It’s quiet in the tunnels near the Dread Doctors’ lair, where Mason wakes up after being whisked away by Corey. Corey explains that Scott can’t follow Mason’s scent there. Mason can’t believe that he’s the Beast. He’s not a genetic chimera. Corey says that when they were on the bus, something felt wrong to him. They got separated at the game, and Mason can’t remember where he was. He also can’t say where he was any of the other times the Beast attacked.
Mason realizes that the Doctors can find him by using their frequency trick. They don’t need to, though – one is already there. The boys run out of the tunnels, but the Doctors surround them on the street. Corey makes himself and Mason invisible, but one of the Doctors just swings his cane in the air and knocks Corey down. The Doctors leave him behind as they take Mason away.
Theo has decided that Josh should be the one to put on the Doctors’ mask. Josh thinks that Theo hasn’t volunteered because he’s scared. Theo denies that – he’s just smart. Tracy tells Josh that since he has electro-powers, he’s the only one who can wear the mask. Deucalion clarifies that the mask’s properties are related to electromagnetism. It was created by one of the Doctors, who’s known only as the Surgeon. He harnessed the masks’ electromagnetic fields and infused them with power. Josh wisely opts not to put this one on. If Theo wants to know who the Beast is, he can find out himself.
As Parrish heads out of town, Lydia calls Sheriff S. to report that she went to his place and found it empty. She wants Sheriff S. to stop Parrish from leaving. Sheriff S. can do that, but he can’t make Parrish return to Beacon Hills. Lydia thinks she can. Parrish doesn’t realize until it’s too late that he’s about to drive over a spike strip in the road. When his tires get punctured and he pulls over, Sheriff S. joins him and says he doesn’t remember giving Parrish vacation time.
Lydia arrives next and tells Parrish he can’t leave town. He insists on going; he thinks he’s responsible for the deaths of all the people whose bodies he’s been dreaming about. Lydia notes that she’s been predicting deaths for longer than he is. Not all her predictions have come true. Sheriff S. suggests that people could die if Parrish isn’t around to protect them. Lydia reminds Parrish that he was drawn to Beacon Hills. She thinks he’s there for a reason. Sheriff S. tosses him his badge.
Kira gets Scott home so he can rest after his fight with the Beast. She assures him that everyone’s looking for Mason. He finds a scholarship application in his bed and realizes he missed the due date. Kira’s like, “Let’s focus on your physical health before we think about college.”
Stiles pops his head in for a second, then chats with Malia and Braeden, who are also at the house. Braeden makes Malia tell him that the Desert Wolf might be targeting him now. “I should probably have a gun,” Stiles says. Do not give Stiles a gun. Braeden feels the same. Stiles notes that the Desert Wolf has a gun. Do not give Stiles a gun. Malia sides with Stiles, so Braeden tosses him a weapon after first removing the bullets. Stiles fumbles it and drops it. “Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have a gun,” he says. Thank you for agreeing with me.
Liam searches the woods for Mason but loses his scent. Hayden promises to help him find it. Scott gets a good night’s sleep and wakes up healed. He meets up with the rest of the pack, who are taking a break from searching. He’s newly optimistic that they’ll find Mason and figure out how to save him. He also senses that Corey’s lurking invisibly in the house. Corey reveals that the Dread Doctors have Mason. He’s in their lair, getting an up-close-and-personal look at the body they keep in a big tank and the needle they want to jab him with.
Tracy suggests that Theo use Belasko’s claws to help him with the mask. He says they’re useless until they get the Beast. Deucalion speaks up that they’re useless period. He asks after Hayden, wondering if she left the pack. He guesses Corey isn’t there, either. Josh starts to leave, and Deucalion taunts Theo that his “circle of trust is narrowing.” Theo tells Tracy to paralyze his tongue so he’ll shut up.
Deucalion asks how powerless Tracy was before all for this. “In my experience, it’s the truly powerless who are all too eager to demonstrate their newfound strength,” he says. He wants to demonstrate something more helpful. He stands up and pulls out the tube they put in his arm to keep feeding him wolfsbane. He reminds the pack that he requested Scott’s eyes. That’s why he let them take him. He only stayed there with them because he wanted to.
Kira wants her sword back, but Ken still thinks she’s the key to helping her friends. She promises that she’ll find balance sometime over the next 800 years. Right now, she needs the sword so she can help protect Mason. Ken reluctantly agrees and tells her that because it was forged with a unique power, fixing it will require unique power, as well as help.
Deucalion is ready to teach Theo what he’s been desperate to learn. He breaks Theo’s arm and takes his pain. That’s the key to taking power from a supernatural creature. “It’s all or nothing,” Deucalion says. “You take until there’s nothing more to give. That’s where you find the spark of power. And then you take that as well. Pain, life, power – in that order and only that order.”
Theo says he understands, then stabs his claws into Josh’s stomach to kill him and take his power. Deucalion notes that he just lost another member of his small, inexperienced pack. Theo consults Tracy, who says that Josh was also small and inexperienced. With Josh’s power, Theo can now put on the mask.
Parrish and Lydia go to the Nemeton, where she tells him that he can still save the people from his dreams. He touches the tree stump, and when she puts her hand on his arm, he has a vision of her dead right at that spot. An orange glow spreads from his fingers through the top of the stump.
Deucalion tells Theo that the power he wants requires risk to obtain. He should put on the mask, discover the Beast’s identity, and ensure his place as an alpha, a real werewolf. Theo puts on the mask, but it just makes him scream.
Desperate, Scott and Liam turn to Theo and Tracy for help. As they meet up in the locker room, Theo gloats that he was right about them ending up on the same side. “How about I punch you in the balls to remind you we’re not?” Liam asks. “I love this kid,” Theo and I both say. Scott knows that Theo took the Doctors’ mask from Eichen House. Theo confirms that he already put it on. What did he see? “Not Mason.” Tracy says he’s probably a lost cause.
Theo tells Scott that they all want the same thing: Mason. Scott points out that, unlike Theo, the pack wants him back alive. Theo tells him to get the map with the telluric currents and meet him in the Dread Doctors’ lair in two hours. Deucalion emerges from a hiding spot in the locker room as Scott and Liam leave. Tracy protests that they don’t need Scott’s pack to find Mason. Deucalion says they do if they want Mason to trust them.
Theo guesses that he can’t take Mason’s power. Deucalion says he can only take it from the Beast. But there’s a full moon coming, so Theo might get a chance soon. As soon as he sees it that chance, he needs to take it, before Scott figures out how to save Mason. There won’t be a second opportunity. Tracy doesn’t know how they can stop Mason after he’s transformed. Theo tells her that she’ll paralyze the Beast. Tracy protests that that didn’t work on Parrish. Deucalion reminds her that the Beast is a werewolf, not a hellhound. It just might take a lot of venom to put the Beast down.
Stiles and Lydia meet Sheriff S. in his office to discuss Scott’s decision to work with (well, use) Theo. Lydia thinks Theo could be using them right back. Stiles says they’re covering their bases and keeping an eye on any place Mason might show up. Lydia hopes Mason is the one who shows up, rather than the Beast.
In the Dread Doctors’ lair, Theo tells Scott and Liam that the body that’s no longer in the big tank belongs to Der Soldat (German for “the soldier” – so creative!). He was a Nazi and an alpha werewolf. He’s the one the Doctors use to prolong their lives. Since keeping him alive requires certain conditions, the teens should be able to narrow down where they’ve moved. Scott guesses that one of the conditions is that they need to be on a telluric current. He gives Theo the map, and Theo uses it to determine that the Doctors moved to the woods.
Paramedics bring a teenager to the hospital after a hit-and-run. He fits Mason’s description, but Melissa quickly sees that it’s not him. The pack checks in with each other via phone, though they have nothing to report. Malia’s annoyed that Melissa trapped her and Braeden at Maison McCall again; she thinks she should be keeping Stiles safe. Lydia assures her that Stiles will be fine just as Stiles walks into a door. You’re doing great, buddy Keep it up. Outside the sheriff’s station, the Desert Wolf listens in on their phone conversation.
At school, Hayden tries to comfort Corey. Back at Maison McCall, Malia watches with annoyance as Braeden calmly eats pistachios and lines up the shells. Stiles and Lydia just wait impatiently outside Sheriff S.’s office as he studies the poster he put up about the phases of the moon. Yes, yes, there’s a full moon soon. There’s always a full moon around here.
In the woods, Scott asks Theo where Deucalion is. He warns that Theo shouldn’t trust him. Theo notes that Scott let him live. Scott says he’s not a murderer. Theo doubts that he’ll get through all this without killing someone. Liam suddenly stops and says they’re close, but he won’t tell Theo where Mason’s scent is coming from. Theo claims that he doesn’t want to kill Mason; he just wants his power. If Liam wants to fight someone who does want to kill Mason, he should go see Parrish.
Liam asks who Theo saw when he put on the mask. Theo repeats that it wasn’t Mason. He saw a man impaled on a pike, dying in the snow. Lydia told the pack the story of Sebastien and Marie-Jeanne, so Scott knows what he’s talking about. Theo reminds the guys that time is running out and asks which direction Mason is in. Liam hesitates, then leads him and Scott through the woods. They find an entrance to the Dread Doctors’ new lair and quickly locate Mason, who’s being transfused with whatever’s in the tank with Der Soldat.
Kira leaves Scott a message telling him that she has to leave, but she’ll be back to help. She agrees with him that if anyone’s going to save Mason, it’s the pack. Back in the Doctors’ lair, Scott tries to remove the needle from Mason’s neck, but the pain is too much for him. The guys hear the telltale sounds of the Doctors approaching.
Lydia wakes Stiles from a nap in his father’s office (“what happened? Who’s dead?” he asks) and they check their texts and messages. Nothing new. Stiles wonders why Mason wasn’t on the list of genetic chimeras. Melissa arrives and announces that Mason has twin embolization syndrome. In other words, he had a twin he absorbed in utero. That gave him two sets of DNA. Lydia wonders if that information will be helpful. “I don’t know, but it’s just bizarre enough to sound like it might be important, right?” Melissa replies. Heh.
Theo realizes that the Doctors wanted the teens in their lair. Scott tells Liam to try again to remove the needle from Mason’s neck. The Surgeon declares Theo a failure, which Theo denies. Mason tries to convince Liam to leave without him. The Surgeon continues that Theo isn’t a complete failure, since they learned from him. Scott tells Theo that the Doctors are trying to manipulate him. He can’t give them what they want.
The Surgeon says that the mark of a true failure is repeating the same mistake over and over. Hey, that’s also a mark of insanity! And Theo is definitely insane. Theo tells Scott firmly that they’re taking Mason. He wolfs out and says that then he’ll take what’s his.
Malia thinks something’s wrong and tells Braeden that they need to go. Braeden walks by the door of the house and sees that the mountain-ash barrier has been broken. Tracy’s on the porch and the Desert Wolf is in the upstairs hallway.
Chris and Gerard discuss the Beast in the school library, which will once again have to be cleaned up, because people just can’t stop having fights in there. Chris wants to tell Scott “the rest.” Gerard doesn’t see the point. The pike will kill Mason, not save him – Mason is gone. Chris notes that Gerard doesn’t know where the pike is. Gerard is sure it’s nearby and they’ll find it. Can’t they just make a new one? Chris says that if they can’t find the original, they’ll need more firepower to take on the Beast. Parrish arrives just then and is like, “Did someone say ‘firepower’?”
The Surgeon tells Theo that, like the rest of his generation, he’s entitled and narcissistic. In that way, he’s a success. As Liam tries again to remove the needle from Mason’s neck, the Surgeon says that Theo’s failure taught the Doctors about “the banality of evil.” Theo is and will always be “an ordinary evil.” Theo objects to that. The Surgeon continues that they had to start with “the perfect evil” to make a perfect killer. They learned from Theo that true evil comes from corrupting something good. “Not something,” Scott says. “Someone,” Liam replies.
Theo fights the Surgeon, and Scott and Liam join in. Mason starts to pull the needle out of his neck himself. He yells in pain, distracting the others from their fight. “Transformation…transformation without frequency,” the Surgeon says as black smoke forms around Mason. Liam calls out his name. “That is not my name,” Mason replies in a distorted voice.
The Desert Wolf lurks around Maison McCall, unaware that Braeden has set up a kind of alarm. She put her pistachio shells on the floor, and when the Desert Wolf steps on them, Braeden is alerted to her location. The two of them face off, fighting over a gun, which goes off and shoots a hole in the ceiling right where Malia’s walking. After some more fighting, Braeden knocks the Desert Wolf out and runs off. She repairs the mountain-ash barrier and traps the Desert Wolf in the house. Braeden, you’re supposed to be protecting Malia, not locking her in a house with the woman who wants to kill her!
Kira’s back in New Mexico, hoping to get the Skinwalkers’ help to fix her sword. She acknowledges that she failed their test and doesn’t have control yet, but she’ll do whatever’s necessary to save her friends. The Skinwalkers agree to help, but they warn that it’ll come with a price.
The Beast attacks the Dread Doctors, ripping them apart. Well, that’s one problem solved. The Surgeon declares it a success before the Beast drags it outside. Parrish arrives just then, on fire and prepared to fight the Beast. Chris shoots at the Beast, who starts to retreat. It stops, surrounded in black smoke, and transforms back into its human form…but instead of Mason, it’s Sebastien.
Gerard calls out that he knows the Beast’s name. He asks if Sebastien knows Gerard’s name. He does. Sebastien runs off and Parrish follows. Scott asks who Sebastien is. Gerard tells him that he’s seen the Beast of Gévaudan. Now he’s seen the man who the Beast used to be.
Etc.: One of my favorite things about this show is how it injects little moments of humor even in the middle of super-dramatic and scary episodes. Usually they’re related to Stiles, and I appreciate how Dylan O’Brien makes them seem natural and low-key. On other shows, they might come off as cheesy or trying too hard.
If I’m Tracy, I’m getting the heck away from Theo ASAP the second he kills Josh. What’s to stop him from killing her, too? Plus, Deucalion’s not exactly trustworthy, either. Why would you voluntarily hang out with two guys who could kill you without a second thought?
Who knew that Danny’s project about telluric currents would help the pack so much even two seasons later? Danny is the gift that keeps on giving.
An Eternity of Misery 