I. E. D. is the 5th episode of Teen Wolf Season 4.
According to the Nielsen Company, approximately 1.6 million people saw the episode upon it's initial airing on MTV.
About the Title
I. E. D. can have several meanings. The most common are "Improvised Explosive Device," "Infliction of Emotional Distress," and "Intelligent Electronic Device."
In this episode it refers to "Intermittent Explosive Disorder," a behavioral disorder characterized by uncontrollable anger.
Synopsis
Lydia seeks help with her powers; Scott, Stiles and Kira play in their first lacrosse game.
Featured Creature
Banshee
Banshees on Teen Wolf can hear voices in their heads. Often this leads them, subconsciously, to murder scenes. They sometimes write or draw messages from the voices (subconsciously) as well.
Lydia Martin and Meredith Walker are Banshees but neither seems to be in control of their abilities.
Main Article: Banshee
Full Recap
A young girl (Ana Mulvoy Ten) runs through the Beacon Hills High School Campus at night. She is bleeding and one of her hands is missing. All that remains is a cauterized and smoking stump. Violet pursues casually spinning her “thermo-cut wire” bolo necklace.
The girl takes refuge inside one of the buses repeating the mantra we heard Demarco chanting “the sun the moon, the truth” (see The Benefactor). She stops when Violet enters the bus and begins slowly coming down the aisle. With a burst of speed, the girl leaps up, swipes at Violet with her remaining claws, and escapes.
She races across the parking lot but stops short when a truck pulls up in front of her. Garrett urges her to get in claiming “she’s coming!”
The girl gets in, Garrett smiles, says he’s surprised she fell for it, and stabs her.
Stiles Stilinski places pictures and red lines of tape on his new, improved, see-through Lucite murder board. He goes through all the recent killings starting with the Walcotts (Sean’s family - see Muted).
He explains how The Mute was killed by Peter Hale after the incident with the claymore mine at the school (see The Benefactor). Deputy Parrish was called in to defuse the mine, using his military training from the Hazardous Device Team.
He then recounts Demarco’s death outside Lydia’s lake house which Scott McCall and Chris Argent investigated.
Scott picked up the scent of werewolf from the body and said it smelled to him that Demarco was part of a pack. Chris suggests that pack may be looking for him.
Then Stiles shows some evidence from the most recent murder, 23 year old Carrie Hudson (the girl at the school).
Scott and Stiles take everything they have along with the partial list of potential victims, to Sheriff Stilinski. They explain that Allison’s name was the keyword that unlocked a third of the list and that there are two more keywords that will unlock the rest of the names.
Lydia has been out at the lake house all weekend, using the record player in the soundproof room, trying to get further messages but has so far received nothing via her banshee power.
Looking at the list, the sheriff realizes just how many supernaturals may be living in the area. He says Beacon Hills is a town of just under 30,000 people but that the population of Beacon County is closer to 500,000.
He is worried that there could be hundreds of names on the rest of the list but the boys don’t think so. They believe the numbers are dollar amounts that add up the $117 million stolen from the Hale Vault (see 117). The triple digit numbers are thousands while the single and double digits are millions.
They surmise that the Benefactor stole the money to finance the murders and wants every supernatural in Beacon Hills dead.
The sheriff lays out how it works – The coded list goes out and somehow these professional assassins get that list and the keyword. Then they go after the names on the list.
The crime scene photos of the latest murder show an odd shaped mark around each of the knife wounds. The sheriff has no idea yet what it might be.
They also figure out that Demarco was lured to the lake house by the assassin. Scott says everyone knows he delivers kegs to teenagers for a little extra cash. The sheriff says whoever ordered the keg killed Demarco. Somebody at the party which means it was a student.
At school – Violet pulls her collar over to hide the claw marks inflicted by Carrie during her failed escape. She urges Garrett to go for “some real money” what she describes as “seven figure money.” Garrett says they are -“tonight.”
Kira’s dad says he needs to talk to her. She thinks it’s about all the recent murders and her name being on the list but he doesn’t know anything about it. He simply wants to discuss her joining the lacrosse team without telling him.
Liam is bench pressing 180 pounds in the weight room (the real weight room used by the actors at Teen Wolf Studios in Northridge, California). Mason is discussing how Garrett borrowed his hoodie and never returned. Mason went to his house, which is supposed to be a new development “on Spaulding” but that there were no houses there yet. He concludes that unless Garrett lives in a backhoe, there’s something he’s not telling them.
Liam adds and additional 90lbs to the barbell and continues pressing.
Mason points out that Liam's been acting strangely, running to school for no reason and disappearing at parties. He says Liam used to be his best friend. Liam adds an additional 90lbs and Mason asks if he’s on steroids.
Mason wants to know if Liam is worried about the lacrosse game. He says he’s not but then Mason points out that the opponent will be Liam’s old school, Devenford Prep.
Liam is angry as he enters the locker room. He throws down his gym bag and looks for his lacrosse stick. It’s missing. He hears the sound of a stick being scraped along the sides of metal mesh lockers in another part of the room. Derek has a stick. He asks if it’s Liam’s then breaks it in two. Liam wolfs out and sprints toward him. Derek picks him up by the throat and pins him to the wall of metal lockers.
Scott calls to Liam who can barely hear him through the rage haze he’s in. Eventually he calms down enough to be released. Scott points out that the stick Derek broke was not Liam’s and hands him an undamaged one. The bell rings and Scott orders Liam to get to class.
Derek smiles at Scott and says he’ll be good at training his beta. The former Alpha says Liam’s anger will make him strong. Scott says it will also make him dangerous. Scott laments that he was supposed to focus on school this semester but he can’t because “Kate’s back and I’ve got a beta and there’s a dead pool.” Derek says if all their names are on the list, then that is what they should be focused on.
Malia is hovering over Lydia as she attempts to draw something in the art room. The pencil hovers over the paper but inspiration will not come. Malia suggests they look to another banshee for help, meaning Meredith Walker.
Coach Finstock is teaching about “economic disparity” using the differences between private school lacrosse teams and public school teams. He says Beacon Hills barely has enough money for duct tape to hold their equipment together.
During the lesson, Stiles is going over the crime scene photos of the most recent murder. Looking at the pictures, Coach says Stiles is profoundly disturbing. When Coach taps his lacrosse stick on the desk to get Stiles’ attention, he notices that the end of the stick matches the shape of around the stab wounds on the latest victim. From this Stiles deduces that the weapon is hidden in a lacrosse stick and someone on the team is an assassin.
Kira, Scott and Stiles pull apart all the teams lacrosse sticks looking for the weapon, which Scott eventually says is pointless since most of the team plays with their own gear. Kira suggests they should get the game canceled but Scott believes their best chance to find the assassin will be during the game.
They all question how the list is made and updated. Stiles calls it a “supernatural census” and wonders who’s been collecting the names. Stiles agrees with Kira that they should stop the game but Scott says he’s not afraid and Kira steps up and agrees that she isn’t either. Stiles says he’s terrified and he’s not even on the list pointing out that they are facing professional killers with specialized weapons.
In the Chemistry Classroom, Violet is mixing a yellow species of Wolfsbane powder into an unknown liquid. She says it is very rare and very expensive. She explains that it works fast.
Violet bemoans the fact that they should be going after the bigger target on the list, the Alpha. But Garrett points out that a whole Alpha Pack tried to take down McCall and he was the one left standing. Garrett insists that they only go after the beta on the field during the game.
She coats the end of Garrett’s stick knife with the gooey yellow substance and says she only has to nick the intended victim.
Lydia and Malia realize they can’t get to Meredith at Eichen House without permission from a family member and that’s impossible because her whole family is dead.
Malia stops in the crowded hallway and suggests they go back to the art room or the music room. Lydia snaps that she’s not “plucking piano strings for two hours waiting for some supernatural inspiration.”
She’s frustrated because, unlike Malia and Scott, she can’t turn her power on or off. She says she didn’t get the claws or glowing eyes or super senses, “I just have voices in my head.” This last was apparently loud enough for the other students in the hall to hear. They turn and stare at Lydia.
Mason pursues Liam out to where the Devenford Prep buses have pulled up at the school.
Liam calls out to “Brett” (Cody Saintgnue), walks up, and extends his hand saying “have a good game.” Brett laughs in his face and mocks him saying that he must have learned the move in “anger management.” Brett says the team plans to break Liam in half for demolishing “coach’s car.”
Scott notices that Liam is clenching his fists so tightly that blood begins to drip from between his white knuckles. He and Stiles quickly move in and pull Liam back. Stiles begins to shuck and jive, welcoming the “prep students” to their “little public high school.” He too extends a hand to Brett who doesn’t respond. They rush Liam from the area and back into the school.
They cram him into the running shower as he snaps his fangs and roars his anger. Liam explains about the car he destroyed, how it belonged to his lacrosse coach and he trashed it after the coach benched him for the entire of the season.
A psychologist diagnosed Liam with Intermittent Explosive Disorder which causes him to rage uncontrollably. He is supposed to take a medication (Risperdal) but doesn’t because it makes him tired and keeps him from playing lacrosse.
- EDITOR’S NOTE: Risperdal is a powerful antipsychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia in teenagers and bipolar disorder in children as young at 10. However, the drug is not recommended for Intermittent Explosive Disorder. One side effect of the drug is apparently Gynecomastia – the drug is blamed for hundreds of male patients developing breasts.
Scott tries to convince Liam to sit out the game but he refuses. Liam says he can stay in control, especially if Scott is there. They explain that there is an added danger with the assassin on their team. Liam realizes that, while he doesn’t know who ordered the keg from Demarco, he knows Garrett paid for it.
The scrimmage begins. Kira wants to do something about Garrett at the start but Scott says if they guessed wrong then the real killer gets away.
Sheriff Stilinski is leaving for the game but Deputy Parrish stops him and says he found Meredith Walker walking from the coast into town. She says she is looking for Lydia.
Liam and Mason talk about Brett. Liam says he thinks he can take him, even if Brett is a foot taller. Mason thinks he’s hot. He says Liam can “definitely take him… and then give him to me.” They both laugh.
Derek shows Chris Argent the vault under the school. Chris seems surprised. Derek shows him the triskelion disc Kate was looking for and explains that they use it to train young betas to control their shifts on the full moon.
Argent admits he’s thought Kate was still alive and says he’s been looking for her ever since he saw the shotgun shell in Insatiable. He hands the shell to Derek. It has a fleur-de-lis pattern stamped into the metal rim and primer. Chris says he has a place he can take Kate if they can find her. Derek describes it as “werewolf jail.” Chris says he will do what he has to do but Derek says he would rather that not happen. Kate took more than just the color of his eyes – his enhanced sense of smell is gone and his other “power” is going too. Scott tries to use his influence at team captain to get coach to sit Liam out for the game. Coach laughs in his face. One of the Devenford Prep players tries to whip a ball at Liam’s head with a “think fast” but Liam snatches it out of the air with zero effort.
Devenford scores early and often. Kira is watching Garrett as Scott keeps an eye on Liam. The Devenford players continue to come after Liam who has to be restrained from going back after them.
The Sheriff calls in Lydia (and Malia) to talk to Meredith. He says they only have a little time before he has to call Eichen House to come get her. Parrish asks him if he called Lydia because Meredith asked for her or because she’s “psychic.” The sheriff says Lydia is “intuitive.” Parrish explains that “intuitionists” is what they used to call psychics.
He brings Parrish into his office with the girls. Lydia hands Meredith her cell phone because her banshee abilities seem to express through phones (see Echo House and Insatiable). Meredith holds the phone for a moment until Lydia asks if she’s going to answer it. Meredith leans up close to Lydia and whispers “it’s not ringing.”
Stiles cracks jokes as he faces off against another player on the field. Talking about how much facial hair the other boy has and pointing out that steroids are illegal. He asks if the player is taking HGH (Human Growth Hormone) or Gamma Radiation (a reference to Marvel Comics’ The Incredible Hulk). The distraction pays off, Stiles takes possession and whips the ball down field to Kira. She runs full tilt toward the goal, evading all defenders, and flings it in for a score. Coach is angry – he explains that the scrimmage game is all about team work and Kira should have passed the ball. He benches her for the rest of the game.
Garrett eyes Scott but doesn’t make a move.
Lydia is trying to get through to Meredith who claims Lydia called her. Parrish steps in and asks if there is someone Meredith calls when she needs something. She says she calls on different people for different things. He continues that there must be a number that can help them and she agrees.
She gives them 2 4 3 6 and stops.
Malia points out that they need more numbers because phone numbers are 10 digits but Meredith says that’s the number. Lydia becomes frustrated and shouts at her but the girl shouts back and sticks to the four numbers she gave them.
Chris is in the weapons cage at his apartment building. He hears a noise and flips a switch to electrify the metal mesh surrounding him. A figure outside the cage drops to the floor. Chris draws his weapon and turns to find Severo (Ivo Nandi) pointing a gun at him. Araya Calavera (Ivonne Coll) comes in and cracks a joke about how a Mexican standoff is just called a standoff in Mexico.
At the game, Brett runs into Liam and flips him, breaking his arm. Brett is down. Scott resets Liam’s arm with a crack of the bone. Brett is taken off the field. Scott hears the snick of Garrett’s stick knife and begins checking Liam for cuts believing the assassin was after him all along.
The Sheriff and Deputy Parrish are preparing to send Meredith back to the home. Lydia is forlorn but Malia sees the Sheriff’s phone and has an idea that four numbers Meredith gave them might be letters. Lydia draws out a grid of letters and works out that the numbers spell out A I D E N. She types it in and a new part of the Dead Pool scrolls out.
- Kate Argent 12
- Noshiko Yukimura 5
- Joanne McLaughlin 1
- Steve Grace 1
- Tom Hill 1
- Brett Talbot 1
At the game, Scott thinks they’re missing something. Stiles has his phone and says Lydia just revealed another third of the list. Liam is not on it but his rival Brett is.
In the locker room, the paramedic that helped Brett off the field is down and unmoving. Brett is trying to crawl along the floor but it seems his legs are paralyzed. He eyes glow yellow as he looks up and asks Violet what she did to him. She explains about the wolfsbane poisoned blade and says it won’t kill him but says her glowing hot bolo necklace will. He asks why and she explains that he is worth a lot of money as she loops the wire around his neck and pulls.
Deputy Parrish offers Lydia a ride home, she’s jumpy and refuses. Once he exits, she returns to the rest of the list.
- Richard Benefield 250
- Jack Marsland 250
- Joy Waldrop 250
- Cheryl Calix 250
- Jordan Parrish 5
Scott arrives in the locker room and finds the paramedic. Brett is still alive and still has his head. Violet jumps Scott from behind looping the red hot wire around his neck and pulling but Scott gets his hands between the wire and his neck and pulls back. He easily yanks the wire away and grabs her around the neck – throwing her down and rendering her unconscious.
Back at the Argents, Araya explains that Braeden has been out of touch for two weeks and they think Kate may have taken her out. She wants Chris to help her hunt Kate and forces him to say the old Hunters' Code “We hunt those who hunt us.”
Soundtrack
Gary Numan – "Love Hurt Bleed (Radio Edit)"
- Scene: Violet and Garrett enter the school.
JETFIRE feat. Maya Simantov – "Baby Back"
- Scene: Liam talks to Mason while doing bench presses.
Zella Day – "Mustang Kids"
- Scene: Malia hovers over Lydia in the art room.
Douster – "Pop That Bubble"
- Scene: Brett shirtless on the field while Mason inspects him.
Headhunterz & Audiofreq – "Breakout"
- Scene: Devonford Prep scores first.
Diplo – "Express Yourself"
- Scene: Stiles mocks a player for steroid use and gamma radiation.
Episodes List
← Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 → | |
#01 The Dark Moon | #07 Weaponized |
#02 117 | #08 Time of Death |
#03 Muted | #09 Perishable |
#04 The Benefactor (Teen Wolf Episode) | #10 Monstrous |
#05 I. E. D. | #11 A Promise to the Dead |
#06 Orphaned | #12 Smoke & Mirrors |
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