Motel California

**Motel California** is the sixth episode of Season 3 and the thirtieth episode of *Teen Wolf*.

## Synopsis

Stranded at a motel for the night because of the postponed cross-country meet, Scott and the others suffer strange experiences that cause them to believe members of their own group may be the mysterious killer's newest targets.

## Plot

The team takes refuge at an eerie motel for the night, where Scott and the gang undergo strange experiences. Boyd, Ethan, and Scott suffer various types of hallucinations that drive them to attempting suicide while Isaac is triggered into a PTSD flashback. All four Werewolves are saved by Stiles and Lydia. Lydia realizes that the Darach caused this to happen, intending to use the wolves as sacrifices. Meanwhile, Jennifer helps to heal Derek when the two have sex. Chris visits a wheelchair-bound Gerard to seek information regarding his uncle, who committed suicide in 1977, as he wanted to know which Alpha had bitten him. Gerard reveals that it was Deucalion.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Tyler Posey as Scott McCall
* Crystal Reed as Allison Argent
* Dylan O'Brien as Stiles Stilinski
* Tyler Hoechlin as Derek Hale
* Holland Roden as Lydia Martin

### Supporting Cast

* JR Bourne as Chris Argent
* Daniel Sharman as Isaac Lahey
* Orny Adams as Coach Bobby Finstock
* Michael Hogan as Gerard Argent
* Sinqua Walls as Vernon Boyd
* Gideon Emery as Deucalion
* Charlie Carver as Ethan
* Haley Webb as Jennifer Blake
* Keahu Kahuanui as Danny Mahealani
* Adelaide Kane as Cora Hale
* Melissa Ponzio as Melissa McCall

### Guest Cast

* Eshun Melvin as Young Vernon Boyd (voice only)
* Jazmin De Veaux as Alicia Boyd
* Rick Otto as Alexander Argent
* Jayne Taini as Desk Clerk
* Felisha Terrell as Kali (archive footage only)
* Brian Patrick Wade as Ennis (archive footage only)
* Max Carver as Aiden (archive footage only)
* John Wesley Shipp as Mr. Lahey (voice only) (uncredited)
* Jeremiah Sutheim as Jared (uncredited)

## Continuity

* As Stiles pointed out in this episode, this episode bears many similarities to the Season 2 episode *Party Guessed*, in which Lydia (whose mind was possessed by the spirit of the then-deceased Peter Hale) spiked the punch at her birthday party with wolfsbane. In this episode, Coach Finstock's whistle was laced with wolfsbane, causing all the Werewolves on the school bus to the cross-country meet in *Frayed* to become exposed. They then began to each experience terrifying hallucinations and delusions as a result of being poisoned, though the humans were surprisingly unaffected by the powdered wolfsbane.
	+ Scott had a creepy encounter with Allison while she was in the shower due to not being in control of his actions. He then hallucinated that he had gained Derek's Alpha status when he "died," and that Deucalion killed his mother. This led him to believe that he was the cause of everyone's current danger, and attempted to commit suicide by setting himself on fire with gasoline and a road flare in hopes of keeping his loved ones safe. Fortunately, he was saved by Stiles, Allison, and Lydia before he could kill himself.
	+ Boyd hallucinated that his missing (and presumed dead) sister Alicia was in the ice machine at the motel, and tried to drown himself to death out of guilt that his sister was taken while he was supposed to be watching her as a child. Fortunately, Stiles and Lydia saved him before he could die.
	+ Isaac hallucinated that his father was alive and had locked him in the deep freezer in the basement of his childhood home. However, instead of attempting to kill himself like all the other Werewolves did, Isaac simply hid under the bed until Stiles burned him with a flare and reversed the wolfsbane poisoning, likely due to the self-preservation he developed as a result of being an abuse victim.
	+ Ethan hallucinated that someone was inside his body and trying to get out, and he nearly bisected himself with a power saw left in one of the motel rooms that was under construction until Stiles managed to wrestle it out of his arms at the last moment.
* More hints to what supernatural creature Lydia is were revealed in this episode when she saw what looked like screaming faces in the wood grain in the wall of the motel room, as well as when she had auditory premonitions of people who had committed suicide at the motel in the past.
* Alexander Argent made his first appearance in flashbacks in this episode, when it was shown that he was bitten by an Alpha (who, according to Gerard, was Deucalion) in 1977 and subsequently killed himself (as per the Argent Hunter Code). In an interesting twist, he killed himself in the same room Allison and Lydia ended up renting at the Glen Capri motel in the present-day scenes.
* Gerard Argent appeared in this episode. He was last seen in *Master Plan*.
* Jennifer Blake and Derek Hale had sex for the first time in this episode.
	+ It was during this time that Jennifer demonstrated the first hint of being more than she seemed when Derek's severe wounds from the battle with the Alphas in *Frayed* magically healed while they were kissing.
* The Darach's true face is seen for the first time by Lydia in the flames caused by the gasoline explosion, though the true identity of the Darach would not be revealed until *The Girl Who Knew Too Much*.
* Lydia was shown to be very affected by the amount of death that had occurred at the Glen Capri Motel, hinting toward her true supernatural identity. She would demonstrate this same reaction again in *Insatiable* at Camp Oak Creek.

## Trivia

* The title is a play-on-words in reference the song and album "Hotel California," which was released by the Eagles in December 1976 and is one of the best-selling albums of all time. The title was changed to "Motel California" to reflect the episode's focus on the Glen Capri Motel, a motel known for its high incidence of suicide by its customers during their visits.
* In the film *Psycho*, Fairvale, California, the setting for most of this episode, is a town located approximately 20 miles from the fictional Bates Motel.

## Body Count

* Alexander Argent - shot in the head; killed by himself (in flashbacks only)

## Locations

* Fairvale, California
	+ Glen Capri Motel
* Beacon Hills, California
	+ Abandoned Mall
	+ Derek's Loft
	+ Beacon Hills Nursing Home

## Soundtrack

* "Your Man" by Guards
	+ The cross-country team's school bus pulls up to the Glen Capri Motel.
* "Hush Now" by Fink ft Tina Grace
	+ Danny and Ethan make out in their motel room.
* "Touch" by Daughter
	+ Derek and Jennifer have sex at Derek's loft
* "Revelation" by Dino Meneghin
	+ Scott is about to commit suicide when Stiles intervenes
* "Sleep Paralysis" by Gabriel Bruce
	+ The cross-country team's school bus leaves the motel to return to Beacon Hills

## Gallery

*Teen Wolf Wiki* has 45 images related to ***Motel California***.