‘Teen Wolf’ recap: ‘Alpha Pact’

In Teen Wolf’s latest episode, “Alpha Pact,” Allison, Stiles, and Scott try to save their parents from being sacrificed, and Derek tries to save Cora’s life.

The episode starts off with Stiles still at the hospital. He’s frantically slapping Derek, trying to get him to wake up. When he wakes, Stiles fills him in on everything, letting him know Jennifer took Melissa, which led to Scott joining the Alpha pack to find her and the Sheriff. Stiles insists Derek get out of the hospital because the cops have arrived.

In the parking lot, the Argents meet up with Isaac and a still unconscious Cora. Derek shows up and tells them Melissa’s been taken, Scott’s left, and Stiles is buying time with the authorities.

Meanwhile, Stiles is talking to an FBI agent he seems to know. He asks Stiles about his father and his drinking, which upsets Stiles. Stiles is outsmarting the agent until he mentions the name on the door. The name Argent is painted in red on the elevator doors.

Back at Derek’s, Cora not doing well. Isaac blows up at Derek about sleeping with the enemy and letting innocent people die. He leaves to go try and help the others after Derek says he’s not leaving Cora. Peter says Isaac is feeling a lot of anger and is switching his allegiance to Scott, who is not yet an alpha.

Allison tries to convince Chris he’s going to be taken by the Darach. Stiles agrees with her and says they need to do something soon because the lunar eclipse is in two nights. They decide to go to check out a place Jennifer used. Stiles suggests seeing if Lydia can help, but none of them know what she is yet. Allison and Chris start gathering their weapons, and Isaac arrives, set on helping them find Jennifer and the parents.

At the loft, Derek is using his werewolf power to take away some of Cora’s pain. He says it isn’t enough, and Peter says he might know how to save her life. Peter says an Alpha can give up some of their spark by not stopping when they take the pain away from their beta. It takes away the werewolf’s Alpha power and could even kill them. Derek doesn’t care because he wants to save Cora. Later, Peter pretends to try and talk Derek out of it, but it’s fairly obvious he’s playing his nephew again.

Lydia and her mother having a touching scene at their home. Her mother tells her they can cover up the marks on her throat from where Jennifer tried to strangle her. Lydia declines saying, “Someone tried to strangle me, and I survived. I don’t need to hide that.”

Chris, Allison, and Isaac go to the bank vault to look for Jennifer. Chris has a plan and tases Isaac and handcuffs Allison, letting himself be taken by Jennifer. Later, Isaac helps Allison get free and the two have a moment before texting Stiles to let him know what happened.

At school, Stiles asks Lydia for her help. Lydia says she can’t, she doesn’t even know how to use whatever powers she has yet. She also realizes Jennifer didn’t know she was a banshee when she decided to kill her, so she must know something Jennifer didn’t want her to know. When Stiles learns Chris has been taken, he knows they don’t have a lot of time left and he has a panic attack. Lydia tries to help and in the end, kisses him so he will stop breathing because she read something once about not breathing when you have a panic attack. He thanks her and compliments her intelligence.

At the nemeton, the druid tree in the root cellar, Chris wakes up and sees the Sheriff and Melissa. He tries to get to all his weapons, but Jennifer took them all. She arrives and tells him she’s sacrificing people to stop the Alpha’s, not because she wants to kill people.

At the school, Stiles and Lydia go to see if Ms. Morrell has any information, but she’s gone. A student, Danielle, says she’s been waiting for a while and Lydia mentions Morrell is never late. Stiles looks through her desk and gives Lydia her folder. They see Lydia’s been drawing the same tree over and over again in her notebook without realizing what she’s doing. Danielle leaves, saying they obviously need to see Morrell more than she does. Stiles looks at the drawing and realizes it’s the roots of the tree, and remembers the story Peter told him about where Derek killed Paige. He tells Lydia that’s where the parents are, and tells her to go ask Derek about it because the agent from the beginning of the episode wants to talk to him again.

The agent tells Stiles his dad is missing and says he thinks Stiles knows more than he is saying. He also mentions Stiles’ friends are all missing from school as well. He says someone has to take care of Stiles since the Sheriff is missing, and Deaton shows up saying he will take care of Stiles.

Peter opens the door when Lydia arrives at the loft. The two of them haven’t seen each other since he messed with her mind last season. The moment is tense, but Lydia doesn’t run away, and Peter actually looks ashamed at himself for a moment. Peter tells her Derek’s mother took their memories away of where the nemeton was, so they can’t help.

Ms. Morrell is running away from the Alpha pack in the woods when they catch up. She throws mountain ash in the air and it makes a circle around her so the werewolves can’t get inside. The pack, plus Scott, surround her while she tells them there needs to be balance. She tells the pack Deucalion killed Ennis, not Derek. She also admits she brought Braeden, the girl that saved Isaac in the first episode, to town to help maintain balance. Deucalion throws his cane at her and it stabs her shoulder, which makes her fall and break the circle. Scott rushes to her and tells them to back off, and surprisingly, the pack listens. He asks if she knows where the parents are and she mentions the nemeton.

At the nemeton, the parents are all talking. The Sheriff says he might have known about the supernatural earlier, if he had only believed. He talks about the night his wife, Claudia, died. He says he was at the scene of an accident eight years ago when a woman trapped in a car told him to go see his wife at the hospital, but he didn’t leave. Stiles was with his mother when she died, but the Sheriff wasn’t because he didn’t believe.

Deaton meets with Stiles, Scott, Isaac, and Allison, telling them he has a way to save the parents, but it’s dangerous. The three must sacrifice themselves and die for a moment. There will be a “permanent darkness” that will surround their hearts and they will give the nemeton power, which will make it a beacon for supernatural creatures. The teens agree and they go to the vet clinic to get in the ice baths. Deaton tells them they have to pair up with someone they have an emotional connection to, and then tells Lydia to go with Stiles when she starts towards Allison. Allison and Isaac are together, and Deaton is with Scott. The three have to have something personal of their parents. Stiles has his dad’s badge, Allison has a silver bullet her dad forged, and Scott has his mom’s watch.

Derek continues to take away Cora’s pain. He’s in pain and his eyes go from Alpha red, back to his beta blue. Chris finally gets to a high frequency emitter that was somewhere on his person and turns it on, hoping to attract one one of the werewolves that will help. As Scott, Allison, and Stiles get into the bath, Stiles says he has to tell Scott something in case he doesn’t live. Scott’s father is back in town. His father is sitting in Scott’s room and surprise, it’s the agent who kept bothering Stiles throughout the episode.The three then are pushed under the water, and the episode ends with Scott’s werewolf golden/yellow eyes opening underwater.

Comments:

I think the best part of this episode was that for once I was totally surprised by something. I did not guess till Stiles said Scott’s dad was back in town that the FBI agent was anything more than an annoying guy who Stiles had met before. I loved so many moments. The opening sterek scene, the moments between the parents, and the moment between Lydia and her mother. I also think the Stydia kiss was done well, even though in real life, it’s really not a good idea to kiss someone having a panic attack. I think the panic attack was believable and the slow-mo was a great addition to the scene.

I honestly cannot believe Derek trusted Peter again. I’m not sure exactly what Peter’s plan is, but he’s only around this season when he’s scheming. There really needed to be more of a moment between Lydia and Peter as well. What he did to her was unforgivable.

I love Ms. Morrell and I was super worried they would kill her off this episode. Given the Alpha’s reaction to Scott, I’m assuming she will be safe for now. Morrell needs more airtime, as does Lydia’s mother, who had a lovely mother/daughter moment with Lydia. This show does not have enough moments between female characters and I desperately want more. Also, Shantal Rhodes was great in her small scene as Danielle. I hope we continue to see more of her in the show.

I’m a bit worried about what will happen to Stiles, Allison, and Scott. I believe they’ll come back, but the darkness around their hearts part could mean a lot of different things. Also, the nemeton as a supernatural hot spot makes me think it will become like their own hellmouth, like in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Tune in Monday at 10 p.m. on MTV for the final episode of the first half of season 3.

Photo Courtesy of MTV