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Starting now with a lame recap of Mary/Retch and the LoL last week.
Cut to Now in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. Four teens (three boys and a girl) are hanging out, drinking, around a fire. One boy and girl are engaging in annoyingly unapologetic PDA. One of the other boys, Daryn, wants to watch, but his friend just wants to go home. As he walks along the creepy trail in the woods, he sees a bag of money, with a green glowstick. When he picks it up, he finds it’s a trap and gets tied to a tree, then his head smashed in by a goat-headed dude, in front of his friend, who has heard his cries for help.
Dean leaves yet another voice message for Castiel, then sits down for a talk with Sam while cleaning the Colt. Sam gets a message from Mick (you know…dead Mick) about DTG and off they go. Back at the poorly-defended LoL bunker, Retch says the bait is set to some henchdicks who will probably not survive the ep.
The Brothers talk to an oddly disengaged sheriff, who tells them about DTG’s bad family life and how he must have run away, while working on his taxidermy project.
The Brothers then talk to DTG’s friend (cue sneak peek) who tells them about DTG getting killed by “Black Bill.” Later at a diner, Sam says it’s a local legend. Dean hits on the blonde waitress, who is into it, and clocks out for the night.
Meanwhile, DTG’s friend gets yelled at by his boss about slacking at work due to his buddy’s death, goes out to his truck afterward, and gets attacked/killed by Black Bill.
The next morning, Dean says goodbye to the waitress at the same diner and meets Sam there. Then he snags Sam’s breakfast. Clearly, Dean has had sex.
Sam thinks he’s on to the MOTW, that it’s a satyr. His graphic description of how satyrs eat their prey puts Dean off Sam’s breakfast. Sam says DTG’s friend’s mom says he never made it home the night before, ditto didn’t show up for his job. There’s an inspection going on at the plant, which is owned by the sheriff. It’s a meat-packing plant. Convenient. Oh, and the sheriff is there. Acting sketchy.
DTG-F wakes up inside a freezer, which is conveniently signed outside as having a coolant leak. Sam and Dean walk past, but can’t hear him over the compressor noise. He finds his friend, dead and frozen, then is stalked and presumably killed by the MOTW.
At the diner, Sam is pissy about what Dean eats. It turns out Dean cross-checked the other victims’ names. They were all employees at the plant. Sam has found out that the company used to own everything in town, but the sheriff has been selling everything off. The Brothers check out the house, but not before “Mick” texts them and Sam texts back.
Cut to the LoL invading the Bunker for a reconnaissance you’d think that idiot Toni would have already done. I hope Dean set rat traps. Retch is especially crabby about Mick giving the Brothers the Colt, which was, y’know, theirs in the first place. Lots of people who have no claim on that thing sure get pissy about having its owners get it back.
Meanwhile, the Brothers find the sheriff’s “murder room” in the basement and get the jump on him when he comes downstairs. It turns out the family got rich by keeping a “monster” under its house and feeding it. It’s Moloch. We have flashbacks to the murders. The sheriff says when he became family head, he tried to clean things up and kept Moloch locked away, hoping he would “starve to death.” Obviously, it didn’t work so well.
Moloch was in the sub-basement. Not any more. They hear a noise upstairs. Dean goes to investigate, leaving Sam to guard the sheriff. There’s a goat suit upstairs. As he checks it out, some kid knocks him over the bannister and Sam in the basement with the sheriff, leaving Dean unconscious.
The sheriff grabs a cleaver, but it’s to help. When they come out, Dean is missing. Sam tracks his cell phone.
At the Bunker, to the shittiest faux-60s Brit spy music ever, the LoL do a really poor job of casing the joint. They need to piss off back to Britain, already. Where they can preferably die of ennui and never be spoken of again. Then Retch finds that photo of Mary and Young Dean and becomes thoughtful.
So, the guy who attacked Dean and has him tied up in the cooler is the sheriff’s half-brother and the plant manager. And he’s a whiny, monologuing dickhead who thinks he can control Moloch. His version of the Family Business is opposite to Dean’s. Dean gets locked in with Moloch.
Meanwhile, the LoL leave…something. Dear God, they suck. Juxtaposing an actually-decent MOTW with their nonsense really shows it up.
Oh, and Dean gets loose in record time. Leaving him stuck with the Minotaur–sorry, Moloch–while Sam and the sheriff enter the plant and get stalked by Loser Half-Bro.
Oh, hey, a decent stalking sequence involving Dean. PleaselethimgetthekillshowPleaselethimgetthekillshow
Pleaselethimgetthekillshow. And Sam gets attacked by Redneck Man. Who gets the drop on his brother, then gets shot. Sorry, dude, but you were not the Hero.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, SHOW? You have to give Sam the kill EVEN NOW? BOTH KILLS?
I am so done with the Dabb Era of this show.
So, Sam tries to hurt/comfort with Dean, which doesn’t help. The sheriff tells them they should go. It’s his family and his legacy–his mess to clean up.
Back at the Bunker, written plot-stupid so they are unaware of having been raided, Dean asks Sam what their legacy may be. Sam says that the people they saved will remember them, though that memory will fade, too. But that’s okay, since they “left the world a better place.” Dean wonders if the Bunker will go to some future Hunter and then carves his initials in the table. He has Sam do it, too.
Sam decides to call Retch, who bullshits them about Mick having returned to London and says they “report” to him, now. Oh, and he kept the photo of Mary, because surely, Dean won’t notice *that*. Idiot. Looking forward to his slow and painful demise.
I’ll also be simul-recapping on Wayward Children.
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It definitely was that photo and I knew he would take it as soon as he entered the bunker because he luvs Mary. If he was looking at Dean then maybe he’s thinking he is her soft spot… I think they have set it up for Mary to kill Letch.
Letch’s namedrop of Mary demonstrates how obsessive he is to her. Haven’t you ever had that unrequited crush were you just have to say their name to someone else because they are always on your mind even if there is no relationship. Letch is also sensitive about being called creepy.
As for the kill history this season. It occurs to me that we repeatedly see Dean take on an entity far too powerful for him to kill on his own, Then Sam or someone else kills them with a special weapon. Sam never even fights them just picks up the weapon and it’s over. It’s happened too many times to be coincidence. Either they are Sam pimping and doing a lousy job of it. Doing that thing were one brother gets the kills because the other brother is getting some major mytharc. Again they are doing a bad job of that too. Hinting that Sam is getting a major kill… unlikely because then Dean would be getting all of the minor kills. OR Dean is learning the lesson that he needs a sure thing to take on a major player. He is already reckless enough to jump in the brawl without the weapon. So Dean+ Michael is the weapon that can defeat Lucifer, nephilim and Dagon with his newly repaired spear. The set up that Michael is cray cray makes me think it will be longer than one episode. We may get a surprise reveal during a fight with flashback to Dean saying yes since they have used that structure too much this season.
Also we had a Family Business reference and two brothers with different views about how to honor dad’said legacy. One brother complaining that dad shafted him. Sounds like Michael and LUCIFER to me.
I don’t think Dean is fine at all. He’s acting cavalier all of the time to cover up how he really feels. He hates Mary closing the lol. Letch doesn’t have to kill family. Letch telling him that Mary chose him, slept with him!!!… would be enough to set off Dean’s abandonment issues. Dean knows Letch is all kinds of wrong. Dean is worried about Cas and Mary, pretending he is okay working with the lol and feels responsibIe for the nephilim which they could have killed twice. Letch, Mary, hunters being slaughtered in future (their legacy per tonight’s episode ), the nephilim going postal and Lucifer rising yet again. The dude will be desperate for a big win at his expense.
My guess is that Dean+Michael will be hinted at for cliff hanger much like the flash of black eyes at the end of season 9.
It sure looks like they are setting up next season as the last with their legacy as a potential spin-off Boo hoo.
The reference to the family business etc was really interesting and I am sure it is important, as was the reference to Michael, esp since they ignored his existence for so long. I confess I have no idea where they are going with that. I do hope it doesn’t involve Dean becoming Michael’s vessel because that would undermine the point of his character within the show, as the righteous man and champion of free will. Some other type of partnership however might be interesting.
I really do think Dean is more at peace with himself than at any point in recent seasons. I don’t doubt that he is angry at and worried about Mary, and worried about Cas, and the situation with the Nephilim. But these concerns do not preclude a measure of peace within himself. For once, he doesn’t seem to be blaming himself for everyone else’s situation, but letting the fault lay where it belongs. And his enjoyment of his usual pleasures seems pure . Even the discussion of legacy seemed more the type of question that crosses ones mind as a person gets older. Dean’s got to be pushing forty by now.
The question of legacy does seem like a setup for a final season. I suppose its bound to happen sooner or later. Let’s just hope that when it does, they go out in a blaze of glory.
I think it’s more a reference to the fact that Jensen Ackles will be 40 next season (Dean won’t be 40 until season 14). I was a little shocked to see that Misha Collins will be 43 this August. It makes sense. I just hadn’t been keeping track.
Dean is probably the oldest lead character the CW has, with Ackles also being its oldest lead actor.
Frankly I was always against Dean being a meats it too. And it felt right for him to say NO in season 5.
Things are different now. I don’t think he’s fine. He’s not okay with working with the lol. I think he’s doing it to protect his family. He’s not okay with Mary and Cas bring out of touch. He is not okay with Letch. He’s not okay with Kelly, Dagon and the nephilim.
He also has a history of needing to sacrifice himself for the greater good and taking risks, especially when he feels betrayed and abandoned. He’s risked himself a lot already this season. I think Dabb has actually done an okay job of setting up the cards for this.
And all things point to the last bit of the season being a total cluster f@#! I just hope Jody, Eileen and Claire survive the lol.
And if we do get Dean Michael it is a roller coaster ride of cray cray BAMF.
The fact is that the only way at this point to stop Lucifer is the spear and the only one that can fix it is Michael.
The stuff with Retch and Mary and Dean comes off like something that belongs on Riverdale. It might work with better writing (it is a horror show, after all), but right now, this creepy Oedipal obsession with a mother and son who have surely already been through enough is more problematical than not.
Dean’s fielding a lot of people he knows being stupid right now, but I think his approach to it is different this season. Dean has seen behind the curtain and received the *very* surprising revelation that, rather than his being unimportant, he is far more important than he ever could have guessed.
I lean toward the show dragging out the Lucifer storyline on its way to finally dealing Michael and Dean!Michael, but there have been so many poor writing and showrunner decisions this season that I just don’t trust it. It could easily be unintended subtext.
I seriously doubt that next season is the last. Even at their most fed up, Ackles and Padalecki have made it clear they want to reach at least 300 episodes, which means a 14th season, minimum.
The legacy thing was unnecessarily depressing. Maybe Sam will be forgotten, but the Firewall is unlikely to fade away. Dean is a Lucifer-style permanent fixture in the SPNverse. Besides, a hundred years is nothing in terms of history. It says a lot about their shallow view of that subject that Dabb and Singer believe it’s a long time.
This whole thread and I guess what has been going on all season (I think the Dean Disappeared On The Drive during American Gothic was the first and the WORST example of this — and I agree in the Ramiel fight Dean engaged, kept fighting, Sam got the kill because Dean was occupying Ramiel — if I am wrong about that let me know, I can’t pull up the episode right now).
so I talked to my husband about it yesterday. (And is THAT the longest run-on sentence I ever done did?)
He said that Sam and Dean are a team and we are not looking at it the way a military team would. He said the guy who shot Bin Laden was glad to have killed Bin Laden, but the kill belonged to every man on the team. So he thinks this is a dumb argument and this is the only show he watches in real-time (!) and he liked the episode the way the guys worked together. He said he is enjoying that this season. Like yeah Sam did not tell Dean about his arrangement with Mick (and I consider the arrangement with MICK not the BMOL) and then told him two weeks ‘show-time’ later. AND there was not a confrontation. Dean listened, said OK for now. NO fight. Hubby loved it.
I wonder if Jared got ‘really’ tired of being tied to a chair…heck he was chained to a chair big parts of the first two episodes…and asked for less of those and the staff went too far the other way.
The Ramiel kill was bullshit because Sam just shouldn’t have been able to pull that off. The show has done a very poor job of building up to Sam’s kills over the years and that one was a prime example. A better example would be Ishim (Castiel’s kill) because 1. it was an angel killing another angel and 2. Castiel stabbed him from behind in the middle of a fight with a bunch of others against Ishim at full strength. So, it was believable. Sam’s YED kill was unbelievable and reduced Ramiel as a bad guy. Same with the Alpha Vamp.
You could also compare it with, say, Dean’s kill of “Tammi” in “Malleus Maleficarum.” Vicious, quick, from behind, and totally in-character. Didn’t make her any less badass for it. Or, for that matter, Dean’s kill of Azazel. But suddenly, Ramiel’s easy to kill with the right weapon? As long as it’s Sam? How is it that Ramiel didn’t have his brother and sister’s (Dagon) ability to disappear unless totally taken by surprise and wounded, first? It’s Sam-in-Purgatory all over again.
I respect your husband’s opinion, but I’m 100% sure neither the showrunners nor the fans see it his way. Kripke, Gamble, Glass, Singer, Dabb, and others have spent far too much interview time talking Sam up every time he made a “classic” kill, while down-mouthing even the most awesome of Dean’s. And you should have seen the Samgirls on Twitter the other night–Dean, who?
So, no, it’s not a team thing when Sam makes a kill. Only when Dean does.
OK, I am glad I do not follow twitter.
I ‘do’ see it the way my husband does, BUT I agree that the writers ‘may’ be giving Sam wet sloppy kisses.
I just like the complete ‘duo’ aspect we have this year.
I dvr’d the whole show from TNT, but of course, that would totally overwhelm my dvr so I deleted the episodes that don’t ‘grab’ me. Going over my lists, I see that my ‘keep-em’ seasons are Eleven, Two, One, Three, and the others are pretty close. (And the ones I deleted from Season 11 were for space not quality; I really liked that Season.)
I would not have a problem with Sam getting the kill this week if the kills had been more even over the season. The scenario they set up, with Dean injured and hypothermic, means his fighting skills were probably not at their best. And he was fighting for his life admirably. But at what point did Sam get the colt? Dean had it earlier, and he seems pretty possessive of it. Did I miss something? If Dean dropped it when he was injured, shouldn’t his attacker have taken it.
I am over the BMOL. I tried to make the best of them until last week when they crossed over into cartoon territory. I wish someone would put them out of their misery.
The one thing I have positively enjoyed this season is seeing Dean at peace with himself at last. The show tortured him for so long. Sometimes I think this was Amara’s greatest gift to him.
This. The kills ratio is completely out of whack this season. The implied excuse for a while was that Jensen Ackles needed time off, but this week put the lie to that–that chase sequence absolutely required Ackles’ time and energy, and could easily have ended with a Dean kill, but it didn’t. Why didn’t it? Because the show wanted to pimp Sam.
Also, Sam’s kills are almost invariably lame. I’m okay with some of them happening. I’m okay with some balance. But I don’t want to watch lame kills. I want to watch cool and awesome kills. Even the Dean kills have been poorly staged this season, but the Sam kills have been ridiculous. The show all but has someone hand Sam the weapon and lines up the MOTW to be killed. It’s not a fair fight. It’s a slaughter. And it’s a slaughter of iconic monsters that are, quite frankly, well above Sam’s paygrade but *not* Dean’s at this point. I’m not watching for the MOTW version of poor Cecil the Lion. I’m watching for a story where the prey turns on the predator. These Sam kills are the former.
Dabb talked about returning to season one. This made me groan. Every time I hear this, I know it means, “Shitty, lazy writing that blows smoke up Sam’s ass.” Season one had its charms, but it also had great flaws and we don’t need to revisit those. The show has already exhausted the many ways Dean has held Sam’s cape while Sam clumsily played the Big Damn Hero at the lowest setting. We really did not need an episode that began with Dean cleaning the Colt so that Sam could use it at the end. I mean, think about that–Sam didn’t even clean his own damned iconic gun.
I think Sam got the Colt either from the dead brother or because Dean dropped it when he was flung over the banister.
Dean told Sam to stay with the sheriff; he ran out of the basement ‘kill room’ and up the next flight of stairs. When he got to the top BIL goat-dude pushed him thru the balcony and Dean hit the ground and DROPPED the Colt. BIL goat-dude had locked the basement door so he had the time to spirit Dean away. Sam broke down the door finally, picked up the Colt and said, I know where he took him.
That’s the way I remember ‘that’ anyway.
I think Ketch stole the picture of DEAN with his mother. It was weird to me that it looked like he was looking at Dean’s side of the picture. Can’t be positive but that is what I think.
This is one of the things that don’t bug me: I don’t care that Sam got both kills. My husband was screaming the whole time we saw DTG buddy trying to get out of the meat locker PICK UP A MEAT HOOK, IDIOT! I mean it, he kept yelling that. He said DTG did not even kick out at Black Bill and the buddy just sort of gave up. Dean obviously had a concussion from at least a 15′ fall and was semi-conscious, BUT he was still ‘defending his life.’ I get that you are pissed about Sam getting all the kills this year; I was watching Season 4 today; Dean killed BOTH ghouls in Jump the Shark (Sam got a ‘demon kill’ in Rapture and I don’t think there were kills by either one in the last two episodes — well until Dean gutted Ruby YEAHYEAHYEAH). The trope for years has been Sam-tied-to-a-chair; today we had Dean just BREAKING away from the chair. I liked that Dean got laid; he seemed in a good place to me. AND nobody mentioned Mary (other than Ketch).
Moloch (I thought) was a demon; I know he was a god of the Phoenicians (Tyrians?) or was that just an alternate name for Ba’al? So was he a God that the Hebrews co-opted to being a demon? Was Moloch the name the Phoenicians used? I just liked that it was a straight up monster hunt. (Also, Moloch was the big villain on Sleepy Hollow but I never think SPN is stealing; I remember various creatures showing up on SH which had already been on SPN, so NYANYANYA.)
I agree, get the F-ING BMOL off my screen. Hey, was HBIC from last week the Layla’s mom or Roy’s wife? Both women looked so similar to me.
Anyway, I liked it just for Dean getting laid. I felt bad for the kid we got to meet who got killed. Both kids were such sad stories, you know?
I understood the sheriff; his half-brother was crazy. Like SUPER crazy.
Lol are so going to go the way of the Stones. You know Letch took the photo.
I thought he took the photo for BOTH Dean and Mary; when he was looking at the photo at the end (and BOY is Dean going to me pissed about that) it looked to me like he was looking at Dean’s side of the photo. But of course I don’t know.
Do you think it’ll be an all-out fist fight between Dean and Ketch in the last episode? Ketch seems to follow John Wesley Hardin’s battle plan (hide behind something and shoot somebody in the back).
I ‘still’ want Dean to end up Michael!Dean at least for an episode or so.
I got goosebumps when Dean checked out what was essentially an empty meatsuit…
He is acting like he’s ready to make a rash sacrifice too.