Teen Wolf – Sundowning

By: Kim Olson

The Stilinski family tree is growing! Last week, Stiles’ mom was introduced and now Stiles Senior – Stiles’ grandad – has made his mark. With meeting more members of the family we are uncovering family secrets and drama. After finding a clue about the person they’re missing, Scott (Tyler Posey) and Lydia (Holland Roden) research the word “Stiles” all the way to the Stilinski household, where Mama (Joey Honsa) and Papa Stilinski (Linden Ashby) tell Scott and Lydia that “Stiles” is a family nickname. It seems Papa Stilinski’s dad went by that during the war. That’s not the Stiles they’re looking for though. Scott and Lydia want their son, Stiles! While discussing Stiles Sr., Lydia’s banshee powers show her a woman (Eve Sigall) entering the house saying, “The following stops have been canceled…” Lydia follows the woman through the house trying to get answers from her, but she just mysteriously evaporates. Who is this woman? Could she be a clue to where Stiles is? Is the boy Lydia loves waiting for her at a train station?

When Lydia rejoins the men in the living room, Scott is begging Papa Stilinski to let him talk to his dad, but he flat out refuses saying, “He’s not the type of guy you just talk to.” Unbeknownst to anyone, Papa Stilinski’s dad was abusive. Papa has a scar from when his dad pushed him through a glass table going after his mom. “A small price to pay to keep him away from her,” he says. He named his son Stiles after his father-in-law who was the best dad, not his father who was a bad man. Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) only goes by “Stiles” because it’s a family name. As for the mystery surrounding Stiles’ first name, Teen Wolf isn’t going to reveal that until the series finale. But, after six seasons, they did reveal that Papa Stilinski’s first name is Noah!

Scott, Lydia and Malia (Shelley Hennig) go against Papa Stilinski’s wishes and break into the nursing home to visit his father. Lydia is just meeting all of Stiles’ relatives today! When they get there, they realize why Papa Stilinski didn’t want them visiting his father. Stiles Sr. (Patrick Gorman) has severe dementia and thinks it’s 1976! Stiles Sr. doesn’t recall Scott McCall and he doesn’t like Malia, who is harassing him. Meanwhile, Scott and Lydia are treating him gently. When he starts “sundowning,” (losing his faculties after the sun goes down) brilliant Lydia shows him math equations to calm him down and make him focus. He focuses so well that he remembers the present! He knows who Scott and Lydia are because Scott looks like his dad and Lydia like her mom as he knew their parents.

Stiles Sr. has so little filter so he just starts dissing/shading/dragging their parents right in front of them! He tells Scott, “(Your dad) couldn’t hold his liquor and certainly couldn’t keep that wedding ring on his finger. Pretty young thing would walk by and poof that ring just disappeared like magic.” And to Lydia he says, “(Your mom) was pretty once, too, and she also liked to talk like she was he smartest person in the room.” Stiles Sr. reveals details about their parents they can’t ever unlearn, especially Scott. Before the situation gets anymore out of hand, Papa Stilinski bursts in. Stiles Sr. tells him they were just having a nice conversation, but Papa insists they leave. Before Papa Stilinski leaves, Stiles Sr. yells at him, “Go crawling back to your dead wife and your loser son!” That sound you hear is the whole Teen Wolf fandom gasping simultaneously! Stiles Sr. knows Papa Stilinski has a son and that his wife is dead! Someone remembers Stiles (and that Claudia Stilinski is supposed to be dead)! Now, everyone else just needs to remember Stiles! It seems as if you have or find something that belonged to someone who was erased you can remember them, which is the first step in bringing them back. So, clearly, someone needs to find something that belonged to Stiles so they can remember him! Perhaps Lydia will find the letter he wrote to her seasons ago and it will remind her of him and how she felt about him?

This week, the Ghost Riders erased the sister of Gwen (Alisha Boe), a student at Beacon Hills High. Gwen is the only one who can remember her sister because she has a bracelet that belonged to her and if you have an item that belonged to someone the Ghost Riders erased you can remember them. Because Gwen witnessed the Ghost Riders erase her sister, according to lore she will be the next erased. Hayden (Victoria Moroles) explains this to her in hopes of protecting her. Instead, Gwen just thinks Hayden is crazy and starts making fun of her. Enter Plan B to protect Gwen: Liam (Dylan Sprayberry) throws a party at Scott’s house so he can watch over her! Newsflash: Scott is not the type guy who will be cool if you throw a party at his place! To protect the house during the party, Liam tries to keep drinks on coasters and pictures from falling off of walls, but he can’t really defend the house once the Ghost Riders inevitably show up though.

Because Corey (Michael Johnston) is the only one who can pass through worlds and see the Ghost Riders undetected, he watches them as they enter the party. Regrettably though, he touches the Ghost Rider so the Ghost Rider can see him. By touching the Ghost Rider, Corey pulls a “Schrodinger’s Cat” on it, bringing it into reality so that it can see everyone in the room and everyone can see it. According to mythology, everyone at the party will now be taken next. It’s ok though, they were all forgettable to begin with. Lesson learned: If Corey touches someone in the Ghost Rider universe, they come into reality. Does that mean if he finds and touches Stiles that he will come back too?

Gwen is a gone girl! She’s practically ripped in half by the Ghost Rider pulling her legs and Liam holding on to her hands trying to save her. Fortunately, Parrish (Ryan Kelley) shows up just in time with a terrible plan. Sweet puppy Parrish shoots at the Ghost Rider and tries to arrest him by telling him to get on his knees. Why he ever thought regular bullets and orders were going to work on a mythological ghost beats me. The Ghost Rider eventually leaves, fortunately, but not before being pissed off at Parrish. Bye-bye Parrish! It was nice knowing you. He’s definitely at the top of the Ghost Riders’ erase list now! Since they weren’t at the party, Scott and Lydia are like literally the only ones not on the Ghost Riders’ list!

Chris Argent (JR Bourne), Allison’s dad, finally makes his triumphant return! Melissa McCall (Melissa Ponzio) wakes up to him making coffee in her kitchen. From the get-go they have the chemistry of old friends who could be more, seeing each other for the first time in a long time. I’m not sure if Melissa should find her happy ending with Daddy Argent or Papa Stilinski. Truly, either is preferable. Mama McCall has a tough choice to make!

Chris is back because he has questions for Melissa about something mysterious going on in the morgue – bodies brought in with giant bite marks in their heads. The skulls look like some animal, werewolf, with a powerful jaw chomped into them. Together they discover that whatever is eating the brains are specifically, purposefully, only eating the pineal glands – a pea-sized part of the brain said to hold people’s souls. For assurance, they scalp a dead man to check if he still has his pineal gland or if some werewolf with an extremely strong jaw ate it. Of course, his pineal gland and only his pineal gland, is gone. It turns out the new teacher, Mr. Douglas (Pete Ploszek), is eating pineal glands! At, honestly, no surprise to anyone he is something really disgusting and messed up! His big bad form is reminiscent of something from Batman with its slimy, green dead-skinned look! Note to self: Don’t eat and watch Teen Wolf at the same time!

Malia is vicious and the problem isn’t that there’s no Stiles! This is actually her personality! She’s mean and rude. She threatens to claw the demented Stiles Sr. She assaults a nurse at the nursing home, knocking him out cold. She suggests Liam kidnap Gwen in order to protect her. She goes into coyote mode during a math test because she can’t breathe. She nearly attacks Lydia, Scott, Lydia’s mom (Susan Walters) and Papa Stilinski. Malia is only cute as a coyote because her form is beautiful. Maybe it’s best she stays in that form forever?!

Best Lines:

• Teacher: Power – The ability to control things…. have influence over others.
• Lydia’s Mom: Try some positive self-talk. Malia: I’m positive I don’t wanna be here.
• Lydia (to her mom): Just be happy about all the things I don’t tell you.
• Malia: After the orderlies at Eichen House, I’m pretty sure we can handle some nurses.
• Stiles Sr. (to Malia): Young lady, you need to clip those nails.
• Stiles Sr.: Are brains getting smaller with the skirts?
• Lydia’s Mom: This doesn’t look bad, Scott. This is bad.
• Lydia’s Mom: Just because you’re not going to jail doesn’t mean you’re not grounded for eternity.

Next Week: We get one step closer to bringing Stiles home!