SkimIt
So much happens in this, frankly, quite fantastic episode. Intricately plotted, it sets up more questions while answering just as many -- but most important? The nakedness and the awesomeness are just fun to watch.
Forbidden Love, For Real Restraining Orders
We start off the episode with a young couple, one with a child in a trailer; they are scared of something even before the Kanima's master appears. He takes out the dad and leaves the pregnant woman barely alive. Hint: pay attention to this scene.
Jackson and his adopted lawyer daddy have enforced a restraining order against Stiles and Scott. There's nothing like a restraining order to signify young love! Fifty feet is close enough for some homoerotic glances!
Though the parents don't really notice the "forbidden love" (especially since it is an interspecies relationship between Scott and Jackson), they do notice that their kids are terrible. Scott's mom notices that Scott is failing nearly every class. So she punishes him with no TV, no car, no girlfriend and, worst of all, no Stiles! She misinterprets his angst for "daddy issues" and starts to actually parent Scott.
Speaking of Scott's stupidity, he takes a test for Chemistry (I'd be surprised if he doesn't get an F) while Momma McCall snoops through the bedroom. The last time I remember a scene in here was the pilot when Scott worked out half nekkid. Yep, I remember the good stuff.
The Enemy of My Enemy
Derek understands that the friend of his enemy is definitely his enemy. Gerard did not fear the Kanima -- which puts him at the top of my Master list. But he isn't in the episode, so my suspicions are on hold.
Speaking of suspicions, the gang comes to the conclusion that the Kanima/Jackson, once working past his issues, can become a werewolf. Might I stress that this must be after he works past his issues and his adoption woes? Regardless, Jackson has a pretty sexy scene with a snake as it slithers inside of him.
Later, in the boys' locker room, Allison tries to talk to Jackson but runs into stalker/photo boy Matt for an awkward date ... then enters the boys' locker room where Jackson is showering. NEKKID. REALLY NEKKID. It is awesome sauce. He isn't acting like himself, but he is! He's campy, intimidating and amazing while psychologically torturing Allison. Did I mention he does this all completely naked? Jackson is literally the BEST character.
Scott, with the worst timing in the world, walks in at the wrong time and assumes what anyone would assume with a naked Jackson on top of Allison. Cue the fight scene; kudos for the great choreography of trashing the bathroom and keeping Jackson strictly PG-13.
During the scuffle, Matt manages to find the tablet and sends a copy of the Kanima translation to himself. Rather convenient that tablet didn't get wet from the destroyed bathroom, eh?
The best scene in the history of the universe attracts the attention of the chemistry teacher -- whose name I don't really remember hearing because this show is really terrible at helping the audience learn character names -- because everyone has landed into detention; well, everyone except Lydia, who is used to doing her own thing by now.
Detention, Teen Wolf Style
I'm surprised this '80s knockoff/spinoff has the self-control to have all the kids in detention and not pay some kind of homage to The Breakfast Club. I'm also incredibly thankful for not watching another trite parody.
Stiles, for most of this episode, puts his curiosity to good use as he looks into Jackson's real parents. I sometimes fear that Stiles is too curious for his own good. Erica the Desperate/the Cleavage knows where Jackson's real parents are -- the cemetery. Jackson will be super-duper rich at 18 since they died. But why does Erica know all of this? A plot contrivance, whatever. Conveniently, Erica has access to all of these files. So why will Jackson be even richer than he is now? Because an "accident" killed his parents and Jackson was born after his mother died by C-section. The gang suspects it was actually murder. That is so sad. Do you see the relationship to the opener now? Things are clicking into place.
In detention, Jackson gets a headache as the chemistry teacher follows. In the bathroom, Jackson hallucinates a snake coming out of his eye socket. I literally screamed for my life; this is beyond scary and actually frightening.
Libraries Can Be Fun, Too!
Momma McCall talks to the Evil Mrs. Argent about their kids potentially having sex. Is this normal protocol, parents? It freaks Mrs. Argent enough to call Scott into the principal's office while she hate-sharpens those pencils. The pencil is magically small after Scott answers no. Heh.
Over in the library, the kids must shelve all the books before leaving detention. I swear, if the chemistry teacher isn't pure evil ... Speaking of him, his car looks familiar. Care to comment what you think about him below? Because he better be purely evil.
Then all hell breaks loose. Literally. Jackson loses control of his humanity as the Master Kanima forces him to turn. In turn, the Kanima wrecks everything in his path until, like a zombie, Zombied Half-Kanima/Jackson writes on the chalkboard, Stay out of my way or I'll kill all of you!
Before escaping, he critically injures Erica and Matt, forcing our heroes to divide and Erica seeks out Derek. Derek must break Erica's arm and squeeze it to heal her. Allison must call an ambulance for Matt, splitting up the dream team.
Oh, Lydia
I'd like to say that I figured out what was happening with Lydia rather quietly this season, but I only really figured it out until halfway through the Lydia crazy hour. Okay.
Lydia and therapy kid have their awkward '90s flirt on (I love that I called that because the dude did go to high school in the '90s!). Lydia must bring that special blue flower to their "date" but can't find one.
Conveniently, the back of her house is all thorns as she searches the grounds, barefoot and haunted. The song playing is rather fitting. Lydia in Wonderland wanders to a beautiful, abandoned looking home in the woods that looks awfully familiar.
Lydia meets the boy in the house before beginning to mack on him. Slowly, I hope the rest of the audience is getting what I am getting. Before long enough, they don't have to: all is revealed.
That therapy kid was a hallucination the entire time; did we ever see him interact with anyone besides Lydia? That kid was Uncle Peter ALPHA! The familiar looking house? Derek's estate before Auntie Kate burned it to the ground. Lydia is not completely crazy, just stuck in a strange connection with Alpha. His plan, it appears, is to use the pretty blue flower to revive himself, but he must involve Lydia. Lydia has wolf immunity, for some reason, and Alpha plans to exploit the poor girl forever.
It's ingenious and crazy that Alpha is still around, but not unexpected. The clues came in teases but were nevertheless there. What a great, creepy scene between Lydia and Alpha about Lydia's mental health! So looking forward to the future for these two lovebirds.
What Does the Beginning Mean?
That first scene in Teen Wolf seemed like another chilling opener, one that would emphasize the damage and control the Master has over Jackson as a Kanima. Instead, it was clever enough to show us that Jackson's past, the Kanima's future, the mythology and characters of this show will very much tie into everything else.
At the end of this episode, the injured pregnant woman gives birth and happens to chat with Momma McCall, cementing that something isn't human. The Master of the Kanima later kills the young woman, leaving us with some clues about the Kanima. But what does the beginning scene mean, other than paralleling Jackson's own tragic becoming into this world? The same thing happening now happened to Jackson's family. It all connects. I'm confident that, like the reveal with Lydia tonight, all of the clues for the great mysteries of the season were somewhere in this episode tonight.
