Teen Wolf first graced our screens on June 5, 2011. Fans quickly fell in love with the supernatural show, following The Pack’s path through high school, life, romance, and fearsome villains for six wonderful seasons. Taking its final bow in 2017, fans (and cast, too!) have never stopped wanting more. Now, with a reunion special gathering the cast once more, let’s look back at a few of Teen Wolf’s best episodes.
“Riddled” – Season 3, Episode 18
There were so many aspects to “Riddled” that made it an amazing episode. It started with Stiles missing, and while his symptoms lead everyone to believe Stiles has frontotemporal dementia, what really happens is the nogitsune possessing completely takes over. It’s got everything — suspense with Stiles missing, sadness that Stiles might have the same illness that killed his mother, and shock as Void takes total control.
“Memory Lost” – Season 6, Episode 1
This was a very foreboding episode that personally had my heart racing. A new group of villains, the Ghost Riders, are introduced in this episode. They take people away, their presence in the world completely forgotten and removed. While everyone investigates, and yearbook photos are taken, trouble brews. Stiles had seen the Ghost Riders, and he’s marked to be. We watch as everyone, even is own father, forgets who he is. Everyone except Lydia. She promises to remember him, and the season is set up.
“Motel California” – Season 3, Episode 6
“Motel California” was one of the most emotional episodes, yet incredibly haunting as well. The lacrosse team, along with Allison and Lydia, are stuck in a motel with a twisted past. Many of them struggle to fight heinous urges. What prevails is friendship and love, saving the lives of those they care about. Stiles’ speech to Scott will always bring the sobs.
“Party Guessed” – Season 2, Episode 9
The best Teen Wolf episodes always take a deeper look into the characters, good or bad. Lydia throws herself a birthday party. However, as Lydia’s nightmares and hallucinations of Peter Hale continue, and he has a plan for the party. What happens is the party guests begin hallucinating their worst fears: Allison sees herself shooting her with a crossbow, Stiles’ dad blames him for his mother’s death, Scott sees Allison with Jackson, and Jackson see his parents completely faceless. Meanwhile, Derek helps Boyd, Isaac and Erica through the full moon, with Isaac prevailing. Vulnerability and fear highlighted what truly matters to each character, or even becomes an anchor for control.
“Creatures of the Night” – Season 5, Episode 1
With senior year ahead, there’s a lot to look forward to for The Pack. Unfortunately, not all of it is good. While everyone prepares for the future, the hope and doubts running wild, the upcoming senior class write their initials in the library. While the future looks bright, villains take over Beacon Hills. Sheriff Stilinski has his own in the form of a teen threatening him. Scott has a mutated werewolf threatening to steal his power. And a friend from the past, Theo Raeken, returns. Now a werewolf, he seems to have ulterior motives for returning, ones that could threaten everyone’s happiness.
“Riders on the Storm” – Season 6, Episode 10
Beacon Hills is quickly becoming a ghost town in “Riders on the Storm.” The train station those taken are in and places in Beacon Hills (like the hospital) start to blend together, like two realities crashing into each other. We also see the aftermath of Lydia, Malia, and Scott trying to save Stiles, who runs towards the tunnel opened by Lydia, appearing back in his Jeep. Joyously, Stiles and Lydia finally get together, and the Ghost Riders are finally defeated.
“The Divine Move” – Season 3, Episode 24
I will stand by that the Void Stiles/nogitsune storyline was one of the best of the series. That storyline came to an epic end in “The Divine Move.” Scott and Chris bare with the death of Allison by staying strong. Stiles is willing to sacrifice himself, but Scott has other plans. While it often seems like they’re losing the battle against the nogitsune, but his cockiness in thinking nothing can kill him is his downfall. Changing the host is The Pack’s divine move, with Scott biting him and Kira using her katana.
Divine move, divine move, you think you have any moves at all? You can kill the Oni, but me? Me? I’m a thousand years old! You can’t kill me!
“Radio Silence” – Season 6, Episode 5
An interesting partnership pops up in “Radio Silence” as Peter Hale finds himself in the train station, taken by the Ghost Riders. While Peter helps Stiles try to make a connection to Beacon Hills, Lydia makes a connection of her own. Lydia is drawn to the blue Jeep in the parking lot. Scott, Lydia and Malia try to figure out the mystery of the Jeep, which leads them to Noah and Claudia (suddenly alive and well) Stilinski. Lydia is drawn to a part of the wall in the Stilinski house, a part of the wall that used to be Stiles’ room. The final mystery comes into play as Peter escapes clutching Stiles’ keys. Finally, Stiles is remembered and they have a clue to take down the Ghost Riders: Canaan.
“Alpha Pact” – Season 3, Episode 11
Teen Wolf was incredibly brilliant at many things, like having LGBTQ representation. Another, and one that always hit home for me, is their focus on mental health. Very early on in the series, we learn Stiles has anxiety and suffered panic attacks after his mom died — an informative thing that came in handy when he helped Scott come out of his own panic attack. With Stiles’ dad taken by Jennifer, nerves are already pretty high. So, when Stiles finds out Allison’s dad was taken as well, it sparks a full blown panic attack. Major props to the Teen Wolf crew and Dylan O’Brien for showcasing what happens during a panic attack, as well as a way to help them.
The episode also sets up the next one, as well as the second half of the season as Allison, Scott, and Stiles are submerged into ice baths filled with mistletoe. They each have personal items, as well as someone important them to bring them back. This is all to find the Nemeton, the place their parents are being held. While it’s a crucial action that will help them save their parents, it will have drastic repercussions on their lives.
“Said the Spider to the Fly” – Season 6, Episode 11
As this episode starts the second half of season 6, it also starts the path towards the series finale. What makes this episode so important is that we get to see what the future holds for everyone. Scott is the assistant coach for the Beacon Hills lacrosse team and getting ready to head to college. Lydia has plans for college, too. Malia wants to travel to France (even though her flight keeps getting delayed). Unfortunately, none of them can leave. The Pack has always been there to protect Beacon Hills, both human and supernatural alike. With something threatening that, plans change. The only plans that don’t change is Stiles heading to the FBI in Quantico, Virginia for a six-month internship. He is finally putting those detective skills to use outside of the supernatural. Of course, Beacon Hills has a way of following him when the class he is in is shown a video, showing none other than Derek Hale.
There are so many more episodes that could easily be included in this list. For six seasons, Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Allison, Liam, Malia, Mason, and every character we fell in love with took us on an adventure. There were moments that made us laugh, and ones that made us cry. Hope was always found, empathy always saved, and good always won. Lessons were taught deep within these supernatural stories, to accept others, even if they’re different than you (looking at you, Gerard Argent). And sometimes having a pack that has your back, even if they’re just human, is a really good thing to have.
What are some of your favorite Teen Wolf episodes? Let us known in the comments!
