TV Review: Teen Wolf (3×14) “More Bad Than Good”

Teen Wolf hit’s in mark again in the second episode back of the winter season with each of the main trio’s characters getting to come face to face with their internal struggles with Scott leading the way.

After the end of last week’s episode “Anchors” Scott and Stiles stumble upon the cave Malia as the werecoyote has been staying in for the past few years after the death of her mother and sister left her so traumatized she was unable to return to her human form. Sheriff Stilinski shows up on the scene with Agent McCall not far behind with Malia’s father and he tells the Sheriff to find the remains of the girl to give the grieving father some peace of mind.

That sets up the hour of television ahead as the gang overcome their psychological roadblocks to try and help.

Stiles is still grappling with his dream vs. reality mental state and during class as his new teacher calls upon him to read aloud he falls into a frantic mental collapse as the words in front of him begin to slide off the page. Scott notices what’s happening and rushes him out of the room and into the locker room to try and calm him down and convince him that he’s not in a dream. Once Stiles is sedated he asks how on earth they can expect to help anybody when they’re still all such messes.

Scott, in one of his more subdued moments in a great episode for the character, tells Stiles that they can try, they can always try.

Soon after we see Kira as she tries to find Stiles and Scott be tracked by the werecoyote and into another set of locker rooms. She hides and just before it seems like bad luck has caught up to her Scott appears and saves her.

So far I enjoy Kira’s character-Arden Cho is adorable and she isn’t simply a carbon copy of any of the other main female characters the show has hosted. I’m curious to see how they develop her and Scott’s relationship.

The story comes to a head when the group is forced to convene in the woods and tranquilize the werecoyote (I’m promise I feel ridiculous typing that out) and stop Mr. Tate from accidentally killing his own daughter.

This is made difficult by the fact that he’s laid out a gross number of traps throughout the woods and is actively tracking it with a shotgun in tow-making the chase all the most immediate.

Allison is doing the shooting but after a terrifying hallucination about her Aunt is shaken up and Scott still is having doubts about transforming entirely and is entrusted to change Malia back with his Alpha powers.

Lydia has a point when she asks if they think they could cause more harm than good.

They hear Mr. Tate fire a shot and Scott’s off on his motorbike to the rescue with Isaac and Allison not far behind.  The Sheriff calls Stiles to tell him Malia stole the doll from the house and Stiles and Lydia are left to figure out why the doll is so important. They quickly put it together realizing that stealing the doll was like stealing flowers from a grave-all Malia wants to do is leave something for her little sister. After he calls Scott to tell him where she’ll be heading-back to the wreck-Stile and Lydia find themselves dealing with their next problem as Lydia steps into an animal trap, forcing herself to still in fear of triggering it.

She isn’t the only one stuck as Isaac has also gotten himself trapped but this one actually closes around his ankle, immobilizing him with Allison. He Coaches Allison through making the shot and tells her that instead of shooting Malia, shoot the father so that Scott can have the time to turn her. She hits the target and knocks him out.

The next to resolve his problems (for now) is Stiles who can’t read the instructions but is told by Lydia that’s smart enough to figure it out on his own and he does after quickly looking over the trap.

The last is Scott who embraces the part of him that’s an Alpha and successfully manages to turn Malia back into her human form. For a show that has so many well-loved supporting characters it’s nice to see the lead get his due and it’s likely one of Tyler Posey’s most assured episodes to date-he’s not the strongest on the show but he’s reliable and works with every actor on the show.

The episode ends seemingly wrapping up all of the characters stories: the main three have apparently closed off the doors in their minds (for now), the Sheriff has his job and in the B plot Derek and Peter have been saved by the mysterious woman who saved Isaac in the first episode of season three and who isn’t dead like we all thought.

But as the end of the episode shows all isn’t as good as it seems as flurries of fireflies swarm and create shadowy images of what is likely the next threat.

This was a strong episode due to its quick pace, its return to old form as it set itself in the woods for the majority of the episode and its insistence to keep Scott, Allison and Stiles in the forefront.

The show is two for two, let’s see how long the show can keep the strong run up.