by Hayley Charlesworth
Thanks to a jaunt up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, we’re a little behind in our coverage of Teen Wolf. But never fear, we have a bumper edition for you, with both Weaponized and Time of Death furthering the Benefactor’s master plan. And one thing is apparent: despite the fact that the season is nearly over, it seems like only now there has been some actual development in the plot. How can the season be drawing to a close when it feels like it barely begun?
Thanks to a jaunt up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, we’re a little behind in our coverage of Teen Wolf. But never fear, we have a bumper edition for you, with both Weaponized and Time of Death furthering the Benefactor’s master plan. And one thing is apparent: despite the fact that the season is nearly over, it seems like only now there has been some actual development in the plot. How can the season be drawing to a close when it feels like it barely begun?
We begin with Weaponized, the weaker of the two episodes, but one, that, for the first time in forever, works as a stand-alone story. The Benefactor has a seemingly unending supply of waiting assassins, and this time, it’s the turn of the Chemist. During a school exam, students and staff start to come down with a terrible sickness: a weaponized version of canine distemper that is only fatal to our supernatural heroes Scott, Kira and Malia. (Although Stiles and the other humans get sick, they can easily recover.) What follows is a sort of bottle episode, where the majority of the action is contained to the quarantined school, as the teens work with Mr Yukimura and the intriguingly unaffected Mrs Martin to save themselves from the Chemist, an assassin posing as an exam invigilator. Meanwhile, Derek, standing guard over the injured Braeden, has located alpha Satomi, who is the only one of her pack to be immune to the virus. As Deaton realises that the antidote to the virus is Reishi tea leaves, which Satomi has been drinking for years and gifted to Talia Hale, it’s up to Stiles to save his friends by telling them to find the tea leaves in the Hale vault. But in the closing moments, Malia, previously blind from the virus, sees her true name on the dead pool, “Malia Hale”, walking out on Stiles and her pack.
The problem with Weaponized is, for a seeming bottle episode, there’s so much going on, and a lot of it depends on coincidence. The antidote just so happens to be in the vault that Scott, Kira and Malia are locked in. The kids just so happen to be infected at the school, which stands atop the Hale vault. The antidote just so happens to be the same tea Satomi has been drinking for decades. It all seems a little too easy and takes away from any suspense or enjoyment one may have felt watching the episode. That said, there were highlights. Stiles facing down the Chemist, as he points a gun at his head, and being sprayed with blood as Agent McCall rescues him with his own bullet is a wonderfully tense and excellently acted scene. The revelation that Coach is a recovering alcoholic, without making a huge deal of it, adds some dimension to a mostly comic relief character. Mrs Martin being the only person not to get sick is a nice, subtle indication that Lydia may not be the only supernatural in her family. Speaking of Lydia, there’s very little for her to do here, except to discover that deceased banshee Meredith may have had a connection to her family. The sad thing about Lydia’s arc is how much of it she spends alone. It’s like a step back to season two, where she was kept in the dark about the supernatural and had no idea what was happening to her. It’s disappointing that after all this time, she still seems separate from the pack.
The problem with Weaponized is, for a seeming bottle episode, there’s so much going on, and a lot of it depends on coincidence. The antidote just so happens to be in the vault that Scott, Kira and Malia are locked in. The kids just so happen to be infected at the school, which stands atop the Hale vault. The antidote just so happens to be the same tea Satomi has been drinking for decades. It all seems a little too easy and takes away from any suspense or enjoyment one may have felt watching the episode. That said, there were highlights. Stiles facing down the Chemist, as he points a gun at his head, and being sprayed with blood as Agent McCall rescues him with his own bullet is a wonderfully tense and excellently acted scene. The revelation that Coach is a recovering alcoholic, without making a huge deal of it, adds some dimension to a mostly comic relief character. Mrs Martin being the only person not to get sick is a nice, subtle indication that Lydia may not be the only supernatural in her family. Speaking of Lydia, there’s very little for her to do here, except to discover that deceased banshee Meredith may have had a connection to her family. The sad thing about Lydia’s arc is how much of it she spends alone. It’s like a step back to season two, where she was kept in the dark about the supernatural and had no idea what was happening to her. It’s disappointing that after all this time, she still seems separate from the pack.
Luckily, then, there’s Time of Death. This is an episode that isn’t without its flaws, but is an exciting and tense watch. In an almost heist-movie style plot, our heroes hatch a plan to lure out the Benefactor, using trickery, kitsune powers, and Melissa McCall’s incredible acting skill. With Scott the most valuable person on the dead pool, the pack plot to fake his death using Kira’s electricity-manipulating powers to shock his heart, leaving Scott in a Princess Bride-esque “mostly dead” state, so long as Kira revives him within 45 minutes. While Chris Argent contacts the Benefactor claiming the kill, but without visual confirmation, Stiles, Kira and Liam monitor security cameras for any hint of the Benefactor, only things are complicated by the arrival of Kate and her Berserkers. Meanwhile, Scott is in a comatose hallucinatory state, repeatedly watching Liam murdered by The Mute until, in the final dream, Scott kills his Beta himself. The Benefactor doesn’t arrive, but Scott has a revelation: who can see a death without having to be present? A banshee.
This A-plot is strong and exciting, with the episode playing in almost real-time as Scott’s countdown begins. The big gun of the whole story, however, is Melissa McCall. As Scott “dies”, she lets out the most incredible and devastating scream of grief, a pitch-perfect performance from Melissa Ponzio. Even more impressive, though, is her sudden switch to calm, as it transpires Melissa was in on the plan after all. The showdown between Kate and Chris Argent, in which Chris successfully convinces Kate to back off, is also a strong moment, but possibly undermined by the fact that Kate and Peter continue to work together.
This A-plot is strong and exciting, with the episode playing in almost real-time as Scott’s countdown begins. The big gun of the whole story, however, is Melissa McCall. As Scott “dies”, she lets out the most incredible and devastating scream of grief, a pitch-perfect performance from Melissa Ponzio. Even more impressive, though, is her sudden switch to calm, as it transpires Melissa was in on the plan after all. The showdown between Kate and Chris Argent, in which Chris successfully convinces Kate to back off, is also a strong moment, but possibly undermined by the fact that Kate and Peter continue to work together.
Where Time of Death falls down is a similar complaint to Weaponized: the sub-plots. Lydia and Derek are once again maligned from the main story, separated in their own adventures which takes away from pack unity that made the start of this season so strong, and this time Malia joins them in the Teen Wolf wilderness. Lydia, at the lakehouse, makes a discovery with her mother that her deceased grandmother may not be so deceased after all, and was potentially a banshee herself. They link this to the main story by the implication that Grandma Martin may in fact be the Benefactor, but it still doesn’t excuse how ignored Lydia has been by the others. Malia, having walked out on the pack, finally has her first real moment with Peter, who is on the hunt for Malia’s mother. Derek continues his scenes with Braeden, who is teaching him to protect himself as a human as his powers fade. These scenes are great, as Braeden brings out Derek’s more humorous side that has rarely been seen since his interactions with Stiles in season two, but is ruined by the two leaping into bed together. With some development, “Draeden” could be a great pairing, Tyler Hoechlin and Meagan Tandy have great chemistry. But as is often the case with this show, it’s happened far too quickly.
All of these are quite good storylines, but there’s just too much. With only four episodes to go, it seems ridiculous that all of this will be resolved. If Derek and Kate’s story bleeds into season five, perhaps it will work, but at the minute, it seems like a hotch-potch of disparate story threads. With such a strong main storyline across season four, it is a disappointment that these secondary stories are so weakly handled.
All of these are quite good storylines, but there’s just too much. With only four episodes to go, it seems ridiculous that all of this will be resolved. If Derek and Kate’s story bleeds into season five, perhaps it will work, but at the minute, it seems like a hotch-potch of disparate story threads. With such a strong main storyline across season four, it is a disappointment that these secondary stories are so weakly handled.
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