5.10 Status Asthmaticus Falling Skies went into its final season promising a darker outlook, more excitement, and a killer final season. So far that hasn’t materialized, though there’s one episode left so maybe the last one will get super dark and murdery. However, the one thing they have done that I can talk about is blow through plots left and right. Falling Skies had a lot of stuff, and they’ve introduced more plot elements to blow through. One character’s resolution was literally buried at the end of one episode, then over in five minutes of screen time in the other. This is a major role with a major grudge, a fan-favourite who turned on the show’s hero, and that’s all the time he gets! Meanwhile, Teen Wolf has showed remarkable restraint in giving the arc of its villain of the season, Theo, space to breathe, stretch out, and really influence the entire run of the show. You’d think the show aimed at younger viewers would rush about more, but they’ve been playing the long game very well, and in the last episode for the summer half, the wait pays off big-time. Throughout the season, Theo has worked at odds with Scott and his pack, saying one thing then doing another, working to either ingratiate himself with the gang or push them away, depending on who it was and whether or not they could prove useful. Theo’s goal has been his own pack, and he’s going to get it one way or another, springing out his master plan this week by singling out Lydia and Malia and separating them from the group, setting Liam against Scott in a fight to the death, and generally pulling the strings on his wolfy puppets. It’s immensely satisfying to see, and Jeff Davis (who wrote the script this week with Ian Stokes) deserves credit for his ability to plot things out, laying the groundwork patiently without going too slowly. The viewer sees it clicking into place, but for the most part, the characters don’t—and Stiles, smart enough to suss out the plans, is given a very difficult choice between saving his best friend or saving his father. Now, I think we all know Scott can’t die permanently, and death is meaningless in the Teen Wolf universe, but this was a great bit of filmmaking, and it worked despite everyone knowing Scott was going to sit up and survive his claw-to-the-torso moment. Melissa Ponzio remains underrated on the show (and in general, as I liked her a lot on The Walking Dead), and she’s got good chemistry with all the kids around her. It’s a nice character moment for Melissa; she couldn’t save Hayden, but at least she’s able to save Scott. Now someone needs to do the same for Sheriff Stilinski, bleeding out in his son’s arms. Dylan O’Brien hasn’t had a lot of screen time lately, but he makes up for what he’s not getting with serious impact every time he’s on camera, from his scenes with Linden Ashby to his mostly-silent angry car ride with Shelley Hennig. Dylan Sprayberry has improved, Tyler Posey has gotten a much better handle on his character, and Holland Roden is as consistent as always, so while the kids might be in trouble, the actors are excelling. A defeated Alpha, a possibly dying father figure, a definitely dead Roscoe the Jeep, the threat of the Desert Wolf’s return, the Dread Doctors successfully completing their plan, Parrish being a hellhound, Braeden’s return, and Theo resurrecting a pack of his very own chimera from the dead bodies of the Doctors’ failed experiments. With the way the reanimaged shuffled along after Theo, any doubts I might have had about Teen Wolf‘s ability to sustain itself over a long break seems silly in retrospect. Read Ron’s review of the previous episode, Lies Of Omission, here. US Correspondent Ron Hogan has been in Stiles’ position before. Not the dying parent thing, the dying beloved car thing. RIP Roscoe. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
