The time is now. The Teen Wolf season 6 premiere just finished airing, initiating the beginning of the end for the series. Read our recap of “Memory Loss.”

The journey to this day has been a long one, but luckily Teen Wolf season 6 still has 20 episodes to deliver to us before it wraps up its final season. With a story arc focusing on memory loss and the importance one person can having in your life, it’s bound to be both inspiring and heartbreaking.

Sounds like Teen Wolf.

The episode begins with Hayden and Liam discussing their series of unfortunate dates. It’s pretty bad when a car breaking down in the middle of the woods marks the best one you’ve had so far. That’s not to say Liam and Hayden don’t have a good relationship, because it does seem like they’re in a good place, but I wonder if this pattern is just the beginning of something bigger for them — and I don’t mean that in a good way.

Hayden is, in my opinion, one of the best new characters the show has introduced recently. I love her strength and confidence. She’s good for Liam, who often comes across more like a lost puppy than a beta werewolf. That being said, they’ve had some pretty major headbutts in the past, and I have to wonder if a later conversation about Liam’s potential leadership of the pack will cause irreparable damage between them.

We don’t have too much time to dwell on this, though, as a seemingly empty car rolls forward into frame. As Hayden and Liam check out the damage, they spot a young kid in the backseat who’s completely freaked out. The two teenagers take him to the police station to figure out what’s going on.

Across town, Scott and Stiles are back up to their old antics. They’re trying to save Beacon Hills from petty thieves now, even at the risk of disclosing Scott’s supernatural abilities. Scott has the sense to look ashamed as the sheriff lays into them, but Stiles is, as per usual, fairly obstinate.

This problem is more than just surface level for Stiles, though. It’s clear he’s worried how Beacon Hills will cope if they all go off to school, and perhaps it’s also a question of how he will cope when he’s separated from all he’s ever known. Scott seems unconcerned, but he also has a lot more faith in people than Stiles does.

Still, when the sheriff calls them into the station to meet with the kid, they both jump at the opportunity.

With the appropriate amount of consent, Scott uses his claws to look into the kid’s mind. There, he sees what we know is a Ghost Rider kidnapping the child’s parents. All of a sudden Stiles has another mystery on his hands, though he seems to be the only one who’s up for the challenge. Meanwhile, the boy believes he’s the next target.

An unsolved case? Check. Death and/or kidnapping? Check. Possible supernatural elements? Check. A victim in need? Double check. Beacon Hills is back in business.

The rest of the team reluctantly comes in to do their part to solve the supposed crime. Malia, now able to fully transform into a coyote at will, can’t smell the parents and therefore assumes they’re not alive. Lydia counters that, though, saying that she can’t sense them with her Banshee abilities, so they must not be dead.

Everyone is scratching their head at this point, but only Stiles is looking for trouble. Lydia is tired of being a supernatural metal detector, Malia is trying to pose for her school pictures, and Scott has a psych paper.

But as usual, you should always listen to Stiles. He notices the windshield from the accident is tinted blue, which means it wasn’t just a regular bullet that broke the glass. Not only that, but Lydia begins to have some interesting visions, starting with getting struck by lighting. It all happened in her head, but it was shocking nonetheless.

This episode also introduces us to Mr. Douglas, one of Beacon Hills’ new teachers. If you don’t know his role on the show, I won’t spoil it for you here, but just keep in mind that BHH teachers are usually evil or wind up dead. It would be a tragedy if either one of those things happened because nearly the entire class is in love with the man. He does have fantastic hair.

Though Scott doesn’t want to waste his time on something he’s not entirely convinced is a supernatural issue, he follows his best friend to the kid’s house to investigate. What they find there is an abandoned home full of dust and cobwebs — except for the young boy’s room, which is in pristine condition.

This is one of the simplest and best effects Teen Wolf has pulled off in a while. One moment we see a discarded dinner on the table, but when Scott turns away for just a moment, the plates disappear and the dust thickens. It’s such a real, practical effect, and it increases the creep factor tenfold.

Upstairs, Stiles notices the parents have disappeared from pictures and something just feels a little off — and it’s not only because there’s a weird breeze blowing from under the bed. When Stiles crouches down to take a look, he spots a horse’s hooves and that’s when everything truly begins to fall apart.

Mason and Liam, following a compass going haywire, end up at the house too, just in time to witness the way in which the kid’s room goes from absolutely normal to totally abandoned. By this point in time, Stiles has already come up against a Ghost Rider and the kid has been taken by one of the men (if you can call them that) right out from under the noses of the officers.

It’s interesting the way the Ghost Riders work because we see them destroy the roof of the jail cell and put half a dozen bullets into a door, and yet when you look away and look back again, the damage is gone. Do they operate solely on another plane of existence? Are we talking about other dimensions and universes now?

It’s both Stiles and Lydia working together who figure out why “Riders on the Storm” has been stuck in her head all day. They’re dealing with the Wild Hunt, and Stiles is so excited he kisses Lydia — on the cheek. It’s chaste and doesn’t really mean anything, but Lydia looks stuck halfway between annoyed and amused.

But before we talk about Stydia some more, let’s talk about Liam. He thinks he could some day be Alpha, and Mason totally backs him up, but Hayden seems to have her reservations. Does she not believe in his abilities, or is she just worried for his safety? Expect this to be a talking point for a large part of the season.

“Those who see the Wild Hunt beware, for you are already lost.” We knew Stiles would be taken by the Ghost Riders this season, but that doesn’t make it any easier to come to terms with what’s happening. You suddenly realize Stiles’ erasure has been in play the entire episode, first with the form for the school photos and then with the lacrosse jersey.

Now, we see Mrs. Martin not knowing who Stiles is, followed by Liam, Hayden, and Mason. The most harrowing moment is when you hold onto hope that Sheriff Stilinski has remembered his own son, only to find out he doesn’t even know his name.

You would think Scott and Malia would get bigger moments than they did, but neither one was around Stiles when we realized they had forgotten him, too. Perhaps this was in order to give Stiles more time with Lydia.

Lydia is the only one who remembers who Stiles is at this point. The Riders come for them, and they run toward his Jeep together. She promises not to forget Stiles, but the Riders are very good at their jobs. The two share memories back and forth while Stiles basically waits to be ripped from reality, and that’s when he drops the bomb.

Stiles telling Lydia he loves her should come as no surprise, but hearing it out loud speaks volumes nonetheless. Over the seasons, Stiles and Lydia have gone from near strangers to friends who share a deep bond beyond romantic feelings. Their relationship is not just attraction and chemistry; they are close because they have been through so much together.

Stiles barely gets the line out before the Ghost Riders take him away. Lydia promises to remember, but by the next day, she only has a feeling that she was supposed to do something she can’t quite place a finger on.

What did you think of ‘Teen Wolf’ season 6, episode 1, ‘Memory Loss’