Galvanize is Episode 15 of Teen Wolf Season 3.
It was seen by 2 million people during its initial broadcast on MTV.
Synopsis
When a convicted murderer escapes prior to a surgery, Scott and his friends try to help his target.
Full Recap
Agent McCall is managing a secure patient transfer to Beacon Hills Hospital and tells the ambulance driver to go around back and to keep quiet about the identity of the patient.
Inside the emergency waiting area, Melissa McCall is adjusting a jack-o’-lantern when she catches sight of her ex-husband and Sheriff Stilinski on a collision course. Stilinski is livid and says the FBI can’t bring the patient inside the hospital. He says they’ll have to take him elsewhere but Agent McCall says no other hospital will take him, all claiming they are over capacity and can’t handle another surgery.
The patient is rolled in past the McCalls and the Sheriff; we see his feet and arms are strapped down with thick padded cuffs of leather. Melissa realizes that she will have to do his pre-op interview.
In the school locker room, Stiles is lurking with a flashlight while talking to Scott on the phone. It’s fifteen minutes after midnight, officially Mischief Night or “Mischief Night/Day,” and Stiles says it is a tradition to prank Coach Finstock. October 30th is also Coach Finstock’s birthday.
Stiles is frustrated that Scott isn’t there yet. Scott claims to be in bed already but then suddenly appears behind Stiles with eyes aglow, frightening him badly.
Agent McCall warns his ex-wife about the patient she is about to meet. He was a former electrical engineer who decided to walk onto a school bus with a shrapnel bomb. Four of the students on the bus died, another lost his legs. The patient allegedly says that if he gets out he will do it again and next time he’s going to get it right.
The “Pre Operative Questionnaire” Melissa is holding says “Name: William Barrow - Date of Birth: 05/24/60 – Height: 6ft 2in – Weight: 155lbs” and includes spaces for blood pressure readings as well as a number of rote questions about other issues. Melissa reads from the form asking if Barrow understands that scar tissue has formed around a piece of shrapnel that “remains in your body from a previous injury and that it is now blocking vital functions?”
She then explains that they will put him under general anesthesia “tomorrow morning” for the surgery to remove the obstruction. Instead of answering her questions, Barrow asks if the kids still pull pranks the day before Halloween. Melissa calls it Mischief Night but Barrow says where he’s from it was known as “Hell Night.”
She then lists off the medications he is taking “Temazepam” (treats insomnia) and Divalproex (treats seizures and manic episodes).
When she leans in to listen to his heart, he leans up and says “why don’t you just ask the question you really want to ask?” Melissa asks why he attacked the bus and Barrow explains that he saw the children’s eyes glowing then begins to rave and scream.
Scott and The Twins arrive at school on their motorcycles at the same time. Scott wonders if they’ve reenrolled but they’ve just come to ask to join his pack. Stiles thinks this is a bad idea and Isaac agrees pointing out they held Derek while Kali impaled Boyd on his claws (see Currents).
Aiden argues they would add strength making Scott more powerful. Isaac and Aiden almost come to blows but Scott puts a restraining hand on Isaac’s arm. Aiden’s eyes glow bright blue during the confrontation. Scott says his friends don’t trust them and neither does he so, no, they can’t join his pack.
Aiden thinks they should reenroll in school to show Scott they are serious about being better people. He says they have to do something because they are now Omegas and the people they screwed over will come looking for them because they’re weak. Ethan says being dead would be better than going back to high school but then sees Danny talking to his ex-boyfriend (Damon Jackson) and acquiesces. He still refuses to take math and Aiden says he’ll take it for him.
Inside the school, chaos reigns with rolls of toilet paper flying through the air and kids running up and down the halls. Scott stares at Kira as she places items into her locker. When Stiles asks about it, Scott says he likes her, “She’s okay. She’s new.”
Stiles suggests he ask her out but Scott demurs. Stiles pushes saying Scott, as the Alpha, is now the “Apex Predator.” He says everybody wants Scott describing his as “like the hot girl every guy wants.” Scott repeats this “I’m the hot girl” and Isaac agrees “Yes you are.”
Entering his office, Coach Finstock is prepared to be pranked. He looks for hidden wires or a bucket suspended over the door. He finds a wrapped box on his desk and pokes at it with a lacrosse stick. Satisfied that there are no obvious booby traps, he opens the box. Inside are screws. The coach is amused, thinking this is a poor prank, but the box is attached to a hidden wire and, when he lifts it, all of the pictures and shelves fall off his walls. Apparently, the screws inside the box had formerly been holding them securely in place. He sits down in frustration but the pranksters have removed the screws holding his chair together as well and it collapses under his weight.
His cry of “Son of a bitch!” echoes out into his classroom where Scott and Stiles smile and the rest of the class laugh.
Finstock enters the room on a tear, railing against Mischief Night and Halloween. Apparently, his house gets egged every year. Again, he sees a wrapped gift on his desk. Thinking it is another prank he throws the box on the floor and stomps it. Hearing glass break, bends down to investigate and finds a broken coffee mug adorned with his picture and the caption "#1 Coach". An attached card says “Happy Birthday|Love, Greenberg.”
- EDITORS NOTE: Greenberg is the "never seen on camera" student and lacrosse team member Coach Finstock blames for everything.
Lydia is waving her arm around, swatting at the air. She hears a fly but Danny, watching from across the classroom sees there is nothing there. Lydia looks toward the ceiling and the sound of flies becomes a more uniform buzz.
In the operating suite at Beacon Hills Hospital, William Barrow is in the middle of surgery. The doctor jokes that he should make a minor slip and let the SOB bleed out on the table. Something inside Barrow’s open wound is pulsing, getting bigger until it finally bursts open and flies swarm out into the room. Barrow wakes from the anesthesia, grabs a scalpel, and goes after the doctor. By the time Sheriff Stilinski and Agent McCall arrive, the murderer has escaped and the doctor is bleeding out on the floor in Melissa’s arms.
Back in his Beacon Hills loft, Derek Hale is using a fishhook to reattach Peter Hale’s finger (See More Bad Than Good). He opens the container they retrieved with Braeden and pours four werewolf claws onto the table. He explains that after the Hale House Fire, the claws were all that was left of his mother, Talia Hale. He expects Peter to insert his dead sister’s nails underneath his own and then plunge them into Derek’s neck so that Derek can ask his dead mother a question.
The wooden container in which the claws were kept was apparently specially designed for this purpose as it has four finger holes in the bottom. When Peter jams his hand inside the claws will be driven into his nail beds.
Melissa explains to the Sheriff about the flies. She says there is a natural phenomenon called Myiasis in which bug larva, like maggots, can grow inside a living human but says it’s not likely in the stomach. She also clues him in to why Barrow attacked the “teenagers” on the bus. The Sheriff immediately recognizes the significance of the “glowing eyes” reference.
Agent McCall says they got a tip that the stolen ambulance, presumably Barrow’s get-away vehicle, was spotted at the corner of “Truman and Spalding” which the Sheriff says is just three blocks from the school.
Aiden approaches Lydia in hallway. She gives him a curt speech about how there is no way he can give her “two weeks of nothing” then come back and expect that they’ll instantly be in Coach’s office ripping each other’s clothes off.
One second later they are wrapped in each other’s arms, stumbling into Coach’s office. The come up for air long enough to realize that the desk is broken (another side-effect from the prank) and decide to use the Guidance Office instead. As they close the door, we see William Barrow was standing behind it, inside the office, the entire time.
Barrow picks up a staple gun from the floor and begins to staple his wound closed.
The FBI and the Sheriff’s Department seal off the school. Stiles clues in Isaac, Allison, and Lydia about Barrow’s motive for attacking the bus and his escape from the hospital saying the “live flies” thing would be awesome under any other circumstances. Lydia picks up on the bit about the flies, saying she has been hearing the constant buzzing like flies all day. Allison heads off to research the Bestiary while Stiles and Lydia look for Scott.
Kira and Mr. Yukimura are in his classroom eating lunch. Kira is taking pictures of her father with a bright yellow Nokia Lumia 1020.
The quote on the blackboard during this scene -
- "History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." - Winston Churchill
Mr. Yukimura asks why Kira is sitting with him instead of eating in the cafeteria with other students. She explains that she hasn’t made any friends yet and doesn’t really understand why. She says she had friends at her old school but in Beacon Hills, every time she opens her mouth she “starts rambling like an idiot.”
- EDITORS NOTE: Mr. Yukimura quotes Samuel Beckett’s lines - “Try again. Fail again. Fail Better.” These are from a prose piece called Worstward Ho. The choice of this particular piece, which Mr. Yukimura jokingly attributes to Yoda, is significant given what we know already about current events in Beacon Hills. Beckett gives us an unseen narrator urging himself onward through semi-darkness while all the time “shades” loom half-seen in the gloom. Some have compared it to Paradise Lost suggesting that Beckett's narrator is in Hades.
Her father tries to reassure her that “someone will show an interest” because she is beautiful. Kira jokes that the only one to show interest is a “rabid coyote” (See More Bad Than Good). Mr. Yukimura counters that she can date the coyote. Kira confesses, with Scott listening at the door, that she doesn’t want to date and doesn’t want a boyfriend. She “just wants to make a few friends.”
Stiles and Lydia catch up to Scott and explain about Barrow’s escape. Lydia says she can’t hear anything except for the buzzing now.
Stiles tries to convince his father that the police shouldn't leave because Lydia has a supernatural feeling about Barrow still being at the school. Sheriff Stilinski is confused pointing out that “Lydia wasn't on the chess board” (See The Girl Who Knew Too Much). When Stiles says she’s now on the board, his father wonders aloud “Kanima?” Stiles corrects him and says she is a Banshee which he says means she can sense when someone is close to death. The Sheriff says he has to go with eyewitness over Banshee and leaves the school taking all but a handful of deputies with him. The school is on lock-down until 3PM.
Melissa brings Barrow’s personal effects to Scott at school. She urges him to be careful because she looked right into Barrow’s eyes and “it was terrifying.” He promises to be careful and kisses her on the forehead.
At the door to the school basement, Scott meets up with Aiden, Ethan and Isaac. The plan is to use their enhanced sense of smell to track Barrow at the school. Allison has to sneak out of school to get home to search the Bestiary. She says it’s like “a thousand pages long” and she could be searching all night. Lydia tells her the word for flies in archaic Latin is “Muscas” and Allison climbs out the window of one of the classrooms.
It’s 2:35 PM when Stiles and Lydia begin their search “upstairs.”
In a basement hallway, Isaac questions Scott about trusting the twins to help with the search. Scott says just because he’s working with them doesn’t mean he trusts them. Isaac confesses that he hates them and wants them to die. Scott points out that with Barrow around he might get what he wants. This makes Isaac smile.
On what is labeled the “EAST” hallway in the basement, Aiden and Ethan search together. Ethan apparently hears something and they pause before jumping around a corner. Danny and his ex-boyfriend (Damon Jackson) are standing there kissing. Aiden laughs at Ethan who can only say “oh really” in a choked voice. Danny looks a little sheepish while his ex looks away.
In the art classroom, Lydia and Stiles continue their search. Stiles explains the plan in which Scott and Isaac will search one end of the basement while Ethan and Aiden search the other. They plan to meet in the middle in the boiler room. Seeing a picture of a nuclear mushroom cloud, Lydia realizes that all the kids with glowing eyes are heading to the boiler room. Stiles realizes Barrow, as an electrical engineer, would have the ability to turn the boiler room into a bomb. He pulls the fire alarm to evacuate the school and gets himself into trouble with Coach Finstock who says if he were “four years younger” he would punch Stiles.
Scott and the other wolves join Stiles and Lydia. It’s now 3:00 PM and school is over. They all look to Lydia to see if everyone is safe but she says she doesn’t know.
In the library, Kira has her earbuds in and can’t hear the fire alarm. Coach Finstock gets her attention and forces her out of the school. In the next row of books over, William Barrow is watching as Kira exits.
Peter is reluctant to help Derek with the claw thing. He say he do it if he’s allowed to keep Talia’s claws when they’re done. Peter says he'll do it but hesitates and Derek forces his hand into the cylinder.
At Kira’s house (the Lisette Film Set, Granada Hills, California), Mr. Yukimura has invited Scott for dinner.
Mr. Yukimura has prepared sushi - Hamachi, Uni, Ikura and Hirame. Scott admits he’s never tried sushi. Kira is mortified and says they were supposed to have lasagna for dinner. Her father admits he was trying to impress Scott and offers to make lasagna instead but Scott says he’s happy to try the sushi.
When he fumbles with his chopsticks Kira first teaches him how to hold them then catches a piece of sushi in midair after Scott drops it.
Lydia is lying on Stiles’ bed. He has constructed an elaborate (some might say obsessive) murder board on two walls of his bedroom. Stiles connects a red piece of yarn from a picture of William Barrow to a picture of the high school. Lydia asks what each different color string means. Stiles explains that each color represents a different stage of the investigation, green is solved, yellow is “to be determined” and blue is just “pretty.” Lydia asks about red and Stiles says that means unsolved. She points out that he only has red string on the board.
Stiles says he has detention every day this week for pulling the fire alarm. Lydia begins to doubt herself because they couldn't find any trace of Barrow being at the school. Stiles comforts her, saying she’s been right every time something like this has happened. Lydia points out that the werewolves couldn't find a scent and there was no bomb but Stiles persists, adamant that Barrow was there because Lydia felt it. He then removes the top from a felt tip marker and sniffs. This causes a realization and he jumps up heading for the school.
Allison searches the pages of the bestiary on her computer. She hears a noise like someone walking, then a sizzling sound and a high pitched yelp followed by another, equally high pitched, cry.
Isaac appears in the doorway. He points out that Allison has electrified the windows and didn’t tell him. Allison is amused by this. She wants to know why Isaac came; he says he is there to help. Allison wants to know if he can read Latin, he can’t but says he can look at pictures. They click over to the next page of the bestiary and are confronted by a drawing of a classical Japanese devil mask.
In the loft, Peter says he’s going to enjoy jabbing Derek in the neck with Talia’s claws, saying it will be excruciatingly painful. He then proceeds to do just that.
This is the first time we meet Mrs. Yukimura (Tamlyn Tomita) and learn a bit of the family backstory. They moved to Beacon Hills from New York and Mrs. Yukimura’s family has ties to Beacon Hills going back several generations. We learn that Mr. Yukimura took his wife’s family name when they married because she was the only surviving member of her line. They explain that they did not keep both names or do a hyphenate because they were married in Japan where the law says a couple must share the same name to belong to the same Koseki or family registry.
Mr. Yukimura says his wife’s linage is quite unique. He plans to discuss it in class. Kira says she doesn’t want him to do that. Mr. Yukimura says it was a “profound honor” to join his wife’s family. Scott begins to choke. Kira asks what happened to his wasabi. Scott says he thought it was guacamole and ate a large mouthful. The Yukimuras quickly begin pouring tea for him as he coughs and sputters.
In the science classroom at school, Stiles and Lydia find the door to the chemical storage room unlocked and an overwhelming smell of chemicals. Lydia realizes that this smell is why the wolves couldn't catch a scent. They find blood and staples on the floor and realize that Barrow was performing surgery on himself.
They find three atomic numbers on the blackboard - 19 53 88. Lydia supplies the letters that go with the elements, K for Potassium, I for Iodine and Ra for Radium. The numbers spell out Kira.
Derek is inside a dream version of his loft. The Nemeton is there. A large black wolf enters and leaps atop the magic stump. The wolf looks like Talia’s animal form seen in Visionary. He stares into the wolf’s eyes and they turn red.
In Kira’s room Scott is talking to his mom, catching her up on the events of the night. Before he hangs up, he asks her why she didn’t change her name when she and his father divorced. Her maiden name was apparently Delgado - a moderately common Hispanic surname. It means “thin” in both Spanish and Portuguese. Melissa says she didn’t change it back because McCall is Scott’s name too.
Kira arrives bearing Hawaiian pizza and Pepsi. They sit on her bed eating.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Jeff Davis reports that Kira's bedroom set was originally built for the show Dexter . The Teen Wolf production purchased, redecorated and repurposed the pieces for this episode.
Allison’s found a few references about flies carrying messages to the dead. Isaac says he’s found some references to Beelzebub the “lord of the flies.” Allison and Isaac are sitting very close and he moves in for a kiss and she jumps up. She yells at him that he must be crazy if he thinks she would want to kiss him or any other werewolf. Isaac feigns outrage saying he would never want to kiss her either but while yelling at her he removes his shirt. She follows suit and as they are standing shirtless Chris Argent enters and asks to see Allison in his office where he keeps his guns. Then, off screen we hear Chris yell “Another werewolf?”
Derek returns to the real world. Peter is full of questions, “did you see her? What did you ask her? Did she say anything about me?” Derek turns on his uncle with a look of fear and confusion. He then looks like he might throw up.
Scott and Kira are saying goodnight on the street in front of her house. Kira says Scott is special not just because he saved her from a coyote but also because he remembered her name (See Anchors). William Barrow runs up behind Scott and hits him in the head with a metal pipe.
Scott comes to with Stiles and Lydia standing over him.
They reach Isaac by phone but he has nothing helpful to add except some stuff about flies and the dead.
Lydia says she feels like she can use her power but she doesn’t know how to trigger it and it makes her want to scream. Stiles suggests that she go ahead and scream. She does and when she stops we hear clearly the electric hum that she’s mistaken for flies all day. This leads them to the power substation where Barrow used to work.
- Editor's Note: The substation is the same one seen in The Girl Who Knew Too Much, it is the Eagle Rock Substation near Pasadena, California.
Inside the substation Kira is tied up on the floor with dirty extension cords while William Barrow rips out one of the large power lines and scrapes is along a chain-link fence as it sprays sparks. Barrow puts the cable down long enough to take Kira’s picture with her phone, showing off how well it performs in low light. This bit of product placement is explained as Barrow’s desire for photographic proof for “all those people who never believed.” He then explains the movie Village of the Damned, the original “not the remake. Nobody cares about crappy remakes.” He claims he saw children with glowing eyes (like in the movie) and reported it but no one would do anything.
- Editor’s Note: Village of the Damned is a 1960 science fiction film about a bunch of women, impregnated by an unseen force, who give birth to extraordinary children with glowing eyes and mental powers. The kids are not particularly evil, just morally bereft and devoid of empathy. Today they would be diagnosed with Conduct Disorder or Antisocial Personality Disorder which are just nice ways of saying they were a bunch of psychos with glowing eyes.
Lydia, Stiles and Scott arrive at the substation. Stiles tells Lydia to stay in the car because he only has one bat.
Scott spots Kira and runs to her aid despite her warning. Barrow smacks Scott with the live wire sending him flying. While still vibrating from the shock, Scott tries to distract Barrow from Kira saying “she’s not the one you want.” But, due to the pain from the electricity, he can’t make his eyes glow and Barrow ignores him.
Turning to Kira he touches her with the wire. Kira glows bright white and Barrow is blown backwards. The glare is blinding. When the light subsides we see Kira is absorbing all the electricity into her hands. The sparks fly towards her as every light in Beacon Hills begins to flicker and eventually goes dark.
Isaac is in the Argent’s apartment when the lights go out. Three shadowy figures surround him. We catch a glimpse of a black Japanese masks. The door slams shut and locks. We hear the sound of furniture breaking and fighting as Chris and Allison try to force their way in, calling Isaac’s name.
Soundtrack
- Bad Bad Hurts - "It Hurts"
Scene: Stiles in the locker room calling for Scott.
- Lovett - "Heartattack"
Scene: Stiles and Scott walk to the lockers while Scott stares at Kira.
- Oh Mercy - "Fever"
Scene: Lydia and Aiden try to make out in Finstock's office.
- Nico Vega - "Witchy Night"
Scene: Coach Finstock finds Kira in the library with her headphones in.
- Cardiknox - "Wayfarers"
Scene: Ken Yukimura tells Kira that he invited Scott over for dinner.
- Cardiknox - "Where I'm Headed"
Scene: Kira helps Scott with his chopsticks.
- Houses - "The Beauty Surrounds"
Scene: Scott talks to Melissa over the phone and Kira brings in a pizza.
- Churchill - "Change"
Scene: Allison and Isaac take their shirts off.
- Echosmith - "Bright"
Scene: Kira and Scott walk out to his bike.
Gallery
Video
Episodes List
← Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 → | |||
#01 Tattoo | #07 Currents | #13 Anchors | #19 Letharia Vulpina |
#02 Chaos Rising | #08 Visionary | #14 More Bad Than Good | #20 Echo House |
#03 Fireflies | #09 The Girl Who Knew Too Much | #15 Galvanize | #21 The Fox and the Wolf |
#04 Unleashed | #10 The Overlooked | #16 Illuminated | #22 De-Void |
#05 Frayed | #11 Alpha Pact | #17 Silverfinger | #23 Insatiable |
#06 Motel California | #12 Lunar Ellipse | #18 Riddled | #24 The Divine Move |