The past touches the present once again as more of what Jackson is going through impacts so many.
What They Say:
Restraint – Lydia begins to make connections about the bite; Jackson causes problems for Scott and Stiles; Derek has a crisis of faith.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the ervelations about what Jackson is now out there and the nudge towards the end about some of the truth in that he’s seeking a master, the one who is controlling him, there’s a lot of things going on with him that have everyone on edge, especially now that Allison has figured out more of the truth based on what Lydia was able to translate. The last episode really made me feel bad for Lydia as she’s struggled with a lot of social issues since coming back to the school and is definitely on the outside in her own way. The way she’s tried to reach out to others in a limited form for help is only made more pronounced by all of this, especially when she cam to Allison for help and it just went south for her in a simple way.
The fallout from events in the previous episode with Jackson certainly could have gone a lot worse, but the pair basically have a restraining order on them now in regards to Jackson. Which makes trying to work with him to understand what’s going on with what he transforms into a near impossibility. Both Scott and Stiles are definitely falling to new lows when it comes to their parental relations and there’s a certain sadness to it when it comes to Scott and his mother. You really want him to come clean with her, as problematic as it would be, but Stiles is able to push back enough to keep him from doing so. What becomes amusing is that as events go on, pretty much everyone is being forced to stay away from each other. Scott and Stiles aren’t supposed to spend time together, both have to stay away from Jackson and Scott and Allison are supposed to stay apart. All while at school where there are constant video cameras as well.
Because of the distance place on everyone and the way they have to pretend to avoid each other at times, there’s a growing tension coming into things, especially as Scott continues to want to be protective of Allison as she falls further into Jackson’s change and trap. And his position is made worse through the problems with his mother who is now starting to put some things together based on what he’s been acting like lately, which even has the amusing part of her tearing through his room and coming across the condoms. That does give Scott an easy out when things come around in that direction again, but there’s that part of me that wants him to come completely clean with her about what he really is considering the dangers that are being faced.
This episode gives us a rather fun fight sequence as Scott goes after Jackson when he makes threatening moves towards her, hinting at a split personality of sorts coming up. There’s something off about him to be sure and a varied sort of confidence. Seeing some of what he does here, not sleepwalking through his days but almost possessed by a different kind of life, there’s a whole snake slithering down his throat incident which later comes out through his eye in grisly fashion. Allison starts to come close to figuring out part of this with him and that’s definitely intriguing, but there’s also Jackson really grappling with all of these changes and the uncertainty that he’s feeling within. How much of it is real and how much of it is his mind struggling with it is up in their air for a lot of this.
The exploration of Jackson’s past is an interesting subplot that goes on here as we see Stiles starting to work an angle about his parentage as the reason behind why he might be the Kanima. In a way it seems like it all comes together a little quickly and easily, but it gets information out there about the past that should be relatively easy to find, though there’s likely to be a lot more with it. The same can be said about Lydia as she’s being drawn deeper into something mysterious and thoroughly engaging in a very slow burn kind of way. What she’s bringing to the table is certainly different than what’s come before and it all helps to showcase that larger world that’s out there beyond the werewolves that defined the first season.
In Summary:
Teen Wolf has an episode where there’s a lot of things going on here but at the same time it feels a little like it’s spinning its wheels. But it’s more that events are shifting into place for where it can barrel into the second half of the season in a big way. The action is decent for what we get here and it helps to open us up more to what’s going on with Jackson, which has been a big defining part of the first half of the season here. But it’s also now looking like things are getting set up in a big way with Lydia for the second half that connects back to the first season and offers a lot of potential as well. What’s missing is some of the good stuff with Scott and Allison as it looks like they’re going to be on the outs for a bit as their relationship is just filled with all sorts of tension and problems that are going to be hard to resolve in the best of situations. The show is working a lot of subplots and things going on here and is causing you to re-evaluate characters, new and old, as new revelations come to light. I just can’t get enough of this show.
Grade: B+
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Teen Wolf, Full Episodes
