‘Teen Wolf’ recap: ‘Tattoo’

The season premiere of MTV’s Teen Wolf, “Tattoo,” introduces viewers to the alpha pack.

The episode begins with Isaac being rescued by a young woman. He rides behind her on her motorcycle as they are chased by the twin alphas. The twins creepily transform into one giant werewolf and try to attack the pair. The girl shoots them with some kind of gun and the two werewolves disappear.

Scott goes to get a tattoo, and Stiles goes along with him even though he’s squeamish. He gets two bands around his arm, but because of his werewolf healing powers, the tattoo disappears.

Allison and Lydia are heading on a double date and talk about their ex-boyfriends, Scott and Jackson. Jackson left for London after Derek told him what he needed to know about being a wolf and Lydia hasn’t talked to him since. Allison also talks about how she was away from Beacon Hills all summer.

Stiles and Scott end up right beside Lydia’s car in Stiles’ jeep. Scott and Allison both freak out when they see each other, and so they all have a weird moment on the road where they all stop. A crazed deer runs into Lydia’s car when they’re parked. The two girls are alright, but Lydia is shaken up by the accident. Scott notes the deer was terrified by something.

Scott reads while doing pull-ups, and looks at vocabulary to study for the PSAT. He learns what the word ephemeral means, and uses it throughout the episode. Chris Argent talks to Allison about going back to school on the first day. Sheriff Stilinski pulls Stiles away from his investigation of car accidents involving deer on his computer to make him go to school. Lydia gets ready for school and tries on a leather jacket that belongs to a guy who is lounging in her bed. She doesn’t react positively to him asking if she wants to go on a date with him, but hums at his question about having sex again.

Isaac and the girl who saved him arrive at the hospital. She tells Scott’s mom, Melissa, that she needs to find Scott. Melissa tells Isaac he’s supposed to have surgery, but he’s healing really fast and she doesn’t know what to do. Derek isn’t answering his phone, so Isaac asks her to call Scott. Sheriff Stilinski tells Melissa he wants to question the girl because she caused property damage.

At school, Scott talks about going to see Derek to find out how he got his tattoo. Lydia talks to Allison about wanting a guy for a distraction, not a boyfriend. Right after, they see the alpha twins arrive in the hallway. In English class, the only seat left for Allison to take is right in front of Scott so the two talk for a moment. All the students get a text from their teacher with the last line of Heart of Darkness, which is the book they're going to start reading. She makes them turn off their phones, meaning Melissa is unable to get ahold of Scott. A female alpha disguises herself as a nurse and gives Isaac some kind of sedative. She goes to the girl’s room, but the girl is gone.

Allison passes a note to Scott asking if they can talk. Melissa calls the school to get Scott out of class. His English teacher tells him she knows about how he’s skipped classes in the past and he shouldn’t do it this year. He promises he won’t.

In class, Stiles notices Lydia has a bite mark and she says her dog bit her. Lydia comments on Stiles’ saying about how three is a pattern, citing the deer and her dog, then a flock of birds attack the classroom. The teacher tells them to get down, while trying to protect some of the students. The moment is over quickly, and none of the students are harmed, but the room has dead birds everywhere and many windows are broken.

At the hospital, Melissa and Scott talk. She tells him she didn’t want to call because she was afraid he’d get back in werewolf mode and slack off on school again, but he promises he won’t. A blind man joins Scott in the elevator while he goes to find Isaac. The doctor getting ready to perform surgery on Isaac gets upset because Isaac already healed, so he thinks there was a mistake. An alpha takes Isaac out of the room and puts him in a wheelchair. Scott notices him take Isaac to the elevator and rushes in, fighting the alpha. He says Scott can’t beat him, because he’s an alpha. Luckily, Scott has help from Derek, who shows up and stabs the alpha in the back with his claws.

The police and Chris Argent come to the school. Sheriff Stilinski asks if Chris has seen anything weird like this before with animals because Stiles said something about him being a hunter. Chris says he isn’t a hunter anymore. Stiles calls Scott to tell him about what happened with the birds, and is told to meet him at Derek’s house. Derek’s getting some stuff to help Isaac, and tells Scott he’s grateful he helped him, and mentions the alpha was from a rival pack.

At school, Lydia and Allison are in the hallway when the girl who saved Isaac sees them and asks about Scott. She leaves weird pattern bruises on their arms while the alpha twins watch. Chris talks to Allison about their agreement to stay in town, but to ignore the supernatural. Sheriff Stilinski goes to Dr. Deaton and asks about the weird animal behavior. Deaton shows him some of his animals who killed themselves.

At Derek’s, Scott shows Derek what tattoo he wanted. He says in Samoan, tattoo means “open wound,” and says it’s his reward for not communicating with Allison during the summer and talks about how he feels. Derek makes Stiles hold Scott down, while he uses a blowtorch to make Scott’s tattoo show up. Scott wakes up, and sees it worked and the tattoo is on his arm. He tells Stiles he needed something permanent in his life, so that’s also part of the reason for the tattoo. He notes Derek painted the door, but only the outside. Derek tells him to go home, but Scott doesn’t listen and runs his claws over the door. They see the alpha sign and Scott questions Derek. Derek tells them both about the alpha pack. Isaac wakes up and asks them about the girl who saved him, which they know nothing about.

The girl who saved Isaac is being cornered in a locker room by the alpha pack. She fights bravely, but is ultimately brought down. Deucalion, the leader of the alpha pack is introduced, and surprise, it’s the blind man from the elevator. Deucalion kills her after she talks about him being afraid of a boy. It’s insinuated he’s going to pit Derek against Scott.

Lydia and Allison are picking out paint for a wall, when they notice the bruises on their arm make a symbol. Two people, likely Boyd and Erica, are seen in a building sitting and holding hands. On the floor of the building is the symbol from Allison and Lydia’s arms.

Quotes and Comments:

"An American werewolf in London? Like that's not going to be a disaster." (Lydia to Allison, talking about Jackson going to England. It was a nice nod to the 80s movie)

“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” (Derek to Scott after he saves him from an alpha in the hospital)

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and I’m excited to learn more about the alpha pack, and the animal mystery. I loved seeing the little interactions with the teens and their parents: Stiles and the Sherriff, Chris and Allison, and Scott and Melissa. One aspect of Teen Wolf I really enjoy is the parent-child relationships because they feel so genuine. I thought the Lydia and Allison scenes were great. I loved Derek helping Scott get his tattoo, and Stiles having to hold him down even though he was squeamish. Derek was hoping he could let Scott have a normal high school life, but this is Beacon Hills, and it’s never going to be normal. I hope Scott keeps trying to be a better everything because he had a hard time the past two seasons, so his school life and relationships suffered. I really want to know what’s wrong with Isaac, and find out about the girl that saved him, including her name, and what she knew. It seemed like she was a hunter, but the marks she made on Allison and Lydia make me question if she’s something else, like Deaton perhaps? I loved seeing all the characters back in action, and I’m really looking forward to this season.

Photo Courtesy of MTV