Teen Wolf season 5, episode 18, “The Maid of Gévaudan,” brought back a familiar face and finally revealed the identity of The Beast!
The episode jumps right into the highly-anticipated flashback with a couple of French soldiers running through the woods as they fight off the British. Sebastian Valey, Marie-Jeanne’s brother, lands in a puddle, injured and barely able to stand. The other man, Marcel, drags him up and they hide in a cabin already occupied by a woman, who warns them of a monstrous creature outside. Interestingly, she calls it a demon wolf, which is the name Deucalion called himself.
Gerard speaks over the introduction of Crystal Reed as Marie-Jeanne Valet, and I know it’s not Allison, but it brings me such happiness to see her on the show again. I can only hope this is just the tip of the iceberg, especially as Parrish interrupts with, “Maybe someone should resurrect her,” as a solution to their current problem. I can hear the fandom screaming from here.
Much like Lydia of the past, Marie-Jeanne was skeptical of the supernatural. At this point, we’ve seen Crystal Reed a few times on screen, and it feels like Teen Wolf is waiting as long as possible until we get to hear her speak. She’s talked about paying particular attention to her French accent, and the moment I heard it, all resemblance to Allison was quickly wiped from my mind.
Marie-Jeanne hears tales of The Beast and how it kills for sport. The heavy moment is lightened by the appearance of her brother, and he brings further word of the monster. Marie-Jeanne is the best hunter, and the pub chants her name to lead the party against the creature. But it isn’t until a man brings a child killed by The Beast into the pub that Marie-Jeanne agrees — not that she really believes she’s hunting a werewolf.
On their first hunt, the party does not last long. Nearly everyone is killed, and Marie-Jeanne is scratched by The Beast. She’s ready to take on the creature with nothing more than a dagger, but Henri throws mountain ash at The Beast and they escape to his cabin, which is filled to the brim with herbs to help him survive living near a werewolf. Deaton’s little spice rack really doesn’t compare.
Marie-Jeanne and Henri put something in the wine to sniff out the creature in its human form. Marcel crushes the glass and cuts himself, but when she takes him outside to help, he points her to the cellar, which is full of dead bodies. Marcel is not the killer, however. Instead, he is covering for none other than her brother.
That night, as they were running from British, he drank water from a werewolf’s paw print and turned into the demon wolf. He knows his sister will not tell anyone, for fear he will kill them all, and he knows she will not kill her own brother.
But he underestimates Marie-Jeanne, who works with Henri to find a way to use The Beast’s nature against itself. They attach a steel point to a staff, one that is infused with wolfsbane and mountain ash, and as Marie-Jeanne attaches the two, she coats its edges in her own blood under the light of the full moon.
In 1767, three years later, Marie-Jeanne has finally cornered her brother. He calls forth The Beast, and she thrusts the spear through his chest, killing him. With his dying breath, he says the world over will know what he’s done. But before the life leaves him, Marie-Jeanne promises that no one will remember his name.
Henri and Marie-Jeanne married after that, with the latter taking the former’s last name: Argent.
In the present, we learn Liam is still alive (another deafening cheer from the fandom) but badly injured. Stiles nearly passing out reminds me of his scenes with Derek in season 1. It’s a nice throwback to the early days, and it’s a gag that definitely still lands. Meanwhile, Hayden kisses Liam, taking away his pain and allowing him to heal. I have to wonder if there’s more to their connection if this is the only way they can take pain from each other. Scott and Malia certainly don’t have to do it this way.
Speaking of Malia, she desperately searches for Stiles, probably hoping to keep him out of her mother’s grasp. But when she hears The Beast close by, she phones Braeden to tell her to bring all her shotguns. By this point, Lydia knows something is wrong, and she desperately wants to go after Parrish to bring him back, though it’s clear by the badge and gun left on Stilinski’s desk that he’s already made up his mind.
Scott squares off with The Beast in the library, where a bunch of students have taken cover. As the monster attacks, there’s no doubt that several of the students, if not all, have seen The Beast, not to mention Scott in werewolf mode. When this is over, I sincerely hope they’ll see Scott as the hero he is, and perhaps the inhabitants of Beacon Hills will be more attune to the town’s supernatural occurrences.
It seems hopeless that Scott could win against The Beast, but luckily for him, Liam has healed and comes to help. Then Braeden enters with her shotgun blazing, and Malia’s eyes light up in response to the threat. The Beast, outnumbered, jumps through the library window and back outside.
Gerard and Chris are not putting money on Parrish to eventually stop The Beast, but instead they have hope Lydia will be able to do it. “I’m not an Argent,” Lydia says, “and I’m not Allison,” she continues, pointedly looking at Chris. Marie-Jeanne had plenty of help, and Lydia is determined to bring Parrish back to assist the pack in stopping The Beast.
The final scene of the episode is what everyone has been waiting for all along, the final reveal of The Beast. Scott has gotten its scent, and follows it to the trunk of a car, where he finds a bloody pair of shoes. As he closes the trunk, Mason stands there, asking why Scott has broken into his car. Before anyone can say anything to poor, bewildered Mason, Corey grabs him, turns invisible, and takes off.
It may be naive, but I have hope that this is not the final reveal. Perhaps those were Corey’s shoes in Mason’s trunk, which is more than just a slim possibility, considering their intimate relationship. At the very least, we must keep in mind that Mason did not choose this life as Sebastian did; rather, he was created by the Dread Doctors and forced into this role.
Time will tell if The Beast is truly Mason or not, and what exactly that means for the character and his close group of friends.