Teen Wolf season 5, episode 16, “Lie Ability,” just finished airing, and we found out whether or not Scott and his pack could rescue Lydia from Eichen House.
The episode begins right where last week’s left off, which is to say, right in the middle of the action. The chimeras attack Parrish, but they have no effect on him. A metal pole through his chest thrown by Theo, however, stops him pretty quickly. Valack takes the opportunity to escape with Lydia, and both Stiles and Theo are left behind.
Theo is adamant that he can help Stiles, but Stiles knows better than to trust the other boy. We do learn, however, that watching his sister die may not have been his own idea. Apparently the Dread Doctors convinced little nine-year-old Theo that his sister wanted him to have her heart. Even if the Doctors were smooth talkers, does Theo really think Stiles would believe he was that naive as a child? It’s one thing to believe in Santa Claus. It’s another to watch your sister die right in front of you.
We also learn a little bit more about Theo’s motives. Yes, he wants Lydia so he can find Parrish so he can find The Beast. And yes, he does want to take The Beast’s powers. But, Theo argues, that’s only so he can defeat it himself. That sounds awfully noble for a guy like Theo, and, frankly, I’m just not buying it.
Scott and Liam are desperate to follow Stiles, but they still can’t get through the mountain ash barrier. Instead of trying their luck at pushing through again, they track down Meredith, who’s nearly comatose. She manages to show Scott that she wants him to claw the back of her neck so they can talk, and he carefully does just that. The last time we saw this happen to someone, Theo nearly killed Lydia. It’s no wonder Scott is so hesitant, but what choice do they have?
Liam protects the pair from attacking orderlies while Scott does his thing. It’s nice to see Liam (and Dylan Sprayberry) being a badass werewolf, but it’s also just as satisfying seeing him pull out his comedic talents, which he has in spades. The importance of this scene, however, centers around Lydia. Meredith tells Scott that Valack is trying to figure out who The Beast is. Lydia can answer that, apparently, which is good to know for future reference. (Because, honestly, we’re almost out of options. WHO could it be? A lot of fans are guessing Mason at this point.)
Meredith tells Scott that the Hellhound can get through the mountain ash and locate Lydia. While they run off to track him down, Kira continues to be a ticking time bomb. She urges Malia to go, but Malia doesn’t want to leave her behind. I fell in love with Survivor!Malia, but I’m staying for Altruistic!Malia. She’s come such a long way. Corey and Josh barge in, but they’re not there to fight. Corey’s been badly burned by Parrish, and they need Malia to take his pain away so he can start healing. It looks like a trade is in order. Good thing for Kira that Josh’s drug of choice is electricity.
Valack talks to Lydia as he helps her block the noises in her head. He makes it sound like the Dread Doctors were his greatest experiments. But because of them he was ridiculed professionally, so he blames the Doctors for ruining his life. He wants to find them, and Lydia can help.
Each episode brings us closer to understanding how The Beast operates, and this one was no exception. Valack also tells Lydia that The Beast is not yet fully grown. It’s still tied to the teenage chimera inside of it, but if the Doctors can force it to remember the man it once was, the horrific serial killer he used to be, The Beast will kill the kid inside of it and become whole and absolute.
Horrifically, Valack tells Lydia that if she just puts the mask on, she’ll save everyone. She’ll die, but her friends will live. The power shorts out the speakers helping her concentrate, and the voices become too much for her. She screams and blows half of Valack’s head off.
You weren’t exactly the most likeable character, Valack, but you gave us lots of answers, and for that, we’ll miss you.
Stiles rescues Lydia despite her protests to save himself, and this moment was just one of several sweet ones between the two friends in episode 16. As they make their escape, Parrish continues to track Lydia, burning the mountain ash right out of the walls and allowing Scott and Liam to follow close behind. Lydia is about to burst when the Hellhound finally gets to her, and he pushes Stiles out of the way just in time to cover Lydia and absorb her scream, saving the others.
Mason is on the outside, tasked with shutting down the system to allow them all to escape. This is the first time that I’ve felt something fishy going on, like there was a reason Mason was all alone, that he didn’t enter Eichen House with the others. It’s obvious they didn’t have many other options, but Mason is still one of the few characters we haven’t seen in the same room as The Beast. Coincidence?
Luckily, Hayden drugs Deucalion so she can help Mason turn off the power, and they all get out of Eichen with a little help from Mrs. Martin, who zaps Tracey when the chimera tries to take her daughter.
Then the Teen Wolf writers save the most heart-stopping moment for last, when Lydia continues to struggle with keeping her scream inside. They could all die if she lets it out, so they immediately take her to Deaton’s. He plugs up her head with paste made from mistletoe, but not before she lets off one more big scream. Lydia collapses back onto the table.
After what felt like eternity — seriously, guys, it was agony — Lydia begins to breathe again, and she takes Stiles’ hand. The two look at each other in a way that they’ve never done so before, and Lydia thanks Stiles for saving her life. She also makes it clear to her mother, who’s been standing off to the side this whole time, that Stiles is the one that saved her. Maybe now Mrs. Martin will have a little more patience with him.
There’s bound to be an interesting, awkward, “Yeah, the supernatural totally exists and your daughter’s a Banshee,” conversation. We can only hope it’s between Stilinski, Melissa, and Natalie, and that we get to see it on camera. She’s in for the surprise of a lifetime.
Before we depart, let’s talk about this episode’s title, which is “Lie Ability.” Hayden feels that, when it comes to Liam, she’s a liability. Deucalion tells her she needs to work on her ability to lie. Could someone else be a liability down the road? Is someone lying? Is it Theo? It’s probably Theo.
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