The season starts with an overhead shot of a city in Mexico. Noel and Lydia walk onscreen and look around, seeing the locals, Noel commenting optimistically "Looks pretty okay to me."
"It's not the town I'm worried about, it's the plan," Lydia argues, as Noel says "Hm... Elaborate."
"Elaboration: This could be the stupidest plan we've ever tried to execute. You can see that, can't you," she asks him, as he shrugs and says "I mean, yeah, but... It's the only plan we have."
"God, we're gonna die," Lydia says and starts walking, Noel following after her and asking "Banshee wise, pride wise, life wise, how?"
"Like I'm a person who doesn't want to die but knows she's going to," Lydia supplies, Noel nodding thoughtfully. "Yeah, guess that makes the most sense. I mean, I'm here to protect you, if that's what you're worried about."
"I think we both know you only have one life that needs saving on your mind," Lydia teases, Noel gasping and telling her "Lydia, how dare you! The nerve! The insinuation!"
They fade to a bit later that day, approaching a door guarded by two men. Lydia asks in broken Spanish if this is where the party is, one of the guards shaking his head. Noel licks his lips, presenting a card with a skull on it.
The guards look up to their security camera, and when Noel shows the skull to the camera, they're allowed in. Noel walks in first, holding his hand out to Lydia to help her up the steps.
The door closes behind them and they share a look as they walk down a hallway hand in hand, noticing how much the walls shake as Noel opens the door at the end of the hallway and enters a club.
The man from Derek's "dream," Severo, overlooks the party and announces the arrival of the two teens on his walkie talkie.
Noel and Lydia approach the bar, being served shots, as Noel confusedly inspects his. Severo comes behind them and grips their shoulders, asking "What's wrong, mijos? American teenagers don't cross the border to refuse drinks."
"We're flattered, but we didn't come here to drink," Lydia says deadpan, dropping the casing of a bullet with the same skull as the card into her shot.
—
Araya Calavera tells Noel and Lydia, who sit offscreen now in her office, that she loves the music of " youth," as Noel says "Well, the music of my youth is more Taylor Swift and Hozier, but-!"
Lydia elbows him hard, as Araya says calmly "Well, no harm in that, to each his own. I like this music; It has a savage energy."
"We're here for Derek Hale," Lydia says calmly, Araya asking with a smile "Is that so?"
"We know you have him," Lydia replies with her composure maintained, and when Araya says nothing, Noel adds "We also hear that you can be bought."
He starts putting stacks of cash on Araya's desk, saying "Here it is. $50,000. For Derek Hale."
"Now where does a teenage werewolf get money like this?" Araya asks, and making it hard to discern whether she's joking or not, she suggests "Japanese mafia?"
A gun cocks next to Lydia, then one next to Noel, as he says shockingly calmly "No, ma'am, you have it wrong, I assure you. It's part of my inheritance, from the death of my parents."
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Araya asks just as calmly, adding "It wasn't very smart for you two to come alone, was it?"
"What makes you think we came alone," Lydia asks, which gets Araya's attention as we return to the dance floor.
Malia and Kira are revealed to be dancing in the crowd, and Araya asks "So it's not just this teenage werewolf, or a banshee, you also brought a kitsune and a coyote into my home?"
"Don't forget about the alpha," Noel says and winks, as we see Scott among the crowd as well.
—
Credits roll. With Crystal/Allison gone, Noel takes third billing in the credits, and his new intro sequence shows him dodging a punch thrown in his direction Matrix-style. He rises back up and turns away from the camera, stretching his arms upward as his shirt fades into his skin, displaying the Hale tattoo on his back as it flexes slightly with his motions.
—
Hunters with walkies patrol the crowd looking for the pack members, and Kira and Malia attempt to blend in by dancing together. They succeed, as we return to Noel and Lydia with Araya.
"My friends," she says, "I don't think you're aware of your poor timing. Do you two know what the dark moon is?"
"Part of a lunar phase where the moon is least visible in the sky," Lydia defines, as Araya asks "But do you know its meaning?"
"Some people say it's a time of reflection," Lydia answers, Noel adding "Or grief."
"Grief and loss, mijo," Araya agrees, continuing "Now I wonder why when you and your friends have suffered so much loss, you would risk it again for someone like Derek Hale."
Noel grits his teeth and scratches his claws against his chair, as a man on the walkie confirms what spots are clear. Severo asks about the north side, to no answer, and suddenly Scott comes on the radio and says "Noel, take ten off the table."
Noel does so with pleasure, sticking the money in his jacket as Lydia suggests Araya take the deal. Araya leans in, saying "While I am keen to follow the warning of a banshee, I'm going to have to decline."
Two guards approach Malia and Kira, who make quick work of both of them, Scott finishing off a third.
"Just give us Derek, ma'am, you don't want him anyway. His sense of humor is practically nonexistent, he wears shirts with thumb holes, he doesn't know how to express his feelings, he's nearly impossible to convince of anything, and he snores and drools when he sleeps. Like, bad, on both fronts."
Araya looks at Noel and seems to understand finally, practically cooing "Oh, no wonder, lobito, you love him."
Noel bristles, about to deny her accusation as Lydia shifts in her seat worriedly. Araya gets on the walkie, saying "Severo, show them how the Calaveras negotiate."
—
The DJ and Severo blast the music and smoke machines on the dance floor, and Scott calls out that it's wolfsbane. Araya comes in and looks down at Scott as he struggles to breathe, saying "Someone who has been an alpha only a few months should be more careful when facing a hunter of 40 years."
"All we want is Derek," Scott says between gasping breaths, Araya tutting "Ay, lobito... You're a long way from home."
Scott looks up at her and notes her expression, realizing "You don't know where he is either."
Araya frowns and hits Scott with a taser baton, Scott roaring as we go to commercial.
—
When we return, in a flashback, Stiles asks Noel 'how long it's been' as they walk into the clinic.
"Weeks, he hasn't responded to a single text or even answered a phone call in weeks," Noel says, worry evident in his voice.
"Hasn't this happened before though? Like, multiple times?" Stiles asks, Noel sighing and saying "Yes, but never when we're together. Whenever he's gotten like this in the past, we were always broken up, but he's never done this to me when we're together. Not for this long anyway. I went to the loft to check on him, I thought maybe he had gone to visit Cora, but even that wouldn't explain why he wasn't answering me." He looks at Scott, continuing "I asked Scott to come with me, in case something was seriously wrong."
Scott pulls out a small metal tin, opening it and showing them the bullet shells. He says that when he asked Deaton about them, he knew that they were from a family of hunters based in Mexico, called the Calaveras. Lydia asks what they would want with Derek, Stiles asking "You don't think they killed him, do you?"
"I don't know," Scott says as Noel wraps his arms around himself. "I... I don't think so," he says, closing his eyes like he's focusing on something. "I-I still feel him, that alpha and beta bond isn't broken. It doesn't feel the same, but it's not broken. I don't really know how that works, but I think if he was dead, I would know."
"We wanted your second opinion," Scott tells Lydia, sliding her the shells as she takes up a handful. She rolls them in her hand for a few beats, before she hears Derek screaming in pain. She drops the shells onto the table, Noel asking "Lydia? Is he dead?"
"No," she says, but before Noel can be relieved, she adds "but I'm not sure he's alive either."
Scott asks what that means, and she admits she doesn't know, but that there's something not right that she can't figure out.
"Well if the Calaveras have him, how do we find them?" Stiles asks, as Scott simply says "Mexico," and the flashback ends.
—
Scott wakes up and everyone surrounds him, and Scott tells them the Calaveras don't have Derek as he sits up.
"We know, but right now they have got Lydia," Noel says, Scott asking in outrage what they want with Lydia.
—
Araya and Lydia share a scene where Araya asks which of the two men standing beside them is going to die.
—
Scott tries to pry his way out of the room they're locked in, and Malia suggests that the next time the door opens, they make a run for it. Noel tilts his head, asking "What about Lydia?"
"What about her?" Malia asks, Noel lowering his head in disbelief as Scott says they aren't leaving without her. Malia asks why not, as Noel growls and Scott holds him back.
Stiles reminds her that they talked about how the rules of the animal kingdom don't apply to friends, and Malia explains that if she was still a coyote, she would have left Lydia behind or eaten her if hunting had been bad that season.
Noel looks absolutely dumbfounded, looking at Scott and saying with no shame or remorse "Uh, yeah, I'm soft enforcing a no-more-strays policy, effective immediately."
Scott pretends he didn't hear that, changing the subject by saying "Guys, we're not dead yet, that means Araya wants something."
"But if the Calaveras don't know where Derek is, that means they didn't take him from the loft, right?" Kira asks, Stiles wondering aloud if he left on his own, Noel suggesting "What if somebody else took him?"
—
Araya murders one of her guards even without Lydia's prediction, and when Lydia asks her why she did it, Araya explains that he stole from her. She then asks Lydia to tell her about Scott, and what kind of alpha he really is.
—
The door to where the teens are being held opens, and as soon as the men are inside, one pulls out his taser and the screen cuts to black.
—
We return and see Scott shackled to a chair, as Lydia is put in another chair and Kira is brought in. Severo describes how the chairs work, the point being that if Kira doesn't electrocute Scott, he'll electrocute Lydia.
Araya tells Scott that if he simply answers her questions, no one will get hurt, but if he doesn't then the dial comes on.
Scott assures Kira that he can take it, as Araya says her first statement instead of a question. She says that Scott knows who took Derek, which he denies, and Lydia asks her "If we knew who took him, why would we come here?"
She orders Kira to turn the dial, and after Scott tells her to turn it, she does.
—
Back in the room, Stiles asks if Noel or Malia can hear Scott, Noel straining as Malia simply says no.
"Can you maybe, I dunno, try," Noel says, half an insult, as he continues to strain his hearing.
"I am trying, I just can't concentrate," Malia defends, as Stiles tries to help her do so. She kisses him to get herself to focus, Noel rolling his eyes before closing them as he says "I hear... Electrical humming. And-"
He suddenly opens his eyes, looking at Stiles, groaning out "And I hear your heart beating three times faster than normal."
—
Araya continues to grill Scott as Severo tells Kira to turn the dial up to three. Scott nods and tells her it's okay, as Kira turns the dial up and Araya continues asking Scott who in Beacon Hills could have possibly been turned without a bite.
Scott denies knowing again, and Araya commands Kira to turn the dial all the way up to ten.
—
The lights begin to flicker where Stiles, Noel, and Malia are, Noel relaying "Ten, she keeps yelling ten... He's screaming, they're killing him!"
—
Araya turns up the dial to ten and Scott breaks free, and when Araya asks for the name, he whispers "Kate..."
—
"No, that's impossible," Stiles says and looks from Noel to Malia, Malia attesting "That's what I heard, too. Kate. Why is that impossible, who's Kate?"
"She's a hunter, an Argent," Noel says, Stiles finishing "Who died. Years ago."
—
We then see Kate, standing in front of a wall carving, and we go through the carving to see Derek entangled inside in vines. Blackout.
—
Scott walks next to Araya, asking "So you're just letting us go?"
"I sent four men out to where Kate was rumored to have been seen, none of them came back. Let's see if you and loverboy can do better," Araya says with a smile, Scott ignoring the comment and asking Araya why she didn't just tell him that Kate was alive.
"You wouldn't have believed me," she answers calmly, adding "Now I know what kind of alpha you are, and where your next step lies."
"What next step?" Scott asks, Araya explaining "When you take the bite of an innocent, when you make a wolf of your own? When you do that, then I will cross your border and come knocking at your door."
Scott nods his understanding, walking over to the jeep as Noel asks "What now?"
"She thinks she knows where we can find Derek," he says, and tells them she's sending them with a guide.
They all look over as someone rides in on a motorcycle, Noel saying in shock "Braeden?"
"Who's Braeden?" Malia asks, Lydia answering that she's a mercenary.
"And I'm the only person willing to take you to La Iglesia," she says, Lydia and Noel asking in unison "The church?"
"Not the kind of place where you'll find God," Braeden says, and we watch her peel across the desert with a passenger on her back.
—
"Should we have sent Noel along with her?" Lydia asks as they watch Braeden riding with Noel out the front window, Malia saying "It's better than the ride down with him across our laps. His hips were so bony I was considering riding home on the roof."
Lydia gives her a look and tries not to laugh, and after a bit of silence, Malia asks who Kate Argent is. Kira seconds her question, and from there the scene is unchanged as Scott explains how the Calaveras switched out the bodies and tried to get Kate to kill herself.
—
Suddenly the jeep stops, and Stiles tells Braeden that it feels like they hit something. Braeden tells Scott that they need to make it before nightfall, and Stiles urges Scott to go with her and Noel on the bike while he stays back to repair the jeep.
"Three of us? This bike doesn't hold three, and if it's one or the other I'm taking the alpha," Braeden says firmly, Scott telling her "Please. Make it work. It's bad enough that I have to go without Stiles, I'm not going without Noel too."
"Not to mention that we're going there to save my alpha, my boyfriend," Noel argues, as Braeden rolls her eyes and warns them both "If one of you falls off, I'm not stopping."
Kira tells Scott to be careful, and the two hug before Braeden tells Scott almost warmly that the sun is going down.
—
The three ride off, Noel in front of Braeden and Scott behind, coming to La Iglesia and overseeing it from the top of a hill.
"What happened here?" Scott asks, as Braeden says "An earthquake. It leveled the town." "So why's the church still standing?" Noel asks skeptically, Braeden explaining "The locals think it's because of what's underneath."
"Do we wanna know?" Scott questions, as Braeden elaborates that the church sits over the roots of an Aztec temple of a group of werejaguars.
Noel looks down at the church, saying "If Derek and Kate are down there, we need to get moving. I have to find him."
Braeden nods her agreement, admitting "I've never gotten this far before. Let's head on down."
—
After a scene where Malia says she senses something out there with them, the trio rides on to La Iglesia, and Braeden cocks a shotgun as she approaches.
"What are you gonna do with Kate if you find her in here," Scott asks almost hesitantly, as Braeden says she'll bring her back to the Calaveras since they paid her to do so. Noel asks what happens after they have her, but Braeden says that's not her problem.
"If you were paid enough, would you kill her?" Scott asks, Braeden answering nonchalantly "If the pay was good I'd kill both of you."
She walks away, Noel watching with wide eyes and saying "Lovely company, that one" before following her into the church.
—
Inside, Braeden asks them if they caught Derek's scent yet, Noel admitting "I had his scent the second we rolled in on the hill."
"Somebody's whipped," she teases, about to continue on before Scott stops her. "There's something else here," he explains, and when she asks what, he answers "Something not human."
The three of them press on, and back at the jeep, Kira draws her sword and sees something just out of their sight line. She and Malia run after it, and once the jeep is fixed they rush back to it.
—
As the trio walks around and investigates the church, Braeden asks Scott why he didn't kiss Kira. Scott tells her that he and Kira aren't dating, and when Braeden asks that if they died down there, would he regret not kissing her?
"Oh, don't ask him that, Scott doesn't like hypotheticals," Noel says, teasing Scott like a brother. Scott sighs, Braeden answering for him "You should have kissed your girlfriend."
The three of them hear sounds as they progress further and further into the church, seeing bones of animals and humans as they walk in silence. Scott stops suddenly and Braeden asks him what's wrong, as he tells her he feels like there's something behind them all of a sudden. She turns around with her gun as Scott and Noel stay facing forward, and when they start to hear growling, Noel asks "Shot in the dark, is this the reason you normally don't get this far?"
Braeden doesn't entertain his question with an answer, and Noel tells them both quickly "You two can go, if you want to. I'll find Derek, it's okay, no reason for all three of us to risk death by either feral supernatural or accidental spider inhalation."
Suddenly, before anyone can entertain the suggestion, whatever was stalking them begins to approach and Braeden opens fire on it.
—
The trio starts to retreat as Braeden continues shooting, yelling at the boys asking if they can see it.
"I can't see anything, my eyes are all flashy from the light from the gun," Noel says and tries to find the creature, as it approaches again and Braeden says "Boys, get behind me."
The boys seem to have other ideas, as their eyes go red and gold. They roar in unison, and the church walls shake, opening a passageway through which we see the wall carving from earlier.
Braeden tells them it's a carving of a Nepalese jaguar god, and Noel says brightly "I can smell him, he's behind it! How do we get him out?"
Scott tells them to stand back, punching straight through, as Braeden shines her light in.
Noel at first looks relieved, but then his eyes narrow, and he stares into the opening in shock along with Scott and Braeden. Derek reaches his hand out, straight toward Noel, Scott saying "oh my God" in disbelief as we fade to the jeep approaching.
—
Stiles parks just as the trio exits the church, Braeden up front with Scott and Noel behind holding Derek. Everyone piles out of the jeep to see what's happening, and Malia asks "Is that him? Is that Derek?"
The camera zooms in on Stiles, who answers almost hesitantly "Uh... Sort of?"
Derek lifts his head, breathing heavily, and now deaged back into a teenager.
Roll credits.