Season 5 of Teen Wolf is going for that horror film vibe. We saw it in the first episode, “Creatures of the Night,” with Lydia at the very gothic Eichen House. In the second episode, “Parasominia,” we get a spooky dream sequence involving a raven. The anticipatory hype about the Dread Doctors seems well-deserved, as they have proven terrifying thus far.

The season arc seems to center around the way the Dread Doctors control people and how they use this against Scott. “Parasomnia” shows us how they are using Tracy, though it’s not clear for what purpose. The episode also focuses on recently returned friend Theo, who want to join the gang but isn’t all he claims to be. The moral of the story is that Stiles is always right, unless he’s secretly possessed by a nogitsune, then all bets are off.

Welcome to my Nightmare

Beacon Hills student Tracy is seeing her school counselor Mrs. Martin, who happens to be Lydia’s mom. Tracy gets night terrors – “parasomnia.” Though she doesn’t always remember her night terrors, Tracy is able to describe a particularly frightening dream. It begins with a raven trying to enter her skylight and ends with a black-gloved hand pulling a chair out from under her. Though Tracey points out that some elements of the dream could have been real, Mrs. Martin quickly dismisses her fears, suggesting her bad dreams are a way of processing her anxiety about senior year. Tracey begins coughing uncontrollably, finally coughing up a mass of black goo and raven feathers. Yuck!

The werewolf who attacked Scott in “Creatures of the Night” left his claws behind. Dr. Deaton checks it out and says they’re not werewolf claws but talons of a Harpy Eagle. Deaton doesn’t know why the talons would have been able to absorb Scott’s power. Scott asks Deaton if he should let another Beta into his house. Deaton responds, “I would normally say no. but I’m starting to wonder if the rules to our supernatural world aren’t as rigid as I once thought. Or maybe someone’s trying to change those rules.” Dr. Deaton is always willing to share his wisdom with Scott.

While Scott wonders if he should let Theo in his pack, Stiles has other ideas. Stiles tries to get his dad to investigate Theo, explaining that he is a werewolf. Sheriff Stilinski doesn’t seem motivated: “Your best friend is a werewolf. You are dating a werecoyote. I’m still don’t know what Kira’s supposed to be. When the flying monkeys come soaring through this station, you will have my undivided attention.” These Stilinskis crack us up.

Stiles’ dad isn’t the only making light of his suspicions. Malia also has hilarious retorts, even though she doesn’t intend to be funny because she hasn’t quite mastered the human concept of humor. She tells him “I mean, I see why you’re worried. He’s really hot. He’s got like great hair, perfect body. You should definitely feel threatened.” Like any good werecoyote girlfriend she offers to torture Theo, but Stiles plans to catch him in the act of being deceptive. When Malia asks why he’s so suspicious, Stiles tells her, “ Because I remember Theo from the fourth grade. Okay? That’s not Theo.” Stiles seems pretty convinced Theo is a bad dude, or else he’s worried Theo will become a third wheel in his bromance.

Scott is taking AP Biology along with the smart kids. This surprises his friends and Kira asks if he’s sure he’s in the right class. When Scott opens his textbook it’s all marked up, indicating he either got Professor Snape’s used biology textbook or Scott spent his summer immersed in biology preparation. Now we know why Scott’s summer was so lame. Despite his apparent preparation, Scott still doesn’t know the answers the teacher is asking. The teacher then begins shaming all the students.

After having witnessed the Beserkers in season 4, Liam’s best friend Mason is getting suspicious that something unusual is going on in Beacon Hills. Liam tries to downplay the strangeness of what Mason saw, and when that doesn’t work he attempts to distract him.

Liam is also dealing with a girl he upset in the 6^th grade, who has returned to Beacon Hills. She tells Liam she’s not pissed off, but vengeful. Despite being a werewolf, Liam seems a bit intimidated.

Tracy seems to be having bad dreams or hallucinations or her life is just bad news. It’s hard to know. She stands in an abandoned school as blood drips down the lockers. One of the Dread Doctors crawls towards her. Suddenly Lydia is standing there and Tracy snaps out of it. This apparent hallucination leaves a physical manifestation of a claw mark on a locker. That is some hallucination.

My So-Called Supernatural Life

Theo is sharing his origin story in an attempt to gain Scott’s favor. Theo was skateboarding alone when he was bitten. He claims he isn’t part of the Alpha’s pack because the werewolf that bit him was killed by two of his betas, who were twins. Could this be a reference to Aiden and Ethan? Theo tells Scott, “Everybody knows that lone wolves, they don’t make it on their own. I swear I’m that same kid from 4^th grade. I was hoping you are too.” When did Scott start making everyone audition for his pack anyways? He even let those who had tried to kill him join in the past. Why does poor Theo have to try out for a part?

Lydia takes Tracy to see her school counselor mom, who suggests if Tracy has a problem beyond her parasomnia, Tracy should seek professional help. Lydia agrees and has Deputy Parrish check out Tracy’s room. Deputy Parrish is becoming a regular part of the gang. He finds that Tracy’s skylight does in fact open, contrary to her belief it was closed for weatherizing. He looks outside the skylight and tell her everything looks fine, but, in fact, he finds lots of dead ravens on the roof outside the skylight. Well, that’s unnerving. No wonder she has night terrors.

Stiles has, very resourcefully, uncovered what he thinks is evidence of Theo’s guilt – a difference in the past and present signature of Theo’s father. Scott, Kira and Malia aren’t convinced.

Stiles: “If Theo’s parents are both psychotic killers then obviously, we should not trust him, right?”
Malia: “My parents are Peter and the Desert Wolf.”

Whoops, major slip up dude. When he gets no support, Stiles dramatically storms off saying he’ll figure it out himself. Apparently not totally by himself, since he grabs Liam for help.

Parrish plans to stake out Tracy’s house, and Lydia flirtatiously tells him she will bring him coffee at midnight. Parrish – she’s in high school, man! Don’t be a creep.

Liam and Stiles are following Theo though the woods at night. These Beacon Hills kids spend a lot of time in the woods. Liam is reluctant to tell his best friend Mason about his Lycan tendencies because he’s worried Mason will freak out. Stiles can relate to being best friends with a werewolf and reassures him it will be alright. Their conversation is interrupted when Liam falls in to a previously dug hole, which neither of them seem at all curious about. The necklace that was hanging next to Tracy’s bed earlier is at the bottom of the hole.

When Liam gets out of the hole, they watch Theo, who seems to be grieving for someone. It turns out Theo was at the bridge where his sister died. Liam confronts the two:

“You know, Stiles, I came back here for Scott… …but I also came back for you. Someone like you. Someone who’s willing to walk into the woods in the middle of the night to protect his friends. I don’t have anyone like that, but Scott does. You all do. I know I’m in the right place. I’m meant to be here. I’m meant to be part of this pack.”

It’s a pretty convincing speech, but has he converted Stiles?

Tracy’s dad has covered the skylight, but has to meet leave to meet with a client at the courthouse. He seems to have weird working hours, but perhaps Beacon Hills has a Night Court. Don’t go Mr. Tracey!!!

When Stiles and Liam return to the jeep, Scott is there waiting. The jeep stalls once again. Seems like Stiles needs a new Jeep, or more duct tape. Stiles is frustrated that Scott is ignoring his concerns. Scott asks, “Why can’t you trust me?” and Stiles yells, “Because you trust everyone.” Stiles slams his hand on the jeep, and they have a bromance moment when Scott heals it.

Parrish is staking out Tracy’s house, but completely misses her zombie-like exit from the house. D’oh!

Who isn’t  a Werewolf?

Liam arrives at the school, two hours late for his workout date with bestie Mason. Liam is going to tell Mason everything, but Mason interrupts Liam to point out that there’s a wolf standing behind him! The black wolf chases them through the school hallway because all the best chase scenes take place at the school or in the woods. Liam spins around and growls and the wolf turns and runs. Rather than run away from his best friend, which we would probably do, Mason rejoins his fanged friend. Liam tells him he has something to tell him. Mason is no dummy, and responds, “You’re a werewolf.” Mason appears to be cool, but who knows.

The black wolf runs into the woods and we see that it was Theo. This leaves us with many questions: Do werewolves recognize each other in wolf form? Does their scent change when they become a go into wolf form? What was Theo’s goal with that little display?

Kira and Scott have some alone time in Scott’s room. They talk about Scott wanting to go to school to be a vet. Kira reassures him he’s good enough, he’s smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like him. They get extra friendly and the light in Scott’s room explodes. Take note, Deputy Parish, both of them are in high school, so not so creepy.

Lydia has arrived with Deputy Parrish’s midnight coffee and some overly friendly banter. Parrish says he’s relieved that Tracy is okay, but it turns out, she’s not.

Tracy finds herself at the lab of the Dread Doctors. Seems like a worse-case scenario. She tries to tell herself, “It’s not real. I’m sleeping. Just sleeping.” One of the horrible Dread Doctors responds, “No Tracy. You’re awakening,” and shoots some liquid into her neck with the most disturbing looking syringe ever made. She growls and we see that she is the very creature she has feared in her dreams. She wasn’t experiencing hallucinations, but manifestations of her transformation. Poor Tracey. We kinda liked her. We can only imagine she will be turned against Scott and his pack somehow.

Apparently their talk in the woods has not erased his suspicions of Theo. Stiles’ father sees that he has started mapping out an investigation of Theo and tells him, “Accusations require proof. And Proof always trumps instinct. It has to.” Suddenly Stiles realizes what has been different about his dad – he hasn’t been wearing his wedding ring. This seems to remind his father how perceptive his son really is and he relents.

Sheriff Stilinski: “You’re sure this kid’s guilty?”
Stiles “Absolutely.”
Sheriff Stilinski: “Then all you gotta do is wait. If they’re really guilty, eventually, they make a mistake. They always make a mistake.”

Whether it was instinct or something else, it turns out that Stiles’ suspicions about Theo were right. Theo, or whoever he is, punishes his terrified fake dad for the failed signature by putting his arm in a cast – with a hammer. This dude is bad news.

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Scott’s (Tyler Posey) struggles with insecurity, albeit of an academic nature, bring us back to Season 1 before his wolf confidence was fully developed. It was also fun to see Lydia (Holland Roden) and Kira (Arden Cho) communicate with each other wordlessly in that scene. We always enjoy an episode that is Stiles-centric because Dylan O’Brien is such an outstanding actor. The scene where he and Scott argue and he punches the jeep reminded us of how skilled O’Brien is. Liam (Dylan Sprayberry) is starting to grow on us, especially because of his own bromance with bestie Mason (Khylin Rhambo). The character development of Maila (Shelley Hennig) remains a little two-dimensional, but it works because she pretty much steals every scene she’s in because she is hilarious. It’s was kind of out of the blue, but it was still fun to seeing Malia learn how to drive. Watching her figure out how to act human has been entertaining.

It’s not clear if Theo (Cody Christian) has any connection to the Dread Doctors, but they all remain shrouded in mystery. We hope they remain just as terrifying as their stories are revealed. Teen Wolf provides a very scary bedtime story with “Parasominia.”