“Venomous” is Teen Wolf’s finest hour to date. The episode zeroed-in on the seasons overarching mystery, and most of the principle characters were a part of the big revelation. However, I have to admit, I’m not a fan of the circuitous and purposely misleading route the show traveled to revealing Jackson as the Kanima. I immediately understand why he is. A translation from the Monster Book of Monster’s distinguishes the Kanima as “unlike the wolf “ because “it seeks a friend instead of a pack”. Totally vibes well with Jackson’s narcissism and pitilessness, which ironically is stoked by his wildfire emotions he doesn’t know how to properly calm. Though he projects this Abercrombie persona of flawlessness mixed with the attitude of the perennially douche-baggy Real World cast member, he’s deeply insecure. I really understand the reason why, but the twist will remain hollow unless there’s a rational explanation for Lydia’s bizarre actions this season. The show all but said tonight that the bite rarely manifests itself as anything other than a wolf. Lydia was practically maimed by the Alpha last season, so is the only consequence hallucinations and writing in backwards English? Teen Wolf has some serious explaining to do. Complaints aside, I want to virtually high-five the writers for some great moments in the very focused episode.

Derek’s sicced the pack on their leading suspect for being the canama, Lydia. Isaac and Erica were about to corner her in chemistry before Scott and Stiles dashed to bookend her at the lab station. The scene nicely setup interaction between Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Allison, Isaac, and Erica under the pretense of having to rotate lab partners when the teacher wrung the bell. Not sure how the experiment made any logical sense, but it was a good excuse for tense conversations between the characters. My favorite exchange was between Allison and Erica, where the latter clawed the formers legs after she dismissed Erica’s flirting with Scott. What I loved most about the moment was the payback Allison got by the end of the episode. When the pack broke into Lydia’s house to kill her, it resulted in a standoff between Allison and Erica. Allison’s brains prevailed, as she bet on Erica’s lycanthropic reflexes to catch the arrow she shot at her. She did, and fell to the ground moments later, as the arrow was coated in wolfsbane. WIN!

The antagonism between Scott and Derek is finally believable, unlike the forced tension in the first season. Why it works so well this time is because they both have clearly defined, and convincing motivation. Derek wants to murder Lydia, because he thinks she’s the canama, responsible for innocent deaths, and a threat to his pack. Scott wants to protect her, because he feels accountable for endangering his friend’s lives and he assumes she’s unaware of her killing spree. Of course, they’re both wrong in this who dun it, creating anticipation for their reactions to Jackson being the canama. I predict it’ll involve murder and mayhem.

Another Scott and Derek exchange that I enjoyed came at the end of the episode. Derek compliments Scott by saying he understands why Scott refused to join his pack—Scott is the Alpha of his own pack, a motley crew of very non-supernatural beings. Stiles, Allison, and Lydia may not have the unnatural advantages of their enemies, and that’s okay; their humanity is their saving grace.

The Howling:

One thing I’ve noticed about Teen Wolf is that transitioning into the actual wolf is anticlimactic. The Vampire Diaries devoted an episode to letting viewer’s witness how tormenting becoming a wolf was for Tyler. Also, on The Vampire Diaries, to transition into the titular bloodsucker, one has to die and feed to be reborn as the undead. Teen Wolf has no equivalent repercussions that cause an internal struggle for the characters. Everything is externally motivated, which robs the show of a richer mental angst for the supernatural.

Thanks to everyone who pointed out that Allison arrow was coated in Kanima, not wolfsbane! That is why Erica was instantly paralyzed.