by Hayley Charlesworth
With The Divine Move, Teen Wolf closes a season that has seen some of the finest acting in the show’s history, but with a plot that has swung from the highest of highs to some pretty disappointing lows. After last week’s game-changing episode, does The Divine Move hold up as a season finale?
It’s quite a tradition for season finale’s in Teen Wolf to be disappointing, especially if the previous episode was very good. Luckily, with The Divine Move, Teen Wolf has broken the mould, in an episode that is exciting and satisfying, tying up most of the season’s plot threads while weaving in new ones for season four.
With The Divine Move, Teen Wolf closes a season that has seen some of the finest acting in the show’s history, but with a plot that has swung from the highest of highs to some pretty disappointing lows. After last week’s game-changing episode, does The Divine Move hold up as a season finale?
It’s quite a tradition for season finale’s in Teen Wolf to be disappointing, especially if the previous episode was very good. Luckily, with The Divine Move, Teen Wolf has broken the mould, in an episode that is exciting and satisfying, tying up most of the season’s plot threads while weaving in new ones for season four.
The main thrust of the episode is the final showdown with the nogitsune, which is looking more and more hopeless following the untimely death of Allison Argent. The episode’s biggest weakness is, with so much going on, there is little time to mourn such an important character. Lydia, her best friend, gets no opportunity, while Scott has a brief scene where he breaks down in front of his mother. Luckily, then, we have Chris and Isaac, and their contrasting, but equally heart-breaking reactions. Both characters have lost their entire families, but while Isaac struggles to cope, Chris is stoic and guarded, because that is how the Argents have been trained to deal with loss. It’s an interesting contrast, and there is a lot of potential in the Chris and Isaac dynamic. The two also figure out what Allison learned in the previous episode before her demise, that silver is the key to destroying the Oni. That’s how awesome Allison was. She saved the day from beyond the grave.
The nogitsune is on the warpath, sending the Oni to attack the pack’s main bases of support: the Sheriff’s office, where Sheriff and Deputy Parrish admirably hold their own, the hospital, with Melissa and Agent McCall inside, and Deaton’s vetinary surgery. With Sheriff, Parrish, Melissa and Deaton all poisoned by the Oni’s blade, condemning them to a slow, painful death, things look increasingly hopeless. The pack are split into three, the previously mentioned Isaac and Chris, the group of Scott, Stiles, Kira and Lydia, and Derek with the twins. Through Noshiko, they work out that the nogitsune can be contained with the wood of the Nemeton, and Derek has a box carved from said wood. They prepare to launch an assault on the school, but Stiles is increasingly careless with his life, the energy being drained from him by the nogitsune and feeling incredibly guilty about Allison. He doesn’t care if he dies, and it’s quite difficult to watch.
The group are split, with Derek and the Twins outside fighting the Oni, and Scott, Stiles, Kira and Lydia lured into a dream world by the nogitsune. The snow scenes that mask the classroom are stunningly shot, just the right level of otherworldly to unnerve, and the hopelessness of the situation almost drives Stiles to suicide, until he realises that it’s all a trick by a trickster spirit. The nogitsune intimidates Stiles and Lydia, and kudos must be given to Dylan O’Brien for making his shouty villain speech unsettling as opposed to the usual camp that these scenes have resulted in with previous villains. But Stiles still has a Divine Move to pull in their metaphorical game of Go, tricking the nogitsune into being bitten by Scott, thus changing its form, and then stabbed with Kira’s katana. The nogitsune tries to flee in firefly form, but is trapped in the box by Isaac. Melissa, Sheriff, Parrish and Deaton recover from their wounds. All is well. Except not.
The nogitsune is on the warpath, sending the Oni to attack the pack’s main bases of support: the Sheriff’s office, where Sheriff and Deputy Parrish admirably hold their own, the hospital, with Melissa and Agent McCall inside, and Deaton’s vetinary surgery. With Sheriff, Parrish, Melissa and Deaton all poisoned by the Oni’s blade, condemning them to a slow, painful death, things look increasingly hopeless. The pack are split into three, the previously mentioned Isaac and Chris, the group of Scott, Stiles, Kira and Lydia, and Derek with the twins. Through Noshiko, they work out that the nogitsune can be contained with the wood of the Nemeton, and Derek has a box carved from said wood. They prepare to launch an assault on the school, but Stiles is increasingly careless with his life, the energy being drained from him by the nogitsune and feeling incredibly guilty about Allison. He doesn’t care if he dies, and it’s quite difficult to watch.
The group are split, with Derek and the Twins outside fighting the Oni, and Scott, Stiles, Kira and Lydia lured into a dream world by the nogitsune. The snow scenes that mask the classroom are stunningly shot, just the right level of otherworldly to unnerve, and the hopelessness of the situation almost drives Stiles to suicide, until he realises that it’s all a trick by a trickster spirit. The nogitsune intimidates Stiles and Lydia, and kudos must be given to Dylan O’Brien for making his shouty villain speech unsettling as opposed to the usual camp that these scenes have resulted in with previous villains. But Stiles still has a Divine Move to pull in their metaphorical game of Go, tricking the nogitsune into being bitten by Scott, thus changing its form, and then stabbed with Kira’s katana. The nogitsune tries to flee in firefly form, but is trapped in the box by Isaac. Melissa, Sheriff, Parrish and Deaton recover from their wounds. All is well. Except not.
Outside, in the fight against the Oni, Aiden has been mortally wounded. He is comforted by Ethan as he dies, and Derek reassures him that Lydia will know he died a hero. Despite the twins having added little to the season, this scene is very affecting, the horror of a twin losing his other half fully realised.
So what comes next? We have a tantalising glimpse of what’s to come in the final five minutes. Chris and Isaac have left for France to grieve over Allison, while Malia is working with Scott and Stiles to control her powers, still unaware of her parentage. Ethan is leaving town, and hilariously, Danny knew about the werewolves all along. But it is Derek that is the most exciting. We see him sat in the locker room, confessing a fear to Stiles about a dream he had. A dream he doesn’t remember waking up from. Noticing that Stiles has six fingers, he realises he’s still trapped in the dream, and in the real world, he’s just been shot in the chest by Kate Argent! Who is not dead! And is some kind of were-jaguar! Madness! As well as ending the series on one hell of a cliffhanger, the scene is a nice bookend, given that three-B began with Stiles trapped in a dream too.
On the whole, Teen Wolf had a successful season with three-B. By far surpassing the mess that was three-A, and capitalising on Dylan O’Brien’s talent, its only real flaws were a lack of consistency across its various plotlines and a disappointing resolution to Allison’s time on the show. With season four coming in the summer, can the show reconcile the fine acting of this season with the tighter scripting of season two to create something really special? Join us in the summer to find out.
So what comes next? We have a tantalising glimpse of what’s to come in the final five minutes. Chris and Isaac have left for France to grieve over Allison, while Malia is working with Scott and Stiles to control her powers, still unaware of her parentage. Ethan is leaving town, and hilariously, Danny knew about the werewolves all along. But it is Derek that is the most exciting. We see him sat in the locker room, confessing a fear to Stiles about a dream he had. A dream he doesn’t remember waking up from. Noticing that Stiles has six fingers, he realises he’s still trapped in the dream, and in the real world, he’s just been shot in the chest by Kate Argent! Who is not dead! And is some kind of were-jaguar! Madness! As well as ending the series on one hell of a cliffhanger, the scene is a nice bookend, given that three-B began with Stiles trapped in a dream too.
On the whole, Teen Wolf had a successful season with three-B. By far surpassing the mess that was three-A, and capitalising on Dylan O’Brien’s talent, its only real flaws were a lack of consistency across its various plotlines and a disappointing resolution to Allison’s time on the show. With season four coming in the summer, can the show reconcile the fine acting of this season with the tighter scripting of season two to create something really special? Join us in the summer to find out.
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