Teen Wolf recap: 'Ghosted'

Well, it’s official. Teen Wolf has turned into a horror movie … and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Coming off an episode that I really enjoyed — and which really moved things forward with the Stiles story line — this episode felt a bit slow. Yes, I get that it was creepy, but it focused a bit too much on the creepy and not enough on actual story. Either way, let’s get to it.

I’m breaking down this episode into three story lines.

Saving Argent
Okay, so this won’t take long: To refresh your memory, Argent was badly beaten by the Ghost Riders in the last episode. More specifically, he was whipped, and when you’re whipped by a Ghost Riders, a number of supernatural toxins enter your body. And because modern medicine will kill him faster than it will heal him, it’s up to Melissa to get the nine herbs he needs to counteract whatever venom is in his body. The twist? If she mixes them incorrectly, she kills him.

And yet, she doesn’t kill him. Instead, Melissa saves the day and all is well with my favorite non-love story.

Ghost Town
After Lydia starts the hour by traveling through a mirror — apparently this is a dream — she finds herself in Canaan for a block party that took place in 1987. Lydia then watches as the Ghost Riders sweep through town and take everyone except for the woman she originally saw in the mirror.

But it seems her dream was more of a memory, because when she, Scott, and Malia make their way to Canaan, they discover a ghost town. And it’s not just any ghost town. It’s also filled with an energy that causes horrific hallucinations like say, Scott seeing Melissa with a big chunk missing from her skull, or Malia being pulled into the earth by the adopted family she once killed. Cool, right?

And things somehow get worse when they find the only two residents left in Canaan: the woman in the mirror, Lenore, and her son, Caleb. Once inside their house, Lenore makes the gang some lovely dirt-filled lemonade — Malia doesn’t seem to mind — and reluctantly answers their questions about April 8, 1987, otherwise knows as the day the last of Canaan’s citizens left. And according to Lenore, no one else will ever leave… Scott, Malia, and Lydia included.

NEXT: Well, that’s not good

Lenore somehow uses her powers to seal the house shut so that not enough a True Alpha can escape. So while Lydia tries to deal with her, Scott and Malia follow Caleb to some sort of basement, where they realize that Caleb has been dead since 1985. How’d he die? Well, he drowned, and now he’s trying to drown Malia and Scott so that they can be friends forever. I told you guys: horror movie.

Back with Lenore, Lydia questions why the Ghost Riders left her behind when she realizes that Lenore is a banshee, and that’s why they didn’t take her. When Lydia and Lenore scream at each other, Lydia is taken back to the day everyone was taken, and it’s there that she realizes something. If Lenore somehow got the Ghost Riders to resurrect her son, that means she can communicate with them … I think. It also means Lydia could end up being the only person left behind in Beacon Hills.

Lydia asks Lenore to help her. “Don’t let me be the only one left behind,” she begs. “I don’t have a Caleb.” With that, Lenore and Caleb let the three of them go. As for why Stiles sent them there, Scott thinks it was a warning. If they’re not careful, Beacon Hills could become the next ghost town. Even worse? Lydia felt what happens to those taken when the Ghost Riders leave a town, and she claims that their souls are hollowed out. They become Ghost Riders. Translation: If the Ghost Riders leave Beacon Hills, Stiles’ precious face suddenly won’t look so precious.

The Dark Chimera Returns
Back in Beacon Hills, Liam and Hayden decide to let their Nazi teacher in on their plan to capture a Ghost Rider (all the while not realizing that he’s a crazy powerful werewolf with questionable morals). But when Mr. Douglas informs them that the Ghost Riders probably have control over where and when lightning strikes, they realize that their lightning rod idea isn’t enough. They need something that can absorb the energy of a lightning bolt. They need Josh.

But seeing as how Josh is dead, the next best thing is Theo, who absorbed Josh’s power when he killed him. So, with a little help for Kira’s sword — delivered by her mother, along with an update on Kira, who’s still with the Skinwalkers — Liam frees Theo. The bad news is that Theo’s brief trip below ground has stripped him of anyone else’s powers. He’s back to being “classic Theo.” However, before Liam can send him back, he saves himself when he does the unthinkable: He remembers Stiles!

Heading back to Scott’s house, Theo has one bit of valuable information: He tells Liam that the Wild Hunt doesn’t stick around in a town unless they’re stuck.

And finally, we end the hour with Sheriff Stilinski, who refuses to believe that Scott spoke to his son on the Jeep’s radio. Yet, he can’t stop looking at his wife’s file, realizing just how amazing it is that she somehow survived frontotemportal dementia. On his way back to bed, he stops to finish what Lydia started: Just as Sheriff Stilinski peels back the wallpaper, he sees something … but what?!

And that’s where the episode ends. I’ll give it points for the ending: We learned something new, and now we have Theo back to help. But as for all the Canaan stuff, I wouldn’t have minded if it were a bit shorter. Or maybe that’s just my phobia of creepy children.

What did you think of the hour? Hit the comments with your thoughts or find me on Twitter @samhighfill.