Teen Wolf used the majority of tonight’s episode to build up the momentum as we approach the season three finale. The question of whether or not Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) will make it through the Nogitsune mayhem still loomed over all the drama, but we are no closer to an answer than we were last week. The only thing The Fox and the Wolf accomplished, besides extraordinary visuals, was giving us a firm grasp of the backstory.
Kira (Arden Cho) may have been looking for answers, but she probably didn’t expect to have her mind blown with the explicit details of her mother and a former flame – or, with the revelation that her mom is almost 900 years old. Up until this point, the relationship that Kira’s mother had to the current mishap remained a fairly substantial mystery. It was clear that she was involved and it was obvious that this wasn’t her first encounter with the trickster spirit, but the hows and whys were as vague as the Nogitsune’s motives – which after tonight we know that they are just that, vague.
In a somewhat disappointing and predictable flashback sequence, the entire story can be traced back to young love (err, technically Kira’s mother only looked young, but the same principal still applies). Some of the details are a bit on the fuzzy side, but ultimately, Kira’s mother Noshiko (Tamlyn Tomita), fell in love with a soldier while she was living in an internment camp near Beacon Hills during World War II. The soldier ended up being killed in front of her during a riot she incited. A few prayers to her ancestors later, and the Nogitsune possessed his body and wreaked chaos – killing a lot of people in his wake. She defeated him, with the help of a Kitsune-wolf, and quickly buried the fly that represented his spirit deep within the roots of the Nemeton, which of course, the recent power shift disturbed.
On one hand, this ties the events of the season together in a nice and pretty bow. On the other hand, it presents a series of logistical questions that a single episode couldn’t hope to flesh out entirely. How did Noshiko remain young looking for almost 900 years and in the last 70 years manage to age so significantly (comparatively)? Were there other foxes in the internment camp or just the one that was bitten by a werewolf? These are questions that we may never get the answer to, and there’s something inherently frustrating about that fact (or, MTV could take full advantage of this and establish a spin-off).
Either way, with Isaac (Daniel Sharman) out of commission and Stiles locked in the back of his own mind, Mr. Yukimura had to step in as the comic relief. One thing (out of the many) that Teen Wolf excels at is great one-liners, and if this episode is any indication, it doesn’t really matter who delivers them, as long as the writers keep them coming.
Another interesting change of pace was Allison (Crystal Reed) and her elevator performance. In the hunt for Stiles that occurred in between trips to the past, we saw a very vulnerable version of one of Teen Wolf‘s stronger characters. That’s not to say she hasn’t had comparable moments in the past, she has. It was just the company that made this scene particularly compelling. As Sheriff Stilinski (Linden Ashby) becomes a more integral part of the supernatural community, his role in the group is morphing. Unlike Allison’s own father who is well versed in the challenges of their lifestyle, the sheriff offers a different perspective. This unlikely occasion carried a lot of weight for the two characters, both struggling with conflicted emotions about love versus duty, with a healthy side of fear.
Tell us, were you mad that the drama wasn’t moving forward quite as fast as usual this week, or are you glad to finally have a better idea of why this is all happening? Let us know all your Teen Wolf theories in the comment section below!
