Echo House is the 20th episode of Teen Wolf Season 3.
The episode title relates to "Eichen House," the mental health facility where William Barrow was held and where Stiles dreamed he was trapped during Riddled.
Synopsis
Stiles moves into Eichen House. Scott searches for a scroll that could hold the key to get rid of the Nogitsune.
Full Recap
Stiles and Sheriff Stilinski ride in silence. Both seem tempted to speak but don’t. They pull up outside Eichen House (a mental health facility) and without a word get out of the vehicle and stare up at the imposing metal gate and the edifice beyond. Scott arrives on his dirt bike, upset that no one told him that Stiles was moving into Eichen House for 72 hours. He’s worried because William Barrow and his fly-filled tumor came from this place.
The Sheriff explains that Stiles’ MRI results looked exactly like those of his wife, Claudia Stilinski, and he is terrified. He is going to LA “tomorrow” to talk to a specialist and Stiles has requested that he be locked away in the mental health facility so that he doesn’t hurt anyone.
Scott tries to talk him out of the plan saying that “Deaton’s got some ideas and Argent is calling people” to try to find something to help him rid himself of the Nogitsune. Stiles says if they don’t find something then Scott must make sure he never gets out. The Eichen House attendant (Vernee Watson) explains the rules. There are no phone calls, emails or visitors allowed in the first 72 hours. As she lays out the process, a physical, meeting with a psychologist, and group therapy, Sheriff Stilinski becomes more and more agitated. The sounds of door buzzers and cell doors slamming fill his ears. The attendant takes Stiles shoes and gives him brown slippers because “no laces allowed” and then makes him empty his pockets of keys and other items.
Suddenly the Sheriff declares that they forgot Stiles’ pillow and that they both must leave to go and get it. He manically explains that every time they've stayed in a hotel, the first thing they pack is Stiles’ pillow. It is irrational, but he clings to this as an excuse to get his son away and home because “I’m not checking you in here if you’re not going to get one decent night’s sleep.”
Stiles explains that he hasn't slept well in weeks and hugs his father tightly. Then Stiles is gone, off down the hall with the attendant, leaving his father standing alone and helpless.
As they ascend the stairs, Stiles sees someone he thinks he recognizes down one of the hallways. The attendant urges him on and when he looks back she is gone. On one of the landings above, a man is knotting a sheet and talking to himself, quoting a riddle. “I’m part of the bird that’s not in the sky. I can swim in the ocean yet still remain dry.” He then loops the knotted sheet around his neck in a noose and leaps from the landing hanging himself. In the crowd of onlookers gathered in the stairwell below, Stiles sees the Nogitsune.
- EDITOR’S NOTE: The riddle, “I’m part of the bird that’s not in the sky. I can swim in the ocean yet still remain dry. What am I?” The answer is “Its shadow” since when the bird is flying the shadow is cast on the ground below it and when it flies over water the bird is reflected in the water below.
Chris Argent is talking to Dr. Deaton on the payphone at the Sheriff’s Station. It was apparently Chris who helped Deaton infiltrate the Yakuza Ikeda’s house in Letharia Vulpina to get the Wolf Lichen to poison the Nogitsune.
At the Animal Clinic, Allison and Scott are listening as Deaton explains to Chris that they have two problems.
First – the lichen is not a cure and will wear off in a matter of days. Chris says while the poison is working the Oni will not go after Stiles. And Deaton adds that Eichen House has an interesting history and that the Oni might not be safe there. The second problem is that, having checked with Chris’ contacts in Japan, Deaton’s learned that the possessed Yakuza boss we saw killed in Riddled never found “the Shugendō (修験道) scroll”.
He explains that the Shugendō were the ascetic mystics of Japan and the scroll had information on how to exorcise a nogitsune. The man who last purchased it was Silverfinger’s henchman Kincaid (Geno Segers). They suspect that Silverfinger a.k.a. Katashi wanted the scroll for himself and was paranoid enough to keep it on him at all times. The sheriff hasn’t found the scroll in any of Katashi’s belongings but Allison has an idea that it might be very small and just where it might be hidden.
After witnessing the suicide, Stiles is desperate to use the phone. The attendant says “the accident that occurred is being taken care of.” Stiles balks at the use of the word “accident” and she changes it to the slightly more accurate “incident.” He pushes her to use the phone and she threatens him with their ”five point restraint system.”
Stiles' roommate, who is himself strapped down to his bed, says sleep is the better option.
The roommate introduces himself as Oliver (Matt Shively), he says he heard the suicide because something in the way the building is constructed causes everything to echo “eventually.” He says they call it “Echo House.”
Stiles sits up the whole night. In the morning, Oliver has a coughing fit. He says he swallowed a bug “the other day” and it feels like he still has it stuck in his throat. Oliver gives him the tour and explains that the violent patients are locked away in a closed ward. He then points out some of the other patients. Hillary has OCD. Gary, Dan and Mary are all delusional and think they are Jesus Christ.
Stiles says he wants to use the phone because he’s decided Eichen House isn't safe for him or “anyone ever.” A girl is talking on the payphone so Stiles waits behind her. She tells the person on the other end that she really thinks she “should tell them” because “they’re going to want to know the story, the whole story” then she adds “one of them is standing right behind me.”
After she’s hung up and walks away, Stiles inquires and Oliver explains that her name is Meredith (Maya Eshet) and that “she’s a little weird.” Stiles picks up the phone and finds the line is dead. Oliver says they always turn off all the phones for 24 hours after a suicide.
Exiting onto the Eichen House porch, Stiles spots Malia Tate and starts to remind her of his role in restoring her to human form. She punches him.
They are both promptly tackled by facility staff and Stiles finds himself face down on the ground on top of a grate. It is the same grate with round openings that he remembers from his Riddled dream. Only, in the dream he was below the grate looking up.
The orderlies are getting a little rough with Stiles until Ms. Morrell shows up and puts a stop to it. Stiles explains to her about the basement.
In adjoining cells at the Sheriff’s Station, Argent is waiting impatiently for Derek to listen in to the deputies and find out what is going to happen with Silverfinger’s belongings. Derek hears that Stilinski is out for the day and that the feds are taking all the evidence they’ve gathered. It will be picked up and transported to federal lockup.
Then they discuss the morality of what Stiles did, killing people, while under the influence of the Nogitsune. Argent compares it to the situation with the Kanima but Derek says they “got lucky with Jackson” and wonders aloud what happens when you don’t get lucky.
Argent tells the story of the Berserkers of ancient Europe who dressed up in bear skins in an effort to channel the bear’s ferocity when they went into battle. Argent says they actually became the animals they were trying to channel and lost all humanity in the process because they were not “tempered by the moon.”
He says “a couple years ago” a family approached the Argents because their son was involved with a group of kids who were playing around with rituals, channeling the animals through their skins. The boy was completely lost and tearing people apart. It took three men and “every bullet we had” but Chris eventually put him down. He says he felt no remorse because the kid was “long gone.” He says he would feel remorse for killing Stiles but not the Nogitsune.
In group therapy, Ms. Morrell is discussing guilt. She says it’s a good thing, a rather mature emotion. She tries to draw Malia out questioning her visceral reaction to guilt. Malia says it makes her sick to her stomach. Morrell says it often becomes physical and is not just psychological.
While she’s talking Stiles believes he sees the Nogitsune talking to one of the orderlies. Morrell calls on him for his reaction to guilt. He says it makes him nervous. Morrell interprets this as a sense of urgency saying Stiles feels an urgent need to make up for something he’s done. She says those are healthy responses. Stiles again sees the Nogitsune first from the corner of his eye then sitting next to him in the group circle.
Morrell asks the group what they call someone who doesn’t experience guilt. Oliver volunteers the right answer that such a person would be a “sociopath.” Morrell, noticing red jagged lines on Stiles’ neck, ends the group session and takes him to her office.
Stiles has a red mark that looks like lightning bolts running up his back to his neck. Morrell says it is a Lichtenberg figure which is known to appear after lightning strikes a person. She describes the appearance on Stiles after a shot of Wolf Lichen as both significant and strange. She says when the marks fade the Nogitsune will have control of Stiles again.
She gives him amphetamines to stay away, saying sleep would be the exactly what he doesn’t want to do because he is vulnerable when he’s asleep. She also threatens to inject him with pancuronium bromide which she says will cause respiratory paralysis. She explains that the drug is used to carry out lethal injections. Stiles realizes she plans to kill him if the Nogitsune takes over. She says she’ll do what she’s always done – “maintain the balance.” She leaves him with a warning to “stay awake.”
- EDITOR’S NOTE: In the many of the United States, the highest penalty for crime is death by lethal injection. Most commonly, three drugs are used to kill the prisoner. Pancuronium Bromide is the second drug administered because it stops the prisoner’s lungs from functioning thereby starving the brain of oxygen.
Stiles attempts to get down to the basement but the door is locked. Oliver says the head orderly, Brunski, has a key. Oliver suggests if Stiles want’s Brunski’s keys he will have to “figure out a way to trick him.”
Scott, Ethan and Aiden join Allison and Lydia at the Argent’s penthouse. Allison explains that all of the Silverfinger evidence is being moved by armored car within a few hours. The kids plan to rob the armored car.
In the Eichen House men’s shower room, Stiles takes one of the pills Ms. Morrell gave him. Looking in the mirror, he notices that Malia is showering behind him. There are some awkward moments where Stiles tries not to look at her naked body. She explains that she uses the shower in the men’s room because they’re hotter than in the women’s. She says ever since she became human again she’s constantly cold. Stiles fumbles around with some scientific explanation about a lower core temperature before she cuts him off and explains that she used to have a full body fur coat when she was a werecoyote.
He asks why she punched him and she sarcastically thanks Stiles for invading her home, putting her on the run, and turning her back to human. She says she looked at her father every day and tried to figure out how to tell him that her sister and mother are dead because she almost ate them on a full moon. Stiles says they were just trying to help. Malia says if they want to help her they will find a way to change her back. Stiles says he might know somebody who could teach her how to change. She agrees to help him distract Brunski and get the keys.
Scott thinks the plan to rob the armored car isn’t good. Aiden keep interjecting that they should just attack the driver but Allison and Lydia are going for something more subtle and less bloody. The plan is stick a GPS tracker on the truck. Then they’ll block the road with the twins bikes as if there’s been an accident. When the driver stops to help, Scott will then rip the door off the back and retrieve Siverfinger’s silver finger.
Oliver pins Malia to the floor screaming that she’s lying about the Echin House staff drilling holes in his head. Brunski steps in to break up the fight. Malia lifts his keys and hands them off to Stiles.
At the Sheriff’s station, Argent is taken to an interview room to meet with his lawyer. He is surprised to find the older Spanish speaking woman (Ivonne Coll) we saw in More Bad Than Good. She calls him “Christophe.”
Stiles tries all the keys but none open the door to the basement. Brunski catches him, locks him a “quite room” and gives him a shot of Haldol which puts him to sleep.
Scott is leaving his house to join the armored truck heist when Kira shows up. She’s brought her sword and says she’s been picking up the skill really fast. She wants to help but Scott says no. She thinks he doesn’t want her around because of her mother (calling forth the Oni) but Scott says that’s not it, he’s worried about her because people who help him end up getting hurt.. She takes a few swipes with the sword and he’s impressed enough to allow her to come along.
Stiles dreams he’s trapped in a locker. He begs to be let out. The Nogitsune is outside banging on the door and demanding that Stiles “let me in!”
He wakes in the quiet room and Malia is there. She says she broke the lock because if she concentrates she can be pretty strong. She says there’s another way into the basement, through the closed unit where they keep “the real psychos”.
Outside the Sheriff’s station, Allison, Scott and Kira watch the armored truck. Allison sends Kira to attach the GPS tracker to the truck. Just as she clicks the device in place, Deputy Parrish exits the station. Kira hides on the other side of the vehicle. Parrish opens the door and finds the driver unconscious and bloody.
Parrish draws his sidearm and walks around to the back of the truck scanning the parking lot. While his back is turned, the doors of the truck fly open and Kincaid jumps down and knocks the deputy cold.
Inside, Argent is still meeting with the mysterious woman. They’re discussing the code, she says it’s more than a code of behavior, “it’s a code of honor.” She says it binds their families and that he can’t abandon such things lightly. Argent counters asking where in the code it said his wife had to kill herself. The woman says Victoria Argent “honored us with her dying breath.” Upset now, Chris says she could have honored her daughter by staying alive.
She says the Argent family is very complicated. He demands to know what she wants, wondering if this visit is somehow about Allison. The woman gets up and leaves without an explanation.
Kincaid retrieves the silver finger. Scott politely interrupts him and says “we need that finger” as Allison draws a bead on him with the crossbow. She offers him the $150 thousand in the briefcase in exchange but Kincaid says the scroll inside the finger is worth $3 million.
Scott says “give me the finger.” as Kira jumps down onto Kincaid’s back. He shrugs her off easily and bares his fangs saying “I guess negotiations are over.”
Stiles and Malia make it to the basement of Eichen House. Stiles points out the Japanese symbol for “self” scratched into the wall. She urges Stiles to tell her more, he says “you might not like me if you knew more.” She reminds him that she is a werecoyote that murdered her whole family and promises not to judge.
Kincaid removes one of Allison’s arrows from his body. Kira takes a swing but is picked up by the throat and thrown aside. Allison gets backhanded. Scott takes several swings but Kincaid barely flinches. He then grabs Scott’s arms, pins them to his side and delivers a headbutt that staggers the teen wolf. Scott comes back swinging but takes a punch to the gut and a chop to the back followed by a kick to the stomach that knocks the wind out of him.
Kincaid kneels over him and says “you have the eyes of an Alpha, but where’s the strength?” The twins are standing above the fray, Aiden yells down “up here!” as they pounce on the big wolf and proceed to beat the everlovin crap out of him.
Stiles and Malia are going through a bunch of old papers that were stored in the basement. They find an illustration of trephination which is what Oliver was screaming about earlier – the practice of drilling holes in a patient's head to treat depression and other mental ailments.
Stiles has Malia check the lines on his back, they’re fading and almost gone. Stiles shivers at the touch of Malia’s cold hands. He holds her hands to warm them and they kiss. Malia says she wants to “try something else” and removes her shirt. The pair apparently have sex.
Scott yells for Ethen and Aiden to stop before they kill Kincaid. The twins argue saying that Scott doesn’t want the big man coming after them. Scott says Kincaid looks smart enough to remember that they are dangerous and to stay away. He takes the silver finger, removes the scroll and lets the silver piece drop to the ground. He ends by saying, “We’re here to save a life, not end one.”
Spooning together on the couch, Malia has an idea. She walks over to the “self” kanji carved in the wall and raps on it with her fist. There is a hollow sound. Stiles grabs a pipe and busts in the wall. In a hollow behind the panel they see a skeleton all bandaged and covered in cobwebs. Stiles says it is the Nogitsune that he keeps seeing.
Malia reaches into the pocket of the corpse and removes a photograph. Handing it to Stiles she asks if he recognizes anyone. Stiles says he does recognize “one of them.” At that moment, Oliver tazes Stiles and Malia. He then injects Malia with Haldol. Oliver brings up trephination again and grabs an electric drill. Holding it aloft he says he’s “going to let the evil spirits out.”
Stiles is strapped down to a chair as is Malia. Oliver has a coughing fit and coughs up a handful of blood and a dead fly. He turns on the drill and moves toward Stiles' skull until a rough voice says “start with her.” Oliver immediately stops and moves over to Malia. The Nogitsune is standing across the room. Stiles figures out that the creature somehow got into Oliver’s head. The Nogitsune says “every Dracula needs a Renfield.”
As Oliver prepares to drill into Malia’s head, Stiles begs the Nogitsune to stop him. The creature doesn’t relent until Stiles allows him to take control. Stiles/Nogitsune then breaks the straps restraining him, takes the drill from Oliver and knocks him out with it. He exits leaving Malia strapped to chair in the Eichen House basement.
Deaton reads the tiny scroll and says there’s not much there. It simply says that one way to expel a Nogitsune is for the host body to “change.” Scott believes this could mean turning the host into a werewolf.
Ms. Morrell is walking Malia out of Eichen House. Morrell says Malia is looking for Scott McCall and that she can help the girl find him.
Soundtrack
- Naughty Boy ft. Bastille - "No One's Here To Sleep"
Scene: Stiles finds Malia in the men's bathroom.
- Conway - "Hustler"
Scene: Kira shows off her improved sword skills.
- Deptford Goth - "Feel Real"
Scene: Stiles and Malia share a moment.
- Ida Redig - "Shout"
Scene: Malia leaves.
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 |