Last time on Teen Wolf, Liam made the mother of all bad decisions (an impressive feat on this particular show) when he brought Theo back from Hell. Now Theo is back and Stiles is still stuck in the train station from hell, which is the worst trade imaginable. Thankfully, in this episode, titled “Heartless,” Theo’s escape and Liam’s idiocy are the big plot points. They just quickly give way to much larger problems. Finally, Teen Wolf‘s final season is ramping up in the action and things are about to get very wild and very bloody.
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Stupid is as Stupid Does
The episode begins with Teen Wolf trying to make us desperately care about Theo by showing us the hellish torture he went under while in Hell. Basically, the creepy and really pissed-off spirit of Theo’s sister ripped out his heart over and over. It’s torture in more ways than one. No matter how hard the show tries, Theo is not going to be sympathetic and the torture sequence quickly becomes repetitive and not at all scary. Cody Christian plays a great sociopath, but there is no way that Theo will ever be redeemable or even slightly empathetic at his point.
Thankfully, Malia and Scott feel largely the same way about Theo. Liam, however, does not, though that’s mainly because he is just trying to justify his existence on the show and prove he is not a total loser. Liam convinces Scott to let Theo stick around. Theo becomes Liam’s lackey, which honestly is a fate worse than death … or a Hell where your sister rips your heart out over and over.
On Liam’s literal leash, Theo comes up with a plan. Theo’s plan, which even he admits is stupid, is to lure a Ghost Rider into a cage with a big electronic transformer. It’s silly and endangers all of Liam’s annoying friends. Admittedly, one of them dying wouldn’t be the worst thing. The plan surprisingly works too.
Liam and his gang — who are joined by Scott, making the whole grouping not only bearable but important — manage to trap a Ghost Rider. That’s just a tiny first step. It is one thing to trap a Ghost Rider, but it is quite another to get one to talk, especially since they don’t really have mouths. It is Mason — aka the only member of Liam’s squad who is actually useful, especially now that Stiles is gone — who figures out that Parrish is the only one who can communicate with the Wild Hunt.
Fathers and Their Children
Before we get to Ghost Rider’s message, Lydia has a theory about Stiles and Sheriff Stilinski. Lydia thinks that the Sheriff has conjured up Claudia to cope with his missing memories of Stiles. He is subconsciously resisting Stiles’ existence because that would mean also losing his wife. It doesn’t make a lot — or any amount — of sense, but it does result in Lydia and the Sheriff having an honest and deeply emotional conversation about Stiles. An actually beautiful and heartbreaking scene plays out between them. Lydia finds Stiles’ lacrosse jersey in his now-uncovered room, and she uses it to spark the Sheriff’s memories of his son. Lacrosse has never, ever been more emotional.
In a much less touching father and child relationship, Malia gets Melissa to heal Peter. Inspired by Liam’s resurrection of Theo, Malia decides to use her own personal sociopath to help her rescue Stiles. Malia using Peter is just as stupid as Liam using Theo. Unlike Theo, however, Peter has actually helped the pack and he does have a weird soft spot for his daughter. Also unlike Theo, Peter has always given us reasons to care about him as a person. So Malia wins over Liam, even if she is being just as foolhardy.
Malia forces Peter to take her to the place he escaped from: the Wild Hunt’s train station. They don’t find anything but trouble. When Malia and Peter hear the Wild Hunt coming on their horses, Peter tells Malia to run and he will deal with them. Anticlimactically, The Wild Hunt just kind of runs by Peter, completely ignoring him. This really undermines Peter’s heroic fatherly sacrifice, but it is the thought that counts.
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Out of the Frying Pan and into the (Nazi Werewolf) Fire
Back at the Ghost Rider’s cage, through Parrish, Scott is able to get some manner of answers. The Ghost Rider is not totally helpful. He basically tells Scott to go screw himself, in a voice that makes me wistful for the relatively easy-to-understand Dread Doctors. The gist is that there is no way to negotiate with the Wild Hunt. They will take everyone, and Scott’s only resource is to fight them.
The Ghost Rider is not content to just threaten Scott either. Somehow, it entrances Parrish and brings out the Hellhound inside him. Parrish, under the Ghost Rider’s control, transforms and tries to break the Ghost Rider out of its prison. Scott and Liam manage to fend Parrish off, pushing him away from the cage and out deep into the woods.
While they are gone, Mr. Douglas, everyone’s least favorite Nazi super werewolf, shows up. Douglas forces Theo to set free the Ghost Rider. Mr. Douglas then rips the Ghost Rider’s head off and eats the gland inside its brain. I guess we know now what — or, more accurately, who — can kill Ghost Riders.
Sadly, Mr. Douglas is obviously not working for the wolf pack. He steals the Ghost Rider’s whip and escapes into the night, where he comes face to face with Corey. Our uberwolf uses the whip and banishes Corey in a puff of smoke.
Wait, did I say this was a sad event? Erasing Corey from existence might be the most wonderful thing any character on Teen Wolf has ever done. The even brighter side is that Corey’s erasure might lead to the gang finally freeing Stiles. Mason did nauseatingly and weirdly say earlier in the episode that his superpower is always being able to find bland and boring Corey. I want to like you, Mason, but you have to get way better taste in men!
What do you think? Will you miss Corey for however long he is gone? Will Corey’s erasure lead to Stiles’ rescue? Where is this season going? Will Mr. Douglas be the real villain this season? Are Claudia’s days numbered now that the Sheriff remembers Stiles? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Teen Wolf season 6 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on MTV. Want more news? Like our Teen Wolf Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of MTV)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
