Fresh off the heels of Josh’s rescue from Mark and the other packs, our favorite werewolf is trying to get over the fact that he’s the reason there are more werewolves ready to run around—though, it’s not his fault. Nora tries comforting him and, knowing his own frailties, Josh tries talking her into turning with him for the night’s full moon. “You’re the only thing that keeps me safe,” he confesses, “the only thing that keeps me here.” But that’s a tall order for anybody and Nora admits that she can’t accept the weight of that responsibility. Before they can go further, Sally slips through the wall, the one leading into the same room she watched the cultists sacrifice a little girl earlier in the season. But it looks like things are looking up as she wakes Aidan with a corporeal hand. The two lovers-in-another-timeline are ecstatic to what this may mean and take advantage of it, their lips locking to the tune of 80’s type montage music until…

Aidan wakes to a corporeal Sally…well, at least in his dreams

…Yep, it was all a figment of Aidan’s sleep addled mind. He’s awakened from the fantasy by Nora and, after a most hilarious and awkward conversation between Nora and Aidan about his morning wood, she tells him about the secret room upstairs. Doing his best Kool-Aid guy rendition, Aidan bursts through the wall, with the rest of the group not far behind. Sally explains her previous experience in the room when Aidan notices the dried up blood under the bed along with fresh marks carved into the stained floor. Before they can surmise anything else about the marks, Sally’s dad, Mr. Malik comes a knockin’ with some less than exciting news. They have about a week to pack up and get out of dodge as the house has been sold.

After the announcement, Aidan’s packing things up and poignantly throwing away things from his past. Things have had a way of dragging him back and he doesn’t want that anymore. The conversation turns to his relationship with Sally. “You kissed me,” he blurts out and she tells him about their “deep thing” from the other timeline. While he admits to feeling something from the kiss, Aidan hedges, not wanting to risk the friendship as most of their relationships “end up a massive disaster.”

Speaking of relationships, Kenny asks for Aidan’s advice with Astrid. He’s having a hard time convincing her to go away with him and needs Aidan’s help to disappear. “I want to live a life,” he tells his father, “I want to have a life…with Astrid.” Aidan imparts some good advice; they need to fake his death. Of course, they still need to convince Astrid and Aidan promises to speak to Josh and Nora so they can champion his cause. One would think Josh would be all for Astrid getting away from the lunatic pack but he’s not. Instead, he understands their fear. The discussion devolves into both men hitting upon the truth of what each other fear—for Aidan it’s all about releasing himself from the path while Josh continues to sidestep the issue of taking responsibility for the two halfs of himself. Sally interrupts things before it can come to blows and shouts at them “It’s not an experiment, it’s a friendship that’s saved all of us countless times.” When she says they all need to get out of there, Ramona appears, begging them not to go. She wants them to find Beatrice, her twin. Sally agrees and tracks down Ramona’s twin. While waiting to speak with the woman, Aidan and Sally talk about moving on with the latter openly wondering if it will help her rediscover her door. The conversation turns back to them and Sally believes he’s trying to pull her back in, him and all his drama-queen ways. Despite his earlier comments regarding on how things could end, it comes back to the fact that there are feelings there and Aidan gives up his logic and tells Sally they can explore things but have to take their time.

As Josh continues to pack, Ramona watches him, a little Chatty Cathy Creeper, and says she doesn’t think he’s a monster. Nora arrives and Josh gives her the 411 on the little ghost girl.

Josh wolf out when the pack threatens Nora

She’s there to talk to Astrid and the couple are at odds with how to deal with things. Josh once again asks for her help during their change and she’s taken about, commenting on how instead of shielding her from danger, Josh is trying to pull her back in. Her rejection and everything else pushes Josh upstairs when Astrid arrives. But things don’t go so smoothly. Mark and the others have forced Astrid to help them and she puts a gun on Nora. Josh tries to get to her but Ramona holds him back, knowing he can’t face the others like he is; instead, his anger triggers the change and when Mark and the others come knocking in hopes he’ll help train Charlotte, he’s changed into his werewolf alter ego and goes on the attack.

Back at the bureau, Aidan is finally able to speak with Beatrice about her sister. Things go as well as you’d expect, especially considering everyone heard Aidan talking to air. They get back to the house and are greeted by a den of slaughter. Nora is in the kitchen, arms around a bloodied Josh. “They came for him…he did this to protect me.” Every werewolf in the house was torn to shreds, including Astrid. Aidan tells them to get out of the house, the full moon isn’t too far off and he’ll take care of the bodies. Nora and Josh drive out to the trailer, the same one they spent the entire summer in during Josh’s time as a werewolf. Sally’s there as well and she’s going to fix what’s wrong with him. It’s not magic, she’s going to possess him, to find Josh inside himself.

Once inside, she sees that his current condition isn’t unlike her ‘Reaper’ condition; there are two parts of him, Josh and the wolf and he has to find that other part and come to terms with it. He can’t run and hide anymore and, after finding a safe place (the house) in his mind and when he tries to run, Sally stops him. He has to confront the wolf, be honest with himself. He finally does, looking the wolf in the eye. “I am the wolf. And you are me. We’re together through everything. It’s my life…until the moon is full.” It’s what he should have done a long time ago and it does what Sally intended. Both he and the wolf are now at peace with one another. When Nora comes back the next morning, it only takes one look for her to recognize that Josh is back to being himself. “You’re you,” she says and they embrace as Sally watches in the distance.

While Sally helps Josh take on his inner wolf, Aidan calls Kenny to help get rid of the bodies. He changes Astrid’s fate, telling his son the wolves killed her when they find out she was to run away with him. Aidan still wants Kenny to go away, to lead his own life, declaring “Astrid would have wanted that for you.” When Kenny leaves, Aidan wraps up Astrid’s body, hidden in Ramona’s own room. She watches, fascinated, as he carries Astrid’s body away. He never notices the new marks in Ramona’s dried blood; a tally of those killed in the house.

Now that Josh has found peace within himself, he and Aidan make up. But the badness isn’t over as Astrid’s ghost visits Kenny and lets slip what really happened to her…

Dragging others down & confronting the past

  • It’s quite interesting that three separate characters—Nora, Sally, and Aidan—touch upon being dragged back into the mix of unhealthy by their past or those closest to them. So many people in life have the same things happen, unable to let go of their past, and allowing former ties of love, friendship, and familiarity, no matter how unhealthy those ties may be. Aidan is the only character to willfully let go of those relics he’s carried for the last two-hundred years, ready to start anew. It may mean good things for Sally just as Josh finally being able to face himself is a turning point for he and Nora.
  • “Confrontation is standing up, looking something in the eye and being honest.” Sally’s words give Josh the strength to face his true self, to be okay with it, to become one with it. Like our pasts dragging us back into the muck, looking it in the eye and identifying what it means to be you is the only way to move forward. It’s taken years for Josh to finally do so, a testament to himself and the family support system he has around him. He’s luckier than some; many people never find the strength to do this and, as a result will never become the person they were meant to be.