Teen Wolf ‘The Girl Who Knew Too Much’ recap: I’m still Jenny from Darach

On the coattails of a Derek-heavy episode — albeit, not in his current iteration — comes a classic Teen Wolf installment. Frenzy is this episode’s friend, but then again, that can be said about every Teen Wolf episode. Most notable this time around: we actually get answers to some questions.

The most important of which is, who is Darach? Well guess what guys, Darach (is cooking) is Teacher! Teacher!? Seriously, who knew that Teacher would be so important when she first stepped on the scene? I haven’t learned her name yet! She didn’t even have any lines in her first episode. Then again, the Teen Wolf powers that be were really sprucing up her role. I suppose I should have known better.

But I’ll hand it to them. I really didn’t guess it. I thought perhaps someone was doing it unwittingly. And you know what? I think the writers at Teen Wolf used that to their advantage. Jackson was murdering without any say in the matter. Lydia has been on freakout mode for a couple of seasons now. They one-upped us by making us think they’ll pull another manipulation tactic, and yet — Jennifer (Teacher’s name) is Darach.

Jennifer was killed about 20 years ago, which matches the theory that Darach is dead. It appears she was gutted quite horribly. So what exactly is she? And what does she owe the Alphas? We finally have answers … and then we have more questions.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

The Sacrifices

This episode begins with a police officer searching through the high school because of a 911 call. What she encounters is actually Darach, who murders her instantly … but not before being shown a glimpse of her own death before Darach kills her. Talk about creepy. (Should we mention the growing number of minority one-off characters who keep getting killed?)

Teen Wolf has really branded itself a true horror thriller this season. How many basic cable shows indulge this much in gratuitous brutality? Well, I guess it’s a lot. But none of them carry the camp that Teen Wolf does. I think the show is better for it, weaving in and out of horror, thriller, and comedy quite effortlessly, but I can do without the incessant slow-mos. That said, “The Girl Who Knew Too Much” is perhaps the best offering of all these three elements. Sometimes Teen Wolf can charge full speed ahead without giving us a time to breathe or even any real information. Tonight, we got both.

As it turns out, the next subgroup of sacrifices is philosophers. The aforementioned police officer was actually an ex-middle school teacher. Halfway through the episode, another teacher is kidnapped. And so it’s confirmed.

The Argents

Allison and Isaac follow the lead they found at the Argent apartment where they think the second victim will show up. Turns out Papa Argent and Allison are like spies in their own homes, keeping secrets. Some things never change. When Allison and Isaac go to save the second victim from dying by Darach’s hands, they’re met by Mr. Argent who comes in guns blazing — but to no avail.

I have a lot of questions about Allison this week: Why was she dressed like a sexy pilgrim version of Sherlock Holmes? Where did she get a black light? Does she remember giggling at Scott’s pressed-up junk on her back a couple of weeks ago?

I don’t know where Allison and Issac, as well as Allison and Scott, are headed, but for a show that moves so quickly, they sure are making us wait this one out.

Sheriff Stilinksi

A couple of weeks ago, I questioned why the Sheriff didn’t know about the supernatural beings crawling about. Now I remember why: parents almost always play the whole suppression game when it comes to this stuff in supernatural series. I also said it would keep him safer, but as soon as he sees Scott as a werewolf with his own eyes and … whatever Jennifer is … he gets kidnapped by Darach.

Lydia, the Banshee

So, you know, duh. We should have guessed this. Lydia’s trademark is her iconic scream — and she does it preceding every death. She’s not psychic, per sé; she’s a banshee. This episode, Lydia’s done with being too little too late, always finding a dead body. She wants to call them before they actually happen. If she learns to hone her ability, she could be a real asset to the gang … but the trade-off is no more weirdly creepy dead body findings.

I suppose not a terrible lot happened this episode before the final 10 minutes, but if nothing else, those final 10 did make up for a lackluster installment last week … and for a confusing prior seven episodes. The only bad thing: there are two episodes left this midseason and still so much story to tell. Knowing Teen Wolf, it’s full steam ahead. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.