Every boy needs his mama.
Our beloved Dean Winchester is no different. And thanks to Amara, he is gifted with the one thing he never would have expected: Mary Winchester, as he lives and breathes. Yes, even after twelve years, Supernatural, as much as any show out there, knows how to reinvent itself.
As resurrections go, Mary’s return to the world is text book. She’s disoriented, Dean approaches her calmly, aware of her skittishness and…
Well, he then gets dumped on his hindquarters as Mary reminds Dean (and us) just how much of a badass she was back in the day. But once Dean starts laying down the history of John and Mary, she remembers her death and, more importantly, believes then embraces her son. They spend the night in the park, Dean catching her up on 33 years of mayhem before taking her to the Bunker, expecting Sam. They find a trail of blood before Castiel comes stomping in.
Quick catch up—Sam was ambushed at the Bunker by one Lady Antonia Bevell, representing the Men of Letters: UK division. Turns out, those stuffy shirts in the UK have got it together insofar as the monster hunting goes. She’s not shy about tooting the horn of her unit but, when Sam asks her where they’ve been up until now, she casually mentions the Old Man nixing that idea. She wants to work with US hunters to install the same type of framework against the baddies but instead of talking like a civilized person, she’s shot and kidnapped Sam. So how smart can she be if, knowing they’re all on the same side, she takes that route instead of trying to talk to the Winchesters as allies? Sam feels the same way and, instead of cooperating with her, he dares her and henchwoman Watt to do their worst.
Taking a shortcut through the roundabout, Dean, Cas, and Mary tracks down Sam’s general location when they’re intercepted by henchwoman Watt. Now, full disclosure: I understand that to induce drama, sometimes it behooves the writer to ignore or muddle what’s already been established. Still, it’s a pet peeve of mine and it’s highlighted in this particular episode when henchwoman Watt beats both Dean and Castiel from pillar to post. Based on Lady Antonia’s words about the state of monsters in the UK, I can say with 100% certainty that not a single member of the Men of Letters: British branch have seen the action or thrown down as much as the Winchesters. And yet, they have Watt take them down without breaking a sweat? You could put a UFC fighter against Dean or Sam and they wouldn’t bat an eye. They’ve fought things two, three, maybe four times as strong, and twice as fast as any human. So, yeah, that’s all I’ll say about that.
With that out of the way, let’s head back to Sam and his grand old time at the hands of Lady Antonia. After Watt singes him with a blowtorch, Lady Antonia drugs Sam, causing him to hallucinate some of the worst moments of his life. Again, Lady Antonia must not be as good as she says; hell, Sam even told her that he’s been tortured by Lucifer himself, what can she really do to him? But she believes a drug cocktail can get the job done? Maybe she’s not as good at her job as she’d like to think.
Back to the triple threat match between Watt, Dean, and Castiel: Watt’s ready to deliver the coup de grace when Mary performs a backstabber with the angel blade. Mary has a bit of a hangover post killing, lamenting how she never wanted her boys to have this life. Dean being Dean, he paraphrases the Supernatural mantra to her: “Saving people and hunting things; this is our life.” She gets it but, as they drive away, still searching for Sam with Black Sabbath’s “Solitude” playing in the background, Mary Winchester has the look of a woman out of time while her son Sam, cold, tired, and in pain, sits in an unknown basement, waiting for his brother to come looking for him.
Supernatural Vibes
- When you’ve just finished a season where the Creator and His sister were the main attractions, one wonders, how do you get bigger than that? The answer is you don’t. As mentioned above, Supernatural knows a thing or two about resetting itself. It looks as if we’ll be seeing more personal stories. Sure, there’s going to be a main antagonist (the UK Men of Letters seems more like a half season pain before hitching on to the Winchesters way of doing things) but look for a few more monster-of-the-week shows than we’ve seen in recent years.
- For the last several seasons, our brotherly duo has been joined by Castiel. Inserting Mary Winchester into the story is really going to change the dynamic. I have the distinct feeling that her presence will make for some thoroughly embarrassing moments for both Winchesters as they’ll have to adjust to having their mom back in the fold.
- Finally, our main man Crowley’s on a mission to get a sweet bucket of revenge on the weakened Lucifer, who’s on the run burning out hosts faster than the Flash grabbing a cappuccino from Jitters. It’s only a matter of time before the two Kings of Hell come face-to-face and with the odds looking a bit more even this time around, Lucifer better think long and hard on how he handles things.
Supernatural : Keep Calm and Carry On – 4 Impalas (out of 5)
