'Teen Wolf' 3.09 "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" Review

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Over the weekend Teen Wolf fans were teased that on Monday’s episode, ‘The Girl Who Knew Too Much’, the killer aka the Darach would finally be revealed. That happened but we also got an answer to what Lydia is and finally one of the adults (oh who am I kidding, it’s Papa Stilinski he’s the only one who didn’t know) gets closer than ever to the truth of the happenings in and around Beacon Hills.

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On the surface, this episode had all the makings of a big event episode. The characters were galvanized into action, a big event was happening at the school making it a perfect setting for something awful to go down, and the Darach was on the last of its many sets of sacrificial offerings--this time it’s Guardians. First of all, do I send the fruit basket to Jeff Davis for having the school event be a recital and not a dance? I can’t even count just how many dances, cotillions, pageants and the like The Vampire Diaries has subjected us to over the years so it’s nice to have a different kind of gathering happen at a high school for our characters to converge upon. But after the intense build-up complete with ominous chanting, dramatic orchestral stings, and a large crowd of people...the reveal of the Darach was fairly underwhelming. 

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That isn’t to say there wasn’t a certain thrill in finding out that the object of much fandom controversy, Jennifer Blake, was in fact the dark druid that’s been leaving a trail of specifically chosen bodies all over town. For everyone that wanted her to go the hell away (like during the random mini makeout sesh between her and Derek accompanied by bouncy pop music) there’s now actually a huge chance of that happening. Basically if you just never cared for her, shipping reasons or not, now you can strut around to your friends that you were just like Stiles calling out evil ahead of all the others. Still, it was a fairly typical reveal from a show that prides itself on surprises. Well, of course it was the new character recently thrust into the romantic spotlight with a lead character who, even when he’s trying, can never make a single good decision for himself. Altogether now: Poor Derek Hale. Sure Jennifer’s an example of the evil that werewolves can do to someone, but it’s kinda like when vampires are targeted on True Blood--you’re still probably going to root for that threat to go down even if they’re personally in the right despite how they chose to act out. Wolves harmed her but we like (some) of the wolves on the show so things are weighted against her.

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Even though the actual reveal was a bit of a letdown in itself we did get two very important bits of plot development compliments of the sinister Ms. Blake last night. Earlier in the episode Stiles tried to bring his father into the group of adults that know what’s really going on. It led to a fantastic literal demonstration of ‘seeing the whole board’ as he used color tagged chess pieces (purple is hunters) for his grand explanation of all the things the Sheriff has just missed seeing over the past year or so. I’m praying that they shot an entire version of Dylan O’Brien giving the Teen Wolf canon lowdown and we’ll see it as a DVD extra one day. When his valiant efforts failed due to lack of actual before-his-eyes evidence, Sheriff Stilinski got a front row show to the truth when the Darach targeted him as one of the necessary Guardians sacrifices. This show loves to break hearts, but I can’t imagine the total Stiles losing both of his parents. His heart that comes through his humanity is one of this show’s biggest assets and there’s no way to underestimate how devastating a loss losing his father in this way would be for him. 

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The other important moment in this episode was now we finally know what Lydia Martin is. Much more than the girl who knew too much, Lydia is called out by Jennifer as a wailing woman--a Banshee. See, all that screaming had a point. I mentioned True Blood already in this post and I feel the need to again because I’m curious how the addition of so many creatures and mythologies will be handled by the fandom at large; True Blood lured people in with vampires and gave them an onslaught of other beasties as well. Personally, I’m enjoying the chance for some of the lesser-known creatures appearing on here. It also compounds the importance of Stiles remaining human since literally everyone of his friends is a ‘something’ now and that includes hunters. 

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Away from the Darach-flavored drama, Scott had a sitdown with Ms. Morell that was also fairly illuminating at least in the way that someone's finally stating the obvious. The thing I loved about that scene is the lack of pretense, secret's out and now she and Scott can relate to one another as what they both really are. I wonder how many people think that Scott is going to find himself committing dark acts he previously never dreamed of. The development of Scott McCall as a character could lend itself perfectly to a dark chapter in his life. We caught a glimmer of it last week with Gerard and when he tried to immolate himself back in 'Motel California'. This season just might take us down the path where Scott is the one who needs redeeming. 

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Already on somewhat of a redemption path perhaps in the eyes of the audience at least is one of the Alpha twins. It's clear that he and his brother are beholden to Deucalion and that's where the basis of at least Ethan's loyalty to him lies. It's just as clear that he's really starting to feel something real for Danny and it makes me wonder if after the dust settles if he'll at least still be around. His brother Aidan being far more destructive seems like he has a less of a chance of survival what with his readiness to turn toward acts of aggression. I wouldn't be shocked if Ethan took his brother down as a last resort when pushed to it. Though their psychic pain-link does lead to the question of do both twins die if one does?

Reactions to last week's episode were mixed but this was definitely Teen Wolf doing what it does best. A little bit of humor, a little bit of fright, and a lot vague threats that added up to an episode that transcended filler by providing us with long-awaited answers and developments. It's clear we're winding down with the Darach and Alpha pack storylines now and I'm looking forward to whatever is going to transition the show into season 3B mode. Seriously though, just not the death of Papa Stilinski.