supernatural lotus

I can honestly say I didn’t see that coming.

This week was a CW mid-season finale palooza with The Flash, Arrow, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (and other shows) officially calling it quits for the 2016 season. And while Supernatural didn’t have that WTF moment like Arrow, it did leave us wondering what the hell is going on.

For the second week in a row, Crowley reminds us that he's got people everywhere.
For the second week in a row, Crowley reminds us that he’s got people everywhere.

Evidently liking the glitz and glamour in his time riding around in aged rock star Vince Vincente, Lucifer’s upgraded his co-habitation to blue-chip status. He starts it with a billionaire before shifting gears and hopping into an archbishop. But it’s his final leap that makes things very scary for the Winchesters because, as figurative rock stars go, there’s no one bigger than Jefferson Rooney, the President of the United States.

Yes folks, Lucifer’s hijacked the POTUS and that’s NOT a good thing.

Thanks to Crowley and his seemingly unending supply of covert operatives, the Winchesters discover Lucifer’s current situation pretty early on. Unfortunately for them, the Morningstar is flaunting a bit more than his supernatural powers. Using his presidential pull, he dispatches the Secret Service for a preemptive strike to take down the biggest threat to his current reign: the Winchesters.

The Secret Service get the drop on Cas and the Winchesters...and then there's a Ketch.
The Secret Service get the drop on Cas and the Winchesters…and then there’s a Ketch.

Enter Sir Arthur Ketch. Apparently the wet works guy for the British Men of Letters, Mr. Ketch shows up after Sam’s hesitant call (and hang-up) to Mr. Davies on the latter’s offer to join forces in taking down supernatural threats. Though Ketch only has a few minutes of screen time, he does quite a bit with it, including providing Sam and Dean with the “egg bomb” they’ll use to expel Lucifer from the POTUS.  But first, they need a lure.

One of the things different about this president is that he’s a widower who’s having an affair with Kelly, an integral part of his presidential cabinet (I’m going with Chief of Staff). It’s not just some fling though and after Kelly confesses to wanting a real life and family—well, those words spark an idea in Lucifer and he decides it’s time for him to become a daddy—to a Nephilim.

With Crowley’s help, Sam, Dean, and Cas get ahold of Kelly and drop the truth bomb on her. Naturally, she’s a bit overwhelmed but ultimately helps lure her POTUS nee Lucifer to a motel where, with the egg procured from Ketch, Sam expels Lucifer from the POTUS and Rowena delivers the coup de grace to banish Lucifer back into the Cage. Job well done with high-fives all around!

Except things don’t end on a positive note. Despite the knowledge that her baby’s an unholy Nephilim (hell, she touched a bible and hit caught fire!), she flees instead of taking the steps to get rid of it. But worse than this are good old Sam and Dean. Even though the POTUS is alive after the Lucifer ejection, they stay by his side long enough to be arrested for the attempted murder of the POTUS.

The Winchesters are headed to Guantanamo…or some other nefarious black site.

Good job, boys. Good job.

Supernatural Vibes

This was one of those episodes that was wholly great and yet somewhat disappointing. Sure, enough happened in it for me to call it my favorite Supernatural episode thus far in season 12 but it could’ve been so much more. First the good:

  • Lucifer body jacking the POTUS was brilliant. What better way for the Morningstar to spread his influence than the most powerful person on the planet.
  • Add to that the sub-plot of him siring a child and it adds a level of depth to the season that I’ve been waiting for them to develop.
  • Also, it appeared that Lucifer was a different man (so to speak) around his lover Kelly. I’m not sure if that was because the POTUS’s emotions were shining through or Lucifer himself allowed more than bitterness, revenge, and evil tidings to shine through.

With that said, it wasn’t all hugs and puppies. The bad included:

  • Mr. Ketch acted almost like a deus ex machina. While his stylish entrance (to the classic “Take 5” by the Dave Brubeck Band) was something to see, he just so happened to have what the gang needed to boot Lucifer from the POTUS.
  • To add to the above point, though the POTUS possession was great, they flew through it a bit too quickly. Hindsight and all that, this would have been a much stronger storyline than Lucifer driving the body of an aged rocker. So we wouldn’t have gotten Rick Springfield for those handful of episodes but we would have gotten a lot more intrigue (pardoning Charles Manson?).
  • Why in the blue hell did our reasonably intelligent Winchesters just sit by the unconscious president and pretty much gift wrap themselves for arrest? It was a monumentally stupid move and a bit too out of character but c’est la vie. But what’s a bit of torture and waterboarding at the hands of men when both Sam and Dean have experienced all the delightful torments of Hell?

Finally, there were some decidedly Supernatural moments

  • Not surprising that Crowley possesses some of the funnier moments. When Sam rags on the King for not getting to the point, Crowley fires back “Can I get you without the flannel? No.” Burn city!
  • To stay on the Crowley ride, after exploding the head of Rowena’s ex-fiance, her response on how that’s the sweetest thing he’s ever done for her—mind you, she’s covered in brain matter and blood—is classic Supernatural; morbid and funny all rolled into one.
  • Though he murdered the psychic Magda (from episode 4’s “American Nightmare”), Arthur Ketch possesses a gravitas and style that’s sure to shake up the Supernatural world. Also, he did blast onto the scene with a kick ass grenade launcher. Bastard that he is, I kind of like Ketch. (But no doubt he’ll have to pay for killing the young teen).

 Supernatural: “Lotus” – 4/5