Teen Wolf: “Ouroboros” Review

Another Moonday has come and brings us one step closer to the halfway mark in Season 5—which, as I understand, will take a break between the first ten and last ten episodes, although it will remain one continuous story, unlike Season 3. And bringing us one step closer was pretty much all this episode did; this episode was primarily about inching us further along certain plot points, and wrapping up loose ends from last week’s episode. Thankfully, it was rather less dark than last week, even if a bit of body horror remained. Spoilers after the jump!

meet la Loba del Desierto

The cold open finds Dr. Deaton and some Russian rando exploring an abandoned lab. I’m not sure if they’re in Russia or Deaton just brought him to help translate some signage with Russian writing. He does translate some graffiti—an ominous “they’re coming”—and the pair find a symbol which the Russian says is linked to the Dread Doctors, the ouroboros (which reminds me, I still need to finish watching Hemlock Grove). This also got me thinking how Deaton is bad-ass enough and interesting enough to have his own show. Imagine finding out more about this mysterious druid-turned-veterinarian and his history; imagine also a world where we could have shows with PoC main characters with white sidekicks like in this cold open instead of the other way around like in, well, every other TV show. I am snapped out of my thoughts by the death of Deaton’s Slavic comrade at the hands (well, gun) of The Desert Wolf (Marisol Nichols!).

Melissa brings Sheriff into the house to see the chimera body with Kira’s sword, making him “take off his badge” both figuratively and literally. However, in keeping with his Mr.-Laying-Down-the-Law act of this season, he calls it in. You do not betray Mama McCall’s trust in her own house. She slaps him. Meanwhile, Deputy Clarke (Hayden’s sister) finds Kira wandering along highway 115; she seems to be pulling a Lydia, unaware of how she got somewhere but feeling drawn to the place. A “messenger of death” sounds like a banshee to me… Clarke brings her into police custody; her sword was sticking out of a girl after all. Her parents show up and her dad takes the blame, saying he was attacked and used the katana (which he also claims is his) in self-defense. How did the body end up in the McCall kitchen? The girl wasn’t quite dead, he suggests.

Liam and Hayden are captive in the Dread Doctors’ lab; after some experimentation, they say her condition worsens. Not good. While stuck in some other part of the subterranean lab, find another chimera down there named Zach—a chimera with (recently amputated) wings! He eventually starts bleeding silver, which he had explained means that you are a failure as a chimera, and gets taken by the Dread Docs. Back at headquarters, the gang has brought Corey home to read the Dread Doctors’ book, but Scott is feeling pressure in the race against time to save the babies, so he does the alpha telepathy thing with the claws in the back of the head. He finds the memory of the lab enough to sketch and describe it—Lydia says it’s the water treatment plant. Scott, Malia, and Mason set out to find Liam and Hayden, leaving Theo and Lydia with Corey. Corey starts to remember more of his abduction, and realizes they’re not in the water treatment plan at all—they are in the basement where we first found glowing-claws werewolf in the premiere. Who comes to the rescue but…Theo! Of course he knows where they are, he’s in league with the doctors! Now he’s firmly cemented as a hero in the mind of the pack. If there is one thing the pack does not need, it’s to trust Theo more.

OMG what is his name??! This is the biggest clue we’ve gotten yet. Think they’ll reveal it by the time the show ends?

Back at the police station, Melissa plays Sheriff at his own game. When he forces her to write an official statement, she tells the truth, talking about werewolves, banshees, kanimas, showing that he can’t actually play 100% by the rules like he wants to because he knows they can’t really tell the whole truth. Later, Sheriff has all the deputies line up at various doors in the hospital to make a chain to prevent the bodysnatcher form snatching the latest body from the morgue… only Parrish ends up stationed right in front of the body. Clarke also found evidence linking Stiles to that night at the library with Donovan (which is just considered a prank phone call to the cops since there was no body)—student keycards that let the kids get into the library after-hours. The cops notice the temperature start to rise (because of Parrish, I assume) and then, because of reasons, the sprinklers go haywire and the lights go out and in the ensuing chaos where no one can clearly see him, Parrish beats up all the deputies. But then not much time later, he’s still there; somehow he snatches the body but also has time to be right back there fully clothed? Does he super speed to the Nemeton and back? Did he snatch the body and put it somewhere convenient until he can find the time to go into the woods naked? Idk.

Look how sad she looks! heart-breaking #KiraDontGo

Elsewhere, Noshiko suggests Kira read The Dread Doctors backward to overcome her kitsune struggles with language games. Umm, okay, random, but it works and her repressed memory resurfaces: she has encountered the Dread Doctors, all the way back in the premiere during the traffic jam in the storm! Because of their oogy-boogy electromagnetic mind mojo, no one else noticed, but they did some science to her and that must be what put her kitsune power out of whack. Kira decides she needs to leave for her well-being and the safety of others until she can get her kitsune power balance under control. Stiles says he’s figured out Parrish is the one stealing the bodies and Lydia says she knows where he’s taking them—the Nemeton. To bookend the episode, we return to the cold open: the Desert Wolf has Deaton tied to a chair and asks him if her daughter is still alive, saying that if she is, she’ll just have to kill her again.

Like I said, this was very much just a moving-forward episode, all the action being continuation of plot points that had already started: Hayden and Liam being captured; we know Kira’s powers have been acting up; the viewers know Parrish is the one stealing the bodies; even meeting the Desert Wolf was in its own way furthering her story since we’ve already heard of her and had her in a flashback. That said, there are so many plot points that have been introduced this season, it’s kind of nice to once in a while see them progress instead of just introducing yet another new plot to the show. In fact, I’d say we’ve just about seen the start of all the plots we’re gonna see this season, the rest will be the continuation and resolution of said storylines. Yet even without anything new, we’re still left with big questions: why does Hayden seem to be failing now after seemingly being a success? Where is Kira going, and how long will she be gone? I love that they are finally addressing her kitsune-ness, but I hope this doesn’t mean she’ll be out of the show for a while.

Really tho.—via tumblr

Parrish continues to mystify; my own theory is that he is some kind of fire elemental, and being so closely tied to nature, he is being compelled by some natural force/energy/being/god to destroy the chimeras as they are “aberrations” of nature created by science. I foresee an interesting “nature vs. science” angle coming to the season. And finally, we meet the Desert Wolf! I love Marisol Nichols and am curious to see her play a villain, and yay for adding another PoC to an important role in the show; as a sidenote, as a white child of a white father and Latina mother, this now makes me feel a special connection to Malia, who we now see is of that same heritage. My big question about the Desert Wolf now is… is she a werewolf? The name just sort of made me assume, but her penchant for guns, both in the flashback and real life, makes me doubt that assumption… is “the Desert Wolf” just her criminal nickname, a nom de crime, if you will? It would also make more sense as to why Braeden as a U.S. Marshal would have been tracking her if she was just a normal human criminal. Also, bring back Braeden! I’d really like to think we will see her again, as she is tied to the Desert Wolf saga, which is finally being explored in greater depth. Thought that just occurred to me: what if the Desert Wolf is a rogue Calavera hunter? That would explain why she feels she has to kill her were-coyote daughter!

What do you think, fans? What have been some of your favorite plot points this season so far? Will Hayden be the first successful chimera? How will they fix Kira? Is the Desert Wolf supernatural? What is Parrish?! Let me know in comments below! Till next Moonday!

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