'Teen Wolf' Review ”Condition Terminal”

Courtney Accocella ‘17/ Emertainment Monthly Assistant Web Editor
If you have been completely lost in all of the new chaos happening in Beacon Hills, worry not because “Condition Terminal” is the episode to fill in some details and answer at least a few of our burning questions about what is happening in this town now. Speaking of burning, the episode begins with some flames between Officer Jordan Parrish (Ryan Kelley) and Lydia Martin (Holland Roden) and not the romantic kind.
In Lydia’s continued effort to find out what sort of fiery beast Parrish may be she decides to test his heat resilience by placing his hand over a lighter. While Officer pretty boy didn’t burn a hole in his hand he did reveal a reoccurring dream he has had of bringing burnt corpses to the mystical nematon (that’s right say hello to our old friend) and proceeding to light himself a blaze. Parrish has never visited the nematon in person though, this may hark to the connection Jeff Davis was speaking about in our recent interview of a bond between Parrish and Lydia as she too was drawn to the stump of a tree without ever visiting.
Nothing is stopping “The Dread Doctors”, not even locked prison cells. As they retreat from killing half kanima and half werewolf Tracy Stewart (Kelsey Chow) they make a quick pitstop to swipe Donovan (Ashton Moio) as their next supernatural DIY project. But upstairs in the most under staffed police station in America, the men of Teen Wolf have arrived to blood on the floor, a disembodied tail, and a bleeding Lydia (Which also begs the question when did the whole flame thing with Parrish happen in season 5’s convoluted timeline?).
Stiles Stilinski (Dylan O’Brien) looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack as he saw his third grade crush bleeding to death before him. But worry not, it’s a great time for Theo Raeken(Cody Christian) to swoop in and get some brownie points now as he uses his belt to make a tourniquet  (He chooses not to use that whole werewolf magical healing thing that may have been an easier route, but hey to each their own).

Lydia is taken to the hospital where her dreams are just as disturbing as her fiery friend’s. Mama McCall (Melissa Ponzio) morphs before her groggy eyes into the face of a Dread Doctor. It might be that the ‘kanima’ venom from Tracy would allow the doctors to enter Lydia’s mind in the same way they did Tracy and Donovan’s. It does beg the question of how do the doctors get around? Are they fiction or real? That might sound crazy, but they appear in dreams, disappear/appear instantaneously in real life. Maybe they are just figments of the imagination, or maybe this viewer is just developing crazy theories. It’s probably the latter.
If that’s not enough for Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) to think about, his AP Bio teacher is not letting up on him at all. Can someone explain how Beacon Hill’s AP Bio is harder than my entire high school and college career? What AP test are they taking or is this class to get your medical license? The only good thing to come out of the harshest teacher since “The Chemist” of season 4 is the explanation of a chimera. Basically a combo beast that originated in Greek mythology as a part lion, goat and snake monster.
If you didn’t like Theo before you definitely won’t now. He appears in the shadows away from Donovan who is pinned down in the Doctors headquarters and shares that he is working with them. Theo throws the information found on Donovan’s police entrance exam in the distressed boys face, emphasizing the psychotic tendency the test suggests he may have. But as is becoming more clear Theo does nothing without a purpose as he suggest Donovan seek revenge by hurting what Sheriff Stilinski loves most, his only son. This would work wonderfully for Theo, why even bother trying to win over the skeptic just kill him, its easier.
Beacon Hills has a lot of supernaturals per capita and a lot of gay bars. This time Liam Dunbar (Dylan Sprayberry) is playing wing man for best friend Mason Hewitt (Khylin Rhambo) at Sinema (For the Emersonians, how is this not a place in Boston? A cinema themed gay dance club seems so us, no?). Of course it might throw the wing man off his game that the bouncer/waitress is a girl that hates him, but hey, Mason wants to have fun as does Liam’s other enemy/not-so-enemy-anymore Brett Talbot (Cody Saintgnue) who is apparently bisexual. Liam seemed a little confused about that, but he handled it well. So well in fact he slipped right into super-were-sleuth mode and noticed an off putting foot step in the club.

Scott and Kira head to the hospital to find a victim of the third chimera. This time it seems to be some sort of Wendigo bite, scorpion venomed mashup. Of course that lovely creation is over at Sinema, and he has fun spikes that come out of his arm like a cactus or a porcupine. And of course not only is he at the club he’s trying to hookup with Mason. Sometimes you just have to ignore the convenient liberties this show takes. Scott casually and unknowingly tells Kira he loves her, before the duo head to help Brett and Liam take on the quilled creature. Kira seems to have procured this ninja star and sword three in one belt now, which someone should buy Stiles so he isn’t just left with a bat. After Lucas the porcupine is down for the count, Kira goes super saiyan and in her glowing kitsune shield attempts to deliver a final blow, only to be stopped by Scott. He could have let her though, as seconds later the Doctors appear from no where shooting Lucas and letting the group know his, you guessed it, Condition was Terminal.
To finish off the episode Malia heads to the Stewart house and finds an interesting novel called The Dread Doctors, is this more proof they aren’t even real? Meanwhile, Parrish heads to take Lucas’ corpse from the morgue to light it ablaze at the nematon. All while Stiles has finally left the high school library to find his beloved jeep yet again broken. With duck tape in hand he has no idea that Donovan’s hand mouth, yeah that’s right he has a mouth on his hand, now that’s insane, is about to bite him on the shoulder. And of course it ends here. Thanks Jeff Davis.
Are you excited for episode 5? We know Jeff Davis is! He said he can’t wait for audiences to see this O’Brien heavy episode in our recent interview. Leave your thoughts on what mystical being Parrish might be in the comments below, that is if he isn’t a Phoenix like everyone is assuming!
Overall Episode Grade: A