Teen Wolf 3x8 Visionary
Things I liked:
- While I mention below my problems with the Paige/Kate storyline, I do like that they show a connection between the Argents and Hale pack before Kate. If Gerard had told Kate about the Hale pack, the way he told the story to Scott, it makes perfect sense why she would go after one of the younger Hales to bring them all down. Or if she knew what blue eyes meant, it may have been proof that he'd taken a human life and thus had "broken the code".
- I liked the different perspectives. "Unreliable narrators" or not, it was fun to see flashbacks and a different POV.
- Hey, backstory on werewolves and the Argents! And Deaton!
- Stiles asking after Derek. ♥
- Talia! I doubt we'll see much more of her, if ever again, but I sure wish we could. She seems like a total HBIC.
- "They're different, but still beautiful." OMG, I teared up at that line Talia spoke to Derek. That even knowing something had happened (if not the specifics), she still loved her son. It's almost surprising with that support he still turned to Kate.
- That Stiles and Scott were both all "bitch, please" about the people telling the story. Smarty pants!
- I actually felt bad for Deucalion. Ennis, not so much. But I totally understand Deucalion's rise to villainhood, now. Gerard Argent, on the other hand, continues to be just the worst guy ever. Gerard was born eveil; Deucalion was made that way.
- Peter. Okay, Peter is the douchiest evil villain to ever douchily villainize, but he's so fucking AWESOME at it. "I was his closest confidante" as he creeps on Derek making out with his gf. Manipulating Derek into turning his gf without ever asking her. Like, he's the kid in the books about British boarding schools who ends up murdering someone on school grounds but convinces the entire world it wasn't him. Like, fucking brilliant. A+ to both actors and even the writing staff for that. And my dirtywrongbad mind goes to the place where Peter wanted Derek all for himself (sexually or not, I suppose) and couldn't bear to see Derek happy (hence the creeping and convincing him to do something nearly unforgivable). I mean, how Derek still handles the guy - all of regular Teen Wolf time aside, even - is beyond me. Why doesn't he blame Peter? I truly believe Peter is to blame for Paige's death, not Derek. Derek was a dumb, gullible, cocky kid. Peter was the adult who led him down the path. Was he jealous? Did he suspect Derek might have been the alpha when his parents passed on? SOMEONE WRITE THE FIC, PLEASE.
- I don't believe Derek would forget Ennis was the alpha he chose to bite his gf. This is the one point where I might believe Peter was telling a story about Peter (versus about Derek, but see comments below). But, more likely, I suspect that Peter did the choosing; I don't think Derek had any idea who was doing the biting, only that his uncle would take care of it.
- That Paige was the perfect example of fridging; her death was only to create more sorrow and tragedy for Derek. Now, I didn't mind the Paige story for what it was - it was great to see Derek truly does have type and can be sweet - I think Teen Wolf is competing with Supernatural for killing POCs and women.
- My bigger problem with the Paige story is the plot issue with Kate. Derek falls in love with a girl at 15 and gets her killed, but then falls madly in love with Kate about a year later? Like, I get teens are fickle, but this wasn't like he broke up with Paige because of locker room gossip - he tried to turn her and then mercy-killed her. I don't believe he just turns around and gets that deeply involved so soon, even if Peter wasn't whispering that he needed to kill her.
- Where was Isaac?
- Speaking of, WHERE THE FUCK was Peter during the showdown, only to be there to tell the tragic backstory of Derek? Like, I want to believe he's just that much of a dick, but my bigger problem is why they couldn't have made Stiles say a single "hey, where were you 2 days ago when everyone was fighting alphas and Derek was forced to kill his beta?"
I've been reading a lot of summaries/comments in various places and it seems like a) everyone is accepting Stiles' "unreliable narrator" quote as if it were there own, going "I don't believe in what Peter or Gerard said!!" Well, no shit. You're not supposed to. But also, b) they seem to be confused. I saw one commenter mention that the flashbacks we saw were Scott/Stiles (and others) imagining what Peter/Gerard were saying. Umm, NO. If you watch the episode, the words don't match the pictures. The flashbacks were for the audience's (aka us) sake. While Scott and Stiles can only guess Peter and Gerard aren't telling the truth, we KNOW they aren't telling the truth. We got to see what actually happened - that Gerard started the fight, that Chris Argent is apparently the only Argent ever to actually adhere to the code, that Peter manipulated a young teenager into giving the bite to the girl he loved. It was not, as another person suggested, what actually happened to Peter Hale but Peter told it like it was Derek. WTF. (I mean, can you really see Talia telling Peter, her brother-in-law, that his eyes were different but still beautiful?)
Another thought...a lot of people (particularly Sterek shippers) have been exclaiming over the idea that Stiles could be the emmissary for the McCall pack (or Hale pack, depending on who is suggesting it), but what if Lydia is? Jeff Davis said she wasn't a witch or a fairy...but why not a druid? A magical being? It might explain why she keeps happening upon the dead bodies left by the evil Druid. It might explain why she's immune to the bite (think back to the story of the Lycans and how they went to the druids for help).
Finally, question. I assumed the rest of the eps were airing in January (MTV released a start date for more eps in January)...but then there's been a 3x9 trailer released for next week...Are we getting 12 eps of this season in a row, and then a bunch in a second half of the season in January? How many total eps do we have?