{"id":197398,"date":"2025-03-13T11:02:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T15:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=197398"},"modified":"2025-09-23T11:19:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T15:19:41","slug":"march-2025-supernatural-viewing-diary-season-13-12-working-backwards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=197398","title":{"rendered":"Supernatural re-watch, Season 12-15 working backwards"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is for my Supernatural family. Would be tough going for anyone else, and might be tough going for those of you who grooved to these seasons. I am not here to tell you you’re wrong. People have different feelings. I’m just saying – strongly – my experience of it, in this first full re-watch (albeit done backwards). Binging seasons bring some clarity to what some of the problems – as I deem them to be – were. This is a litany of negativity, but (if you can believe it) – I am enjoying this experience. And after re-watching Seasons 12-15, I am SO excited to start Season 11. <\/p>\n

I’m not posting this at the end of the month because clearly the binge is out of control and I’ll need to break this up. <\/p>\n

If you’re following along:
\nSeason 2<\/a>
\nSeason 3<\/a>
\nSeason 4<\/a>
\nSeason 5<\/a>
\nSeason 6<\/a>
\nSeason 7<\/a>
\nSeason 8<\/a>
\nSeason 9<\/a>
\nSeason 10<\/a>
\nSeason 11<\/a>
\nSeason 12-15<\/a><\/p>\n

Plus: my season recaps from back in the day:
\nSeason 1<\/a>
\nSeason 2<\/a>
\nSeason 3<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n 
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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 1 (2019; d. John F. Showalter)
\nI decided to watch Supernatural in reverse order. I am not watching the episodes in reverse order, just the seasons. The late seasons – 12-15 – are a scar in my memory. The finale was good but I remember little else. I wondered what it would look like if I reversed the order. It’s been an interesting experience. Some of it is coming back to me – others it’s as though I never watched it at all, that’s how little of an impression it made. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 2 “Raising Hell” (2019; d.
\nRobert Singer)
\nThe ghosts in daylight are EMBARRASSING. Why not put a little work in and have a night shoot? The makeup job is terrible. The ghosts standing around in daylight – with the costumes and the makeup – look like a wandering community theatre production of Sweeney Todd<\/em>. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 3 “The Rupture” (2019; d. )
\nIt is just shockingly terrible. I don’t even know what to say. Start to finish: an embarrassment and an abomination to those of us who were in this thing from the start.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 4 “Atomic Monsters” (2019; d. Jensen Ackles)
\nBenny sighting! I hate what was done to Chuck and I basically reject it from my Supernatural worldview. It doesn’t exist. Which makes these later seasons a real problem for me. Besides all the other problems. And even worse than God-Chuck is self-PITYING God-Chuck. Insufferable. Good Impala scene at the end, even if it’s overwritten, with no subtext.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 5 “Proverbs 17:3” (2019; d. Richard Speight, Jr.)
\nI forgot how repetitive this show got in the late seasons. Every episode starts with the brothers in the bunker. Funny business with the beef jerky. Funny ongoing bit with everyone asking Dean if his fake ID – from 15 years ago – is really him. And Dean being surprised that he looks any older. But still. Why am I putting myself through this. Speight is a good director: he looks for humor too. So far this episode has been the only episode in the season, thus far, with any humor. This is a CRIME. by the way, I actually watched Season 15 and I remember almost none of it. It’s kind of wild. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 6 “Golden Time” (2019; d. John Showalter)
\nOh God it’s spa-day in the bunker for Eileen and Sam. I’m so embarrassed! <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 7 “Last Call” (2019; d. Amyn Kaderali)
\nGood horror-genre opener. Drunk girls, lonely bar in the middle of nowhere, sudden abduction by a monster. It’s a relief after the endless YA-fantasy bullshit of the first three episodes. Of the series in general. This episode features what became a truly distressing regular feature: The Winchesters shooting at another human. God, it hurts my heart every time it happens. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 8, “Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven” (2019; d. Richard Speight, Jr.)
\nGood to see Jake Abel. He gives a good performance in what is a ridiculous double-role. He’s commanding. Castiel has been sulking for three straight episodes and it’s slightly grotesque. I’m at the point where I roll my eyes every time Chuck appears onscreen. Hate every second of the Chuck-God thing. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 9, “The Trap” (2019; d. Robert Singer)
\nMore Chuck. It’s interminable. We haven’t had one straight monster-hunting ep. The show is broken. However: Jensen CRUSHES it in his purgatory monologue\/prayer to Castiel. Who I have been annoyed with for years now but regardless. Jensen acts the SHIT out of that monologue. He makes it look so easy. Chuck: “Other Sams and other Deans in other worlds.” I just cannot with this bullshit. The people writing the show post-season 11 basically hated it for what it was and deconstructed it with contempt. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 10, “The Heroes Journey” (2020; d. John F. Showalter)
\nI hate this. Dean has a toothache and suddenly they realize they’re “normal”, that Chuck made them normal. But that was always the thing: they were regular humans with human bodies – they weren’t superheroes. They had to fill the gas tank. They had to fix the car. They certainly got things like headaches, they vomited, I mean Jesus Christ. They weren’t magical beings. There is some funny stuff here but the concept annoys me. It makes it so obvious that this new-ish team literally did not understand the show. It wasn’t some CW fantasy-superhero show. It was a show about two brothers who hunt monsters, with all the fallibility of humans. Their strength wasn’t superhuman. Their strength was because they were trained since they were kids to fight like tigers. Ugh. I hate it. (A bonus: we do get the spectacle of Jensen Ackles doing a tap dance in the bunker wearing a boater hat.)<\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 11, “The Gamblers” (2020; d. Charles Beeson)
\nOkay I actually enjoyed this one. Even though it wasn’t a monster-killing ep – we still haven’t had one of those, what the HELL – but I liked the scenario in the pool hall. The whole “get our luck back” thing is a repeat of the far superior “Bad Day at Black Rock”. Like, why would you set yourself against one of the best episodes in the entire history of the series? Besides, I’m still annoyed at the entire concept. Baby broke down before. Baby is a car that sometimes breaks down. Sam and Dean were normal guys who had to do normal things like fix their cars. That’s the whole point, that’s the whole APPEAL. Superhero lore has poisoned your brains. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 12, “Galaxy Brain” (2020; d. Richard Speight, Jr.)
\nIn the teaser opener, an announcer on the radio refers to “President Hillary Clinton” and my heart broke. Followed by Chuck launching into a monologue with “It’s monologue time.” This is hell. At one point he says, “I don’t care.” Which is WILD. Because he’s the Big Bad of the season and he literally does not care<\/i>. How is this tense? None of it is believable. The way we buy in to this thing is through THEM. Sam and Dean. There aren’t millions of Sams and Deans to us. There’s only one Sam and Dean. This whole thing is just a writer bored and jerking off. Out of ideas. And then we have fucking KAIA. One of the most embarrassing side-plots in the entire show. Again, everyone is in love with fantasy over there. Did nobody notice the genre shift? This did not start as a fantasy show. I am trying to think of another well-established television series that just quietly – and seemingly inevitably (like, they couldn’t stop themselves) – switched genres. This one aired on March 16, 2020. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 13, “Destiny’s Child” (2020; d. Amyn Kaldari)
\nThis season is so in the weeds. Everything is about casting spells to open the gate to hell, give access to The Empty, going to purgatory – and blah blah all finding ways to combat Chuck. The show doesn’t give a shit anymore. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 14, “Last Holiday” (2020; d. Eduardo Sanchez)
\nAnother episode that starts in the bunker. Again with the Nazis. I had successfully blocked out the whole “I killed Hitler” thing. Some amusing stuff here but again … what is this show now? lol We are literally almost to the end and we have had no evidence of monster-hunting brother road trips. The whole concept of the show is not in evidence. So the last two episodes aired in March, this one aired in October, 2020. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 15, “Gimme Shelter” (2020; d. Matt Cohen)
\nFinally a monster-hunting episode! But the hunters are Jack and Castiel. This show hates its original fans. Also, seven deadly sins … we already did that. Season 3. Great scene between Dean and good old Amara, but we still are treated to a little lecture about how the “real” Mary is better than the “myth” Mary because she was “just a person”. Nope. Sorry. “Real” Mary sucked, not just in terms of the character (and the performance, which was terrible), but the overall story itself. I know what I’m sounding like but I don’t care: the downfall of this show is fascinating<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 16, “Drag Me Away (From You)” (2020; d. Amyn Kaderali)
\nOur first motel room of the entire season. Flashback to childhood. I have zero memory of this. I had a lot going on in October 2020 when it aired. A family tragedy. An unexpected change of life plans. A pandemic. I do remember one thing and it is still the best part of the episode. Dean to waitress: “I hate to ask but my brother will want to know if you have any arugula salad or any kale?” Deadpan waitress: “We’ve got iceberg lettuce with ranch.” Dean: “Good for you.”<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 17, “Unity” (2020; d. Catriona McKenzie)
\nChuck is insufferable. He’s basically being villainous because he’s “bored”. Again, he is not a compelling villain. It is not a compelling motive. The ep is again all Chuck and Amara and Jack and etc. Chuck shows up and monologues about how much he “doesn’t care”. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 18, “Despair” (2020; d. Richard Speight, Jr.)
\nMisha Collins’ big goodbye scene was way more effective than I remembered. I was “over” Castiel by season, oh, 8. I understand he had a huge fan base so I know why he was kept around. I didn’t feel the same way but I am not the boss. My favorite Castiel was season 4 and season 5, when he was uncanny and strange. And seemed legit dangerous and unpredictable. Even though the monologue was the ultimate in pandering – and therefore felt like it came out of nowhere if you’re not a part of the base, the monologue was well written, I think, and he played it beautifully. The problem with making subtext text is that the end result can feel quite empty. Considering that Misha Collins knew this would be his final scene, he seemed overcome and it was genuine. And poor Dean\/Jensen looked basically blindsided and confused, lol. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 19, “Inherit the Earth” (2020; d. John F. Showalter)
\nUnnerving acknowledgement of the pandemic, which shut the show down earlier in the year, delaying the end of the season. The emptiness, the silent streets, the empty playgrounds … 2020 was a year, man. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 15, episode 20, “Carry On” (2020; d. Robert Singer)
\nReally glad that Robert Singer – one of the creators of the show, really, who was so instrumental as a producer and a director for setting the tone – directed the finale. After all my bitching and moaning, the scene in the barn makes me cry like a baby. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 1, “Stranger in a Strange Land” (2018; d. Thomas J. Wright)
\nI’d blocked out the era where the bunker was full of random hunters, just wandering around being macho. You couldn’t distinguish them. And the dreaded Maggie: why is she there? She doesn’t DO anything. I feel like “they” (as in the writers’ room) thought she would be adorable and relatable to us “normies”. “Oh we would be Maggie too! Give her a chance!” Sam and Dean would NEVER have given Maggie ANY responsibility in their former lives. Samantha Smith can’t act. Plain and simple. It was a problem. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 2, “Gods and Monsters” (2018; d. Richard Speight, Jr.)
\nI’m working my way backwards and I have no idea what’s going on. I totally forgot that Nick (Lucifer) returned and … tries to investigate his wife and child’s murder? Like … who cares? They were desperate to drum up another plot-line to take the pressure off of Sam and Dean. The whole goal was to move the show away from being centered on the brothers. That being said, Mark Pellegrino is an excellent actor and his explosion of grief when he “comes to” as Nick was moving. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 3, “The Scar” (2018; d. Robert Singer)
\nI hate the hunters in the bunker. I hate how they call Sam “chief”. Along with teenagers, the new show was obsessed with militarization of hunting, and this is part and parcel with the lack of imagination. Everything had to be The Hunger Games or Harry Potter. Dark Kaia sucks. It’s embarrassing. Jody’s long monologue about her girls reminds me of the Wayward Sisters situation – which mattered a lot to some people, but annoyed me. I realize what I am doing now must be annoying. Why re-watch and bitch about it like this? Because I need to unwind. Again, I barely remember any of this. There are gems in most every episode – because I love the actors – but it’s painful to see the show so lose its way. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 4, “Mint Condition” (2018; d. Amyn Kaderali)
\nDean schtick! Good to see! Sam: “That was Riley.” Dean: “I don’t know who Riley is.” Neither do I. This episode contains the abomination: “Panthro’s b—” “Rhymes with itch?” I yearn for the earlier seasons when they threw around the words “bitch”, “dick”, “douchebag” (my personal favorite). Making Sam stop himself from saying “bitch” is extremely irritating. Production designer\/cinematographer clearly had a lot of fun creating the cheesy 1980s horror flick. It’s a good old monster-hunting brother episode, with no Castie, Jack, or Rowena in sight. Also no Riley in sight, whoever he\/she is. Dean geeking out on horror – details like that, character-driven, specific – is the kind of thing that really MADE the show. Because even though there is a plot, the episode is about the characters. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 5, “Nightmare Logic” (2018; d. Darren Grant)
\nOpens with Maggie, who comes on hunts despite not knowing how to do anything and then needing to be saved by Sam and\/or Dean. It’s so dumb. Why would Sam and Dean tolerate this? She is incompetent. She is always on the verge of hysteria, not exactly a hunter mindset. I feel bad for the actress. It’s not her fault. She played it one-note but, to be fair, it’s written that way. Fans, as a whole, rejected her, and it can’t have felt good. Hunters uploading videos to livestream. So stupid. again: militarizing hunting. I don’t like it. I’m annoyed by a lot of this but it’s still good to have a regular monster hunt episode. Yes, we have Bobby and Mary having some kind of love relationship problems (Oh God. stop it.) but … we at least get the brothers working a case, which has become sadly rare. Also: I love the connection made between Dean and Sarah (Leah Cairns). This quiet understanding between two adults: an unexpected connection. Maybe even chemistry. The show used to do this so well. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 6, “Optimism” (2018; d. Richard Speight, Jr.)
\nI forgot how much I loathed – and I mean loathed – bringing back all these familiar characters – Bobby, Charlie – from the wretched alternate world, and yet stripping them of their relationship to the brothers. Alternate Charlie. etc. The show was counting on us just being happy to see these people again (also, cynically, I think they were looking at conventions: they wanted to be able to drop more actors into the convention circuit.) So no, I’m not happy to see Charlie again because the relationship is no longer there. Having all these traumatized battle-scarred veterans was also a way to show up Sam and Dean, who were “soft” compared to them. Can’t stand it. One small shot that made me laugh out loud: In the diner, Dean gently pushing the rooster sculpture away from him. It was pointing at his crotch. Fun schtick between Dean and Jack. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 7, “Unhuman Nature” (2018; d. John F. Showalter)
\nNick on his revenge tour. I can’t even struggle to care. This episode has THREE plots. The Dean-Jack-fishing scene is corny but Jensen plays the hell out of it, especially when dealing with Jack’s transparency. It’s like Jack’s openness hits him in the face. Jensen is never “general”. It’s always specific. The show is repetitive but he doesn’t repeat himself. To add insult to injury: Not only is Rowena called in to save the day, but a new character – a shaman named Sergei – is ALSO introduced, because Sam and Dean can’t figure things out by themselves anymore. People have shown up on this site before and told me that sidelining Jared and Jensen was deliberate because they wanted more time with their families blah blah. I mean, okay? The reason doesn’t change the criticism! Maybe the show should have ended at Season 10. These issues would not be as glaring if Supernatural’s seasons were 10 episodes long, or 8, as opposed to 20 episodes. That’s a lot of time to fill.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 8, “Byzantium” (2018; d. Eduardo S\u00e1nchez)
\nThe scene of Dean, Sam and Castiel getting drunk is clearly supposed to be incredibly moving for me to watch but … Castiel laughing uproariously? Really? When have we ever seen that before, ever, in the entire history of the show? What we’re looking at is Jared, Jensen and Misha. It makes no sense. I also can’t stand how Dean is suddenly a slob in these late seasons and Sam is a neatnik, when anyone who’s watched from the beginning knows it’s the other way around. The writers lose the subtleties of the characters and go with the cliches: macho Dean cluttering up his room with pizza boxes, and not making his bed, Sam being meticulous. No, no, no. Does anyone not remember homebody Dean rhapsodizing about memory foam and Sam throwing a crumpled piece of paper on the floor? Do I have to do everything around here? Suddenly the bunker is empty of hunter squads calling Sam “chief”. So … sometimes they’re there and sometimes they’re not? Veronica Cartwright is amazing. She should have been nominated for an Oscar for Witches of Eastwick<\/i>. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 9, “The Spear” (2018; d. Amyn Kaderali)
\nDark Kaia’s hooded gorgeously-fitted robe is so embarrassing. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 10, “Nihilism” (2019; d. Amanda Tapping)
\nNow this episode I remember, and for good reason. We get another Maggie sighting. Naturally, she is on the verge of hysteria. She is a liability. If Sam or Dean were like themselves, they would send Maggie packing. But here, she’s been given a leadership role! Sam makes her a leader! It makes no sense. ALSO: a reaper shows up whose name is Jessica. Why would you give give that name to a character and NOT acknowledge the “Jess” who is such an iconic part of the Winchester myth from Season 1, episode 1? Seriously. There are so many other names you could choose. “Jessica” is taken. This is also the era where everyone talks about “monsters”. “The monsters are at the door.” “The monsters are leaving.” Back in the day, monsters were specific. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 11, “Damaged Goods” (2019; d. Phil Sgriccia)
\nDean to his mother: “Two terrible cooks …” But he’s not a terrible cook. This has been well established. It’s stuff like this that drives me crazy, even more than spending all this time following Nick around on his revenge world tour. I will say though: Jensen does SO MUCH with just a look, a glance, a pause: and through this episode he’s basically pretending he’s all right but he is really REALLY not all right. Jensen is so so good at this kind of thing. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 12, “Prophet and Loss” (2019; d. Thomas J. Wright)
\nI like how dark this episode is: shadows, low lights, and almost no bunker scenes. There’s even a motel room! As bored as I am by Nick’s journey, Mark Pellegrino’s acting in the scene with his dead wife was superb. Quite amazing, really. And good satisfying final scene between Sam and Dean. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 13, “Lebanon” (2019; d. Robert Singer)
\nHere’s a regular brother-monster-hunt, with the teens in Lebanon being rebellious, even though they don’t feel like teenagers to me, but that’s okay. I enjoy Sam and Dean as cranky Gen X guys, old enough to be these kids’ fathers, and ordering them around irritably. John and Mary return. Sam is doing a Ted talk. (Dean: “I mean, I’m good, but you …”) Suddenly John is all softboi? I am not in charge but I would have preferred more conflict, at least initially. The old John. Showing up and being officious or bossy with them. Sam and Dean having to correct him, stand up to him, “No, Dad. Things are different now. You can’t do that to us anymore.” John having to realize what has happened and THEN apologizing for everything he did to them. Not immediately burst into tears and say “I treated you badly, I am so sorry.” But that’s just me. I don’t understand making choices where there isn’t conflict. Choice without a conflict isn’t a choice. There were interesting parts of this family reunion – but I feel like they were accidental rather than deliberate. The way John focused solely on Sam, big teary talk with Sam. With Dean it was more practical. He didn’t say “I did a lot of wrong things to you, son …” He said all that to SAM. But I feel like this was just sloppy scriptwriting as opposed to a deliberate POINT being made that … John really hasn’t changed all that much. Once again, Dean is being ignored. Or, if not ignored, then “Dean’s fine, Dean’s strong, he gets it, he doesn’t need an apology.” Can’t we MAKE something of that? No? (Me bitching about John here is not to dismiss what Jeffrey Dean Morgan does with what he has. He is overwhelming, his emotion is overwhelming. I just would have liked more conflict before he got to that point. To actually have John realize – in the moment – that his sons are grown, and he has some explaining to do.) <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 14, “Ouroboros” (2019; d. Amyn Kaderali)
\nMay be a stretch – and of course it is a stretch – based entirely on my own sometimes-theory about what Dean did as a teenager to make money … (see “Alex Annie Alexis Ann”) … but I think the good-looking gorgon propositioning truckers at a truck stop late at night, all fetching in his snakeskin jacket and bedroom eyes … could be a nod to my own personal Dean Headcanon. The interaction between gorgon and trucker is explicit and the gorgon looks like a young hustler out of My Own Private Idaho<\/em>. Note: the mirror shot of the dog and then Jack, on all fours on the veterinarian’s table, made me laugh out loud. “I wish I could have got it before she took my temperature.” Clever and absurd. Referencing the #MeToo movement carbon-dates this episode to 2019. Maggie sighting. Hunters playing cards and being all manly commandos and I can’t stand it. I’m not sorry about what happened. The writers made the right call. Get rid of those clowns.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 15, “Peace of Mind” (2019; d. Phil Sgriccia)
\n“Pink Shoelaces” by Dodie Stevens is an exciting musical cameo. Production designer\/set decorator clearly had fun designing this little Pleasantville town, where the movie theatre is showing Scooby Doo for $2. Cas says to brainwashed Sam: “I know what it’s like to lose your army.” I thought, “What army? What is he talking about?” Then I remembered literally the last episode<\/i>, which I watched 5 minutes ago, when all the hunters were killed. That’s how big an impression they made on me.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 16, “Don’t Go Into the Woods” (2019; d. John Fitzpatrick)
\n“I’m two.” [long pause] “Enty.” Lebanon teens again. Ghost Facers sighting. I can’t help but feel that after the failure of Wayward Sisters … and Bloodlines<\/em> … Dabb was still searching around for potential spin-offs so he’d have a job after Supernatural ended and the Lebanon teens checked off the boxes the Wayward Sisters checked off and so maybe … I’m cynical.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 17, “Game Night” (2019; d. John F. Showalter)
\nNo memory of this. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 18, “Absence” (2019; d. Nina Lopez-Corrado)
\nLopez-Corrado directed “Red Meat” and she has my trust forevermore. This is the big episode, multiple locations, a lot a lot of special effects, a ton of shit going on – (whereas “Red Meat” was more of a chamber piece, a quartet, if you will) – I think she did a wonderful job. My feelings on Mary once she was brought back are obvious. To me. I hate lines like “You know how mom is after a hunt” – with this kind of knowing chuckle, like, Mary wants to eat a burger, drink whiskey, she don’t need no angel healing, she’s a tough hunter broad! Girlboss! I just don’t like it. Maybe I would like it if Samantha Smith were a good actress, and could suggest an actual character onscreen. You know who WAS like this? Ellen. Samantha Ferris could make me believe all of those things just by standing there. Dean’s eulogy and all the hunters’ knowing chuckles … I just can’t. I wish I could, but I can’t. Maybe it was a smart move to make Mary so … blah … considering the actress playing her. As long as Mary was a mystical vision in dream sequences, we were on solid ground, performance-wise.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 19, “Jack in the Box” (2019; d. Robert Singer)
\nSinger gets it. The episode has a lot of plot and has to cover a lot of ground but the overall interest is in the characters and their conflicts (inner and outer). The focus and proportion isn’t skewed. Singer always kept the characters first in his mind. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 14, episode 20, “Moriah” (2019; d. Phil Sgriccia)
\nThe scary box which took up 4, 5 episodes held Jack for, what, 20 minutes? lol Dean is always a little bit angry but here his fury is incandescent. Jensen is actually scary. I love it when he’s scary because you think he’s gone as deep as he can go, and then he finds another<\/i> layer. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 1, “Lost and Found” (2017; d. Phil Sgriccia)
\nIt’s kind of interesting watching these seasons in reverse order. I have no idea what’s going on. The earlier seasons, I have each arc locked into my head. I can call up the entirety of, say, Season 4 in my head, and how Season 4 leads to Season 5. The Amara season is the last time I can do that. After Amara, I lost interest, and the show derailed, and now I have no idea what events lead up to what. In my memory, Season 12 was the absolute nadir. I may have to adjust that, though, and bump Season 15 to the top of the list. But Season 12 is when I gave up hope and realized the show didn’t understand itself anymore. We’ll see. Observation: one of the unforgivable sins of the last 4 seasons is how ugly<\/i> the show got, just visually and aesthetically. Flat lighting, no blocking – people just standing around in wide shots – forever – it was such a betrayal, especially for someone like me who was drawn to the show initially for its cinematic beauty, the artistry of lighting, the fluidity of camera movements, everything. When there are exceptions I will point it out. This episode is an exception, no surprise when you consider the director. The camera movements are interesting: look for the cuts, they flow. The “payoff” of the “joke” of the kid re-naming all the items on the menu – and then having Sam see it, with no context. Sam’s quick glimpse of “wait … what?” That’s how you pay off a joke. These things don’t further the plot, but they keep things grounded in the human. There’s creativity in positioning Jack – naked with the freakin’ pirate statue in front of his privates – all of that: you get the vibe, you get the strangeness, the larger scenery is utilized (the river, the cruise ship) … Whatever happens here feels like it is happening in the real world, not on a shoddy soundstage. These things really matter! Especially here, where the plot involves a supernatural teenager wandering the earth without any clothes on. Final note: Alexander Calvert was a real find. He’s perfect. And it was all going so well until it ends in the alternate universe whatever. Hate every second of it. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 2, “The Rising Son” (2017; d. Thomas J. Wright)
\n“He will make Hell great again.” Words can’t express how much I despised the looping in of current-day politics into this show. I get that 2017 was that kind of year, and anyone who walked around saying they didn’t care about politics or who were “apolitical” would have been approved of Neville Chamberlain in Munich in 1939. I still feel that way. But there’s a way to “comment” on the times without little snarky nods to us in the audience, which is blatant pandering. I had forgotten about Asmodeus and what a weird choice it was to make him a Tennessee Williams character. I like the motel room – at the “Black Hat Hotel” – nice touch – and also the schtick of Jack imitating Dean, etc. It is irritating to have to switch back to the alternate universe, which holds no interest for me. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 3, “Patience” (2017; d. Robert Singer)
\nWhy bring back the wonderful Missouri just to murder her? And oh God I forgot. This is the beginning of the Wayward Sisters collective. We had to suffer through it then and I’ll suffer through it now. Patience is supposedly a bookworm normie and yet when she is violently attacked she’s suddenly Jackie Chan. Pandering. Jared is particularly lovely in this episode. It’s subtle quiet work, very effective. And a final irritation: Missouri was a PSYCHIC, not a HUNTER. So they bring her back, her son calls her a “hunter” and it’s like … why even bother with you people if you can’t get the most basic thing right? GREAT fight scene between the wraith, Jody and Dean: mainly because it was such an interesting specific place, and there were details – ropes – and wooden beams – and hanging things – that gave visual interest and the choreography is great too, Dean having to improvise. It’s not just throwing punches back and forth endlessly which the show is definitely guilty of.<\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 4, “The Big Empty” (2017; d. John Badham)
\nSo here’s where my mind is at. They bring back the wonderful Rukiya Bernard to play the grief counselor – but of course I remember her from one of my favorite one-offs, the psychic town in Season 8, where Melanie – MELANIE – provided me with the loneliest ship in this shippiest of shows. Bernard played the best friend. Here, she’s back, I saw her and thought: MELANIE. WHY WON’T THEY BRING BACK MELANIE? Meanwhile, it’s not even the same character, just the same actress. Castiel’s double in the Empty was … what was that. A Clockwork Orange Castiel? I don’t understand the choice! It’s not good! Final note: John Badham. He comes with chops. And it shows. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 5, “Advanced Thanatology” (2017; d. John F. Showalter)
\nIt’s kind of sad how amazed I am that this is 100% brother-focused. No other cast, no off-shoots, nobody else, no “and here’s what’s happening back at the bunker”. It’s just them working a case. It’s not the most thrilling case in the world but it’s so nice to not have all that other STUFF around them. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 6, “Tombstone” (2017; d. Nina Lopez-Corrado)
\nRockabilly undertaker! I loved her. Amanda Palmer reference. Yeah, that doesn’t age well. The presence of Jack actually helps in a way to bring to the forefront the ethical\/moral questions that used to dog the brothers way back at the beginning. Are we better than the “monsters”? Is it okay to sacrifice an innocent person or use them as bait to kill a bad guy? Are we good? Or are we lying to ourselves? And I just want to say one thing: There’s a certain faction of the fandom who get so angry at suggestions of gay or queer subtext. To them I say:<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 7, “War of the Worlds” (2017; d. Richard Speight Jr.)
\nI am so out of touch with what happened in Season 12 that I have no idea what’s going on. Lucifer and Michael. Only it’s not Sam and Dean like it was in Season 4\/5. It’s Pellegrino and whoever, in black and white, in the stupid alternate world, monologuing at each other. It’s not even DRAMATIC. That’s what I don’t understand. It’s not just that I don’t like the direction the show went in (although that’s true too) but what they chose to do almost deliberately drained any real tension OUT of the show. It’s just weird all around. Kevin Tran shows up: “We had one of you in our world.” Like, it’s Kevin Tran, so we’re supposed to go “Yay” but it’s NOT the Kevin Tran we actually knew. It’s like they don’t know how stories work. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 8, “The Scorpion and the Frog” (2017; d. Robert Singer)
\nA heist episode. I do like heists. Good schtick with Dean and the young girl, a little intergenerational humor. I do have a soft spot for our heroes Sam and Dean suddenly being treated like un-cool older guys. Which, they are. I’m Gen X so I relate to this. Then there’s the “nod” to Roman Holiday. And it’s ridiculous and stupid – like, why is Dean afraid of putting his hand in the hole? – but I love it because it’s stupid!<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 9, “The Bad Place” (2017; d. Philip Sgriccia)
\nI have lost my patience with Patience. And unfortunately Kaia makes her first appearance. We’re going to be stuck with her for seasons to come. AND, for the sake of the spinoff, we have the shameful spectacle of Dean pulling a gun on Kaia. Jensen made it work because he’s Jensen. Bad episode. The standoff in the ship, with the kneeling angels. Dumb. Freakin’ dinosaurs enter my show. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 10, “Wayward Sisters” (2018; d. Philip Sgriccia)
\nThey had to get Sam and Dean out of the way to establish the “pilot” of the spinoff and so they sent them to Land of the Lost, populated by a whirligig wearing a dark fitted cloak. Listen, I don’t fault them for trying. Kim Rhodes always had such a light touch as Jody, a Doris Day touch, and it was a breath of fresh air. Once the Wayward stuff started, she got a little heavy, a little earnest, a little push-y. I think the stakes were very high for her – which I don’t fault her for at all. This was a very big deal for her. It’s just that if you DIDN’T know this was basically the genesis of a new potential series, if you had no idea that that is what this was, you might be forgiven for thinking, “Why is Jody emoting earnestly all over the place? That’s not like her!” <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 11, “Breakdown” (2018; d. Amyn Kaderali)
\nFirst shot: the good old Gross Things in Jars. Honestly, this scenario is so sick and twisted it turned my stomach a little bit. Then we see monsters signing on the dark web and … you’ve lost me. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 12, “Various & Sundry Villains” (2018; d. Amanda Tapping)
\nHow did Castiel get imprisoned again? It probably happened yesterday but I can’t retain the information because the story has no resonance or stakes I can grasp. Dean is put under a love spell by one of the hot witch sisters. This is one of those things that someone like Sera Gamble could have MILKED for an entire episode. Here, the spell is removed almost immediately. Which, not coincidentally, drains a lot of the tension out of the setup. Picture the humor if Dean had been in love the whole episode? There are so many absurd possibilities!<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 13, “Devil’s Bargain” (2018; d. Eduardo Sanchez)
\nHere I am, watching a scene between Asmodeus and Ketch – freakin’ Ketch – or maybe it’s Ketch’s evil twin? I don’t know what’s going on and not only do I not “care” about these characters, I actively resent them. Sister Jo and Lucifer having a booty-call-style relationship. All the angels and heaven talk got old circa Season 7. It’s just not the most interesting part of the show. It never was. Castiel tilted the show towards the heavenly and it was intriguing at first, but then it got bureaucratic and Amway-esque and – worst of all – boring. Heaven has always been boring. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 14, “Good Intentions” (2018; d. P.J. Pesce)
\nWe go from Heaven to Apocalypse World. I’m a relatively smart person but I have no idea what’s going on. There’s a funny and revealing outtake from maybe Season 15, where Jared is confused about the plot as they’re filming a scene – which means he doesn’t know what his reaction should be to a certain bit of information, and Misha and Jensen explain to him literally what is happening. There’s this whole discussion that has to happen MID-FILMING to explain the plot to the star of the show<\/i>. Like, that is NOT a good script! Bobby’s back. But he’s aNOTHER Bobby? Bobby and Mary sit and talk about what the OTHER Mary did, and how it’s different from the OTHER world. Are these writers out of their minds? <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 15, “A Most Holy Man” (2018; d. Amanda Tapping)
\nThis episode makes me miss Bela! She so would have been all OVER this episode in her heyday and it would have been better! I mean, it’s not the worst episode. A couple of fun movie nods. “Greenstreet” – i.e. Sidney Greenstreet. The “Godfather” petting a cat. Noir effects. etc. I take what I can get. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 16, “ScoobyNatural” (2018; d. Robert Singer)
\nWorth the wait. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 17, “The Thing” (2018; d. John F. Showalter)
\nI’m sure there is some website detailing every state they visit, and – off the top of my head only twice do they go to Rhode Island. I get a little excited. There’s also a reference to stuffies, which makes me irrationally happy. Imagine what Ben Edlund or Sera Gamble could have done with a tentacled monster who wants to breed with Dean<\/em>. As though Dean is a fertile woman. The tentacle-porn-ness of it all? Remove the sick and twisted-ness and that’s “The Thing.” <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 18, “Bring ‘Em Back Alive” (2018; d. Amyn Kaderali)
\nCharlie’s back. Only it’s not Charlie. “Dean went to Apocalypse World alone?” Yes, he did, and we’re all bummed out by it. And then we have random scenes in heaven with Lucifer and Sister Jo, counterbalanced with Asmodeus scenes. This is going to be tough going. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 19, “Funeralla” (2018; d. Nina Lopez-Corrado)
\n“What’s going on in Heaven?” and “Who has the power in Heaven and\/or Hell?” has always been the weakest part of the show and yet … they kept gravitating towards it. Once the angels arrived in Season 4, the show HAD to deal with Heaven and then they just … couldn’t stop dealing with it even though it was always boring. Again with the reaper named Jessica, and there’s not even a smidge of acknowledgement that that name has a little bit of an epic meaning in Supernatural-world. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 20, “Unfinished Business” (2018; d. Richard Speight, Jr.)
\nMary says about apocalypse world, in a flat tone because she can’t act, “I really hate this place.” You and me both, sister. Then we have Gabriel’s return – and Spieght over-taxes himself (and his voice) – by directing AND playing a double role. Gabriel’s on some revenge trip … like Nick was … and needs the boy’s help. It has nothing to do with anything. Dean, at one point, hears Gabriel’s plan and says, “This is so stupid.” Agreed. So many Gabriel monologues. No wonder why he lost his voice. At a certain point, Richard Speight was shouting at himself onscreen and I thought, “Wait … what is he talking about?” I feel like this might have been pitched by Speight, or given to him as a gesture because he directs so many episodes, one of their regulars. Not sure. It’s so random.<\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 21, “Beat the Devil” (2018; d. Phil Sgriccia)
\nThe episode starts with a dream sequence: Sam, Dean, Jack and Castiel sitting in the bunker eating pizza. I fail to see how this is any different from how every episode starts. First Maggie sighting in the “other world”. She seems more competent here than she will be next season. I don’t understand the choices being made.<\/i> It’s a Hunger Games<\/em> cosplay. Not gonna lie. I am REALLY struggling. But I’ve committed myself to a full rewatch, no cheating.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 22, “Exodus” (2018; d. Thomas J. Wright)
\nMary won’t leave Apocalypse World without her people. Her son Sam literally just got his throat ripped out by a vampire. She just has no connection to her sons, even though the show clearly admires her for her independence. Jensen does so much heavy lifting in his betrayed response but … again, the show BOTCHED the Mary return so severely, and those primal emotions are no longer central. So it all feels empty and unexplored. Another Castiel shows up. This time he has a … Russian accent? Or is it Nazi? Sometimes it sounds Spanish. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 13, episode 23, “Let the Good Times Roll” (2018; d. Robert Singer)
\nOne minute in and I’m annoyed. Bobby and Mary are flirting. Maggie’s not in our world five minutes and she needs to be bailed out. It’s really bad. Half of the episode is all of these men standing around in the bunker yelling at each other. I can’t help but ask: How on earth did we get here from the pilot?<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 1, “Keep Calm and Carry On” (2016; d. Phil Sgriccia)
\nWatching the opening scene is so upsetting because of how they totally squandered the opportunity and possibilities in Mary’s return. Jensen is so good. Crowley shows up and my heart aches. He brought SO MUCH to this show. Getting rid of him left a void which was then filled with the likes of KETCH. And ASMODEUS. A lot of this is coming back to me in queasy sickening waves, because I know how bad it’s all going to be. British Men of Letters have arrived. I am not thrilled.<\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 2, “Mamma Mia” (2016; d. Thomas J. Wright)
\nI have a vague memory of a certain subset of the fandom getting outraged that the sex Sam is seen having in the opener was “nonconsensual” because … in reality it was a drug-induced fantasy. People, it’s 2016. There were far better places to put your outrage. I don’t know how these people operate in the real world. I totally forgot about Rick Springfield’s stint on the show. This whole BMOL thing sets up one of my least favorite – indeed DESPISED – new features of the show: shoot-outs with human beings. It’s so gross and so against what this show has always been about. The most intriguing scene in the whole season is Dean in the kitchen looking at childhood pictures, when his real-life mother is down the hall. It gave me so much hope back then, that this is what they were going to explore. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 3, “The Foundry” (2016; d. Robert Singer)
\nFamily hunt. And here is where Samantha Smith’s serious limitations as an actress became immediately apparent. This is actually rich and somewhat upsetting: feeling distant from Mary, and like … they’re not getting what they need from her. There’s no acknowledgement from her, particularly with Sam. Which, again, is fine – and could even be good – if it was a CHOICE. You’d need a really good actress though to pull all of those layers off, AND to be able to hold the screen with Jensen and Jared. She can’t manage it at all. So Mary instead seems flat affect – and not in a “this is my choice as an actor” way. It’s just such a bummer. They could have gotten mileage out of this for an entire season. But let’s talk about the last episode first, “Mamma Mia”. There’s a gorgeous montage of first Sam, then Dean, then Mary – each is alone, each is deep in thought. The mood is extremely ambivalent, which is CATNIP to this show. And then … the episode cuts away from that to show Mr. Ketch getting his James Bond gear ready over in London. THAT’S how they choose to end. The focus and priorities are ALL wrong. I am thinking back to the final sequence of “Into the Mystic”, an episode I loved. It ended so powerfully, with shots of Sam and Dean – alone – getting ready for bed. Filled with thoughts we can guess at. A MOOD emanated from the episode. Here? They cut AWAY from it. It shows exactly what the mindset is, and what the priorities are.<\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 4, “American Nightmare” (2016; d. )
\nThis is the episode. This is when my heart sank. This is when I realized they weren’t actually going to let the Mary thing percolate. I couldn’t believe it. It all came back to me. Dean summing things up, “Sometimes a family needs space.” Then the little chat at the car: “Did you mean what you said back there?” “Yeah!” They weren’t going to MILK this thing. Sam seemed eerily okay with it all. Now again this COULD have been interesting because … Sam never bonded with his mother because she died when he was a baby. Wouldn’t that have been cool to explore? But … no. It was just this new GENERALIZED Sam. (This is also a bad sign of how the show literally stopped knowing how to write Sam and it felt like it happened over night.) Think back on other conflicts in earlier seasons. Dean and Sam in a fight for half of season 8. And hell, they basically “broke up” in Season 9. Dean’s depression went on forever<\/i> in Season 9. God I love season 9. Or Sam keeping major secrets in Season 2-4. Dean trying to be a boyfriend for half of season 6. Season 2 was basically about grieving their father. Here, Mary abandoning them – AGAIN – is discussed calmly in the last 10 seconds of the episode, and everyone “learns grows changes”. This is Supernatural, man. These boys don’t “learn grow change”!! They STEW, they SULK, they DEFLECT. So. Here it is. The episode when I realized the whole thing was over. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 5, “The One You’ve Been Waiting For” (2016; d. ina Lopez-Corrado)
\nAnd on the heels of “American Nightmare” comes “I killed Hitler”, which just feels … OFF all around. “I killed Hitler” is bad enough. But it’s the SUBTLE things that just aren’t right. The dynamic between Sam and Dean. The dialogue has this canned quality – you know what each one is going to say. Sam is going to be responsible, Dean is going to be tough and also goofy – Sam will try to talk Dean down, etc. The subtle nuances of the characters are somehow … not there. It’s an essence thing. It feels like the essence of the show is gone. And remember: this is before we had THREE sub-plots in every ep. There’s no crazy Lucifer Michael Heaven thing happened. Crowley is still with us. Ketch, yes, has entered the show, but … so far, we are still in the OLD format of the show. The monster hunt. So it’s not like the FORMAT of the show is the problem, the way it is in the seasons coming up. It’s that the characters just don’t feel right. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 6, “Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox” (2016; d. John Badham)
\nOh, THIS piece of garbage. Going from American Nightmare to I killed Hitler to this … I remember feeling so disturbed back in 2016, like the bottom dropped out. I realized “oh shit. Episode 3 wasn’t an anomaly. something is WRONG.” – It’s similar to those moments in the show when someone LOOKS like themselves, but they are actually possessed by a demon. This LOOKS like the show but it ISN’T the show. This bullshit right here was SO revealing, it showed what the writers – and Dabb probably – (hard to say who to blame because it was most of the same people) – thought of hunters. Or how they fantasized about hunters. Think back to the other hunters we met throughout the show: Imagine GORDON in that keg party. Or RUFUS. Or even BOBBY. Suddenly we get this idealized Indiana Jones type, a hunter without trauma. Why would we be interested in that? Garth is the only hunter without trauma and that’s why we love him. 11 seasons of establishing the hunter ethos goes down the drain with this one freakin guy we never even meet. Hunters like Asa Fox is why Eric Kripke burned down the roadhouse. Asa Fox would have fit right in at the roadhouse and Kripke hated the overtly macho vibe and burned it down. So far I am describing my initial horrified response. I really REALLY hated this episode. Re-watching it, it’s not AS bad as I remembered, and there is some good-ish Mary stuff with the brothers at the end, and Jody seeing it all, some outside confirmation – but still – STILL – that relationship should be center STAGE, man. Think about Season 2, Season 4! To be clear: I am not saying I want the relationship to be rainbows. It’s the opposite. It’s just that the exploration<\/i> factor isn’t present. It’s all too pat, they TALK too much about it, the show isn’t tormented enough about what’s going on with Sam and Dean personally<\/i>. You can HAVE all your monster hunts and ALSO have your Winchester Belljar Torment, simultaneously. That was the whole appeal. Season 2, you had plenty of monster hunts, but the whole entire thing was about different ways of dealing with grief. I know there are people who disagree with me and probably hate this onslaught of negativity. I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings. I only speak this way because I love the show so much. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 7, “Rock Never Dies” (2016; d. )
\nThe dreaded Words with Friends opener. Also: listen to Sam’s dialogue. It’s been a problem from the start of the season. Dean’s is not as big of a problem, although it’s a problem too. It’s like they’re doing a blunted-edged PARODY of Sam\/Dean stereotypes. Listen to how Sam talks to Dean, always in this scolding parental tone. And Dean isn’t “serious”. etc. This goes on for SEASONS with Sam now. The real reason I hated this episode – and I hated it on sight – was how Dean goes off on how much he hates Hollywood, how shallow everyone is, how much Botox, etc. NO. Dean is shallow in the most beautiful way. He loves movies, he had a BLAST in Hollywood Babylon (“Copy that”). He’s NOT judgmental about beautiful people. He lOVES beautiful people. He’d be PSYCHED to go to Hollywood. It’s just such a huge thing to miss – and granted Hollywood Babylon was years ago – but WE remember, and so should they. Half the episode shows these losers sitting around in the hotel bummed because they can’t find out where the secret music show is. They were able to close the gates of hell. They stopped the apocalypse. And they can’t somehow tap into the underground music scene? <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 8, “LOTUS” (2016; d. Phil Sgriccia)
\nAnd now … the President. This is actually painful. In 2016, as an American, I did not want to think about the President of my country. It was legitimately traumatizing. And continues to be so. I wasn’t into the METAPHOR of the episode: the real world was far too dire, the threat too real. I don’t need a METAPHOR to understand my own life. But whatever. By the time Season 15 came around, it was 2020 and I was barely engaged (although I did write my “ode to Supernatural<\/a>” for Ebert literally days before the world shut down). So I was basically checked out. Season 12, though, I wasn’t. I dug most of Season 11. I was still looking forward to every episode. The memory of this trudging display of awfulness was truly upsetting, especially since it was fall of 2016. A time when I needed, we all needed, more than ever, our comfort food avenues of escape. And each episode was worse than the last. The show flailed. It got big things wrong, yes, but worse – it got little things wrong. The British Men of Letters were also a mistake. It was interesting, in the past, when humans were the monsters (see: “The Benders”), but here it is pushed so far that it leads to all the militarized GEAR – which, at least in America, where police forces are now militarized to a disgusting (and unconstitutional) degree – to see that reflected here was really dismaying, not to mention Sam and Dean killing HUMANS without giving it a second thought. Gross.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 9, “First Blood” (2017; d. Robert Singer)
\nSam and Dean’s “criminal” past rises from the deep. It makes me miss Agent Henriksen, whom I so love. Now THERE was a human adversary I could get behind. I understand the reference in the title. This is the Super Max prison episode, another appalling bit of storytelling, especially because Sam and Dean basically give up and have to be bailed out, because, yeah, that’s what we’ve come to expect over the last 11 seasons. What are we even DOING here. Humorous dialogue: “Multiple incidents of desecrating a corpse.” “The same corpse?” Pause. “No. Different corpses.”<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 10, “Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets” (2017; d. Thomas J. Wright)
\n“I don’t think we have the kind of mom who’s going to stay home and make us chicken soup for dinner.” — Sam. Who has had zero feelings of ambivalence or loss or ANYthing about Mary. All he’s done is calmly play guidance counselor to Dean. Meanwhile: this is the kind of shit that passes for feminism and it has always driven me crazy. Mainly because it’s so damn middle-class. It’s privileged-people problems. Not every mother has the means to “stay home and make dinner”. The middle-class-ification of feminism was a problem back in the 60s and those who called it out were sidelined. It’s still going on. People still don’t want to talk about class. Be mad if you want. I’m used to it. Billionaires are ravaging our planet and you don’t want to talk about class. Got it. HOWEVER: there is an interesting idea here: of having Mom come back and totally not be what they thought or even want. In fact, it’s a better story than her coming back and being the same. But the way it’s handled is awkward and flat, and the show – and Mary – almost blame Sam and Dean for missing their mother and idealizing her. They idealized her because she died when they were babies, not because they’re patriarchal douchebags who want someone to cook for them. I hate this shit. It’s all very very 2017. This is the season where Castiel is sarcastic. When he’s sarcastic, it breaks the very very well-established character. And let me reiterate: The Sam and Dean dynamic is tedious, and it hurts me to say this but it hurts me more to watch. Dean is a hothead, and Sam is cool-headed, and Sam has this perpetually pissy tone like he’s talking to a child. Always. It’s like the writers over there truly think Sam is the “we don’t have time for your blah-blah-blah” of “Tall Tales”. That’s not Sam.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 11, “Regarding Dean” (2017; d. John Badham)
\nObviously this is a good episode and a complete and total anomaly in the entire last four seasons. Great Dean Schtick, with Jensen in high burlesque gear. etc. It’s great. Then they have to ruin it by calling Rowena. Instead of having Sam have to figure it the fuck out on his own. But my other issue is: it’s not like this season has as its subtext “Dean sacrificing all for the greater good and missing his own life” or “Dean sad at how his life turned out”, etc. Like Season 5 was. Or Season 9. Dean up against how much his life has sucked, and that sadness Dean has, etc. Well Dean Hasn’t been SAD in Season 12. He’s been in KIND of a fight with Castiel but other than that he seems mostly put out. So the RESONANCE of Dean on the mechanical bull and having a good night out just … isn’t AS present as it should be, or would be, if it were connected to something else. In other words, there isn’t an EMOTIONAL theme to Season 12. Those old emotional themes kept seasons on course, they could go back to it, in different ways. Exploring the grieving process. Exploring the boundary-less nature of the brothers’ relationship. Exploring the pain of separation. Having an entire season be about the bubbled up unspoken anger between them. Whatever. Here, “Regarding Dean” comes out of nowhere. It’s unconnected. It relies on our love of Dean (and Jensen) – but … if the mechanical bull scene had happened in, say, season 9, I would have been in tears. Here? I just feel a vague sense of bittersweet-ness. I’m being super picky. Jensen is fantastic here.<\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 12, “Stuck in the Middle (With You)” (2017; d. Richard Speight, Jr.)
\nFucking Ketch. Reservoir Dogs homage, of course. With a nod to Pulp Fiction, golden glow. Good script, honestly. More of the deconstruction of Mary and I hate it. I might love it if Smith could actually play scenes, and provide a subtext and … you know: ACT. I also might have loved it if they really made a point – of the whole season – to focus on Mary returning and then not wanting anything to do with them. That could be REALLY good! But … They just don’t DEAL with it. They feel incapable. And this isn’t a whole new batch of writers. Some of these people have been writing on the show for years. What the hell happened?<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 13, “Family Feud” (2017; d. P.J. Pesce)
\nThe problem with the Mary thing – and this is its apex – is I feel like the show wants us to admire her, or say, “wow, she is such a badass. She’s just like Dean, talking about magic fingers! Bringing burgers and beer!” They want us to like her. Now I can’t speak for anyone else and she does appear to have some kind of fan base. But she can’t emote anything, she can’t express: when she gets moved it’s coming from the other actors. She doesn’t generate on her own. Plus the “feminism” is of the pandering variety, which I’ve already mentioned. I recognize exactly what they’re doing, and so maybe it’s just me but this kind of thing is extremely 1000% not my thing<\/i>. It’s too “yas queen ur a badass”. I’ve written about this before elsewhere. “Badass” is just as limiting as “damsel in distress”. Maybe even worse because “badass” is actually hostile to emotional complexity and\/or vulnerability. There’s a fascistic streak in the adoration of badasses: fascism deems vulnerability as weakness. Maybe the emotional complexities of the situation would work if the actress could actually give a performance so that I could see what Mary was actually DOING. Because without a real performance, she just looks like a shallow semi-flat-affect person. Not to mention a liar and a traitor. Which OKAY if that’s what you’re going for, show, that sounds super gnarly and could be great. But I feel like that’s not what the show is doing. They want us to like her, they want us to see her point of view, they want us to cheer her on because patriarchy. Or this is Mary’s villain arc (even though we know it’s not, I’m just talking about the possible ways it could have been played) Remember how legitimately upsetting it was when Sam was sneaking out to meet Ruby, and going down a dark path. This all worked because Jared is a hell of an actor He created a character we all love, and then proceeded to break down that character, challenging our affection for him, making us nervous and invested because we want him to stop: come back to the Sam we love!! That’s good storytelling. It involves the audience emotionally. With very few exceptions, involvement from an audience doesn’t come from a gripping plot. It comes because the actors make you care. SS can’t do it. I feel like she doesn’t even know she’s supposed<\/em> to do it. There is a tension in watching this but it’s not the right kind<\/i>. The other issue is that Jared and Jensen wipe the screen<\/i> with her. Without breaking a sweat. She doesn’t stand a chance in her scenes with them.<\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 14, “The Raid” (2017; d. John MacCarthy)
\nThe BMOL HQ. Hi-tech. Bullshit. Opening scene of the episode picks up where “Family Feud” left off and I reiterate: Jared and Jensen eat her alive<\/i> in that scene. When Dean calls her “Mary” … I normally don’t talk about actors like this. But, to be honest, her lack of … anything<\/em> … onscreen is kind of fascinating. Once you get to a certain level – and you’re a certain age – people who can’t act have been weeded out. There are plenty of 18-something gorgeous people who can’t act and it doesn’t matter because we like looking at them. But a 40something actress who can’t act? Who has a HUGE complex role – which she is basically unable to play? I guess you could make a case that her flat affect not-even-trying “style” could be a character thing, but I think that’s giving her too much credit. Also the way the story is set up doesn’t support it. I think Dabb et al want us to be rooting for Mary which, for the 439th time, just shows they don’t understand the actual show they’re working on. We’re rooting for Sam and Dean. And then, yet again, the conflict at the strt of the episode is resolved at the end. They just don’t seem to realize that conflicts like that – Dean realizing he hates his mother, she’s hurt him too much, or whatever- should be made to LAST. How many seasons did they get mileage out of the unresolved trauma of her death? Unresolved trauma is the way to go, not traumatic-event-resolved-in-40-minutes over and over. Dean: “It’s not your job to make my lunch.” When did he ever demand or expect that she make him lunch? This is PANDERING.<\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 15, “Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell” (2017; d. Nina Lopez-Corrado)
\nSam scolding Dean for not showering enough and being gross and smelly. When did Sam become this hectoring housewife? It’s all he does. Meanwhile: Dean is NOT dirty or a slob. He is the OPPOSITE. He loves hot showers. Water pressure. He’s a voluptuary<\/i>. He is NOT this gross Animal House slob. He wore an APRON when they moved into the bunker. He LOVED the kitchen. The writers can’t grasp these subtleties. The way Sam and Dean treat the surviving victim is appalling – it’s like they’ve never had to talk a victim through what happened to her before. Then all the “don’t hurt Baby” car schtick, which feels cheap and out of place. I feel like Dean is being reduced to schtick. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 16, “Ladies Drink Free” (2017; d. Amyn Kaderali)
\nI have no memory of this. None. I guess I’m always surprised that Claire keeps coming back. Personally I found Alex to be a much more interesting character (if we HAVE to add a teenage girl to the show). I do like that Sam and Dean finally FINALLY assert the way THEY do things to their Cockney overlord. “things aren’t black and white” says Dean. It’s sort of a monster hunt, and a Mick redemption arc, because that’s really what we want to see. MICK. Who we just met 10 seconds ago: I NEED to see him learn-grow-change! I like the detail of Dean tipping the valet drivers \/ doormen. Mick didn’t even notice. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 17, “The British Invasion” (2017; d. John Showalter)
\nOpening scene at Hogwarts. There aren’t enough eyerolls in the world. This is just what’s been missing in the show! Mick’s tragic backstory! There are four – or five – plots going on here. Mary and Ketch in a hotel room clinking glasses and being flirty and I want to vomit. Eileen returns. I miss Crowley. He barely has anything to do, except torture Mark Pellegrino, but he just has a way with line readings. To a crowd of boring demons: “My loyal-ish subjects …” Mary has a speech about how she wants to “have it all” – hunting and a family life. Really? You want both? Because all I see is you LEAVING to cavort with Ketch. Again, if a real actress played this part Mary might be a portrait of anguish. <\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 18, “The Memory Remains” (2017; d. Phil Sgriccia)
\nThis is very well-directed. I love the real locations. And the camera is always on the move. Sgriccia knows what he’s doing. Good casting too. Small parts inhabited by actors who seem real. The sheriff. The two kids in the opener. The waitress. “Goat dude”. Ha. There’s the gorgeous quiet moment at the end where Sam and Dean talk about what their legacy might be and it there’s actually some space around their conversation, a sense of them really talking (even though there is one of those self-aggrandizing “we make the world a better place” lines), and then they carve their names in the table (with flashback footage of them as little boys doing the same thing in the Impala). It’s emotional. And of course three seasons later it’s ruined, with Castiel and Mary adding their names. <\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 19, “The Future” (2017; d. Amanda Tapping)
\nI’m gonna say one thing and don’t be mad. Binging season 12 is a different experience than watching each episode as it dragged out week after week. I actually am following the (dumb) plot, and it’s not that I care about what’s happening, and I still hate the BMOL and hate that Mary is with KETCH – who is trying to drive a wedge between her and her boys – etc. but – Watching these episodes back to back isn’t completely awful. It’s still not really Supernatural but it at least it is coherent and there are lots of monster-hunting episodes. Compare to the disgraceful Season 15. I binged Season 15 too and was appalled. So. At least this is something.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 20, “Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes” (2017; d. Richard Speight, Jr.)
\nThe fact that they kept Ketch on the show after the shit he pulled … and that we were supposed to find him kind of humorous in his British prickishness – is incredible, considering what he did. In other news: I really like the birch tree wallpaper in the old hotel. The witch twins are adorable but I am sick of the magic on this show, and the purple glowing eyes. I can’t get past thinking back to the first “witches” episode when they were just HUMANS who practiced magic. Same with psychics. Missouri wasn’t a supernatural being. She was a psychic. Anyway: this episode REALLY highlights just how bad the show is gonna get in Season 13-15. It’s like the people in charge literally forgot – or lost interest in – how to construct a monster-hunting episode, the thing on which the whole thing is based. They were all so drawn to the heaven – hell – magic – etc. – that having two guys just go to some random town and solve a case didn’t feel BIG enough, IMPORTANT enough to them. Final note: If it weren’t for Ketch and Mary (ugh), the episode would have ended on such a tragic melancholy note. It would have been powerful, this tragic feeling of how things will NOT turn out all right for the twins. Then they had to go and ruin it with freakin’ KETCH.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 20, “There’s Something About Mary” (2017; d. P.J. Pesce)
\nCheap and horrible opening. See my above comments on Ketch. Sam and Dean should have murdered him. With delight. Crowley’s degradation: I hate it. One thing I noticed about Season 12: Rowena is not at ALL omnipresent. I had forgotten a time when she wasn’t in practically every episode. She’s still a novelty act at a sideshow here, which is appropriate for her overall vibe. Shootout in the bunker with human being. Sam basically using the blonde woman as a human shield. Appalling.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 21, “Who We Are” (2017; d. P.J. Pesce)
\nSo apparently it’s a big deal that Sam takes the lead and makes a big “we few, we happy few” speech? I feel like, again, this would have really worked maybe in Season 2? lol Or maybe post-Amelia? I don’t know. I can only speak for myself. I don’t think Sam is not<\/em> a leader. It’s a character “problem” that feels wholly manufactured. We FINALLY confront the Mary thing: and even though she’s brainwashed, it’s still long overdue, because she wasn’t “right” from the moment she came back. I sort of remember this one. I hated it because of the massive gun fight with the BMOL. And I remembered Dean going into Mary’s brainwashed mind. I only watched it that one time and I had been so hurt (forgive me, it was 2017, a wretched year when I really needed “my” show) by the whole season that I couldn’t really be with it. Dean’s “monologue” to Mary just irritated me, even though he played it so gorgeously. But I just felt the overall COLDNESS and incompetence of the season had drained me of good will and identification. Similar to Regarding Dean. You would have had to mop me off the floor if it was in Season 9. However: rewatching it now, I dug it. I think binge-watching the season, as I mentioned, cohered it in a way it wasn’t before, when you got it episode by episode and it was GRIM. What a MESS. I still don’t like how Mary’s return was handled. I noticed that when Dean and Mary “came back”, they had a talk – and then Sam came in, and Mary hugged Sam tightly. No hug with Dean. Dean joined in a group hug. It was the same thing when John came back in Season whatever: John had this big “I am so sorry” monologue at Sam and then Dean … no apology, no nothing, still kind of assuming Dean was okay. I don’t think Dabb was smart enough for this to have been a deliberate mirroring, particularly because he didn’t seem to care about Sam and Dean and their subtleties. I could be wrong.<\/p>\n

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\nSupernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 12, episode 22, “All Along the Watchtower” (2017; d. Robert Singer)
\nOur first sighting of the glowing rift and the dreaded Apocalypse World. You know, Season 15 was bad but I think Season 13 equals it, maybe even surpasses it. Bringing Lucifer back, and then having Apocalypse World be about an angel-demon war – means we will never escape this particular story. It feels like a re-tread. “Yeah let’s do season 4 and 5 all over again.” They almost literally say that.<\/p>\n

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Supernatural<\/em><\/strong>, Season 11, episode 1, “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” (2017; d. Robert Singer)
\nIt’s truly shocking going from Season 12 to the beginning of Season 11. The quality is SEVERELY and ACUTELY higher. In fact, within 5 seconds of the episode starting, I relaxed because this is the show. This is Supernatural<\/i>. Watching backwards has been illuminating (and depressing). Seriously, they REALLY lost their way in 12-15. No wonder I was so upset during Season 12 (originally). It wasn’t just that it was 2017, a terrible year for my country, but that my show – which had been a constant – was suddenly not my show. With alternate universes, and suddenly Rowena being a major character, and all the rest. This episode is Croatoan-esque, and our alternative-dance-movements Darkness has aarrived, and Dean is almost immediately changed, but it’s an internal change. The depths, as they say, are stirred. Jensen is so good and what he does in Season 11 was so fascinating: 11 seasons in and whatever Dean was going through in Season 11 we had never seen before. It created genuine suspense. Of course they threw it all away in the final episode where two supernatural siblings walk hand in hand in a garden, and Dean had just been USED to make that happen. We only thought Dean was central all season long, silly us. Still: one episode cannot erase an entire season of a man being drawn irrevocably towards something, something he finds revolting and yet alluring. Seeing Dean helpless and soft and almost tormented by desire – and struggling against all of it – for an entire season was fascinating. <\/p>\n

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This is for my Supernatural family. Would be tough going for anyone else, and might be tough going for those of you who grooved to these seasons. I am not here to tell you you’re wrong. People have different feelings. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2627,31],"tags":[2757,2262,2274,2283,2263,2447,2637],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=197398"}],"version-history":[{"count":92,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":199915,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197398\/revisions\/199915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=197398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=197398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=197398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}