supernatural season 13

How apropos is it that, on the eve of only the second Friday the 13th of 2017, we get to kick off season 13 of Supernatural?! And considering where we left off last season, I’m sure the Winchesters would agree that it’s quite the unlucky 13.

Sam and Dean are back but Team Winchester has lost a few more members…

While it’s been five months for us since we were last with Sam and Dean, the show’s iconic “Road So Far” segment reminds us that it’s only been a few minutes for the brothers. Considering that the brothers have lost their mother, best friend, and best frienemy all in the span of a few moments. they don’t have time to grieve as Lucifer’s love child, Jack (the Nephilim) has been born into our world. But this is no babe, rather a full grown young man whose primary objective is to find his Father. A note of advisement, he doesn’t react too well to being shot at. (Yes, Dean, I’m talking to you!)

When you have a premiere following up a finale where pretty much everyone dies, you have to ease folks into what’s in store for them now. “Lost and Found” is a perfect example of this particular line of story crafting.  The episode is split into two stories (though a third plays out in the background). Sam and Dean are (naturally) the focus as they do their damnedest to track down the ticking time bomb that is the spawn of Satan. On the flipside, we also get taken for the ride with Jack the Nephilim as he slowly makes his way towards complete consciousness. Our first moments with Jack find him almost childlike as he asks Sam if the youngest Winchester is “Father”. This is emphasized during his time in the police station where he seems to bond with Clark, the town’s sheriff, as the two young men scarf down some junk food. It’s a very important decision for us to see Jack as more than just the antichrist, but a living, breathing character whose destiny is not written by his parentage. Ever the most connected to his feelings, Sam also sees Jack in this light. And ever the cynic, Dean wants nothing to do with the “what ifs”. To him, there’s only one outcome: killing Jack.

And yet, that’s going to be easier said than done.

These two do their best to channel Agent Smith from the Matrix trilogy: unsmiling, sadistic, and bad ass.

The B story, as it is, are the two new angels that make their appearance and have Jack in their sights. Curious as it is, their initial action when they catch up to Jack and the Winchesters at the police station is not to kill the Nephilim but take him into their custody. But when Sam, after another violent butt-kicking with a supernatural entity, banishes two of the angels, the third mutters that if they can’t have Jack, he’s better off dead before stabbing him in the heart with an angel blade before she herself is taken off the board.

Only said angel blade does nothing more than cause Jack a bit of pain.

With Jack in tow, the Winchesters return to the house where it all went down in the finale. Sam isn’t ready to say goodbye. He suggests they call Chuck/God for help, pray to him but Dean tells Sam that “God’s not listening. He doesn’t give a damn.”

We can only watch as they give Castiel, the angel of Thursday, a hunter’s funeral as Sam explains to Jack what to say. And despite all the words he gives us, the most resounding one is “goodbye”.

But the goodbye goes beyond a farewell to Castiel and Mary. As a character, Dean has always been the gruff, taciturn cynic. But, as we see in a flashback to earlier in the episode, Dean allowed the hope of prayer lead him…

Alexander Calvert as Jack the Nephilim, aka, the Antichrist…maybe?

 “I need your help. You see, you left us. You left us. You went off…you said the earth would be fine because it had me and it had Sam. But it’s not. And we’re not. We’ve lost everything. And now you’re gonna bring ‘em back. You’re gonna bring back Cas, you’re gonna bring back Mom. You’re gonna bring ‘em all back. All of ‘em. Even Crowley. Because after everything that you’ve done, you owe us, you son of a bitch. So you get your ass down here and you make this right. Right here, right now…”

“Please…please help us.”

When God doesn’t answer, it may the swan song for Dean’s belief in the idea of inherent goodness in the world. Would he feel the same if he knew that Mary Winchester was still alive?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

The Good

  • Every time I think Jensen Ackles can’t dig any deeper, he gives us the naked emotion of that prayer to God. The anger and frustration, the arresting pain of loss (one that he’s had to put on hold) are present in every word, every action. It’s a special moment, albeit one that hurts the heart.
  • Though Cas and Crowley are dead (see below) Mary Winchester’s still alive and kicking. Unfortunately for her, she has quite literally the least desirable partner for traversing a parallel world with in Lucifer. It’s interesting that he lets her life, though hints at needing her. Whether that be for making it back to our world or just having a bit of devilish fun of pain and torture, who knows.

The Bad

  • Say it ain’t so, Cas. Say it ain’t so! Not only have we lost Castiel, but Crowley also bit the big one at the end of last season. I’m not quite sure of the plan with the two actors (Misha Collins and Mark Sheppard, respectively) but to not have them on Supernatural? I just can’t fathom it.
  • Though the two angels that seem as if they’ll be the antagonists for the foreseeable future, the drunk girl we met early on who herself was an angel was erased prematurely. There was a feistiness to her that reminded me of my favorite Supernatural bad girl Meg. It’s a shame really because I think she would have worked well with the two emotionless angel agents.

The Supernatural

  • Do we really need to say anything in this space besides Supernatural is back? Twelve seasons in the book and (at least) one more to go. Sure, there have been a few painful years, even more painful moments and though I’ve loved pretty much the entire ride, I still can’t believe we’ll be on this train for 13 years. And to start off with Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”…man, Supernatural sure knows how to hit you with the feels.

Supernatural: “Lost and Found”