Teen Wolf 3×20 – Echo House – Recap

Teen Wolf, guys. Teen freakin’ wolf. 

The episode kicks off with Stiles and Sheriff Stilinski driving through a rainy night to an unknown location. There’s a tension between the two, and as they avoid making any eye contact, it’s clear that wherever they are headed, neither of them really wants to go there. As they finally pull to a stop, they are in front of the mental institution, Eichen, or “Echo” House.

As they prepare to walk through the ominous iron gate, Scott pulls up on his motorbike. The minute he takes off his helmet, he’s insistent that Stiles not go through with this. He doesn’t trust the safety of this place. But Sheriff Stilinski makes it clear that Stiles medical tests are too similar to his mother’s, Claudia, and that some sort of action needs to be taken. Stiles then reveals that this entire plan was his from the get go, and despite Scott interjecting to say he will find a way to save save Stiles no matter what, Stiles insists that he won’t let himself be a risk to Scott and the other’s safety. There’s a moment between them, that once again proves the depth of their sincere friendship and care for one another, but as Stiles backs away toward the facility he tells Scott that if they can’t find a way to save him, to never let him leave the Echo House.

Inside the facility, Stiles and his dad look around nervously as they approach the desk. There are a few patients within view, and they all seem completely out of their minds, making the Stilinski guys even more anxious. The nurse begins rattling off the rules and stipulations, including the fact that for the first 72 hours, Stiles is not allowed to have contact with anyone outside of the facility and that he will be required to attend group therapy. The sheriff realizes he’s forgotten Stiles pillow, and as he always needs his own pillow when he sleeps away from home, insists that they go retrieve it. For a moment the various sounds of change being dropped, patient noises, and cells being closed overwhelms him and he stands up panicking, insisting that he and Stiles return home immediately. Stiles hugs his father. Again, the importance of the characters relationships is displayed clearly, as Stiles insists that he must stay here, and that he hasn’t had a good night’s rest at home on his own pillow in weeks.The sheriff leaves for the night, still feeling uncertain.

As he makes his way up the stairs following the nurse, Stiles sees Malia down one of the corridors. She doesn’t say anything and turns back into her room. He continues up the stairs, but breaks into a run, when he sees a young man a few flights up tying a rope with a noose to the banister. Stiles is too late however, as the boy ties the rope around his neck and jumps. Some of the other patients at the bottom of the stairs gather around to take a look, and when Stiles looks down, he can see the Notgitsune among them, a creepy smile on his bandaged face.

In Deaton’s office, Allison and Scott are asking him what to do about Stiles with Mr. Argent on speaker phone. Deaton says there may be a scroll that holds the answers. Allison’s face lights up with recognition at the mention of the scroll. She asks a few more details, and when Deaton confirms her suspicions, she says she knows where to find it.

As Stiles finally makes it to his room, he insists to the nurse that he now needs to use a phone. It’s evident from his face that he’s second guessing himself on the safety of this place. The nurse ignores his protests and gestures to his new roommate who is restrained and cannot leave the bed. She makes it clear that if he doesn’t relax and go to bed, they will do the same to him. Stiles, takes a breath and goes to sit on the bed. His roommates name is Oliver, and he seems very casual about the suicide that just took place. He mentions that Mondays are particularly popular days for suicide, and his cavalier demeanor about the situation seems to make Stiles more certain that he should not be here. Before he falls asleep, Oliver mentions that all the noises in the place begin to echo after awhile and that is how the place earned it’s name, Echo House. The feeling left behind that statement is eerie, and Stiles continues to look out the window coping with the situation.

The next day, Stiles is walking with Oliver to the payphone. As they pass different patients, Oliver points them out telling Stiles their names and ‘crazy bug’ that landed them there in the first place. When they finally reach the payphone there is a girl already on it, talking in a hushed, worried voice that something is there. She then very explicitly says that the ‘something’ is right behind her. Stiles catches that and looks harder at the girl wondering if she knows anything. Oliver simply says that she is Meredith and that she’s weird. When Stiles goes to make a call, Oliver reveals that the payphone isn’t working. Stiles is forced to keep his cool, but forgets about that when he sees Malia. When he reveals to her that he and Scott saved her she punches him in the face, and the orderly’s jump out and restrain both of them. As Stiles is wrestled to the grate on the floor, he looks through the holes and sees the basement he was trapped in in the previous episode. Suddenly flashes of him being there race across his mind, including the backwards 5, for ‘self’ on the wall. He starts to freak out as he recognizes it, and suddenly Ms. Morrell appears demanding that that guards get off of him. “You saw something, didn’t you?” she asks. Stiles nods. “I’ve been there before,” he responds.

Derek and Mr. Argent are in separate jail cells, their backs to each other, while Derek listens closely to the happenings of the police station. When Derek’s heard enough, he tells Mr. Argent that the evidence from Katashi’s murder are being moved to a secure location to be locked up. Mr. Argent then shares a story of another young man who had been possessed by a Berserker. Berserker’s would wear animal masks and become animalistic and insane. He revealed that he was forced to kill that boy but claims that he felt no remorse because the boy had already been too far gone for saving. When Derek asks if he would feel remorse if it came to killing Stiles, Mr. Argent reveals that he would regret it. For a split second you can see his fear of it coming to that horrible conclusion. But he then says that he would never regret killing a Nogitsune.

At the Echo House, Stiles in group therapy, led by Ms. Morrell who is talking about the physical impact guilt can have on a person. Malia admits that her guilt hurts her stomach, and Ms. Morrell adds to that saying that guilt is often felt in the gut. Stiles is having a hard time focusing however. Every time he looks around, he can see the Nogitsune walking around the room. First he is in a doctor’s coat talking to a patient, next he is watching from behind a pillar. Stiles hands start to shake and he looks like he’s ready to bolt, but Ms. Morrell sensing this, tells the other patients that the group session is over and politely asks Stiles to accompany her.

She takes him to private room that appears to be her office, and takes a look at the scars on his back, a result of the shot Deaton gave him. She says that when the scars fade, the Nogitsune will be able to possess Stiles again. She give him pills to stay awake, saying that he is too vulnerable when he is asleep and he must stay up. She also warns him that if his friends are not able to save him, she will give him a shot to cause respiratory failure and kill him. She must keep the balance. As he begins to leave, she echoes the warning one more time. Stay. Awake.

Stiles goes to the basement to try and get into the room he was trapped in. The door is locked however, and Oliver having sneaked up behind him, says that only the head orderly has the keys to the basement. When Stiles asks how to retrieve it, Oliver says that he must trick the orderly. Stiles grimaces and says that he’s getting good at playing tricks lately.

Aiden, Ethan, and Scott meet up with Allison and Lydia who have hatched a plan to steal the evidence from the armored truck. “We’re gonna rob an armored truck?” Lydia gives her signature smirk. “Well, we’re gonna try,” she says back.

Back at the institute, Stiles is in the bathroom encouraging himself to stay awake. He then realizes that Malia is also in the bathroom, showering, because the water in the girls bathroom is not hot enough, and ever since being stuck in human form she is always cold. Stiles awkwardly tries to bypass the fact that she is naked, and while the moment is awkward for them, there is a still clearly a brewing connection. Malia admits that she’s not very thankful to Scott and Stiles because she is forced to deal with her father regularly but is unable to tell him that it was her fault that their family is dead. She would rather be a coyote. Stiles reveals that he knows someone who can help her control her change, but that he needs her help retrieving the key to the basement.

The boys don’t like Lydia’s plan. She wants the twins to pretend to have car trouble while Scott sneaks in the back and takes the silver prosthetic that contains the scroll they need. While the twins don’t seem to approve of the lack of physical action on their part, they’re still more than willing to help.

At the Echo House, Malia throws Oliver into a frenzy, having told him that they drill holes into the patients heads. When the head orderly comes to break up the fight, she snatches his keys and passes them along to Stiles.

At the police station, Mr. Argent is taken to a room where he believes his lawyer is waiting for him, but instead it’s a woman from group of hunters. She doesn’t like that Mr. Argent has changed the code of honor for himself and Allison. He argues back using his wife’s suicide as an example of why he changed. The woman seems particularly interested in Allison though.

Stiles finally manages to make it to the basement, but there is no key for the door. Before he can get upset though, the orderly who’s keys were stolen, snatches them out of his hand and drags him to a separate room. When Stiles refuses to tell him how he acquired the keys, the orderly gives him a sedative, despite Stiles begging him not to. Stiles hits the floor and falls asleep.

Kira shows up at Scott’s house wanting to help in whatever way she can. At first Scott doesn’t want her involved saying that people who help them usually end up hurt. Kira counters that by pulling out a katana and showing what she’s been learning. She reveals that she isn’t sure how she got so good at it in a short amount of time. After her excellent display, Scott smirks and agrees that she can come along with them.

Stiles wakes up locked inside of a locker. He’s frightened and tries to force the door open but it won’t. Then he hears the Nogitsune approaching and can see him through the slits in the locker door. Stiles begs to be let out but the Nogitsune only asks back to be let in. Soon Stiles is screaming to be let out, and the Nogitsune only matches his volume demanding to be let inside. When he wakes up, he is on the floor with Malia over him asking if he is alright. She tells him that there is another way to the basement through a closed unit.

Meanwhile, the gang have started Lydia’s plan to retrieve the scroll. They are forced to fight however, when Kinkade appears out of nowhere, also determined to get the scroll hidden in Katashi’s ring.

In the basement at the Echo House, Stiles and Malia are pouring through files trying to find a connection between the Nogitsune and this place. They are unable to find anything useful. During a quiet moment, Stiles takes Malia’s hands in his own to warm them, and Malia kisses him. The moment is then intensified as they sleep together. It’s clear that the brewing connection between them is more than they may have anticipated.

In the meantime, the gang can’t even seem to phase Kinkade, until the twins jump in. They both take him on at the same time, and when they finally have him down, they insist on ending him, saying they know the type of werewolf he is and he will surely come after them. Still, Scott sticks to his instincts and says they they will just take the scroll and go. Allison smiles at this act of kindness, and Kinkade still seems to be hugely surprised at Scott’s decision.

Scott and Malia, are pleasantly curled up together, when Malia goes over to the wall with the ‘self’ symbl and taps on it, showing that it’s hollow. She and Stiles bust it open and find the mummified body of the Nogitsune inside. Malia pulls out a piece of paper from one of the pockets, and when Stiles sees it, he says he has to get it to Scott. But before they are able to do anything, Oliver shows up shocking them with a stun gun and injecting both of them. Before Stiles passes out though, Oliver holds up the drill and tells him he’s going to use it.

It’s clear that Oliver has been possessed by the Nogitsune when he starts coughing up blood and flies. Just as Oliver is about to drill into Stiles’ head, the Nogitsune appears behind him, telling him to start with Malia. He then offers a bargain to Stiles. He will leave Malia unharmed is Stiles allows him to possess his body again.

Reluctantly, Stiles agrees.

Ms. Morrell allows Malia to leave the institute in order to give something important to Scott. Clearly Malia is happy to be walking outside again, and the feeling of freedom is bouncing off of her.

At Deaton’s office, Scott waits with bated breath for Deaton to tell him what the scroll says about the Notgitsune. Deaton says that the scroll says that the only way to stop the Nogitsune is to change the body of it’s host. Deaton says he doesn’t know how to accomplish this. Scott says he does.

 

Turn Stiles into a werewolf.

 

 

Great episode, guys. As always Teen Wolf delivers the drama, action, and thrills. There were plenty f feels going on between the men of the show. Derek and Mr. Argent being able to come to a common ground despite the messy history between them involving Allison’s mother. Stiles and his father at the Echo House saying goodbye. And of course Scott’s determination to save his best friend. The moment between Stiles and Malia was much needed. For him, and us lol. I think it was important that he make such a sincere connection in the midst of all that he’s going through. He needed solace in the middle of the storm. Seeing Scott spare Kinkade’s life, just once again proved his place as an Alpha. Kindness over violence, always. And finally seeing Lydia once again step up to the plate, and lead the others was so enjoyable to watch. That coupled with watching Kira kick ass with that katana, laughing at the twins’ humor, and having the Nogitsune eerily creeping about, another awesome episode. Can’t wait until next week!

{kimm}