Fireflies

“	"So Boyd and Cora might not have killed anyone?" "You're gonna wish they did." "Why?" "I'm not exactly sue yet. The other girl who was out in the woods, Emily? They're gonna find her. She's one of them. Emily, Heather, that guy Lydia found at the pool? They're all virgins, and they're all gonna have the same three injuries-- strangled, throat slashed, head bashed in. It's called the three-fold death." "So if these aren't random killings, then what are they?" "Sacrifices. Human sacrifices."	”
	— Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski about the murders

Fireflies is the third episode of Season 3 and the twenty-seventh episode of Teen Wolf.

Synopsis[]

With Boyd and Cora on the loose and under the influence of the full moon, Scott and Derek must turn to an unlikely ally.

Plot[]

Scott finally confesses to Allison that her mother tried to kill him in Raving, while Derek discovers Erica's body in the supply closet of the bank. Derek, Isaac, and Scott seek help from Chris to capture Boyd and Cora before they kill someone. Lydia goes into a trance and inadvertently finds the body of a dead lifeguard at the swimming pool before calling Stiles for help. Scott, Derek, Isaac, and Chris (and with help from Allison, unbeknownst to all but Isaac) trap Boyd and Cora in the high school's boiler room before they discover that Jennifer Blake was inside as well.

After luring the rabid Boyd and Cora away from her until sunrise, when they promptly fell unconscious, Derek went to help Jennifer out of her hiding spot. After spending time helping Melissa McCall at the hospital, Stiles discovers Heather's body had been brought to the morgue with the same fatal injuries that the lifeguard Lydia found killed (head beaten in and strangled before their throat was slit, otherwise known as the "three-fold death" in ancient Celtic tradition). After realizing that Heather and the lifeguard were both virgins, Stiles concludes that someone is murdering them to offer as human sacrifices, just as Sheriff Stilinski discovers a third dead girl, Emily, killed in the same way.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Supporting Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Gage Golightly as Erica Reyes (uncredited)

Continuity[]

This episode marks the first episode where Chris and Allison Argent return to the Hunter life since the events of Master Plan, though neither tells the other about it.
Argent and Scott see glowing fireflies in the nature preserve, and Argent remarks that California fireflies are not bioluminescent and therefore shouldn't be glowing. The presence of these fireflies will have a significant role in the supernatural mythology of the entire season.
Scott finally confesses to Allison that her mother Victoria tried to kill him in Raving. He cites the fact that Victoria died in Party Guessed as his reason why he kept it a secret, as he didn't want Allison's last memory of her mother to be of a murderer.
This episode marks the introduction of the Argents' ultrasonic emitters, a device that will also feature prominently throughout the series.
Derek confirms that he hasn't seen his sister Cora since the fire, and that he was under the impression that she had died that night until they were reunited in Chaos Rising.
Stiles' friend Heather' body was found by police, along with the bodies of a girl named Emily, who was camping with her girlfriend Caitlin in the woods, and a lifeguard, all of whom were virgins prior to their deaths. They also were killed via the "three-fold death," where the killer strangled them, slit their throat, and bashed in their skulls.
- Heather was last seen in Chaos Rising.
Lydia found her first body in this episode after going into a fugue state and unconsciously driving to the swimming pool instead of the pharmacy like she intended. This is the follow-up to Lydia's horrified scream in the previous episode, which was the first hint as to her supernatural identity.
- She and Stiles also reference the fact that the last time she had a fugue state, she was being controlled by Peter's spirit, which occurred from Omega to Party Guessed in Season 2.
Derek met Jennifer Blake for the first time in this episode, marking the start of a significant relationship between the two.
This episode marks the first appearance of Deputy Tara Graeme, Sheriff Stilinski's partner.
Chris Argent references the decimation of his family, including his wife, his sister, and his father, along with the corruption of his daughter, due to the supernatural world.
- Victoria was last seen in Party Guessed when she committed suicide after being bitten by Derek Hale in Raving.
- Kate was last seen in Code Breaker after having her throat clawed out by Peter Hale in retribution for the Hale House Fire.
- Gerard was last seen in Master Plan after forcing Derek to give him the Bite to cure his cancer, which he rejected due to the Mountain Ash Scott and Alan Deaton tricked him into consuming.
- Allison's "dark arc" occurred from Fury to the end of Master Plan.

Trivia[]

The title refers to the fireflies Argent and Scott saw out in the woods, which were a bioluminescent variety that is uncommon in California and were implied to be related to the recent supernatural phenomena in Beacon Hills. Interestingly enough, fireflies also play a role in the second half of Season 3 regarding the Oni.

Body Count[]

Lifeguard - three-fold death (strangled, throat cut, blunt force trauma to the head); killed by the Darach
Heather - three-fold death; killed by the Darach
Emily - three-fold death; killed by the Darach

Locations[]

Beacon Hills Preserve
- Shed
- Look-Out Point
Martin House
- Lydia's Bedroom
Beacon Hills Swimming Pool
First National Bank
- Bank Vault
Grocery Store
- Parking Lot
Beacon Hills High School
- Ms. Blake's Classroom
- Boiler Room
- Bus Bay
- Parking Lot
Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital
- Morgue
- Caitlin's Room

Soundtrack[]

"Ready to Go" by Guards
- Lydia rubs her temples in her bedroom and prepares to leave to go to the pharmacy for pain relievers for her headache
"Do It" by Shana Halligan
- Emily and Caitlin make out and snuggle in an elaborately decorated tent in the preserve until Emily becomes freaked out by all of the bugs

Gallery[]

Teen Wolf Wiki has 37 images related to Fireflies.

See also[]

Episodes

Season 1

"Wolf Moon" (Transcript) • "Second Chance at First Line" (Transcript) • "Pack Mentality" (Transcript) • "Magic Bullet" (Transcript) • "The Tell" (Transcript) • "Heart Monitor" (Transcript) • "Night School" (Transcript) • "Lunatic" (Transcript) • "Wolf's Bane" (Transcript) • "Co-Captain" (Transcript) • "Formality" (Transcript) • "Code Breaker" (Transcript)

Season 2
"Omega" (Transcript) • "Shape Shifted" (Transcript) • "Ice Pick" (Transcript) • "Abomination" (Transcript) • "Venomous" (Transcript) "Frenemy" (Transcript) • "Restraint" (Transcript) • "Raving" (Transcript) • "Party Guessed" (Transcript) • "Fury" (Transcript) "Battlefield" (Transcript) • "Master Plan" (Transcript)

Part One
Season 3
"Tattoo" (Transcript) • "Chaos Rising" (Transcript) • "Fireflies" (Transcript) • "Unleashed" (Transcript) • "Frayed" (Transcript) "Motel California" (Transcript) • "Currents" (Transcript) • "Visionary" (Transcript) • "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" (Transcript) "The Overlooked" (Transcript) • "Alpha Pact" (Transcript) • "Lunar Ellipse" (Transcript)
Part Two
"Anchors" (Transcript) • "More Bad Than Good" (Transcript) • "Galvanize" (Transcript) • "Illuminated" (Transcript) • "Silverfinger" (Transcript) "Riddled" (Transcript) • "Letharia Vulpina" (Transcript) • "Echo House" (Transcript) • "The Fox and the Wolf" (Transcript) "De-Void" (Transcript) • "Insatiable" (Transcript) • "The Divine Move" (Transcript)

Season 4

"The Dark Moon" (Transcript) • "117" (Transcript) • "Muted" (Transcript) • "The Benefactor" (Transcript) • "I.E.D." (Transcript) • "Orphaned" (Transcript) • "Weaponized" (Transcript) • "Time of Death" (Transcript) • "Perishable" (Transcript) • "Monstrous" (Transcript) • "A Promise to the Dead" (Transcript)
"Smoke and Mirrors" (Transcript)

Part One
Season 5
"Creatures of the Night" (Transcript) • "Parasomnia" (Transcript) • "Dreamcatchers" (Transcript) • "Condition Terminal" (Transcript) "A Novel Approach" (Transcript) • "Required Reading" (Transcript) • "Strange Frequencies" (Transcript) • "Ouroboros" (Transcript) "Lies of Omission" (Transcript) • "Status Asthmaticus" (Transcript)
Part Two
"The Last Chimera" (Transcript) • "Damnatio Memoriae" (Transcript) • "Codominance" (Transcript) • "The Sword and the Spirit" (Transcript) "Amplification" (Transcript) • "Lie Ability" (Transcript) • "A Credible Threat" (Transcript) • "Maid of Gévaudan" (Transcript) • "The Beast of Beacon Hills" (Transcript) • "Apotheosis" (Transcript)

Part One
Season 6
"Memory Lost" (Transcript) • "Superposition" (Transcript) • "Sundowning" (Transcript) • "Relics" (Transcript) • "Radio Silence" (Transcript) • "Ghosted" (Transcript) • "Heartless" (Transcript) • "Blitzkrieg" (Transcript) • "Memory Found" (Transcript) • "Riders on the Storm" (Transcript)
Part Two
"Said the Spider to the Fly" (Transcript) • "Raw Talent" (Transcript) • "After Images" (Transcript) • "Face-to-Faceless" (Transcript) • "Pressure Test" (Transcript) • "Triggers" (Transcript) • "Werewolves of London" (Transcript) • "Genotype" (Transcript) • "Broken Glass" (Transcript) • "The Wolves of War" (Transcript)