Stuck In The Middle (With You) – Supernatural 12.12 Gets Innovative

12-12-cas

Say what you will about Supernatural, the show is not afraid to mess with form. Last week’s episode, written by Davy Perez and beautifully directed by fan favorite #SPNFamily member Richard Speight, Jr., brought a Tarantino-inspired aesthetic to a very Supernatural story. Together with Serge Ladouceur’s gorgeous cinematography, some kickass VFX and some superbly choreographed fight scenes, these all combined to make for an outside the box episode that still felt like the Show I love. I’m often struck by Ladouceur’s work, and his and Speight’s direction together made for a visually striking episode.

12-12-sam-dark

12-12-dean-dark

The Tarantino touches were spot on – a slow motion montage of Team Free Will Plus Two walking toward danger, with the added bonus of Ackles’ and Padalecki’s long long legs eating up the screen (and in perfect sync because Sam and Dean).

12-12-slo-walk-2

12-12-slo-walk

The Tarantino touches don’t stop there. The mysterious box that glows when the lid is cracked. The violent but well choreographed fight scenes ala Kill Bill. The amusing title cards announcing both a new scene and a time jump in one direction or another. The temporal back and forth and multiple points of view didn’t work for everyone, but I tend to like some experimentation, so I enjoyed it.

The episode opens with Team Free Will Plus Two (Mary and Wally, the hapless red shirt hunter who we pretty much know from moment one isn’t likely to survive) squabbling in a diner ala Reservoir Dogs. Dean even quotes a line from that film.

Dean: All right, ramblers, let’s get ramblin’

That’s once they’ve finished ribbing Cas about being the object of the waittress’ attention and commenting that waitresses are awesome because they always smell like food. I’d love to turn my psychologist lens on that comment, either to analyze why Dean would say it or why Perez would write it, but I’ll constrain myself. The waitress herself is pretty awesome.

Dean (attempting to set the mostly not interested Cas up with her): When do you get off?

12-12-dean-diner

Sassy waitress: Whenever I can.

Ten points for the waitress.

Astroglide on my twitter timeline: Yas, Queen!

(Side note: Astroglide totally had the best comments of the night. How much do I love that they live tweet Supernatural?)

Speight, Perez and many of the actors live tweeted the west coast airing too, giving us a few little insights about filming that scene.

Jared: Sam’s reaction to Mandy calling Misha handsome was more Jared than Sam.

12-12-sam-cas-2

(I think you could characterize Sam’s reaction as incredulous…)

Also, it was apparently not scripted when Misha leaned in to have Cas smell the waitress not so subtly. I always love the ad libbed moments most!

12-12-cas-smell

Misha also took director Speight to task on twitter for letting that vehicle drive a wee bit too close to him as Mary is taking out Ramiel to save Cas.

Misha: hey R, remember when you said ‘I would never put you in the road at the same time as this truck?” #ImNotDisposable!

It was a running joke at Vegas con this year too, with Misha repeatedly accusing Richard of nearly getting him killed after promising not to put him on the road anywhere near that truck. But hey, it made for a great scene!

Even the music was inspired, some of it seeming right out of the stereotypical spaghetti western and some of it adding immeasurably to the ominous feeling of the scene. I watched this episode live with some fellow fangirls who are also fellow academics. We were all at the Southwest Popular Culture Association conference in Albuquerque, gathered around the television in one of our hotel rooms with piled high plates of free snacks and the individual sized pies that were given out at the Supernatural episode screening the night before. (Yes, best conference ever, btw). Earlier that day, two of those acafans did a roundtable presentation on the music of Supernatural, so watching this episode with them was a treat! Apparently that’s ‘La Donna e Mobile’ from Rigoletto that Ramiel whistles as he slowly makes his way back to the cabin, where our heroes are waiting for him (reminiscent of Kill Bill again).

Astroglide: Whistling in real life: basically never ominous.

Whistling on TV: Basically always ominous

So true. The episode was not only beautifully directed and filmed, it was tightly written so that in 42 minutes we got the amount of reveals that we usually get in five episodes. That was head-spinning, but not in a bad way. I felt knocked off balance the entire time, something Speight played up with the way the episode was filmed and Perez set up with his constant dizzying time jumps back and forth.

The first big reveal was the return of a demon the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long long time – the yellow eyed variety. In the first few seasons of the Show, the Yellow Eyed Demon was the Big Bad who we were all terrified of and rooting for the Winchesters to kill. Fred Lehne invested the original YED with a sinister but snarky personality that made the character memorable; unlike Crowley and Rowena, he never switched sides or showed any ambivalence and he died with us cheering, taken out by the Colt. (And speaking of the Colt…but that’s getting ahead of myself). At any rate, I was left with a sort of nostalgic dread for the YED, so when the demon they’re hunting is revealed to have yellow eyes as well, I gasped out loud. He’s also apparently just as difficult to kill, as Team Free Will is woefully outmaneuvered by both Ramiel and the other two demons who show up out of nowhere. Poor Wally, as most of us predicted, was indeed a casualty of that epic fight. Jerry Trimble did a great job as Ramiel, creating a memorable character in just one episode. He also apparently did his own stunts!

12-12-ramiel

This episode wasn’t focused as much on Sam and Dean as some – and I admit I will always want more – but Perez did give us a few Winchester moments. I loved that Dean, who was supposed to be going after Cas and Mary, instead stays behind to save his brother from one of the demons.

Demon: I’m going to be the demon that killed Sam Winchester. They’re gonna tell stories about me.

Dean: (stabbing her from behind) Oh no they won’t.

Me: Not as long as his big brother is around!

We also get a small but important moment between Sam and Mary. Sam, empathic soul that he is, can sense that something is going on with his mom.

Sam: Mom, are you okay? I know you never wanted this.

Mary doesn’t really answer him; she’s focused on getting what she came for. Just as it hurt to see her walk away from her sons when she needed independence and time to herself, that reaction hurt to see. I admit I don’t entirely get where Mary is coming from, but I already know she’s capable of being hurtful. And hey, she’s human, and we’re all capable of being hurtful, but I get protective of my boys. Jared does a good job of showing us Sam’s feelings in that small scene – his love for his mother, his concern about how she’s doing. (We’re with you, Sam!) And his own need for reassurance from his mother too.

Mary: Since when is life about getting what you want?

Harsh, Mary. I get the feeling Sam was asking because HE needed to talk, and you just walked away.

By the way, Sam’s “Mom, what did you get us into”? could be the tag line for so much of the Show!

Mary is so shocked about the demon’s yellow eyes that she tells Sam about it (in contrast to her very Winchesterian propensity for not sharing information with her sons or anyone else). That was a wonderful bit of acting for both Sam Smith and Jared; they are the two who have interacted with the YED most horrifically in the past, and true horror shows on both of their faces at the reveal. I’ll get back to the reveals about Mary in a minute, because those turn out to be the most controversial parts of the episode.

12-12-mary-yed

The next big reveal belongs to Crowley, and Mark Sheppard positively shines in this episode. Speight pulled an amazing performance from the always-excellent Sheppard, from his initial welcoming of Mary (who responds with ‘touch me and I’ll end you’ in true hunter fashion) to Crowley’s emotionally layered conversations with Ramiel about the Winchesters. In a flashback to six years ago, we find out something I never thought to question all that much – how Crowley became King of Hell. We’ve known he’s a crossroads demon, and I think I just assumed that he came to power by means of the manipulation and scheming he’s so good at. I love when Show throws me a curve (as long as it doesn’t turn canon on its head and then piss me off instead) – apparently Crowley was surprised when Ramiel turned down the throne and instead offered it to Crowley! (Kudos to makeup and to Sheppard for making Crowley actually appear younger and less cynical in the flashback scenes). Ramiel, prince of hell. Oldest generation of demons that Lucifer made himself. Azazel, the YED, was one too. Ramiel, in a speech that reminded all of us watching a bit of Cain, just wants to be left alone. Crowley, who had come to bring the coronation gifts of Michael’s lance and that mysterious glowing box, finds himself suddenly in power. That might explain some of Crowley’s occasional ineptness at being the actual King of Hell. Perhaps he was really angling for second in command, or for being the power behind the throne, and is still not entirely certain of how to wield that power.

Sheppard also shows us Crowley’s conflicting feelings about the Winchesters as he tries to bargain for their lives even after Dean dismisses him as unwilling to help. You get the distinct feeling that his contention that it’s just prudent to keep the guys who stopped the Apocalypse on your side isn’t the whole story, hearkening back to Crowley’s demon blood addiction and his fall into humanity, albeit temporarily. We get another glimpse of Crowley’s softer side, and of what seems to be an actual fondness for Team Free Will, when Castiel is dying.

Misha Collins deserves kudos for this episode, and again Speight was able to bring out a performance that struck all the right notes without going over the top – which it very easily could have. Ramiel produces the lance of Michael (which appears from its invisible place on his back, an awesome VFX moment) and spears Cas as he lies helpless and unable to get away. It’s a brutal, violent scene, filmed in nearly black and white with the actors silhouetted in the moonlight. It’s beautiful and horrible, invoking the painting, like a powerful work of art itself (not uncommon for Serge Ladouceur).

12-12-lance

12-12-painting

It’s also very real in its depiction of the savage wound, graphically bloody in a way that made me wince. We realize that Cas may actually die (though I doubt anyone thought he wouldn’t somehow come back), but even a temporary death of a beloved character carries weight if it’s done well. The lance kills angels slowly because Michael wanted Lucifer to suffer when he stabbed him with it, which gives Collins ample opportunity to make us run for the tissues.

12-12-cas-wound

12-12-dean-cas-wound2

I commented on Castiel’s evolution in an earlier review, and that continues here. Cas, knowing he’s dying, is once again heroic in his willingness to sacrifice himself. Collins makes us feel his pain, but also his determination, and the fierce love he has come to feel for the Winchesters. Cas tries to get them to leave, saying he doesn’t want the last thing he sees before he dies to be them dying too. He says that the things they’ve shared have changed him, and that his time spent with them has been his best time.

Cas: You’re my family. I love you, I love all of you. Just please, please don’t make my last moments be spent watching you die. Just run, save yourselves…You have to keep fighting.

Sam: We are fighting. We’re fighting for you, Cas.

Dean: And like you said, you’re family. And we don’t leave family behind.

12-12-cas

12-12-cas-die-dean-2

12-12-cas-die-sam

I might have teared up during that scene, which means Speight and Collins did their job. They’ve been hitting the ‘Cas is family’ theme hard this season, which makes sense in the scheme of the show, but while this scene worked, I don’t think they can hit it this hard repeatedly without everyone going okay okay, we get it!

The Winchesters get back to fighting Ramiel, attempting to hold him in a ring of fire. Ramiel demands they give back what was stolen from him, which only confuses Sam and Dean.

Dean: Huh?
Dean: Huh?
Sam: Huh?
Sam: Huh?

Mary, on the other hand….let’s just say I was screaming out loud, “Mary! What the hell, turn it over!”

She doesn’t, and we find out what we suspected. Ramiel can’t be held by the ring of fire, and a truly epic fight scene ensues.

My timeline: Is Dean really fighting a lance with a shovel? Of course he is.

Unfortunately, Dean isn’t faring so well. This time it’s Dean who needs saving, and Sam, in a magnificent moment of bravery and badassery, slays Ramiel with the lance just as he’s about to kill Dean.

Me: (possibly screaming) That’s right, damn it! Sam Effing Winchester!

What can I say, I love it when the Winchesters save each other.

12-12-sam-f-w-2

12-12-sam-f-w-3

But Cas is still dying.

And then we get another reveal about Crowley, and a surprise. Crowley looks genuinely sorry that Cas is dying.

12-12-crowley-cas-wound

That emotion prompts him to remember what Ramiel had said about the lance. The runes give it power. On a hunch, Crowley snaps the lance, breaking the runes and reversing the poisoning that has Cas gasping his last breaths through some truly disgusting black goo clogging his throat and oozing out his mouth. Ewww.

Crowley, before he snaps out: You’re welcome.

My timeline, who always knows where to take an emotional scene: Crowstiel anyone?

12-12-crowley-saves-day

Cas slowly realizes he’s okay, the shock of both that and Crowley being the source of it clear on his face. Director Speight gave us a shot that’s going to star in so many gifs it will be mind blowing, with first Dean and then Sam offering a hand up to Castiel and pulling him to his feet. The camera stays tight on their hands throughout, making the scene a powerful one.

12-12-handhold

Similarly, earlier in the episode Speight uses a close up shot of Dean’s hands as he loads his gun – visually stunning and powerful in its familiarity, to Winchesters and to anyone who’s been watching the show.

12-12-dean-gun

He also uses a tight shot of Ramiel as he holds the stop watch up and pushes the button, the repeated tick tick tick an undercurrent that runs through the episode.

12-12-tick-tock

The episode ends with yet another gigantic reveal. We knew that Mary had been lying to Sam and Dean by omission, bringing in Wally so they’ll come help without asking questions. We knew she had BMoL weapons and tools to help her prevail, and that she lied to Cas when she came up from the basement (brilliant idea using the old gotta-pee-when-I’m-nervous excuse, Mary). We knew she had stolen something and hidden it from all of them, refusing to turn it over even when Ramiel demands it and ALL their lives are on the line!

But we didn’t know what it was she found in the basement – or that finding it had apparently been her mission all along. OMG moment number four: it’s the Colt. IT’S THE COLT.

Everyone in the hotel room watching: What the F—!

12-12-end-colt

Mr. Ketch apologizes for nearly getting them all killed and for some reason I can’t fathom, Mary lets him off the hook. And GIVES HIM THE COLT. What??? At least I think she turned it over to him, though we don’t see him leave with it. I have no clue what’s wrong with Mary, but that was all kinds of not okay. I guess we don’t know how much she even knows about the Colt as far as Sam and Dean’s history with it, but I wish her instincts were firing about Mr. Ketch in a way that would tell her what a mistake she’s making.

Show has one more giant reveal too. We end with Crowley’s prisoner taunting him, saying that the Winchesters will turn on him eventually. I was unfortunately spoiled for this last reveal, but let’s just say that having Mark Pellegrino back as Lucifer would have been mind blowing if I hadn’t been.

12-12-end-luci

That’s like five big reveals in one episode, in case you’re not counting. What the hell, Show?

To sum up, there are more YEDS out there, including Ramiel’s sister Dagon who has taken an interest in Kelly and her Nephilim baby. Crowley ended up King of Hell by default not scheming, and has more of a soft spot than we suspected for the Winchesters and for Cas. The BMoL now have the friggen’ Colt. And Crowley has Lucifer – in his very awesome Pellegrino meatsuit – caged up, tables turned. All of that was executed brilliantly by Speight and company.

What fans were left to ponder and gnash our teeth about is the mystery of Mary Winchester. She should know better than to withhold information from her sons – withholding information gets people killed. Like poor Redshirt Wally. (And almost her sons too). She seems to be going down that road that Sam was on when he was addicted to demon blood, convincing herself that she’s working with the BMoL for the greater good, but we all know where that road ends up. I was dumbfounded when Ramiel seemed to be offering to spare them if the person who stole from him would just return what was stolen (Sam and Dean genuinely confused because they had no clue what Mary did) – and Mary didn’t say a word! Was she really willing to risk her sons’ lives in order to give Mr. Ketch the Colt???

And even after the BMoL clearly led her into a lethal situation and didn’t care, she still doesn’t give up on them. She still gives them the most powerful weapon out there. Yes, she threatens and she seems very angry that ‘her boys’ were put in danger.

12-12-end-mary

But she still lets him off the hook with an apology that didn’t even try to sound genuine.

I’m still having trouble getting my head around the fact that Mary would work with a group of people who tortured and almost killed her son. She SAW what they did to Sam, and while I realize that was one BMoL member who perhaps is painted as an outlier, if someone took a blowtorch to my son’s foot, there would be no forgiveness. Not ever. Dean is espousing that conviction, which makes me happy, because Dean would have a hard time forgiving someone who tortured his little brother. And was not sorry! But why not Mary?

There are lots of disagreements going on in Supernatural fandom right now about how to read the character. She’s complex, that’s for sure, and most people are glad to have a female character who’s not a cardboard cutout or a stereotype. And I have no doubt that we – like Dean and Sam – had expectations for her that come out of our own stereotypes of what a mother should be. I think it’s more than that, though. Since the beginning of the series, we have only seen Mary through Dean’s eyes. The eyes of a four year old, who idealized the mother he could barely remember. Dean remembered her singing lullabies and making him pie, but we now know that Mary’s cooking skills were more about getting take out (which, hey, nothing wrong with that!). But Dean remembered her idealistically, and thus we, as viewers, developed that concept of the character too. Now we – and Sam and Dean – are confronted with a woman who is far from the stereotypical mother. She’s flawed, she’s not particularly maternal – especially with these two grown men for whom being her sons would be a biological impossibility – and she’s quite capable of hurting them. Perhaps we, as fans, are experiencing the disillusion that comes from having someone we’ve put on a pedestal fall off.

It’s interesting to watch the evolution of the character of Mary contrasted with the evolution of another maternal character, Rowena. While Mary seems to be on a slow fall from idealization, Rowena is on a bit of a redemption arc. (It might have been hard for her to go the other way, since she was introduced to viewers with people bleeding to death on the ceiling…) I confess I don’t know where they’re going with Mary, or how we’re supposed to feel about her. That in itself is unsettling, and part of me wants to grasp at straws for explanations. I’ve seen my various timelines suggest that Mary’s possessed, or that she was raised by Samuel and thus is comfortable with having someone give her orders and she follows them – much like Dean used to be with John – thus the working with the BMoL who are perfectly willing to give her orders.

I’d almost like to read that interpretation into the scene of Mary and Mr. Ketch, shot through the window blinds so that they almost look like bars. Hmmm.

12-12-end-bars

I just hope that we get SOME explanation, sooner or later. I like a redemption arc as much as the next fangirl, but it has to make sense. So far, I haven’t been able to make sense of Mary’s journey. Then again, I went to a ‘Once More With Feeling’ Buffy singalong at the conference I was at, and remembered all over again how much it messed up Buffy to be yanked out of Heaven. Maybe that’s an explanation in itself.

What did you think?

Beautiful caps by @kayb625.

–Lynn
Pre-order our new book, Family Don’t End With
Blood, now and win free Supernatural gifts!
Familydontendwithblood.com

19 thoughts on “Stuck In The Middle (With You) – Supernatural 12.12 Gets Innovative

  • I don’t know either. But that last scene through the blinds reminded me of the one where Dean first encounters Mary. (You know. The… “mom’s a babe. I’m going to Hell. Again”… one.
    Was Dean following her now like then? Did he witness the encounter??

  • Brilliant review. As always! Especially the WTF, Mary?? I can’t wait (yet, I’m dreading) to see how this plays out. I have a feeling that Mary will be the one paying for Cas’ decision to gank Billie the Reaper in the end. But then again, it’s Supernatural. Anything can happen. 🙂

    That’s why it’s great to read your input every week. 🙂

  • To a certain point, I agree with your review. But ( yes one of those) I also disagree on a couple. First, Mary. A lot more like her dad than I first realized. She has the same ” end justifies the means” attitude that Samuel had when he gave the boys to Crowley. She loves her boys but unfortunately, the boys she loves are 4 and 6 months old. She doesn’t love the grown up hunters they are now. The fact she is working for the BMol proves that.
    Second, I found the whole Cas dying “I love you” scene to be awkward and unnecessary. “Knowing you has been the best part of my life” etc, etc. Enough already. We get it. They’re brothers blah blah. There were some good parts and seeing the Colt and Lucifer were a huge bonus but not my favourite episode.

  • I’m like you not sure about Mary right now they way she’s acting, working with the BMOL who almost killed Sam. Walking away from Sammy when all he wants is to make sure she’s okay, the hurt in his eyes made me angry with her. Love when the Winchesters protect each other, saving each other, making sure they are okay. With Crowley breaking the spear I was like Crowley why, love the episode Richard did an awesome job directing once again.

  • I agree. Something’s off about Mary. How can she work for the BMOL after they tortured and almost killed Sam. Dean does not trust them and will not work with them for those reasons, which he stated in the diner in this episode. She can destroy supernatural beings with Dean and Sam. She knew her boys at 4 and 6 months. She had them in heaven at those ages. She can go away to get her head straight about them being all grown up and dealing with the fact that she is alive again, but she should never forget that they are her boys.

  • While I don’t like what Mary is doing, I can accept what they are doing with her character so far. I like that she is her own person. But, she is not in the same category of hunting that the boys are. She has never seen anything like Ramiel. Perhaps she was frozen when he asked for it. I keep remembering that she was basically dropped in 2016 and is trying to adjust. And I understand her connection to the boys is awkward. Her boys were these little innocent kids. While she knows who they are now, it is probably really hard for her to connect to them. I think she wants to believe that she can get rid of all the supernatural stuff so that she can feel like she has done something for her kids other then set them on this horrible path.

  • I’ve done a FULL rewatch three times. I can’t get enough of this episode.

    I just want the boys to acknowledge that Mom’s hunting is consuming all her time. And maybe she needs to start dealing with her shit. Of course that’s the pot calling the kettle black … and they don’t know the half of it yet… but they’ve got to be picking up that Mary is RUNNING away from them emotionally.

    I just need them to hug. Maybe that would make it better. Right now, I feel like “Mom” is rejecting ME. I feel like I need her to show approval of them. Which is a WEIRD phenomenon. But she’s been “Mom” for this show for so long. And the lack of any warmy-ness is just HARD to bear.

    There. I’ve said it. Feel free to use this as your next dissertation.

    • I’m glad you said it – it needed to be said 🙂 And am I wrong or did Mary tell Mr. Ketch “it almost killed one of my boys”? Was she talking about Cas? I love Cas, but he’s not one of her boys…

      It was an awesome episode!

  • As always, I very much enjoyed your synopsis of The Show. I, too, am puzzled by Mary’s behavior. When she didn’t turn the colt over to Ramiel when he was threatening her sons, I was stunned. I have a feeling, though, that The Show is building up to “something big” for that character. Suffice it to say, it’s gonna have to be something REALLY big to get me to forget the whole working with the BMoL despite their torturing of Sam! Something’s just aren’t done!

    I have a two-part theory about The Show’s frequent reinforcement of the concept that Cas is a bedopted Winchester. I stumbled into a twitter thread Thursday night that actually called Cas & Crowley “unnecessary” and “detracting” characters. It was disconcerting to realize that some fans still want to get rid of C2 after all these years. And from their comments, it was apparent they are still bombarding the show about getting rid of them. I am starting to think that The Show feels a need to remind fans that family does not end with blood! So I cheered at every single mention of how Cas is family.
    My favorite mention was when Mary numbered Cas as one of her boys! I adore the interactions of S,D & C2 so much and I believe The Show needs ALL of them! 💙 I also have a feeling that Cas being family is going to be tied to the resolution of the mystery of why Mary has been acting the way that she has been this season.

    The one part of your synopsis that I disagree with was the choice of music for the episode. Most of it was irritating & inappropriate to the action on the screen. Cheesy cowboy music did not belong. I don’t know this Tarantino person and didn’t know that they were doing some kind of a salute to him in this episode. So for a viewer not understanding that, the music was an actual barrier to the emotional resonance of some of the scenes. I felt disconnected from a good portion of the scenes because the music was acting as a barrier. It was only after the show was over and I was reading comments and reviews that I found out about this “salute”. I know nothing about this Tarantino person, I never watched “reservoir dog”, I have no idea why anyone thought this salute was a good idea. To me, many (but certainly not all) of the music choices acted as barriers to the emotionality and connectivity of several of the scenes.

    Thank you for your reviews of each show. I look forward to reading your review after every show!!

    Thanks again & see you next week!

    • Do we all even realize that if there are no other significant characters, the Js most likely would have burnt out by now? Instead, we have 12 going on 13 seasons, for crying out loud. Yeah, we should be grateful to the other characters and not be such entitled fans. These other characters and guest actors manage to carry and share their load wonderfully since due to them, we still have Supernatural on air and a kick-ass episode to boot, and the Js can have their family time at the same time.

      Jensen’s twins arrived during the filming of this episode. Jared will have his baby in probably next month, so most likely the affected episode timing-wise might be Sam-light. We need to have more of an assemble casts in order for the story to continue and be more exciting (story not just depending on the Js only), otherwise our show will be stuck in a rut. And I loved that the way Perez did it was by expanding on the already existing mythology of the show.

  • Great Review !!!! You definitely hit on a few of my favorite moments… The return of Mark Pellegrino is amazing, Nobody Does it Better Lucifer than him !!!! The return of the colt – Awesome…. other than that I ended the show with a pretty big “scratching my head” anger for Mary… really? The YED threatened to kill your boys and you kept quiet? Almost unforgivable….glad they are headed back to the season 5 type of episodes I loved.

    • I cant get over the fact that John gave up the Colt and his own life in a heartbeat to save Dean’s life. A parent does that. Couple of weeks ago she was willing to go with Billie so that Sam or Dean didnt have to and now this? I dont get it.

  • This episode made my head spin…in a really good way! I knew right away we were in Tarantino-mode and it made me feel the need to go back and review my Tarantino movies to truly appreciate what Show did here. Great job with all the moments Richard Speight! I have re-watched and I know it will take a 3rd watch to finally catch all the stuff that got thrown at us in this episode!

    And then there’s Mary–her return has felt weird and off to me from the jump. I loved Dean & Sam’s reaction to her return. Love-fest and heart-eyes! But she was distant from the start. And being a mom, I get it. She doesn’t really know these grown men. These are not the children she loved and was ripped from. And I think adjusting to this new reality and dealing with her boys now being grown and closer to her age is difficult. And yet–as a mom I would have gotten over those early emotions by now and started to see them as the strong, capable men that Dean & Sam are. I don’t think Mary has made that progression yet. She is protective but not really maternal. I’m sure I shall get bashed for saying this, but I just don’t trust her motives.

    This episode was wonderfully rounded with great work by everyone. Misha, Mark, Jensen & Jared all gave us moments. Thanks to all for the great work! And Serge, wow, this guy deserves an Emmy for his amazing work. Our Show is the most underappreciated and deepest well of talent in all areas!!

    I am dreading/awaiting the resolution of Mary and the BMoL story. And I haven’t forgotten that Dean killed Death and Cas killed Billy…both of these things are the proverbial shoes waiting to drop. “Cosmic consequences” are that sound we hear in the distance. The slow build of scary music that is coming.

    Thanks again for a great review Lynn, you are always a great read!!

  • I think that Dean suspects that something is going on with his mum and he is the one standing outside the diner (not just the cameraman) – what me personally and totally messed up was the whistling part bc in Germany there was an ad for chocolate crisps with that tune and I kept singing along every time Ramiel whistles it (https://youtu.be/X1sUSnzgrD4)

Leave a Reply to DakotaCancel reply