So, what is Parrish?

We knew Parrish was some sort of supernatural being, and besides the identity of the Benefactor, what exactly he is has been one of the most burning questions of this season. In this Teen Wolf episode, our questions will be answered. Maybe. Some of them, at least.

The episode opens with Parrish tied to the steering wheel of his car as he and his vehicle are doused with gasoline. The culprit? One of the other deputies (one who only makes $36,000 a year) who decided killing one of his coworkers was definitely worth the five million dollar reward. We know times are tough, buddy, but couldn’t you have done it in a slightly less horrifying way?

So the deed is done, right? Come on now, this is Beacon Hills. There might be an unusually high homicide rate, but no one stays dead for long. At the precinct, a sooty, livid Parrish thrusts open the doors. There’s just so much possible fire related humor here. But hot Parrish jokes aside, the guy is alive and kicking, and out for his attempted murderers blood.

Stiles and his dad have a heart-to-heart

Stiles and the Sheriff are in the hospital, after the latter gets shot during a brawl between Parrish and the deputy that tried to kill him. The Sheriff is worried about certain procedures not being covered by their insurance, and Stiles tells him he knows all about their current money troubles.

To be completely honest, we thought the whole money troubles thing was going to be a one-off; something the show brought up and then promptly dropped the next episode. But they’ve been making sure to tie it in almost every week and the reactions have been very on-point on all ends.

When the Sheriff tells Stiles that he’s supposed to take care of him, not the other way around, Stiles responds by saying “We’re supposed to take care of each other.” The truth is, no matter how helpless the Sheriff might feel with his son running around, putting his life in danger on a daily basis, Stiles is right.

Child-parent relationships have often been at the heart of this show. Three of our leads—Scott, Stiles, and Lydia—live in single-parent households at the beginning of the show, as well as Isaac and eventually Allison. And that desire and feeling of responsibility to protect has always been a two-way street, especially with Stiles. In the very first episode we have him fussing over his dad’s less than healthy food choices. The money story line is a way to show that these kids are growing up; they deal with life or death situations on the regular and they don’t need to be sheltered.

Liam gets drunk

Someone who is still young and maybe does still need to be sheltered just a bit is Liam. He’s been dealing with a lot, so he does what any teenager would—he gets drunk at the annual lacrosse bonfire. Well, he tries to at least. Werewolves can’t actually get drunk. Except he, Malia and Scott are all showing the signs of intoxication—dizziness, disorientation, etc. But it’s not alcohol, it’s the music, or to be more specific, the piercing sound that’s too high for human ears but just high enough to affect, say, werewolves.

Fake security officers grab them and haul them off to the school, intent on burning them to death as well. Why burning has become the choice way to kill someone, we’ll never know. It especially doesn’t make sense considering the Benefactor demands visual confirmation of their death.

Thankfully, the plug is pulled on the music before the lighter is thrown. Then Derek shows up 15 minutes late with Starbucks, and finishes them off.

Lydia and Stiles crack the code

So often this season, and even earlier seasons, Lydia’s story has been separate from the rest of the pack. She deals with many of her problems alone, and even though they may tie back to everyone else, it’s almost always just her. Or, in this case, her and Stiles.

The two of them are trying to figure out why Lydia’s grandmother left her the code and if she’s helping the Benefactor (or is the Benefactor). They eventually crack the key—Ariel, for when Lydia and her grandmother used to read The Little Mermaid every night. It’s a list of 10 suicides, all within the last 10 years, and all within Eichen House. So the two head over to what has basically become both of their home away from home.

Brunski gives them the key to the files they need, for a reasonable bribe of $500. Except he has no interest in actually giving them access. Once they’re down there, he tasers them. Okay, we really and truly did not see that one coming. But as he says, he’s totally not a serial killer. He helps certain people find the release they need—through murder. Well, to be fair, villains that think they’re the heroes are almost always more interesting.

But the thing is Brunski; we're pretty sure the good guys don’t tie up teenagers and make them listen to their grandmothers dying on tape. At this point everyone, including Parrish who barges in and saves Lydia and Stiles, thinks Brunski is the Benefactor. But with his dying breath, Brunski clears up that it wasn’t him controlling Meredith. No, the great mastermind, the one behind the dead pool, the Benefactor, is none other than Meredith herself.

Next week on Teen Wolf, How did Meredith fake her own death? And why does she want all the supernatural beings in Beacon Hills dead? And will we finally find out what Parrish is?

image courtesy of INFphoto.com