A few discoveries made at last.
What They Say:
Ouroboros – Scott and Malia try to rescue captured friends; Deaton discovers something horrific about The Dread Doctors.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While the overall arc of this season hasn’t won me over for the most part, it has had some really good character moments, some great cold open horror/tension sequences and some really good action pieces – particularly for Malia. But it’s had a hard time really connecting with the supporting cast that it’s brought on, though Hayden and Liam are starting to feel a little more interesting, probably more so for those in the target audience age here. The Dread Doctors themselves though have been difficult to get in sync with since their goals are obscure for the most part and that always makes it a challenge to really get behind, especially since they’re faceless. The human component has been beyond lackluster as well, which only serves to make it even harder to work with.
The cold open here takes us out of our usual realm by bringing us to someplace Russian, presumably making a Chernobyl reference of some sort, where Deaton and a guide are going into a large plant of some sort in search of clues for the Dread Doctors. With the mention of the snake eating itself, the ouroboros, it puts a few things into motion for finally revealing some of what’s going on. Not right away of course, but on the right path. it’s not terribly creepy and it all feels a bit forced, especially since Deaton plays things mostly straight and without a sense of tension, fear or worry. But it also ups the ante a bit when he realizes that they’re not the only ones there and the Desert Wolf strolls right in. Too much blending of stories for this to be happening? It’s not too surprising but it feels wrong on the face of it.
With all that’s gone on lately, it’s no surprise that tensions are all over the map. Having Melissa come home to find a dead body on her kitchen table with a sword through her is definitely chilling, but one that she tries to deal with through Stilinsky first without the badge on him. He can do that for only so long though since he’s rather truthful about the reality of the body, even if it does upset Melissa since she’s just looking out for Scott and the kids. And neither wants to believe that Kira’s involved in it but she’s certainly not been herself lately. And seeing her wandering the streets in the dead of night looking and feeling very out of it doesn’t help her case either. Her being picked up by the police sets that news into motion, which at least has a couple of decent little moments to it.
Because of the tension, and the fact that Kira’s involved, Scott gets himself very focused on trying to figure out what’s going on. That has him going back to the house to meet with everyone but mostly to get to Corey and use his alpha ability to dig into his memories. That cues them in on where the Dread Doctors may be but it also shows how Theo is really curious about what it is that Scott’s doing. That all plays out while Liam and Hayden do their best to survive under the experiments of the Dread Doctors with what they’re doing, which isn’t easy as it’s going pretty rough for them as they’re not treated like people in the slightest but rather just animals to be tested upon. It has its own terrifying moments as both Liam and Hayden do what they can to survive and stick together. It’s some straightforward bonding to be sure, but I’ve grown to like them over the course of the season.
Where the show has some fun along the way of all of this setup and movement is with Stilinsky having set up the body of the girl in the morgue so that it can be dealt with there. Of course, Stiles is telling him to stop guarding it and let it go before things get really bad. Having Parrish guarding it from the inside is obviously going to be a poor choice in general but it at least sets up for some good material as things get a bit surreal, something that Stilinsky is getting better at handling in general. Of course, the body ends up disappearing as it plays out and we see things going from bad to worse there as well as with the Dread Doctors. There’s a curious piece where Theo ends up going to rescue Hayden and Liam, which unnerves Scott in a big way even though he did a good thing, because it feels like it’s slipping out of control for him. It is nice to see how Hayden and Liam support each other through this but it plays against Scott and his having to be honest with Kira here about what he sees about her and the kitsune. With the kitsune having taken greater control combined with what the Dread Doctors have done, it’s a moment that pushes them apart. A far too common technique in general and one that this show employs more than it should.
In Summary:
Change has been the theme of the season from the get go with Stiles worried about it all falling apart once they head off to college – if they live that long. This episode advances a few things in the overall storyline a bit while also bringing in an unexpected element that could skew things as it progresses with the Desert Wolf – a subplot I’m not keen on at all. While we don’t get any really new information here, it’s a bit more than place setting as we get some understanding of who is doing what and some good tense moments along the way. The show does hit some predictable areas such as the forced Scott/Kira separation and an expected bonding between Hayden and Liam and that feels like it’s going through the expected motions rather than surprising us. Its not bad but we’re sitll at that stage of really waiting for answers in order to truly connect with the larger storyline that’s trying to be told here while keeping the audience in the same dark as the cast – a trick that often backfires.
Grade: B
