Teen Wolf S3 Ep20 – Echo House

When the episode “Echo House” started off with a “viewer discretion” warning, a first for Teen Wolf, we knew the episode would be ever darker than normal—which is saying a lot the way this season has been going. We see Sheriff Stilinski dropping off Stiles at the mental health facility Eichen House, the same building Lydia believed Stiles was being held in just a few episodes ago. The sheriff explains to Scott that he’s going down to L.A. for a couple days to see a specialist regarding Stiles’ illness, which I would think Stiles would want to be present for. Instead, Stiles has made the decision to stay in the facility, believing he’ll be safer there away from the friends and family the Nogitsune has been targeting. When checking him in, the Sheriff gets worked up over Stiles forgetting his pillow, using that as an excuse to not leave him there. Stiles, of course, insists on staying. Seconds before the show’s intro starts, we see a patient hang himself in the middle of the stairwell using sheets tied into a noose. Now we know why this is the first episode to warrant a “viewer discretion” warning.

In a phone conversation between Dr. Deaton and Chris Argent, we learn that the poison Deaton used on Stiles will subdue the Nogitsune from taking over temporarily. We also learn details on a scroll believed to contain the answer to how to exercise the Nogitsune from Stiles’ body. Katashi aka Silverfinger, the person whose murder the Nogitsune framed Derek and Chris for, is the last known person to possess the scroll.

Back at Eichen House, we see Stiles asking a nurse if he can use the phone, presumably to tell someone that he saw the physical manifestation of the Nogitsune. The nurse refuses to let him use the phone and tells him his options are to go to sleep or meet the “five-point restraint system.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t mental health facilities supposed to be places where patients feel safe and not threatened? There he meets Oliver, his new roommate, who’s currently being restrained to his bed.

The next morning Oliver gives Stiles the grand tour, and it turns out a lot of people in Eichen House think they’re Jesus. Stiles gets to the payphone and learns the lines are all down for 24 hours after a suicide. He bumps into Malia, the werecoyote they rescued earlier in 3B, and she thanks him with a punch to the face. Not so grateful, it seems. Stiles is tackled by orderlies and finds himself facedown over an oddly placed grate, looking into the basement he dreamed he was trapped in earlier this season. Ms. Morrell, the high school therapist/Druid emissary/sister of Dr. Deaton, then appears out of nowhere asking Stiles what he saw. It’s a small world in Beacon Hills.

In their neighboring holding cells at the station, Chris and Derek have a conversation about sacrifice and doing the right thing, but really the important part boils down to one exchange. Derek asks Chris, almost struggling to get out the words, “Would you have any remorse putting Stiles down?” Chris responds, “Stiles? Yes… but not a Nogitsune.” We’re seeing Derek’s fondness toward Stiles grow more and more as the series goes on, and it seems that Derek is hoping Stiles survives this as much as the fans are.

After Stiles’ group therapy session run by Ms. Morrell, the two have a private conversation. The lichen poison caused a Lichtenberg figure, a scarlike pattern normally caused by being struck by lightning. She says that when it fades away, the lichen poison will be out of his system and no longer protecting him from the Nogitsune. She tells him not to fall asleep and gives him some amphetamines to aid in the process. She warns that if he does fall asleep and the Nogitsune takes over, she’ll have no choice but to give him a lethal injection.

Allison has a hunch that Katashi stored the scroll in his infamous silver finger, and Derek uses his superhearing to find out that all of the evidence in Katashi’s murder is being transported to federal lockup. The gang decides to rob the armored car to get the silver finger containing the scroll. Lydia and Allison come up with a plan, but the twins are doubtful it will work.