By Barbara Doyle
I love a good Monster of the Week, don’t get me wrong. But this week gave me a nervous tic to rival this episode’s infested host bodies. Knowing some of the upcoming guest stars and hotly debated questions that may finally be answered six seasons later made me want to get on with it, already. Oh, Supernatural. What sweet, sweet torture you are.
- That Was Then
I love it when the “Then” features flashbacks from old episodes. It feels like a nod to long-time viewers, and I am always a fan of that. Seeing other hunters and monsters from seasons past reminded me of my love/hate relationship with them (Djinn? Love. Bobby? Love. Rowena? Love. Gordon? Haaaaaaaate.) What I didn’t love about the “Then” was the flashback to last episode, since I thought it meant it was going to pick up where we left off. Amara tormenting Casifer to get to God was almost as painful as making me wait another week to see what happened.
- Brothers from Another Mother
I have to admit that I don’t usually care very much about the red shirts that open an episode. I must say, though, this week, the obvious parallels of a big brother protecting his little brother from the big, bad world made me care enough that I actually winced when Matty, the elder brother, fell victim to the mysterious MotW. It didn’t surprise me at all that little brother Jesse would spend most of his life hunting and waiting to avenge his brother’s death. That’s just what Sam Winchester would have done.
- We Got Work to Do
Talk about role reversal. Dean wants to stay and research and focus on the big bad while Sam wants to get out there and get to work on the smaller fry? Dean’s focus shows how scared of Amara he really is, and how very much Cas means to him. I don’t think, especially after losing Charlie, that Dean can take the thought of losing another member of his found family. Here’s hoping that God, literally, answers Amara’s prayers, and soon.
- Fed Up
Does anyone ever get sick of the boys in their Fed suits? I don’t, even if their badges are made at Kinko’s. Years of practice have made the boys able to handle a Sheriff with ease, questioning witnesses and getting the info on the town’s disappearances without batting a long lashed eye. Mostly, though, I’m shallow enough to admit I just love the figures they cut in those suits of theirs. Yes, yes, I love them in plaid the most, but I certainly likes me a Winchester in a crisp white shirt. And out of one, too.
- Such a Tease
Oh, Jensen Ackles. How you delight me with your delicious line delivery.
Dean: “Weed alone doesn’t conjure up that kind of scenario. Isn’t that right, Sam?”
Sam: “Dude, I was eighteen.”
Dean, saucily: “Sinner.”
Sam: “It was college. It was probably oregano anyways.”
Dean, smirking: “Rebel!”
Sam: “You’re an idiot.”
I rewound that exchange and giggled, both more than I care to admit. Even just a moment of a light-hearted, mocking Dean makes me smile, as does an adorably exasperated Sam.
- Desperate Housewife
Etta Fraser had more than just intel to share with the boys about the monsters and their chitters. She, as a clear Sam Girl, had excellent taste. Another thing I love is when the writers show us people attracted to one (or both) of the Winchesters. I think it’s realistic. Hell, I think it’s more fantastical that people wouldn’t be attracted to them. Jared and Jensen are gorgeous men, thus so are Sam and Dean. You’d have to be blind not to notice them. (Scratch that—even the blind flirt with these guys. I’m looking back at you, Pamela.)
- Hunters in Love
We know that Sam and Dean aren’t the only hunters out there, so it’s nice to meet a couple more of them, literally. Little Jesse from the opener is all grown up, in a relationship with fellow hunter Cesar, and hell bent on ending the things that killed his beloved brother. He tells the boys about the Bisaan, Malaysian cicada spirits that tunnel out from underground every 27 years to reproduce. At first, Dean notices they fight like brothers, like Winchesters, but Cesar lets him know it’s more like an old married couple. It would seem that the comparisons end there, but I’d argue they don’t. While I’ve never shipped Sam and Dean, I do believe that in their own way they, maybe like Cesar and Jesse, are soul mates. I’ve said before that I have always believed that a soul mate doesn’t have to be a lover—it can be a best friend or a sibling. It’s someone who understands and resonates with the deepest parts of you. Someone you were destined to be with. Someone that feels like the other half of yourself. If that’s not the Winchesters, I don’t know what is.
- A Sense of Closure
Sam and Jesse head off to find the Sheriff who handled the case 27 years prior while Dean and Cesar search for the burrow where the Bisaan nest the host bodies that contain their eggs. As Dean drives, Cesar confesses that if they don’t kill the Bisaan he knows it will drive Jesse mad. He knows that when you lose someone young you never heal from it, and Dean, though he doesn’t share his own story of pain and loss, agrees. Still, Cesar wonders if revenge is ever enough. He thinks it isn’t. Dean agrees again, but knows that it is still something a person who has been through that needs. It’s hard to believe that this Dean is the same man who said to the yellow-eyed demon, “That was for our mom, you son of a bitch.” Can you imagine if the boys had given up the life after avenging Mary’s death? Can you imagine, like Jesse, if Sam or Dean had lost their beloved brother for good? How they would be changed? Shudder. Let us never speak of it again.
- Down the Rabbit Hole
The Sheriff, it turns out, lost his own daughter to the Bisaan, and he erased the whole incident from his mind, leaving Jesse alone to be thought of as crazy and useless. Another example of how people deal with loss, though we know the Winchesters never could. The Sheriff tells Sam and Jesse where to find the utterly creepy impregnated host bodies, and, with Dean and Cesar’s help, they burn the place to the ground, but not before Jesse finds his beloved brother’s bones. He is finally able to lay him to rest in a hunter’s funeral. The boys watch, relieved that that is a fate they were spared. Sam admits that he was always worried when John and Dean would go on a hunt without him and that he wouldn’t have known what to do if they had never returned. “We came back, though,” Dean reminds him. “Every time.” And thank Chuck for that.
- Time to Retire
The Winchesters realize they need every hand and pair of eyes that they can get and Dean prepares to ask Jesse and Cesar to join the fight against The Darkness. Of course, that is all put aside when Cesar tells them that now that Jesse is satisfied they are finally going to leave the life and start truly living. Jesse offers their services to the Winchesters but, as we knew he would, Dean says no thanks. “Two hunters who make it to the finish line…” Sam begins. “Yeah, you leave that alone,” Dean concludes. And I can’t help but wonder what the finish line would look like for our boys and hope it isn’t one that ends in their bloodshed.
Why isn’t it next Wednesday yet? If you’re wondering why I am so excited, check out the next episode’s name: “Don’t Call Me Shurley.” GAHHHHHHH!!!! Chuck willing I manage to survive the next seven days, and I’ll see you next week.
Leave a Reply