Bobby’s back.  Though far from alive, the Winchesters gruff Uncle is showing up here and there. More importantly, not only do we finally get to see Dick Roman back in action but we get a picture of his master plan and it’s far from anything we’ve ever seen a big bad have planned.

Holed up in an out of the way cabin, Sam and Dean are plugging all their contacts to find out just what the hell Dick Roman’s up to. Taking a swig from Bobby’s flask—seems to me Dean’s imbibing a bit too much of the hair of the dog, but I digress—Dean brings forth Bobby. While he’s having trouble staying focused and corporeal, Bobby tells the boys of Dick’s plans. Everything the Leviathan has been doing to this point has been to engineer the perfect herd. Though some of his exploits—curing cancer, AIDS, heart disease and the like, seem a bit altruistic for such a monster, it’s all a part of his master plan to get humans right where he wants them: in the palm of his hand.

Jumping to a cute red head who triggers an email to be sent to the boys as she’s hacking into Frank’s hard drive. Frank’s message tells the Winchesters they need to recover his hard drive as quite a bit of information is stored on it. Unfortunately it’s that 2-meter wide exhaust port of the Death Star, or Richard Roman Enterprises. A funny thing on the way to RRE…lil miss hacker works there. Charlie, as it is, definitely has some hacking skills, even using the company computer to provide seriously illegal donations. Her skills are noticed by Dick Roman who tasks her with the opportunity (three days or she’s fired, i.e. DEAD) of hacking into Frank’s hard drive.

Charlie hanging with the boys

Back to our friendly neighborhood hunters, Bobby suggests using him to get the hard drive but the boys say no before they walk out. At RRE, Charlie finally breaks into the hard drive and, listening to H (her Hermione action figure) reads up on Frank’s notes on Dick Roman. Of course, she doesn’t believe it until she watches her boss get chomped by Dick’s right hand man. Keeping her cool, she gets home and packs things up but before she can leave Sam and Dean confront her. After proving they aren’t Leviathan, they give her the low down on their profession and a bit more background on Dick. When they realize how good her hacking skills are, they ask her to break into Roman’s personal email, though being on a personal server, she needs to be in his office to do the hacking. When they tell her the bad news about her life being no more, she volunteers to do some good old fashioned B&E.

At RRE, Dean notices the flask and asks her not to lose it. Naturally, she starts getting cold feet until Sam gives her a bit of a pep talk, Harry Potter style. She gets to Roman’s floor only to run into a security guard and liking girls like she does, needs Dean’s help to flirt her way past the guard. When she takes too long, Mr. Guard knows something’s up though Charlie shows her ingenuity in getting the data on Roman’s hard drive and getting to Frank’s hard drive at her work station. She’s sending Sam and Dean the info when Pete (her newly turned Leviathan boss) shows up. Looking through Dick’s email, they get tipped off on a package coming from the Middle East for Roman. The boys make their way to the airport while Charlie starts to make her way out only to run smack dab into Mr. Roman.

Dick closing in on Charlie

Though it looks like the boys are a bit late in getting the package, a quick two hour flashback shows that, with Charlie’s help, they’re able to secure the package, putting a nice little borax bomb in place of the real thing. Prior to the bomb exploding in Roman’s face, we see Bobby  trying to keep his cool and not attack Roman. He does a good job keeping his ghostly rage in check though Charlie is in quite the predicament with Roman. When the package does arrive (remember, this is flashback central) Charlie tries to high tail it out when a supremely scorched Roman calls to have the entire building locked down. Trapped while Dick and Pete close in on her, Charlie is given a reprieve when Bobby gets in the way and throws Dick around a bit. He interferes long enough for Sam and Dean to do a dual barrel roll through the window and swoop Charlie to safety.

The next day the boys usher Charlie on a bus where she’s disappearing off the grid. More immediately, Sam brings up Bobby’s behavior. Though he did give them time to escape, his vengeful anger showed up and they both recognize that if he continues onto this path, they won’t be able to pull him back. Something needs to be done though they just don’t know what that is yet.

“The Girl with the Dungeons & Dragons Tattoo” was just what the doctor ordered. We’re finally in on Big Dick’s plan for taking over and, for a creature as old as time, the Leviathan is quite the entrepreneur. The calculated destruction and enslavement he’s got planned is worse than the wanton destruction most apocalyptic beings salivate over. And though stopping Roman is tops on their list, they also have Bobby’s slow transformation into a vengeance spirit to worry about. If he can harness his rage, he can be a very resourceful ally as the brothers take on the Leviathan; but is there enough Bobby left to not fall to the path most ghosts end up going? Just like finding a weapon strong enough to kill Roman, Sam and Dean have to find out what they need to do in order to save Bobby from complete damnation. If you missed the previous episode by the way, be sure to read our ‘Supernatural: Of Grave Importance’ recap to catch up.

 

The Good:

  • Though we’ve been privy to a few good standalones, it’s a welcome treat to get back to the min story arc. Dick’s been busy in his absence and his plan to rule our world is both unorthodox and…well, pretty damn economically sound. As far as bad guys go, he’s quite the business man.
  • Felicia Day did a wonderful job as Charlie. My first exposure to her was her role as the potential Vi from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Even in her limited role on Buffy there was a spark in her that made me want to see more of her character. It was no different with her as Charlie. I don’t know what it is, but Supernatural always seems to create these memorable characters who we clamor for more of. Of course that leads to…

The Bad:

  • …Another one-and-done. Chances are good we won’t be seeing Charlie again. Yes she’s served her purpose but her one-shot is another reminder of how alone the Winchesters are in this fight.
  • The lack of Bobby-rific interaction was a disappointment though it was, in part, offset by Felicia Day’s wonderful performance.

The Supernatural:

  • So a borax bomb doesn’t even slow Tricky Dick down. Methinks the boys are going to have to go a bit more mystic to take him down. Charlie mentioned in passing (before passing out) needing some type of special sword to do the job. Was she on to something? Is the clay tablet the Winchesters intercepted a clue as to what they’ll need to send the Leviathan down for the ten-count?