Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Teen Wolf, Season 2, Episode 7: Restraint





The weregecko’s master is setting him on poor people in a trailer – killing the man, but sparing his pregnant wife (more hints adding to Allison’s conclusion that the weregecko does have some moral compunctions about its murder spree)

The Scooby Gang – Allison, Stiles and Scott, have a recap on what it must be like to be Jackson the weregecko – how he must be completely forgetting not just being the weregecko, but also shifting, cleaning up afterwards, everything – though his master must be helping him edit the video.

Of course, talking to Jackson is somewhat difficult because the of the restraining order that has now been put out on them against Jackson (though I admire Stiles his ability for causing every adult in the room to cross their arms in exasperation at the same time). And the parents are also Not Pleased with the whole kidnapping and restraining order thing. Scott’s mother in particular has grounded Scott from Stiles – and wants to know what’s going on with him, alas, at Stiles’s urging, he doesn’t tell her.

Derek and the Wolfies (except Boyd who is never ever around) want to find the identity of the weregecko from Scott and Stiles – and it seems Erica and Isaac still have to be chained up (for kinky reasons… wait, no, because of full moon) and Derek hasn’t been teaching them while worrying about the Argents (which was the whole point of having them) and Jackson the weregecko. Derek also notices that Granddaddy Argent wasn’t afraid of the weregecko – that would be a weregecko that needs a boss, the killing machine that is being controlled. Now I wonder I wonder why Granddaddy Argent isn’t afraid? Oh what a mystery. Here, let me beat you to death the clues a little more.

Meanwhile Allison is sneaking around the CCTV and passing on Lydia’s confused translations – under the excuse that they’re part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures. This a) allows Stiles to be geekily adorable and b) confirms Allison as the worst friend ever since, last episode, Allison refused to talk about Lydia’s trauma and hallucinations and insisted they do the translation instead. If my friend said “sorry, no time for your major real life trauma – but can you translate the Monster Manual for me?” I’d slap them. And they learn that the weregecko is an agent of vengeance – it kills murderers until the Master gets full control then it kills whoever the Master (Granddaddy Argent) wants. Also, the weregecko will become a fullfledged werewolf when he finally resolves his issues, whatever they may be. They put 2 and 2 together of his story and wonder about Jackson’s biological parents (we’ve already learned he has issues with his adoptive parents).


Jackson, meanwhile, is getting really really friendly with a snake. Really friendly, extra friendly if that expression on his face is anything to go by – and the snake crawls down his throat, while he still looks very happy about it (you are all forbidden to come up with innuendos, it’s just too damn easy).

Scott’s mother decides to search his room (starting with the pretence of cleaning and then ransacking the place extremely thoroughly) and finds… a pack of 12 condoms, with only one left. Well, looks like Scott and Allison weren’t playing board games. And what does she do with this knowledge? Go talk to Mummy Argent about it, of course. Ye gods, do parents really do this?

Allison is stalking Jackson – presumably because sneaking up on someone carrying your shoes is the best way to question them about their traumatic childhood (I always like to start these conversations by jumping up behind them and shouting “boo”). She runs into Matt, who has a crush on her, gets her a ticket to a party and generally reminds us that the character still exists. Allison continues to look for Jackson, calling his name now, and following him into the boys changing rooms, then to the showers, where he is naked (what did you expect, Allison?) and Jackson starts being menacing and, y’know, Jackson. Scott himself is taking a chemistry exam he missed – but at least its multiple choice when his Allison-sense goes off and he feels she’s in trouble and tries to run – but his teacher insists he stays and finishes the test, even though he’s used up his allotted time (wow, multiple choice and infinite time in which to finish it? Which exam board is this?) Jackson acts even worse than he usually does – which takes effort – and starts growing claws, but when they end up on the floor he comes back to his senses. Of course this is when Scott comes in, sees Jackson naked over a cowering Allison and attacks. Time for the fight scene.

Erica is trying to find something out from Stiles, but the CCTV defeats her being all wolfy – but she does reveal she knows that Jackson’s parents are dead (which helps because Lydia isn’t talking, mainly because she’s Lydia). Stiles’s curiosity clues Erica in that Jackson is the weregecko. Their conversation (which was just getting good and just starting to add some characterisation to Erica) is interrupted by Scott and Jackson’s fight. The fight is broken up – and Matt picks up Scott’s tablet with the weregecko translation on it and starts snooping (why? Why would he do this? Why would he care what’s on the tablet belonging to a guy he barely knows?) and they all end up in detention because their chemistry teacher is more evil than the weregecko

In detention Allison sees Matt has Scott’s tablet, we learn that Stiles doesn’t get on with Matt and Scott wants to kill Jackson (oh NOW you’re on team kill Jackson. You know, it would have been better to do this last episode). When Jackson leaves to go to the bathroom feeling ill (the snake from earlier crawls out of his eye… yeah I didn’t need to see that) we finally get Erica interrogated about Jackson’s parent’s death – in a car accident, a day before he was born. (Nice to see Erica’s dad keeps his confidential files confidential) And that he had to be pulled out of his mother’s body by c-section. And the car accident is “inconclusive” whether it’s an accident or not.

Because of his mother’s wonderful revelation, Scott is also called to speak to evil Mummy Argent who interrogates him about his sex life before returning to Jackson who has another weregecko moment, or half-weregecko anyway making a massive mess, paralysing Erica and Matt – then writing on the blackboard: “Stay out of my way or I’ll kill all of you”. Erica starts seizing and demands to be taken to Derek and Matt needs an ambulance – so they rush to help. Hah, no, of course they don’t. With wounded on the floor Scott and Allison have an angsting moment to a piano solo at the idea of leaving poor Allison alone.

They get Erica to Derek and it seems werewolves have the worst possible doctoring methods ever. And Scott confronts Derek about putting Erica at risk to find Jackson – and volunteers to join Derek’s pack to stop Jackson so long as they catch him not kill him.

Lydia, meanwhile, is still being flirted with by the mysterious neighbour boy who gave her a flower, and has a date. But she can’t find the flower, nor any flowers on the vine he pulled one from. But then she feels compelled to go wandering out of her house, out into the woods and to a strange house – all without even wearing shoes. The house is abandoned and empty – but she does run into the cute guy she’s been flirting with – and they kiss and kiss and… oh dear. The whole house becomes a burned out ruin – Werewolf central and the boy she’s kissing becomes the burned and scarred body of Peter Hale – the last Alpha. Which he has been all along, he has never existed. While Lydia looks on, horrified into the distance, Peter sits next to her and tells her how not mentally ill she is, honest; apparently Lydia is a backup plan because of her immunity.

In the hospital we catch up with the pregnant woman from the beginning of the episode, telling Scott’s mother that her attacker wasn’t human. When she leaves, a guy who totally isn’t-granddaddy Argent, honest folks, kills her.


 


“I am tired of feeling slightly terrified all the time” This is one of the best lines on class and poverty I’ve heard in a long time. That lack of security that being poor brings, that edge of everything not only being ready to fall apart – but knowing you have no resources to fix any of it. That constant 2 seconds from disaster. Of course, we then get the weregecko surging in for extra terror, but it was a great point made before then

Last episode weren’t they going to let the police chief, Stiles’s dad, on the whole werewolf thing? The weregecko is still loose… what has changed to make the secret less important to reveal? I think we’ve reached a point where it would make more sense to tell Scott’s mother and especially Stiles’s dad about the werewolfiness than not.

We got a shred of Erica’s development, but not much more. Lydia, meanwhile is perhaps on the spookiest storyline of them all.