A Novel Approach

Template:Infobox episode

“	"How many have died so far? All of them teenagers. Am I right? Want to know how many died the first time they came here? Wonder how many will die if they succeed?" "This did happen before." "And now they're back. All because a few teenagers who never even considered the consequences decided to reignite a supernatural force they barely understand." "The Nemeton."	”
	— Gabriel Valack and Lydia Martin

A Novel Approach is the fifth episode of Season 5 and the sixty-fifth episode of the series.

Synopsis

The pack enters Eichen House in order to learn more about the Dread Doctors.

Plot

Donovan, who is revealed as a wendigo-lamprey hybrid, chases Stiles into the school library, where Stiles accidentally kills him in self-defense. Parrish steals the bodies of Tracy and Donovan, and takes them into the woods in another trance. Scott overhears Kira whispering in Japanese in her sleep. Malia shows the book that she found to the others, and Scott discovers that it is dedicated to Dr. Valack, a three-eyed inmate at Eichen House. Scott, Kira, Stiles, and Lydia go to Eichen House. Stiles and Lydia question Valack, who reveals that he wrote the book under an assumed name to chronicle what happened the last time the Doctors came to Beacon Hills. Kira's electric power goes haywire, knocking out the power to the asylum, and disrupting the electromagnetic currents that are part of its supernatural security system. The Doctors enter the asylum, attack Valack, and surgically remove his third eye. Malia has a flashback while driving with Theo, and discovers that the Desert Wolf caused the car crash that killed her adopted mother and sister. An injured Valack uses a recording of Lydia's banshee scream to shatter the glass wall of his cell.

Cast

Main Cast

• Tyler Posey as Scott McCall
• Dylan O'Brien as Stiles Stilinski
• Holland Roden as Lydia Martin
• Shelley Hennig as Malia Tate
• Arden Cho as Kira Yukimura
• Dylan Sprayberry as Liam Dunbar (credit only)

Supporting Cast

• Cody Christian as Theo Raeken
• Ashton Moio as Donovan Donati
• Steven Brand as Dr. Gabriel Valack
• John Posey as Dr. Conrad Fenris
• Benita Robledo as Deputy Valerie Clarke (voice only)
• Marti Martulis as The Surgeon
• Douglas Tait as The Pathologist
• Caitlin Dechelle as The Geneticist
• Clayton Froning as Schrader

Guest Cast

• Ryan Kelley as Deputy Jordan Parrish (uncredited)
• Michael Lynch as Sluagh (uncredited)

Continuity

The episode picks up right where Condition Terminal left off, with Donovan Donati attacking Stiles Stilinski in the parking lot of the high school. The pack visits Gabriel Valack in Eichen House. Valack was last seen in Season 4's Smoke and Mirrors. Donovan Donati was accidentally killed by Stiles Stilinski when he attempted to defend himself. This makes him the fourth Chimera to be killed this season after Belasko, Tracy Stewart, and Lucas (in Creatures of the Night, Dreamcatchers, and Condition Terminal, respectively). This is also the first person Stiles has truly killed while in control of his own body (excluding those who died because of his actions while possessed by the Nogitsune). Valack references the reawakened Nemeton. The Nemeton was reawakened by Scott McCall, Allison Argent, and Stiles Stilinski in Alpha Pact after they died and were resurrected in a surrogate sacrifice ritual to save their parents. Kira was shown saying, "Watashi wa shi no shisha da" in her sleep, which is the same phrase she yelled when she was overwhelmed by her Kitsune spirit and almost killed Lucas in Condition Terminal. It is Japanese for "I am the Messenger of Death!", though this will not be revealed until Required Reading. Kira's Kitsune spirit/aura also seems to have some amount of conscious thought, as it was able to point to where Kira's katana-belt had fallen under Scott's bed when Kira herself seemed to have no idea where it was. This will continue to play a role throughout the season. It is revealed that either Theo or the Dread Doctors planted The Dread Doctors novel written by Valack in Tracy's bedroom specifically so the McCall Pack would find it and help them get inside Eichen House. It is also revealed that Valack wrote it to help people who have been manipulated by the Dread Doctors to recall their repressed memories of it. The powers of the Dread Doctors are explained in this episode as being grounded in electromagnetic forces, which allows them to manipulate electrical and magnetic fields, prolong their lives, and suppress memories of others who have seen them. These electromagnetic manipulation powers will continue to be explored throughout Season 5. Stiles references his and Lydia's near-death experience at the hands of Brunski at Eichen House in Season 4's Perishable. He also references Alan Deaton's temporary catatonia after speaking with Valack in A Promise to the Dead. Dr. Conrad Fenris appears in this episode. He was last seen in A Promise to the Dead. Schrader appears in this episode. He was last seen in the flash-forwards in Creatures of the Night. Peter Hale is referenced in this episode by Gabriel Valack, who repeats his quote from 117 that he said to Scott and Malia-- "We're all works in progress." Strangely enough, Lydia seemed to recognize this quote as being from Peter, despite not having been present for that conversation. There was also no mention of where Peter is or what he's been doing since he was defeated in the Season 4 finale. It was confirmed by Valack that the Dread Doctors were drawn back to Beacon Hills because of Scott, Stiles, and Allison's surrogate sacrifice ritual reawakening the Nemeton in Season 3A's Lunar Ellipse, leading Stiles and Lydia to determine that everything supernatural that has happened in Beacon Hills since that point is not only their fault, but their responsibility. It was revealed that Eichen House is protected both by Mountain Ash and rowan wood built into the foundation of the building, but also due to it being located over the most powerful of the telluric current convergences in Beacon Hills. Telluric currents were first introduced in the series in Season 3A's Currents. It was also revealed that a Kitsune's powers can disrupt these telluric currents, as evidenced when Kira Yukimura's presence allowed the Dread Doctors to enter the facility. Malia becomes the second person to experience horrifying hallucinations of repressed memories as a result of reading The Dread Doctors novel, after she has an intense flashback of the car crash that killed her adoptive mother and sister (first revealed in Anchors) that leads her to realize that it wasn't her first Werecoyote transformation that caused the crash, but instead it was the Desert Wolf shooting at the car that caused them to run off the road into the preserve. The first person to have flashback-hallucinations due to reading the book was Tracy Stewart in Dreamcatchers. Lydia recalls bits and pieces of seeing the Dread Doctors during her surgery in Condition Terminal in this episode, which will be explored more in Required Reading. Valack uses an audio recording of Lydia's Banshee scream to break the glass of his cell and escape in this episode, foreshadowing the fact that Lydia's powers will eventually grow to the point where she can use her scream as a weapon in Season 5B. Scott and Kira reference the fact that Scott inadvertently told Kira he loved her in Condition Terminal, and Scott assures her that he meant it.

Trivia

• Valack lost his third eye to the Dread Doctors, which presumably caused him to lose his ESP abilities.
• It was revealed that most of Donovan Donati's animosity toward Sheriff Stilinski is because his father was Sheriff's partner back when he was still a deputy, and he blames Sheriff for leaving to call for backup while his father went into the house of a suspect who shot him in the spine and paralyzed him from the waist-down.

Body Count

• Donovan Donati - impaled through the chest; killed by Stiles Stilinski
• Eichen House Orderly - stabbed through the back; killed by the Dread Doctors

Locations

• Beacon Hills High School
  • Parking Lot
  • Library
  • Ms. Flemming's Classroom
• McCall House
  • Scott's Bedroom
• Stilinski House
  • Stiles' Bedroom
• Beacon Hills Preserve
  • Nemeton
• Dread Doctors' Operating Theater
• Eichen House
  • Closed Unit
    • Valack's Cell

Soundtrack

• "Thinkin' of U" by Summer Heart
  • Lydia and Malia discuss The Dread Doctors novel in the hallway while Kira and Scott print off a half-dozen copies of the book for the pack.
• "Strange Entity" by Oscar and the Wolf
  • Theo studies with Malia at the library and offers her a driving lesson in his truck.
• "Eyes Closed" by Hermitude
  • Malia drives Theo's truck while he rides shotgun, and Malia is suddenly stricken by a flashback-hallucination caused by the book.
• "Until We Go Down" by Ruelle
  • Scott, struggling to stay upright as Kira's foxfire shocks up, carries Kira out of Eichen House to save both of their lives. Kira brings up Scott telling her he loves her in the previous episode, and Scott assures her that he meant it.