The plan to catch a Ghost Rider is in action in this week’s “Teen Wolf” as Scott works with the underclassmen and Theo (much to his dismay) to get the job done. While Scott is busy with that, Malia undertakes her own plan with Peter, and Lydia works to convince the sheriff that he’s missing a son.
Points for one creepy episode opening
Initially, I was incredibly confused as to when and why Theo ended up in the morgue with his dead sister going after him, but the repetition makes it clear that what’s going on is not happening in the present. Theo repeatedly getting his heart ripped out of his chest isn’t exactly pleasant to watch, but it’s kind of nice to know that he’s been tortured as much as he’s tortured others.
He also eventually decides that it’s okay for his sister to keep doing it, so he must have some capacity for remorse.
Theo remains super annoying
I know that Theo is useful. And I know that a lot of the audience loves to hate him, which makes him fun for the writers to play around with. I am not one of those audience members, though. I’d rather someone else be the not-exactly-trustworthy-villain called upon to help save the day, like Malia’s plan to use Peter to her advantage.
Malia has no sense of self-preservation
As Peter points out, Malia isn’t even trying to stay alive at this point. She’s consumed with finding Stiles, and she doesn’t care what happens to them in order to do it. Her plan involves taking Peter back to the place where she found him in order to find an entrance to the magical train station -- and that’s it.
Malia is not so great with the planning, and I wish Scott had told her to take one more person along. Would you trust just Malia and Peter to carry out your back-up plan?
Lydia gets through to Stilinski
As usual, I find myself wishing for more Lydia in this episode. Not only do she and her mom chat about her meeting a dead kid in last week’s road trip, but she also spends a lot of quality time with Sheriff Stilinski.
Even though her mother warns her not to be the one who tells him Claudia isn’t real, she’s not giving up on getting him to remember his son.
The sequence between them is beautifully shot as different items in the room, which Stilinski has revealed behind the peeled wallpaper, are revealed to Lydia, but not to him. She remembers Stiles and bits and pieces slowly come into focus and color.
He’s harder to convince, but eventually, Lydia is able to do it. It’s so perfectly executed in terms of the visuals and the dramatic effort of the two actors.
Parrish is the Ghost Rider whisperer
As it turns out, Parrish is not feared by the Ghost Riders, but he can communicate with them. Considering Parrish is a Hellhound, does this mean the Ghost Riders are all dead, or are they considered harbingers of death like he is? Would that mean that Lydia would be able to communicate with them once she could see them? I have so many questions about this development.
Mr. Douglas has more secrets to hide
We already knew he was the werewolf biting into people’s skulls, but now, Scott and company know it too.
As it turns out, that’s a useful skill in the fight against the Ghost Riders. Not so useful? It means Mr. Douglas gets his hand on a Ghost Rider’s whip and sends Cory packing. I’ve enjoyed Cory so much. Does this mean he’ll be able to help Stiles out on the other side now? And how does Mr. Douglas know these Ghost Riders? So many more questions!
The verdict
Other than the need for more Lydia, this was definitely one of my favorite episodes of the season. We got so much forward movement on the different story threads and I can’t wait to see where they go!
4 out of 5 stars.
What’s next
We’ll get to learn more about Mr. Douglas next week, and we’re getting just a little closer to a possible Stiles rescue.
