Teen Wolf - Recap: Love at First Lightning Bolt
Teen Wolf continued tonight with an episode that revealed the horrifying origin of the nogitsune that is currently in the process of unraveling Stiles’ brain. Meanwhile, Allison has a new bestie in Sheriff Stilinski.
Episode 21 opened with our first flashback to 1943. This is slightly confusing, but the opening scene was actually one of the final portions of this flashback sequence that lasted all throughout the hour. We’d very soon jump back in time to a few days (weeks?) before this moment in 1943, to a time before this nogitsune that is still plaguing Beacon Hills in the present day was even a thought. First, however, we witnessed the bandaged Void kitsune ripping apart a few American camp soldiers, though the reason why remained a mystery. Still crackin' jokes all those decades back, huh, nogitsune?
In the present, “Stiles” confronted Mr. Yukimura alone in his classroom. The nogitsune wants Kira’s mother’s final tail, her most powerful weapon that is represented in the physical world by a small concealed sword. Remember, we’ve witnessed Mrs. Yukimura breaking her tails for power before. There is but one left, apparently. Kira’s father refused to budge, eventually forcing “Stiles” to send a live fly down his throat, sending him into a panicked sickness. Kira and Scott were ready for answers anyway, and this was the perfect excuse to start grilling her mother for details. The four spent the entire episode in Mr. Yukimura’s classroom while her mother begrudgingly told the tale of the birth of the nogitsune. In short, it’s all her fault, but I have to write a legit recap for Episode 21, so here goes…
MTV "Teen Wolf"
Kira had previously discovered an old photograph from 1943 that she was certain captured the image of her grandmother, a teenage girl who was the spitting image of herself. In truth, this was her mother, who would have had to be around 90-years-old in the present to have lived during those days. Kira’s mother is actually more like 900. Ooh, I’m no ageist, but that is ancient. Kira, needless to say, was a bit peeved about the lying, but she needed answers pronto if she wanted to help save Stiles’ life. Her parents, meanwhile, had already given up hope that Stiles’ could be salvaged whatsoever.
At this point, it sort of makes sense to handle the rest of the recap in two main blocks; the present and the past. Teen Wolf did, however, bounce back and forth throughout Episode 21, mainly so that Scott and Kira could nag her mother to hurry it up.
Kira’s mother, Noshiko, was the internment camp troublemaker. She spent her free time sneaking around the American soldiers' supplies and swiping whatever she felt her people needed from aspirin to a baseball for fun. Of course, taking too much raised red flags. Luckily for the future Mrs. Yukimura, she had someone with some power on her side. Reese was the handsome American soldier who seemed to lead the pack. He was also head over heels in love with Kira’s mother and didn’t mind helping her to acquire whatever she needed so long as the two could do so covertly. The taboo romance was steamy, though things soon came to a screeching halt.
When countless Japanese Americans in this camp fell ill with pneumonia, the utter lack of medical supplies raised a few eyebrows. Where was all the medicine? Reese, of course, first turned to Noshiko for answers, knowing that she had most likely stolen the necessary drugs prior. In truth, this was not the case at all. Two of his fellow soldiers, Meric and Hayes, had conspired with a doctor to sneak these drugs out to sell on the black market, leaving many to suffer and die of this sickness within the walls of the camp. Once Noshiko’s little buddy, a very young boy whom she’d previously tossed the stolen baseball, tragically died, all hell broke loose.
You see, Kira’s mother’s greatest error was telling her fellow Japanese Americans that they were being left to die due to some underhanded scheme for dirty cash. This immediately called for riots within the camp, leading up to a major mob scene that evening. Led by the deceased boy’s father, the Japanese Americans surrounded the car harboring Meric, Hayes, and the doctor responsible for orchestrating the entire corrupt scheme; however, it was the soldiers who initially panicked and began antagonizing with physical assaults on the crowd, including one older woman who’d previously scolded Noshiko for breaking the rules and subsequently causing stirring up trouble. Funny enough, this model of patience was actually a werewolf, and a little bit of aggression works absolute wonders on the werewolf mind. Before we knew it, she was fully wolfed out and tossing a virtual Molotov cocktail of whiskey in blind rage… a bomb that blasted the innocent peacemaker Reese, Noshiko’s boyfriend, in a fiery explosion. Teen Wolf pushed it this week, huh? Episode 21 featured a dying child, a bloody severed head (I left that one out prior), and watching a nice young man nearly burn to death as he suffered in agony, engulfed in flames. Noshiko watched him burn before being shot down herself.
Funny enough, kitsune don’t get sick, and they’re apparently hard to kill. At least, they heal very quickly. Noshiko played dead. Reese, on the other hand, simply wished for death as he suffered in agonizing pain, without the morphine that had been sold off illegally, in a hospital bed at Eichen House. Eventually, however, he did die a horrible death, and his body was dumped on top of the pile of Japanese Americans and dead soldiers that were to be torched off. The doctor, Hayes, and Meric planned on covering the entire chaotic ordeal up, though Kira’s mother remained very alive and growing increasingly well as her weak body laid next to her deceased boyfriend’s corpse in the back of a truck. This is where things truly got interesting. Kira’s mother knew better, but wished for the power of a Void kitsune to seek revenge on her assailants. She didn’t care what happened to her after the possession. She simply wanted revenge. The funny thing about kitsunes is that, well, they’re funny! They like jokes, as we’d come to be reminded later in the present as well. Back in 1943, however, the punch line was not so hilarious. The nogitsune possessed the corpse of Reese. Thus, we had a revisited version of our opening scene! Make more sense now?
The nogitsune in Reese wreaked havoc on all those with whom it crossed paths, soldier and Japanese American alike. Eventually, with the help of the werewolf woman who’d previously burned Reese in the first place, Kira’s mother was the one to overcome its power by jamming the special kitana through his heart. The sword shattered in the process and was buried within the walls of Eichen House with his body.
MTV "Teen Wolf"
In the present, Kira’s mother had carefully pieced the puzzle of the shattered sword back together. She, however, is not a lightning kitsune like Kira, and only her daughter’s “bolt of lightning” could fuse it back together again. Kira now has the ultimate weapon to stop Stiles, pack; however, wasn’t the entire point of all the tale-telling to find a way to not kill Stiles? Cute story, though!
MTV "Teen Wolf"
Over in another part of Beacon Hills, the hunt for Stiles carried on, and for some reason, Allison and his father were paired up to search the hospital together. Funny enough, this was probably my favorite scene during Episode 21. In the elevator, Sheriff Stilinski complimented Allison on her bravery, promptly sending her into hysterics. Allison is losing it, as she should be. She’s terrified. She feels weak. Man, I forget that this young warrior princess is a high school girl who should be, I don’t know, watching Teen Wolf and not participating in it. Stiles' father offered Allison a hug to console her in a very touching moment. Of course, that tricky nogitsune had to ruin it. Stilinski’s iPhone-based security system was triggered, prompting him to check the camera placed in Stiles room. There, the nogitsune waited… eerily waving hello through the screen. Hi, nogitsune!
MTV "Teen Wolf"
By the time Allison and Stiles’ father rendezvoused with Derek and Chris Argent back in Stiles’ bedroom, he’d already left. He did, however, leave a new clue via the strategy chessboard Stiles had once used to explain the supernatural world to his father. Why was Derek labeled as the king? Why was his piece one move from checkmate? Remember, the kitsune like jokes, not death. Any death is simply a byproduct of the nogitsune’s twisted humor. As Sheriff Stilinski pointed out, they could possibly come up with a better punchline that wouldn’t land Derek six feet underground, pushing daisies.
To close the recap for Episode 21 of Season 3, Kira’s parents know that these kids sacrificed themselves for some reason prior to the return of the nogitsune. Noshiko had previously buried the only remnant of the nogitsune, the little fly caught in a jar, at the base of the giant druid tree. Allison, Stiles, and Scott were responsible for releasing it from its prison.
Episode 21 ended with Sheriff Stilinski busting into Derek’s loft. Stiles sat waiting.Hi, Dad.
What did you think of Season 3 Episode 21 of Teen Wolf, “The Fox and the Wolf”? Will Kira and Scott continue to get along, or will history repeat itself? When will Isaac get better? What’s going to happen to Derek?
Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Season 3 Episode 21 of Teen Wolf, “The Fox and the Wolf”!