the yellow vomit from last week's recap. FedDad finishes and tells Scott he'll miss the first lacrosse game as he has to make an incident report in San Fran. Scott is fine; FedDad is not; I'm bored with endless apologies. Just pay for the darn electricity already. Scott looks at his gun in the evidence bag and FedDad assures him that he had to kill Evil Scientist. On first watch I had no idea why they had this conversation when it was obvious Stiles would be dead without him. Afterwards I realized it was an anvil dropping. Nice soft approach, Teen Wolf. Scott asks if he's killed before and the answer is twice, but it's never easy. Scott is so going to be forced to kill someone this season. No way this episode brings it up 19 trillion times if he doesn't. To belabor the point, Scott asks how FedDad deals but his coping mechanism of getting stone cold drunk is probably not the best. Compartmentalizing and logic is the new plan. Scott and FedDad hug and I let an awww slip out. I swear I'm getting soft these days, but I'm inching toe by toe into tolerating FedDad's presence on this show. Now go to San Fran and give me Mama McCall time. But not before telling Scott the jig is up. FedDad: "One more thing. When I do come back, we have to talk about some stuff. You and your friends, the way you guys handle things. It doesn't seem to faze you like it should. It's think you guys know something I don't. When I get back, I'd like to be in the know." Scott's "oh no" face would give it away if FedDad wasn't already suspicious. I don't care if I eventually grow apathetic to you FedDad, you don't get in on the secret this easily. Just no.
Speaking of secrets, Scott and Stiles must have spent some of Peter's money to supply them all with Macs given the pandemic financial difficulties in Beacon Hills these days. They talk about "doing it" tonight so based on 4 years of Teen Wolf, "it" must be a spectacularly bad plan. The fact that Liam thinks it's too bat-guano crazy doesn't bode well either. Liam: "But isn't it kind of dangerous?" Stiles: "Yeah, it's incredibly dangerous and borderline idiotic." Liam: "Have you guys done something like this before?" Stiles: "Something dangerous or something idiotic?" Kira: "I think it's a yes to both." Yeah, a definite, emphatic both to yes. Run while you still can, Liam, because this is the norm. Scott says he can back out. Liam: "I'm not scared." Stiles: "Well then you're borderline idiotic." Again, no borderline here. I do snicker at Stiles' wink. Not reassuring at all. Stiles questions the logic of the plan so even worse. I question why Lydia isn't here because she's usually the voice of reason. Plus, I miss her actually working WITH the pack instead of parallel to them. Basically the plan is to kill Scott and make the Benefactor come to them for visual proof. Oh where do I begin? Facepalm and deep sigh. Liam's hot dad is a small balm to my frayed nerves already but given he's the ER doctor on shift when Scott comes in, it's his job to pronounce Scott dead. Time of death - 9:02 pm. (I have no idea why the defibrillators didn't work though, given that Kira does the same thing they do.) Even worse, he has to tell Melissa that Scott's dead. Sucks to be him. Sucks to be Melissa more, whose screams break the hospital quiet. What the hell? They didn't tell her the plan? No freaking way Scott would hurt his mama like that. Foul on that play! All kudos to Melissa Ponzio here. Best acted scene of the night and possibly the season.
Apparently MamaFox knew though. Flashing back a few minutes earlier, Kira and she look over Scott while Liam again questions this idiotic plan. How in the world did Angry Blond become the voice of reason? Kira asks Scott to reassure Liam but Scott understands she really wants reassurance herself. Scott tells her he'll be alright. Aww. I swear this episode's in an alternative timeline, because main characters are ticking me off but for some reason I like Kira, Liam, and MamaFox here. Crazy Opposite Day shenanigans. Liam asks MamaFox if she's done this before but she's only seen it, which isn't even close. Kira: "Mom, you're not inspiring confidence." Mama Fox: "Good. This is a terrible idea." Oh MamaFox, if you only knew the other heart-stoppingly stupid plans they've carried out. Teen armored truck heist, anyone? Kira threatens to go ahead without her, so she gives directions. Basically Kira electrocutes Scott's heart…but not before he asks what'll happen. MamaFox says it'll feel like dreaming, whether those dreams are good or bad depends on him. From Scott's reaction, he knows it'll be bad because dude, it's Beacon Hills. Nothing goes well there. We both sigh as Kira juices him. Back in the present, Mama McCall wipes her eyes and breathes deeply, entering the morgue. "I still hate this plan. I mean this is pretty significantly terrifying. He looks dead." Team Flashback plus Stiles circles an unconscious Scott. I'm so glad they told her. Now she's the one I want to Gibbs-smack. How could you let Scott go through with this? MamaFox tries to reassure her that Scott's indeed alive, but she looks to Stiles first. He puts his hand on her back and says it's okay to give MamaFox her hand. Awww. I love Stiles and Mama McCall scenes. With MamaFox's help, she feels Scott's sluggish heartbeat. They have 45 minutes to find the Benefactor before Kira must revive Scott or he dies for real. Say what? Guess you neglected to mention that part to Mama. Devil's in the details. I'm back to wanting to Gibbs smack everyone. If I were her, I'd demand Kira bring my child back right now! After all, they only have to keep Scott hidden to perpetuate the myth that he's dead. Why not?
Over in Derek "I used to be a multimillionaire but live like the homeless" Hale's loft, Braeden (aka Mystery Motorcycle Chick) wakes to find herself in the bed and Derek on the couch. What a gentle…hey, wait a minute. Derek has a bed AND a couch. Honey, you're supposed to splurge before being robbed. Braeden tiptoes over to look at Derek's wound, waking him. Derek: "What are you doing?" Braeden: "Protecting my investment." Ha! Love the return to previous dialogue these days. She asks why Derek's not healing but he hedges. "Some wounds take longer." Braeden: "And some leave scars, but not for people like you so what's going on?" When he can't wolfeye, she knows something's up and demands the truth. Argent, on the other hand, demands payment. Stiles and he argue over a message to the Benefactor to tell him Scott's dead. Stiles: "That's your assassin speak?" Argent: "I said he's dead. What more do you want?" Stiles: "Well it's a little dry. You could have said something like target has been neutralized. You know, the crow flies at midnight. That's always cool." Oh Stiles, no more spy shows for you. The Benefactor wants visual confirmation but Argent says it's impossible since the police are transferring his body in 40 minutes. Nothing like cutting it close. What if the Benefactor doesn't live in Beacon Hills? What if he's on vacation? What if he has car trouble? Have I mentioned just how badly this plan sucks yet? Well I'm going to about 29 more times. One for every minute this episode has left. I do adore Argent and Stiles silently fighting over the laptop though. They need more scenes together. It reminds me of the Supernatural pilot and makes me laugh right until Argent gets tough. He tells the Benefactor if he doesn't get his payment, Argent is coming after him. I'd be worried, Benefactor. If looks could kill…just saying.
Braeden and Derek share much different looks as she patches him up. She tells him to watch for infection and the conversation naturally leads to…arm wrestling? Huh? Whatever. It's all foreplay. Braeden wins by punching Derek right in his wound. Braeden: "When you're human facing off against the supernatural, you need to bend the rules a little bit. I'm going to teach you how to bend." The subtext alone makes me long for a wolfsbane emetic, Day-Glo yellow or black. Thankfully it's back to Argent tapping the hospital security system so Stiles can front a telecommunications base for this brain dead scheme on a hospital bed. Argent, I know you can create better plans than this. Why not take lead here and teach them to strategize? No? Now I need aspirin. So might Scott with all his weirdo dreams. He "wakes" in the morgue drawer and in a scene reminiscent of Kate, climbs his way out. He's happily less werejag crazy though. As he walks down the hallway, Liam throws a ball at Scott in full Nike-endorsed lacrosse uniform. Got to keep those sponsors happy. How about keeping me happy? Liam for the first of 52 times: "That's why you're team captain." After that terrible tryout, I'm surprised Scott and Stiles are even still on the team. Just saying. Scott follows Liam into a classroom with a super cool 180-spin effect. He finds a dead pool code and types his own name as the cipher key. Up pops No Mouth, Crazy Teen Assassin, Blond Assassin, and Evil Scientist. Ha! I like this list so much better. Scott, not so much. He doesn't want to kill but Liam insists because he's the alpha. Scott starts the season 1 motto about being predators not killers. Problem is he can't get the "don't have to kill" part out. Another dead motto as No Mouth attacks Liam with the hatchet as Scott watches.
Malia might wish she was in a nightmare as she ignores Stiles' phone calls and walks into the Hale family vault. Peter as daddy is no dream come true, which he proves when he walks in on her opening the family safe by tearing off the handle. Peter: "I've got to buy a better safe." Oh Peter, this is how you start your first real conversation with your daughter? I laugh but worry about Malia's mental well-being. Inside the vault is Malia's adoption records, but Peter refuses to share. "I can't let you leave here with that." Malia: "Maybe you won't have a choice." Peter: "Is that right?" He guess Malia heard rumors that he's not strong enough, but I have no idea where this is coming from. Yeah Peter was at less than peak performance when he came back but he's been plenty strong since then. Why would anyone think he wasn't strong now? He proves his strength by punching a column in the vault. Malia's action is priceless and since she's the only realist tonight she rolls with the new knowledge and starts to hand the papers back. Live to fight another day and all that. Peter surprises her though. "I said you can't leave with it. I didn't say you couldn't read it." Not that it contains any viable information, just a large blood stain. Awesome. Peter: "You want to talk about it? See a family counselor?" Bwah! Malia: "There's nothing in there." Peter: "I cost me a lot of money for that file." Malia: "You got ripped off." Malia isn't buying it so Peter goes full sob story. Malia: "You murdered people. Not killed, murdered." Peter: "There were extenuating circumstances." You can almost hear the violins in the background as Peter whines about the fire and says he isn't the Benefactor. Hmmm. He plays his final card by telling Malia he can help her track her mom. That gets her attention. Well played, sir.
Back at Imbecile Station, Argent impatiently looks at his watch while the Mamas McCall and Fox stake out the parking lot looking for potential Benefactors. Since Pill Popper is most definitely NOT the Benefactor, Mama McCall asks the most logical question. "Why are we doing this? Why are we asking them to fight these kinds of fights?" MamaFox: "Because otherwise, we'd be asking them to run and hide." And? That sounds like a logical response to me. What is not even in the realm of logical is putting Kira, the only one who can save Scott, in danger. At the Hospital Bed Command Center, the roof camera goes down so Kira volunteers to check it out. Stiles: "Whoa, whoa. This might not be just a malfunction." Kira pulls out her katana: "That's why I'm bringing this." No offense, Kira, but you haven't had much luck with that sword. Right now the smart play is to send Argent with his gun or even Stiles with his baseball bat. He won't have any more luck than you, but he can't bring Scott back either and knows the value of running. Sadly, commonsense is the Big Bad tonight so Kira leaves. Liam: "I'm coming with you." Stiles: "Okay and you're both coming right back. Immediately." He sighs: "Kids." Bwah! Nice to know Stiles is their father. They run to the roof only to find themselves face-to-face with one of Kate's berserkers. Oh goodie. Lights flicker throughout the hospital after the berserker takes out the same box DarkStiles did last season. Flickering lights are the universal sign to run, but the residents of Beacon Hills have no commonsense either. Stiles looks for Argent and gets a gun cocked at his head for his troubles. Since this is either still the Saturday of the botched PSAT or Sunday, he's got to be sick of it. Luckily this time it is Argent, who lowers his gun and checks out his nifty product placed watch again. They've got 18 minutes and Kira's playing ninja on the roof. Naw, nothing wrong with this plan at all.
Hey, Lydia does exist. Good to know since it's supposed to be her year. Looking for answers, she heads in the boathouse when she hears someone behind her. Grabbing a boat oar, she almost brains her mom, who wears the world's most unflattering paisley shirt. Yikes! ScienceMom followed Lydia to the lake house, confused about why Lydia spends so much time there without a boy involved. Hmm, I'd be concerned if there was a boy involved as well but that's just me. Lydia: "Honestly mom, you don't need to be involved in every single detail of my life." ScienceMom: "No, but I'd like to help if I can." Aww, she's come a long way from being the most neglectful parent for the first 2 seasons. Lydia shows ScienceMom the picture of Meredith and surprise, she knows her by name. Sadly, it's back to Scott's nightmares before getting any answers. Flag on that play, Teen Wolf. It's a redux of catch, dialogue, and Liam murdered by No Mouth. Only difference is in between Scott checks out his teeth in the mirror. He has more fangs now so Liam and he debate whether it makes him stronger or more of a monster. While Scott ponders his existential dream self, Derek and Braeden decide it's a great time to flirty flirt over guns. Did anyone even call them about "the plan"? Perhaps they knew the new and improved Sensei Derek would balk at their cretinism. He also balks at guns. "I don't like guns." Braeden: "That's because you've never learned to use one." Derek: "Or because I've been shot…repeatedly." Good point. Braeden grazes over his concerns for the lesson. "You always want to remember how many shots you fire. Running out of bullets can get you killed. It also makes you look stupid." Ha! Another good point. The rest of the lesson is all Charlie Brown for me…wah, wah, wah. She takes the gun away from Derek twice but it's all just a disturbing foreplay before he kisses her and they screw. Oh no you didn't, Teen Wolf. Everyone Derek screws ends up evil, dead, or both. I like Braeden. Not fair.
Even a Kira-Liam stupidity pact is preferable. They attack the berserker to typical effect. Liam's thrown into fencing while Kira gets punched. It all looks fancy and it's the only action all night, so I hold to that. While unconscious, Kira flashes back to Scott and her on his bed talking about the plan. If she says it's a good plan one more time, they need to check for concussion. She's the ultimate yes-man girlfriend and that does neither any favors. Scott reminds us they still haven't gone on a date since Beacon Hills keeps getting in the way. May I suggest NOT bowling. Kira says there's no time. Scott: "We could make time." Kira: "Even though people are dying all around us." Again, what's with Kira and Liam being the voice of reason? No wonder I like them much more tonight. Scott agrees it'll have to wait so she suggests a movie when they do. Now that IS a good plan. Go with that…or let a frantic Liam rouse you from your sleep. The berserker is still there, so Kira suggests the run away option while Liam is stupid and attacks further. Huge sigh. I hope you die. Meanwhile the Mamas search the hospital only to find no one in the Hospital Bed Command Center and no video either. MamaFox: "I'm guessing the power doesn't go out very often in this hospital." Mama McCall: "Nope, only when under attack by supernatural creatures." Which is exactly why you should get Scott, call Kira, and get the heck out of there. 16 minutes left folks. Instead they stand around while everyone else runs screaming past them. Say what? Are you kidding me? Both these women are too experienced in the supernatural to wait around and yet they stare at each other until a berserker comes into view. Mama McCall: "Are you still a kitsune?" MamaFox: "Technically." They don't run until he comes after them. Ugh, the tomfoolery!
In the morgue, Stiles tries calling Argent but he's too busy being flung into the room by Kate. Argent yells for him to get out, but it's too late for that. Kate comes in the front and Stiles is stunned. Kate: "Get out of the way, Stiles. I'm taking the body." Stiles: "Why? Visual confirmation?" Kate: "Don't worry handsome. I'm not the Benefactor." Figured that out when you were worth 12 million on the dead pool. Argent pulls out a second gun - he was obviously a Boy Scout - and presses it underneath Kate's chin. Didn't we just learn NOT to do this? Kate agrees. "You're not going to kill me." Argent: "And I'm not going to let you take his body." Stiles: "Okay well obviously you guys have a lot to talk about so maybe…I saw some coffee, a vending machine outside." Bwah! Now there's the Stiles I know and love for the first time this episode. The others ignore him. Argent: "Listen to me Kate, we have a plan." Kate: "And if killing Scott was part of it, you're worse than me." Stiles: "He's telling the truth. We're trying to get to the Benefactor." Of course they are because Kate knows if Scott really had died, Stiles would be a mess right now. It's not just Mama McCall that would have been devastated. Kate sees Argent's watch and concerned face. They only have 3 minutes to save Scott now. Argent: "Take the berserkers and go." She complies while Scott takes trip #3 on the Nightmare Tilt-a-Whirl. This time instead of a ball, he catches a hatchet from a bleeding Liam, who says Scott did it. No Mouth helps Scott hone his technique before Scott butchers Liam. His eyes glow and his fangs protrude as blood splatters his face. It's gruesome but an awesome visual, even more so because Scott embraces his inner monster to kill the one he's supposed to protect. Best scene of the night! Until Kira revives Scott and he's brought back to the living. As he gasps for breath, Kira decides now is the perfect time to kiss him. He didn't need that air anyway. Oh Kira, and I liked you tonight. Scott asks if Plan A worked, but when does it ever on Teen Wolf? No Benefactor and MamaFox lies bleeding in the hospital corridor from the berserker attack while Mama McCall and HotDoc try to save her. Great plan.
Meanwhile Kate heads to Peter. "You were right. He's still alive." Peter: "Thank God." Yeah, but not for obvious reasons. You need to kill Scott yourself to take his power and become the alpha again. It doesn't negate you from being the Benefactor and in fact lands you squarely at the top of the list. Speaking of lists, Malia comes by Stiles' Supernatural Crime Squad Central to post the third dead pool list on the clear, brand spanking new, must have cost a fortune, Wall of Weird. Stiles enters and it's weirder than the wall. Never has a scene between these two fallen so flat or seemed so out-of-character. It starts decently with Stiles walking on eggshells since he screwed up so spectacularly. "Hey, where you been?" Malia: "Talking to Peter." Stiles: "Okay, think that's a good idea?" Malia: "If he can help me find my mother, I don't think I care." Stiles tries to tell Malia she's different from Peter, but she disagrees. Stiles: "Hey, you might be related to him, but you’re not like him." Malia: "Maybe I am. That night I caused the car crash…" Stiles: "You mean when you were out of control on a full moon." Very good point. Except why does he walk away from her, opening up space between them. That's not like him. Malia got into a fight with her mom that night and said she wished they would all die right before they got into the car. She's obviously hurting and feeling guilty. Stiles knows this and his facial expressions are dead on but he's still across the room. It's like the director said Malia needed space in this scene but it's negated by what we know of the characters and their facial expressions. The whole thing comes off as odd instead of poignant. At last he comes near her. Stiles: "Killing doesn't run in a family." Malia: "Maybe it does in mine." Oh baby, I feel for you. Your life has sucked out loud. She turns around, tapes the dead pool list up, and walks out the door. Stiles says nothing. Are you kidding me? This is a kid who doesn't give up when people he cares about are hurting. He'd at least yell her name a dozen times. Instead he stares as we get a close up on the list. Weirdest, out-of-character Teen Wolf scene ever.
I'm still bewildered as Derek gets out of bed and stares over an awesome, Winchester-like gun collection on his table. He should go work for Argent. Or Braeden should. Meanwhile Scott and Kira say goodbye before she joins her mom in Palo Alto and HotDoc runs tests on a resurrected Scott. Kira once again says this was a good plan. Maybe they think if they say it 23 times, the audience will believe it but not happening. Scott makes a huge leap and now believes the Benefactor is a banshee. Uh huh. Okay. That's the most logical conclusion. Away from that nonsense, Lydia tries to piece what ScienceMom is saying together. She pulls out Granny Banshee's ashes and presents them to Lydia. Eww, no thanks. Granny Banshee died in Eichen House (of course) and requested that Lydia spread her ashes over the lake when she became 18, which according to Teen Wolf is in a few weeks. Lilith, my podcast partner, was the first to yell shenanicanon on that one and she's dead right. Basically Teen Wolf is saying Lydia Martin, genius extraordinaire, will not graduate until she is 19. Oh yeah right. Shenanicanon! If this is so she can legally screw Parrish I am Gibbs slapping everyone in the writers' room! Lydia calls shenanigans as well because instead of ashes, she finds mountain ash. She tosses it towards the lake and it magically goes down the line just like at Scott's house in Silverfinger. Lydia: "The whole building. It's all made of mountain ash." Huh? You had two werewolves, a kitsune, and dancing drama down there 4 episodes ago. I will never understand mountain ash canon on this show. From the second we learned about Deaton's front counter in season 3 it has made zero sense. ScienceMom thinks the last note Granny Banshee wrote was utter nonsense too, but Lydia realizes it's part of the dead pool code. She asks if Granny is really dead, which throws ScienceMom for a loop. Doesn't faze me at all because I'm seeing red herrings all over that lake.
Teen Wolf simply does not do the heist/complicated plan thing well. It's no Leverage and they need to stop trying. The plot always sounds fun in concept but fails miserably in execution because it never makes any sense. If you try to apply the least bit of logic, it unravels like Aladdin's flying carpet. The sheer number of assumptions they make is staggering and makes me glad my life doesn't depend on them. First, they assume the Benefactor is currently in Beacon Hills or nearby. There's no evidence of that. Plus Beacon Hills County has 500,000 people, meaning statistically it should cover a decent area. They give the Benefactor 40 minutes to get to the hospital, sneak to the morgue, find Scott's body, and get out before the police arrive. Conservatively that gives him 20-25 minutes to get there. There are parts of my own county I can't get to in 25 minutes. Next they assume he is working alone. What makes them think he doesn't have allies at the hospital, sheriff's station, or coroner's office? Why risk getting caught by coming in person when you can have your local cop plant sneak peek for you when transferring the body? They also assume that the Benefactor cares at all about Argent's deadline. I wouldn't. Like Argent would know who the Benefactor is or where he is located. The Benefactor could wait until Scott's funeral to get visual confirmation and then wire Argent the money. It's not like an assassin will still go after you once you deposit the money even if he's ticked it was delayed. Then there's Kira not zapping Scott well before the time and just having Scott hide out awhile. If the Benefactor did have cameras in the morgue, the jig would have been up watching Scott's friends calmly hover over his body. They sure weren't grieving there, so shock him back to life and then park him away. In all honesty, I don't know how it ever got that far since the defibrillators should have shocked Scott back to life. I mean Kira is basically a walking defibrillator herself. She didn't do anything they wouldn't.
Speaking of Kira, having her on the roof fighting berserkers was the most brain dead part of this whole DOA plan. Well that and trying to sell me that Mama McCall, Argent, and Mama Fox all signed off on this lunacy. No parent ever agrees to this, supernatural kid or not. Then there's that huge leap of Benefactor banshees in the end. Really? Because common sense says the Benefactor didn't show up (or sent Kate) for the reasons listed above. All they know about banshees, they know from Lydia and Meredith. Neither had the power to say exactly which person would die, just that someone would so how's that helpful? A banshee confirming death is coming in a hospital is about as spectacular as predicting I'm going to purchase milk, bananas, Cheetos, and pizza at the grocery store. It's just going to happen. Nothing about this episode made any sense, but kudos to the acting. Melissa Ponzio rocked it hard in the scene where Mama McCall breaks down over Scott's death. Her screams still haunt me, even knowing the character was acting. I'm also curious by the frequently falling anvils practically yelling that Scott will kill someone this season. In fact I'm far more intrigued by who and the circumstances than anything else that happened in this episode. He's obviously going to have to kill in order to save someone he loves, but will it be his mom or Stiles? I certainly hope it won't be Liam or Kira. The reason the Motel California scene was so powerful is because it was Stiles who saved Scott, not Allison. If they want this to have the same emotional punch, it's going to have to be someone he considers family. And no, that doesn't include FedDad.
Grade - C-
Best Visual - Scott red eyed and covered in Liam's blood
Best Reason to watch - the acting
MIA - logic and common sense
Most Improved - Kira, Liam, Mama Fox, and FedDad in that order
Best Acting - Mama McCall breaking down at news of Scott's death
Best Moment - Mama McCall gets reassurance from Stiles before taking MamaFox's hand
Biggest Question - Is this the worst plan the Teen Wolf pack has ever come up with or is it still teen armored truck heist?
Biggest Surprise - Mama McCall knew all along / she didn't stop the plan
Most Practical Question - Why not use Kira to keep the food cool until Mama McCall can pay bills?
Biggest Missed Scene - Mama McCall beating them all for forgetting to mention that Scott might die
Best New Skills - Argent's surveillance hijacking
Best Character Interaction - the Mama's
Worst Déjà Vu - Scott crawling through the drawer reminded me of Kate in the 3B premiere
Most Interesting Camera Work - 180 of Scott walking into classroom. I hated it when it had no purpose in season 3 but here it helped sell the dream sequence weirdness.
Other Questions:
Why isn't Scott revived by the defibrillators if essentially that's what Kira is?
How did Kate and Peter know Scott's body was in the morgue if Peter isn't the Benefactor?
Do banshees predict the future as well because no one on the Benefactor suspect list would have motive to kill for that long except Gerard and I have no idea why he would wait so long? Plus Liam's still on it.
Is Meredith really dead? Did she know Granny Banshee? Is she the Benefactor?
Why exactly is Peter not supposed to be strong?
Was this episode set in an alternate reality where Kira and Liam are the best, smartest, and most rational?
How does Kate have control over the berserkers?
Is Braeden evil and/or destined to die now that she's screwed Derek?
Who will Scott save when he purposely kills someone this season?
Will Lydia ever get to work with the pack again this season or is she destined to be a lone wolf?
Will anyone ever try to stab the part of a berserker's body that isn't covered in bone, like his stomach?
Will Kira take her Hem Haw disease with her to Palo Alto or will Beacon Hills continue to be infected?
Will the pack ever create a plan that actually sounds like a good, viable, realistic idea?
Is Liam dressed in his lacrosse uniform purely to sell Nike products?
What should we call Liam's dad since I can't keep calling him HotDoc?
Screencaps by Screencapped.net, Hypable, Teen Wolf Wikia, Gotta Watch It, Geekiary, Forever Young Adult, Pinterest, TW Season 4, Pinterest Malia,
Pretty much word for word. That and to hide his now returned strength.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the plan was...Argent came up with a good plan...Draw the Benefactor out in the open by forcing him to come and verify a kill himself. And the kids decided to put a little pack twist on it...i.e. 'That is too simple to actually work, but we can fix it!' LOL
ReplyDeleteI expect so little sense or hope of success out of their plans that none of that popped me out of the episode. What did pop me out was the reaction to one of the surveillance cameras going down. Stiles...write this down. When you're watching surveillance cameras waiting on the bad guy to arrive and they start going off....it's not broken. The bad guy has arrived.
I didn't think Argent really expected the Benefactor. I think he would have taken a minion and questioned them and considered that a success. I agree completely with Kira and Liam fighting the Berserker. Really? So I was okay with that. The other logical inconsistencies, like I said...they didn't bother me because I don't expect more of them. But, I do think that a truly awesome web series would be Argent teaching a class in military strategy, combat strategy heck any kind of strategy. Or perhaps a matriarch from his clan (since the Argent's train their women to be the brains.) LOL
OH! the other scene that made my brain squeak to a stop...When Melissa asked about letting these kids fight these battles....um...you were in the dark during season 1 but you're not letting them fight these battles. They're not asking permission. They've never asked permission. They simply go into battle and tell you the truth when you start asking what's going on.
One thing Im confused about with this episode's logic. Why would the writers have Scott think a banshee is the killer when as he said himself "What knows when someone is dead but doesn't have to see the body?" Ummmm then why is it emphasized that "visual confirmation is required" for every kill? If a banshee is the benefactor then there is absolutely no reason for such confirmation, right?
ReplyDelete"I made visual confirmation" - Scotts dad hmmmmmmmm.........
ReplyDeleteNice catch! It totally went over my head.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Very little made sense in this episode and leaping to the banshee conclusion does not work on so many levels. The visual confirmation is definitely one of those.
ReplyDelete100% agree. Last week's was teh best so far for me and this one was just meh.
ReplyDeleteHmm yeah I didn't understand that either. Maybe banshee powers are limited and they have to be closer to get that death feeling and maybe that don't want to risk it. Or even I was thinking maybe they are working with a banshee or perhaps forcing a banshee to work for them and they would only use the banshee if it were absolutely necessary if the other assiassns can't show visual confirmation. I have a feeling that the benefactor is bed riden and only has a computer and had people do his/her dirty work!
ReplyDeleteMy problem with that is that Peter has shown he's strong before. This isn't the first time since he's been resurrected.
ReplyDeleteCould've been a way to throw us off but there may be something to it! :D
ReplyDeleteI can't see even DoucheDad putting his own son on a kill list, but I wouldn't mind if he was evil. Inf act, that would be a great twist.
ReplyDeleteI honestly hope he's good. I love how he's beginning to do fatherly things around the McCall house! It makes me think that he may not be DoucheDad for much longer.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t read The Maze Runner but I think it’s on one of my Kindles. I will definitely be reading it now so I can prepare for the movie. I’m not much of a theatre goer but the fact that Dylan O’Brien is in this movie could entice me to go!
ReplyDeleteI didn’t realize that Crystal Reed was almost 30 – Tyler Posey and Dylan are both 21/22 so I guess I assumed she was too. She’s a good actress and while having her name attached to a movie might not get me to a theatre like Dylan’s will, I would absolutely watch a TV show with her name attached to it. There are several CW shows that I am looking forward to this coming season and having her on any one of them would be a welcome addition.
I am not excited about Liam from what I read on Wikipedia. I would rather just have Isaac back. I liked the twin’s performances but I was not sad to see them go. Too many characters to write for and not enough screen time to do any of them justice. I agree that we needed to slim down a bit in S4 – more Derek, Peter and Lydia please. Especially Lydia and if Derek can’t seem to hold on to that fancy gun Braeden has shown him how to use and ends up getting choked by every bad guy, then we know that an addiction story line can’t be too far off because the writers fully intend to make him the TW version of Sam Winchester.
I like the True Alpha thing but having strength of character should not equate to poor fighting skills, the inability to strategize and use basic common sense/logic to defeat an enemy. He just seems like he is always one step behind – I really want Chris to take all of them under his wing and train them. They ALL need to learn to fight smarter – both physically and intellectually. I’m looking forward to him partnering up with Scott and Derek more. The episode in 3B when Derek shields Chris from Dark Stiles’ bomb and their subsequent “I am not your enemy” conversation, I was hoping that it would lead up to more screen time with them working together – especially since Kate is alive. And Mama McCall needs to give everyone basic first aid training. I know Scott will heal but the rest of them won't!
Never thought of Deaton as being evil – I think of him as more opportunistic. When he was in the bank vault in 3A and he saw Scott’s eyes turn red when he was trying to break thru the Mountain Ash ring, he admitted that he thought it was possible for Scott to become a true alpha as soon as he found out he had been bitten. Given how rare true alphas are supposed to be, I can see him only giving the barest of information so that he can make sure Scott keeps turning to him for help.
From tonight’s live tweeting, sounds like we have another resurrection – I think if they are going to keep resurrecting people, then they need to kill someone off to keep the balance (see what I did there? What? That was funny!). I vote for Kate…and Kate again…and one for Gerard for good measure. I know that Peter is a bastard but I happen to like his brand of Bastard so I agree – he needs to be the Big Bad of the final season where everyone – Scott’s pack, Team Parent and various hunter clans – have to work together to defeat him.
OK, I’m going to go stalk to post show tweets and recaps so I can find out who the Benefactor is – that was supposed to be revealed tonight so they better not have been lying!
Hmmmm, I wrote a lengthy reply (I can't seem to control myself) and it's missing :-( Hoping it's stuck in moderation for some reason and not gone. That would make me sad.
ReplyDeleteYea! My comment showed up!
ReplyDeleteAlso, wanted to add a little story that happened today...no shit, this really happened and only someone who has watched 3B will understand my reaction (because clearly my co-workers did not)....
So we get packages of paperwork every week from our retail locations for me to audit. Today is mail day. I'm opening boxes and having a grand old time until I start sorting thru the paperwork in one of the boxes and find HALF A FLY - just the body and one leg. I screamed and pushed away from my desk so hard I rolled out of my cube and into the hall. Yep. Screamed. The body was huge - just like in the close ups of those damn nogitsune flies! My co-workers all come out of their cubes and walk over to me asking what's wrong. I tell them there is HALF A DEAD FLY in the paperwork. They are all like "so what, it's a harmless fly and it's dead"...I'm like "You have no idea what flies are capable of!". One of my co-workers who has not seen Teen Wolf but knows that I've been binge watching, asks me "Is this a Teen Wolf thing?". I'm like "Yes. Don't judge until YOU'VE watched 3B. Then you'll know!!!".
Yep. Co-workers think I'm totally insane.
Bwaaahhhh! I was taking a break from the 4.09 recap to check my e-mail and this made me laugh so hard Gatorade came out my nose. (which is now burning, thank you.) Love it. It's worth being the resident buckets of crazy when you get great stories like this one. Thanks so much for sharing. I needed that.
ReplyDeleteHe switched to FedDad for me once he saved Stiles, but he's still got a long way to go before I stop thinking of him as douchey. I do like the effort though.
ReplyDeleteLOL - sorry about the Gatorade - I tend to make people do that! Always happy to share my extra special kind of crazy with people who can appreciate it :-)
ReplyDelete