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Teen Wolf: Motel California

“A lot could happen in one night.”

Was this episode really as filler as it seemed? It may have felt like a time waster at first, but after a while it seemed like everything that happened was pretty important... almost.

The motel stuff started out fairly independently. I loved all the ominous and creepy haunting stuff that was going on. The idea of this place being a suicide hotspot was incredibly disturbing, and the episode played with the scenario really well. But after a while I started to get a little restless about where this episode was meant to go. Even after the truth about their arrival there was explained, I was still a little at odds. Making the trip to the motel into an elaborate plan to trap the weres is a little farfetched. How could this person, or demon, know that they would end up there?

If they’ve managed to pull off as many killings as they have already, it must not be beyond them. Does Lydia have some sort of connection with whoever (or whatever) it is? I liked that this episode finally directly addressed Lydia’s psychic (just guessing) abilities; a year later and we still don’t know what she is. The introduction of more witchy stuff into the series to balance the wolf side out a little is great too. Hopefully it will give Lydia more of a reason to figure out what she can do, and why she can do it, especially if it seems to be directly affecting everyone around her.

If she learns to use it, then it might be something pretty powerful. She helped to save Boyd and Isaac from themselves. Stiles was a bit of a hero here too, helping to stop Scott from doing some major damage, even if his fears were a little hard to grasp. Was he lamenting his old life, or belittling it? Being a werewolf has brought a lot of bad into his life but it’s also helped him out in a lot of ways. He’s stronger and faster; he fell in love with Allison; and he’s developing into a great leader. I guess it’s hard to just accept it when his life seems to be falling apart, especially when he still believes he’s responsible for killing his (sort of) mentor.

I’m not sure if Derek’s wounds healing were because of Jennifer or something else, but I like the logic of emotions playing a huge part in a werewolf’s abilities. It definitely grounds the whole thing a little bit, especially if it can help Deucalion to manipulate Derek’s pack into the ground.

I’m still not entirely sold on this episode right now. It was good fun, and Teen Wolf always embraces the horror genre to its fullest, but I think the tall episode order might have hurt the fast pace of the show in the long run. Still, if it hits this many notes when it takes a sick day, then the show is doing something very right.

3.5 out of 5 emergency flares.

Plus

Gerard is back! Maybe Teen Wolf should learn to put its surprise guest stars in the end credits from now on.

Was that creepy form Lydia saw in the flames the thing responsible for all the killings or just what was summoned to do the deed?
I’m not sure what Ethan’s fear is. What was with the whole stomach thing?

He Said, She Said

Scott: “We weren’t important. We were no one. Maybe I should just be no one again. No one at all.”
Stiles: “... You’re not no one. You’re someone.”

Also posted at PandaTV.

8 comments:

  1. I think Ethan's fear was being separated from Aiden?

    I'm not a huge "Derek + Jennifer" fan, but it's nice to see a non-mopey Derek for once.

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  2. I actually liked this episode a lot. You may be right that it seemed to stop the pace a little, but I don't see that as such a terrible thing. Shows need to breathe on occasion, and at the very least, this was great as a character piece.

    It started giving us some answers on Lydia's whatever-she-is, so hopefully we'll now more soon enough.

    We also got some nice character stuff with the weres, and it was nice to explore Boyd and Ethan a bit more. As for Isaac, well, we already knew what his fears are, but I'll take as many scenes of Daniel Sharman as they give me.

    Ultimately, though, THE moment was that ending with Scott and Stiles, and that made the episode for me. It was nice to see a moment of "no matter how terrible things get we'll always be best friends". Hit me right in the feels, that one.

    Also, loved that bit at the end with all of them sleeping on the bus!

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  3. Was this the first full-on gay make-out session on television? Gay teens in bed together in a motel on television is unusual anyway, but I'm liking the way this show deals with gay teens in such a matter-of-fact way.

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  4. Pucklady, I was wondering if it was, I don't recall seeing something like that anywhere else.

    I really like how the whole gay thing isn't that big of a deal in the show, too. Maybe it's Jeff Davis's idea. He's openly gay and probably doesn't want to make it a big deal like other opportunistic shows (Glee anyone?). That's the way I'd like it to be someday, and I actually think it kind of is with most people.

    People don't make a big show and dance about my sexuality anymore, it's just a matter of fact, like hair color or something. It's one small trait or many, not the sole thing that defines me.

    Sorry, mini rant. Thanks for commenting.

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  5. I liked this one a lot. The suicide thing was quite creepy, Lydia got a lot of interesting, psychic-like things to do, and I just thought the bus trip/weird motel thing was a fun thing to do. And actually, I do like the Derek/Jennifer thing.

    Wasn't it the wolfsbane in the coach's whistle that poisoned Scott, Boyd and Isaac -- and Ethan the twin thing -- and made them suicidal? They weren't really suicidal. It just made them connect to their negative emotions. Sort of like Jennifer got Derek in touch :) with some positive emotions.

    The make-out scene in the motel was quite cool. Although I was worried that Ethan would hurt Danny.

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  6. I woke up this morning with a bit of a revelation when it comes to Derek, and no I wasn't dreaming about him or anything. This whole Jennifer arc is about giving him family. He also just got his sister back, and Derek is all about family. I think this is about him becoming strong enough to fight the Alpha pack, because at the moment he is a pretty sorry Alpha.

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  7. I like the way they are handling the gay thing, too....like the non-issue it should be. I think that may have been the most graphic gay love scene on network television that I have ever seen. Not that it was really all that graphic, only that gay love scenes usually just king of hint at sex. It was surprising.

    I also like the idea of Derek having a girlfriend, and I am certainly not complaining about half-naked Derek, but I thought that love scene was a little awkward.

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  8. Well, I am finally getting caught up on Teen Wolf.

    The scene between Ethan and Danny was fabulously done.

    The scene between Derek and Jennifer was awkward and gave me vibes like she was very bad news.

    Why did the suicide counter go up by three if four people were going to suicide themselves. It's really bothering me.

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