Teen Wolf season 6, episode 8, “Ghosted,” just finished airing, and tonight, several old faces returned to our screens.

The episode kicks off with Lydia having another dream, although this one is much more visceral (and helpful) than the last one.

Walking through a mirror, Lydia finds herself in the ’80s as the town of Canaan has their annual block party. She witnesses the entire town being taken by the Ghost Riders except for one woman. Lydia is able to touch her shoulder and interact with the woman, but she’s soon knocked back to reality. She, Malia, and Scott find where Canaan used to exist and plan a road trip.

When they get there, Canaan is just as it was left in 1987, though the energy from what happened to the town causes the pack to have hallucinations. Malia sees her adopted family, is shot by Theo, and is dragged underground by her dead sister and mother. Scott, on the other hand, sees his mom with a bite mark on the back of her head, and even though I knew this wasn’t real, it was heart-wrenching to see Melissa in that condition.

But the town isn’t completely deserted. They spot a little boy, Caleb, on the sidewalk and follow him home. His mother, Lenore, is the woman from Lydia’s dream, and we learn that the reason she wasn’t taken is because she’s a banshee.

Caleb’s circumstance is a bit different, however. He drowned when he was little, and for some reason the Ghost Riders were able to bring him back. He mostly acts like a normal child, but given his violent death, there are clues as to what happened to him, especially when Lenore tells the pack they can’t leave the house.

So we know the Ghost Riders can’t alter reality, but now we do know they can bring back the dead. It seems plausible this is what they did to Claudia, but I still want to know to what end. Is it just to distract the sheriff and the others from looking too closely into Stiles’ disappearance, or is it for some other reason?

Either way, Lydia realizes the Ghost Riders are stuck for some reason. They need to figure out what that reason is so they can save Beacon Hills, but Lydia is insistent they don’t do that until they save Stiles. She doesn’t want to be left behind like Lenore.

While all of this is going down, Melissa is desperately trying to save Chris from his wounds inflicted by the Ghost Riders’ whips. He’s infected by a supernatural toxin that will spread if they try to cut it out, so between several shots of lingering hand-holding, Melissa figures out the ingredients for a cure, hoping she mixed it together in the right amount to save him, rather than kill him.

Mason and Corey are surprisingly absent in this episode, but it does allow for Liam and Hayden to team up with Mr. Douglas of all people. He overheard them talking about their plan to catch a Ghost Rider, so it’s obvious to us that every move from there on out has been calculated, including being “caught” in the basement trying to build something to stop the Riders.

They want to build something to absorb a lightning bolt, and although Douglas spins it so it sounds like it’ll help them defeat the Riders, we know from the beginning of the season how much power lightning holds and how much Douglas is obsessed with power.

But first the junior pack needs to find a way to absorb all of that energy. Liam and Hayden have the grand idea to get Noshiko to turn over Kira’s sword so they can resurrect Theo, who had previously stolen Josh’s electrical power and therefore can help them defeat the Ghost Riders. I loved seeing Noshiko again, mainly because it reminds us Kira may be gone, but she’s not forgotten. Noshiko also informs us that the Riders have been taking people since long before she was born, meaning their presence in the world is practically ancient.

Unfortunately, the junior pack resurrects Classic Theo, which means he can’t help absorb the power from the lightning bolt. Liam and Hayden want to send him straight back to hell, but in case you’ve forgotten, Theo is talented at talking himself out of just about any situation. He knows things no one else does (and it’s clear that he knows exactly who Mr. Douglas is), plus Theo remembers Stiles.

When the senior pack returns from their road trip, no one is too happy Theo is back in the picture, but they’ve got to admit their former enemy may just be the ally they need in order to defeat the Ghost Riders. The only question is whether Theo actually wants to help them, or if he’s just biding his time until he can escape Liam’s threats of death.

Then again, if Theo’s not careful, Malia might expedite that process for him.

At the end of the episode we see what would be a cute scene between Mr. and Mrs. Stilinski if we didn’t already know Claudia was basically reanimated by the Ghost Riders. When she heads to bed, the sheriff is soon to follow, but he stops short at the wallpaper in the hallway. He can’t help but peel it back, and when he does, his eyes widen in surprise. I’ll bet money there’s a whole room on the other side of that wall.

What did you think of ‘Teen Wolf‘ season 6, episode 6, ‘Ghosted’?