What a great way to kick off the final ten episodes of Teen Wolf. After “Riders on the Storm” I was somewhat skeptical about the show returning for another ten episodes. As much I love Teen Wolf, I felt like the final few minutes of “Riders of the Storm” wrapped things up nicely with the gang finishing high school, Stydia finally getting together, and the passing of the torch to Liam and Mason. My biggest fear was that the rest of the series would feel like a burden, dragging on ten episodes longer than it should have. Awkward, another MTV, series springs to mind where I felt like the final season was ten episodes too long. Thankfully, I have high hopes for these remaining ten episodes, especially with all other returning characters and the last few episodes of “Said the Spider to the Fly.”
At first everything seems to be status quo in Beacon Hills. Scott and Lydia are getting ready to leave for college, first making sure their parents are adequately prepared to deal with their absence, and Malia is just waiting for her flight to France to no longer be delayed. I laughed so hard when Scott told Melissa to zap him and when Lydia gave her mother a list of all the supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills, starting with the high schoolers. It's like Scott and Lydia believe their parents won’t be able to handle things in Beacon Hills without them. They’ve been protecting the town from supernatural Big Bads for so long, it’s like they don’t know how to do anything else. They know they’re supposed to move on and let everyone else handle things, but it’s become so engrained in them that they need to make sure Beacon Hills is protected before moving on. Liam, on the other hand, is having a hard time adjusting to Scott leaving, especially since Hayden moved to protect her sister. Mason and Corey literally have to drag Liam onto the lacrosse field, and only the mention of a new captain forces Liam to get over his pity party. Yes, it sucks that Hayden moved away and Scott is leaving for college, but all children (except one) grow up. Eventually people have to move on with their lives. It’s not like this is a fictional TV show where all characters never leave or miraculously go to a college close by or all move back to the same hometown, oh wait. By the way, was anyone else confused by Mason saying they were going to be seniors? I could have sworn Liam, Mason, and Corey were going to be juniors. Anyway, everyone seems to be moving toward the next chapter in their lives, ready or not.
Despite this, things start going awry when a wolf shows up on the lacrosse field. Weird, yes, but not necessarily supernatural. Then when a bunch of wolves end up dead and lots of spiders crawl out the dead wolves, my supernatural alarm bell started going off. Add in the dozens of rats running into a classroom and ending up dead in a knotted mess, the alarm was ringing in my ears. As someone who isn’t a huge fan of anything remotely creepy-crawly or rodent-like, I could have definitely done without the overly graphic visuals. Like if I never saw another spider or rat it would be too soon. But moving on, these instances are enough to raise the question of whether something supernatural is afoot in Beacon Hills. The answer is, of course, because while this town may not sit atop a Hellmouth, it definitely is a beacon for supernatural activity. Liam and Mason are particularly quick to jump to this conclusion, while Scott and Malia aren’t so sure. I really think that Liam wanted it to be something supernatural so he wouldn’t have to deal with Scott leaving after Hayden had already moved. Malia, nevertheless, wanted it to be anything but so she could get out of Beacon Hills and have her pick of French men. I’m right there with you Malia.
However, the presence of a newly awakened hellhound and Lydia’s banshee powers were enough to convince everyone to stay. I’m not really sure what Lydia saw exactly other than the giant spider web and the realization they let something out out when they opened the door to another world to save Stiles and everyone else from the Wild Hunt. What we learn from the hellhound before the new guidance teacher kills him is that something supernatural is loose once again in Beacon Hills. We weren’t given a lot of specifics, but whatever it is is so dangerous that it woke a hellhound who had been asleep, petrified in volcanic ash for over 100 years. If the Ghost Riders and the Beast weren’t enough of a threat, then I can’t wait to see what Big Bang Jeff Davis has in store for the final episodes. What I really do love about Teen Wolf is that their actions have consequences. Just like with the Nemeton and Allison’s death, everything that happens has an effect, intended or not. Characters on this show stay dead, mostly, and there isn’t always some magical answer to fix their problems. People die and not everyone can be saved. While this is still TV show, it feels like the stakes are real. Other television series fall back on the old tropes of magic fixing everything and no one staying dead, despite dying several times. I digress, but it really is refreshing for a supernatural show to have consequences.
So to no one’s surprise the whole gang except Stiles decides to stay in Beacon Hills for the time being to fight this new Big Bad. Of course, Stiles has no idea what’s really happening because Scott, Lydia, and Malia decided not tell him. I can’t really blame their logic because they almost did lose Stiles to the Ghost Riders and Wild Hunt; they are just trying to protect him. That along with Stiles’ voicemail to Scott about how excited he is to be an intern at the FBI seal the deal that Stiles is going to be kept in the dark, for at least part of the season. This is most likely due to Dylan O’Brien’s limited availability, but I did love the cameo we got of seeing Stiles at the FBI in this episode. Honestly, I would watch a whole spinoff of Stiles at the FBI, solving supernatural crimes with a secret, covert branch. I mean, let’s be real, werewolves and supernatural creatures are the worst kept secret in Beacon Hills. I have a hard time imagining that the government has no idea of their existence. I’m really looking forward to this subplot, although I’m not sure how much of it we’ll see. What we do see is Stiles being his very-Stiles self, already driving the FBI instructor insane with all of his questions, and a shirtless Derek running through the woods of North Carolina. Apparently Derek is wanted for mass murder by the FBI. I have no idea how this happened, but Derek has been sorely missing for our TV screens, so I can’t wait to see how this plays out.
As for the new characters we were introduced to, only two really made an impression. Unfortunately, the hellhound ended up dying by the end of the episode. I was really looking forward to exploring more of the mythology behind hellhounds as our information has been limited to mostly Parrish. And to make matters worse, the hellhound was the only person who seemed to have any information about the new Big Bang arriving in Beacon Hills. So thanks a lot crappy guidance counselor. If there’s an unwritten rule on this show it’s don’t trust any of the new teachers. Literally every new faculty member that has arrived in Beacon Hills has caused trouble with a capital T. It’s like horror movies how you always yell at the characters not to go into the basement alone. Well, I’m basically yelling at our characters not to trust the new guidance counselor. Although, Corey’s line about becoming completely visible was funny. So I didn’t trust even before she killed the hellhound, which everyone thought was impossible. I’m curious what her deal is. The shell casing from the bullet she fired had Papa Argent’s seal, so I’m wondering if she’s possibly connected to the Hunters. I refuse to believe that Argent is somehow back to hunting werewolves and really hope there’s a good explanation for this. I would just hate for Argent to go back to being one of the bad guys just as the series is about the end. He needs to go ride off into the sunset with Melissa and leave the supernatural hunting to someone else.
So with only nine episodes left where do we go from here? We know a lot of previous characters will be returning to Beacon Hills for what we can presume is the final battle. Based on previews, it looks like Jackson, Ethan, and Gerard will be returning along with Stiles and Derek. I’m really excited to see both Ethan and Jackson because it has been way too long. The last time we saw Jackson was season 2 and he was still in an on-again off-again relationship. I can’t wait to see his reaction when he finds out Lydia and Stiles are dating. I also really want to know what Derek has been up to for the past two seasons. He just kind of up and left after season 4, so it’ll be really interesting to see how he got from there to mass murder. It looks like Theo will also be a presence on our screens, although I’m not really sure which side he’ll take. Everyone else is kind of already columned into good guys and bad guys, but Theo is a wildcard. I’m sure other characters will be stopping by unannounced and am just generally excited to see how everything plays out. On the other front, it looks like we’ll be introduced to a romance between Scott and Malia. I’m not really sure how I feel about this. I know 6A saw Scott single for the first time on the series, but it feels like Scott and Malia may be pushed together because they’re both available. With Stydia finally, and hopefully, still happening, it didn’t really leave Scott with any other potential romantic partners since neither Allison nor Kira are returning for the final episodes. As of right now, it just seems really random to pair those two characters together. Besides the fact Malia dated Stiles, I just don’t seem to remember them having much in common or sharing any real screen time. Of course, my feelings may change when I see them interact more throughout the season, but as of now I’m on the fence and slightly leaning against it.
So hit the comments below to let me know what you thought of “Said the Spider to the Fly.” Are you excited for the final ten episodes? What kind of Big Bad are we dealing with? Which character are you most excited to see return? What are your feelings on a potential Scott/Malia romance?
