The Official “Patience” (13.03) Live Recap Thread


Little late again. Anyhoo, let’s get started.

This is, by the way, the first of the backdoor pilot episodes for the projected spin-off, intended to introduce the title character.

Standard recap of the season so far, as well of Wraiths. Pretty Jack-heavy and includes a brief bit about Sam’s demon-blood drinking. Nothing particularly exciting and no rock songs used.

Cut to Now in Omaha, NE. A young blonde woman is dusting a photo of her with Missouri and closing up shop for the night. She’s a professional psychic. The door opens and a man comes in. She starts to tell him she’s closed, but agrees to do one last job for the evening. I’m sure this will end well.

She does some Tarot cards and answers his questions about her being a “psychic counselor.” She says she reads “energies, auras.” He asks her to read his and realizes he’s a Wraith. He stabs her in the hand and then eats her brain while looking sexual aroused. Yup.

Cue title cards.

At the Bunker, cue the sneak peek as Dean is listening to the Rolling Stones’ “Rip This Joint” through headphones while drinking a lot of beer. In his room, Jack gets a knock on the door from Sam, who has a boring, insipid video message of emotional support from beyond the grave (since Jack killed her being born) from Saint Kelly on a thumb drive (product placement, much?). As this plays, Sam gets a call from Missouri Moseley from season one’s “Home.” She’s at the scene of Doomed Teaser Psychic’s shop and is asking for help while apologizing for “being a stranger.”

Sam gets off the phone and tells Dean who it was. He says Missouri told him she’d got out of the Life for a while, but had been pulled back in by a case and that he put Jody on it because they need to stay at the Bunker and help Jack hone his powers, so he can open the rift again to rescue Mary–sorry, be all that he can be. Dean calls Sam right out on his false compassion for Jack and says he “didn’t sign up for” babysitting the baby “Antichrist,” nor is he thrilled that Sam is putting Jody in potential danger like that. So, off he goes to help her with the Hunt.

Gotta say, I’m with Dean on this one.

So, in broad daylight the next day (it was night when Missouri called Sam), Jody is talking a policeman for Missouri when Dean drives up. Missouri explains to Jody that the DTP, named Dede, was her “protegee” and about the closest thing she currently has to family. When Dean arrives, he hugs Missouri first and Missouri gives condolences on his losses. There is zero reference to the fact that she was a complete bitch to him the last time they met.

Inside the house, Dean and Missouri both suspect the killer was a Wraith and Missouri gets from a series of images by feeling objects that it is indeed a Wraith, who feeds on psychics for some reason, and then an image of an African American man named James. Dean tells Jody that Missouri’s thing was sensing from objects, except that her thing was actually telepathy. Psychic blanket BS Powers Syndrome strike again.

Cut to Jack and Sam talking about…uh…stuff. Sam wants to train him to do stuff (Sam doesn’t mention his totally mercenary motive to rescue Mary). First, he has Jack move a pencil. Except Jack can’t seem to do stuff on cue.

Cut to Missouri having an awkward phone conversation with James, who doesn’t believe in her visions. He hangs up on her. She comes out and tells Dean and Jody to go save James (who is her son) and her granddaughter Patience. She’s going to stay behind because she’d just “complicated things.” When Dean protests that this is a bad idea, Missouri reverts to full-on bitch mode and he just says, “Yes, ma’am.” [grrrr] She thanks him, but the damage is done. I am so over this character, who is obviously about to get a cameo kill-off along the lines of Sarah from “Provenance.”

Jody, to her credit, notices the awkwardness.

Back to Jack, who is mentally wrestling with that pencil. Sam tries to coach him through it by asking him how it felt. Jack that stuff just happens, except with Asmodeus, who was “in my head.” Jack gets upset and says he can’t do it with Sam staring at him. Sam says they’ll take a break and he’s off to get some food.

At DTP’s place, Missouri is waiting for the Wraith, who has come back to the scene of the crime for no logical reason given in the story. She tells him she’s seen the future (again, Show, Missouri didn’t previously have precog powers. If she had, she’d have been of much more use in “Home”) and that she dies, no matter what. She’s not going to give him the satisfaction of screaming, but she is certain her “people” will kill him. Well, he’s been pretty stupid so far, so that shouldn’t be too hard.

At a school, Patience is getting lured into playing volleyball by a friend because she has amazing reflexes. Or something. Her friend leaves and the lights fritz. She finds bloody footprints and then her dead grandmother saying her name. She’s attacked from behind and then wakes up from a dream. As she comes out into the office, she talks to her father about her dream. He insists it was just that, but as she leaves, he looks thoughtful.

So, James is actually even more obnoxious than Missouri. Yay.

As he’s buying a freakin’ bar’s worth of beer at a convenience store, Dean sees a TV news story about Missouri’s death. Out at the pumps, he tells Jody and regrets not staying to protect Missouri. Jody asks if they should go back, but Dean says Missouri asked them to go protect her family and that’s what they’ll do.

At James’ home, they get a predictably cold reception from him until they get across to him that yep, his mother is really dead and yep, the cause was supernatural. Jody then rather forcibly insists James pull his head out his ass about the realization that he is indeed the putz who hung up on his mother right before he died. They don’t have time for that.

They really don’t have time for that since here’s Patience at school, experiencing deja vu from her dream. Confused, Patience goes back to her locker, but when she shuts the door, there’s the Wraith. I actually don’t mind Patience, and the actress seems pleasant so far, but boy, does she not look at all young enough to be in high school. That’s a bit distracting.

Anyhoo, the Wraith gets all MRA creepy with Patience, but she has a bit of spunk. She kicks him in the nuts (do Wraiths have nuts?) and the breaks off his stinger/sucker/needle. He tackles her and says it grows back, but gets shot from behind by Dean. He runs as Dean runs after him, blocks the door, and then tries to run Dean down in a Pedo Van after Dean chases him out into the parking lot.

Back inside, Dean and Jody have a talk with Patience. As with her father, they bruskly break through her denial about being a psychic and tell her her estranged grandmother, who allegedly abandoned her and her father after her mother died, is dead.

At the Bunker, Sam is watching Jack through a spy camera and reading up on baby books. Because that’s totally not creepy, or anything. Jack appears to disappear, but he’s just hiding in a corner. He says maybe his powers don’t work because they’re evil and he’s evil, because Dean said so. Jack says his mother said he could be good, but realizes she’s dead because of him and he’s already done evil. And he can’t do a simple “good” thing like push a pencil.

Sam gives him a pep talk that sounds pretty damned insincere, considering all he really wants is for Jack to help him break Mary out of the alt-verse. Though Sam does at least admit that he’s pushing Jack too hard and they should stop for a while. Jack thinks that’s a great plan. Jack asks Sam why Sam is being so “nice” to him and not only does Sam not mention his very mercenary motive, he also does the same damned thing he’s been doing for 13 years and makes it all about himself, his own conflicts, his own issues. He says he’s empathizing with Jack, but that’s never been true before, so….

Back on the Wraith Hunt, Patience is confronting her father. It turns out he lied–a bit–about Missouri cutting them out of her life. Turns out it was the other way round. He talks about always being on the road, Hunting, as a child, except that 13 years ago, Missouri lived in a house, Show. Can’t these writers do a little damned research on show canon before writing these episodes?

Anyhoo, Jody and Dean once again cut to the chase and inform him that Patience is also psychic, which she confirms. The Wraith is now after her. James tells her to go upstairs and pack (because her being alone right now is SUCH A GOOD IDEA). Upstairs, Patience holds a broach and has a memory/vision of Missouri giving it to her at her mother’s gravesite after Daddy gave his mom the boot. Then she starts to pack, opens the closet door, and gets kidnapped by the Wraith. Of course. [facepalm]

Jody makes calls while Dean checks traffic cams for the Pedo Van. Meanwhile, James is going through his mother’s photos and things. He has a bag of something he calls “lithomantic gems.” It turns out James was able to do magic, too, which makes him look like even more of a dick.

Patience wakes up tied to a chair in a room. The Wraith comes in and creeps all over her. He started off on mental patients and accidentally happened across a real psychic. They give him a rush, make him “clear” or whatever. He’s going to take his time eating Patience because her grandmother tasted so darned good. Ugh.

Suddenly, Dean, her father, and Jody come in and the Wraith flees. But then James gets killed, then Jody, and finally Dean. Unsurprisingly, it’s a vision. Also, it’s total bullshit in light of the skills and abilities of the other three. Things start to pan out as before, but Patience is able to warn them so the first two just get knocked out. Her warning to Dean, though, works. After a longish fight, Dean kills the Wraith.

Afterward, Patience finally admits she’s psychic.

Afterward, Jody compliments Dean on the Wraith kill, while Dean compliments Patience (for the second time) on her help. Patience also thanks Dean and Jody. Patience talks about going back to school. Her father wants her to deny her gift (because that’s worked out well so far). Dean backs up James, pointing out that becoming a Hunter is a “horrible” and lonely life, full of pain, with no “joy.” Well, he should know. Jody, on the other hand, suggests that Patience might want to pursue her gift. Jody tried to get Claire to avoid Hunting, too, and it didn’t work out so well. She gives Patience her card. Dean doesn’t look thrilled, but he doesn’t object, either.

Back at the Bunker, Sam says he heard about Missouri and they have it out about Jack. Sam does yet another blame-Dean speech, saying that Dean didn’t think Sam was not worth saving when he was drinking demon blood. Dean soft-pedals around the part where Sam, while high on said blood, beat him half to death–twice–but gets right in Sam’s face about Sam’s hypocrisy in encouraging Jack so Jack can “save” Mary and brings up Jack’s brainwashing Castiel while still in the womb.

Jack is listening to the whole thing. Dean’s words precipitate a vision of Castiel lying on the ground someplace dark and cold. When Jack whispers Castiel’s name, Castiel hears him and wakes up.

Credits.

We need your help!

Contribute monthly via Patreon (which includes perks), make a one-time donation through Paypal, or buy us a coffee.

I’ll also be simul-recapping on Wayward Children.

Like this column? You can help keep it going by contributing monthly via Patreon (which includes perks), making a one-time donation through Paypal, or buying us a coffee.


13 thoughts on “The Official “Patience” (13.03) Live Recap Thread”

  1. SMALL cavil about my beloved show: I read io9.gizmodo.com and various other spoiler sites. There hardly ever is anything about SPN. Is it that the show figures it is where it is and has fans who will always ‘find’ it or that they have crummy PR (tho the guys have been getting a bit of press lately) person(s) work.

    1. I think it really comes down to the personalities involved behind the scenes at some sites. A lot of the online media journalists are attracted to the bright-and-shiny-new, which SPN obviously isn’t, and have little incentive to keep finding something new to say about it year after year. That would be one reason to have the spin-off–it gives those types in the genre media something to talk about regarding SPN, as well. The other main difference is that, unlike most older shows, SPN is quite responsive in its ratings to promotion and easily picks up new viewers when exposed to new audience, to the point of rising in ratings from year to year, or at least remaining the same. That’s incredibly rare. Like, farting unicorn species levels of rare.

      Spoiler TV is still pretty good. Doesn’t get everything, by a long shot (though it never did), but it hits the main highlights. EW also writes a fair bit about the show, as does TV Line. And TV by the Numbers not-infrequently discusses the show’s ratings.

      The PR for the show has actually improved a lot in the past few years, especially post-season nine. Warner Bros and the CW both seem acutely aware at this point that they have a cash cow of 1990s Star Trek franchise proportions. The fact it’s currently second on the network is probably just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the commercial behemoth the show may well have turned into (hence how nervous the execs get whenever J2 start talking about how long the show may last). It’s not going to be the at the level of Shondaland or the CSI franchise, but I’d be unsurprised if its remarkable longevity has been keeping the CW afloat through the tougher times. Nobody’s going to axe a network that hosts the current undisputed champ in genre shows, now matter how poorly all the other stuff on it is doing. Kind of like how everything but The Walking Dead on AMC could completely tank and that network would still be in the black.

    2. io9 has been anti supernatural since I have been visiting it circa 2007. For a brief period a superman wrote reviews and posted on their old interactive platform. Occasionally these were posted as article.

  2. This episode wasn’t much. I liked Dean telling Sam off at the end. Jack resurrecting Cas will complicate things and put Dean on the outside with cas and Sam.
    Jack has too much power, is too emotionally unstable for this to go well. If he tries to open a rift he’s going to open a yawning hole between the two dimensions.
    I am surprised the show is showing Sam being so manipulative and opportunistic. Also surprised they let Dean go there with Sam. On the surface Dean appears harsh and. Cruel but it’s obvious he will be proven right…. unless they do a Cas and Jack spinoff in a vile attempt to cash in on the superhero craze.

    I am watching for Dean and Dean!Michael.

  3. Well, James ‘will’ have to die for Patience to move to Jody’s place.

    They appear to be living a pretty nice life. Did they ever intimate what James did for a living? I know Patience asked him if he was working at home that day.

    For some reason I thought day-trader in stocks.

  4. I woke up to 8 inches of snow this morning.
    Sometimes I think the reason Dean continues to live with Sam is similar to why he agreed to take Jack home: to minimize the damage he would cause if left totally to his own devices.

  5. You know, when I first watched this, I thought the reference to Sam’s demon blood drinking days was to highlight how he is to Jack what Ruby was to him, minus the sex of course. Which would have been clever. It was only later I realized that it was a reference to his endless and largely self inflicted pain.

    The hunt itself was fairly pedestrian, just a showcase of Patience’s abilities. I didn’t really buy that Dean, with his skills, would need that kind of help, though it did make sense with Jody who is much greener.

    So looking at the age of Missouri’s son and granddaughter, I’d guess James is a few years older than Dean, though not necessarily. (Ben would be about 18 now. ) Anyway, it is now canon that Missouri hunted, and left a child behind to do so. And of course John went to her first. So my question is, was it from Missouri that John got the idea that it was acceptable to leave a young child alone to hunt? Makes me like the character even less. It also explains James resentment of her a lot more.

    It was a pure pleasure watching Dean call Sam out on using Jack. If Jack goes dark, it will be out of sheer frustration at Sam’s manipulations.

    Regarding both of your statements about Donna. I too would love to see Donna and Dean get it on. Some kind of long term friends with benefits arrangement with sex, jelly doughnuts, movies, bad jokes and hunting. They would have such fun.

  6. Wait, I thought James was fine, he was not killed. Was he? Boy I am confused here.

    I thought he died in the vision, then Jody then Dean. But in ‘real time’ she said something to make him move and he got knocked down and survived. Same thing with Jody. Then DEAN showed up and just got to use Mr. Silver Stabby on the Wraith. I have to say that Jody was pretty useless in either fight, I expected more. I think Donna, for instance, would’ve put up a much better fight.

    BTW, you know that scene in Hibbing 911 when Doug was being A Dick to Donna in the gun sales area? I would have loved Dean to see it, walk over, act all moony and just put SALT in Doug’s cornflakes.

    1. James currently is fine. He was just knocked down in real life. In the vision, he and the others died.

      Jody was kinda lame, it’s true, but keep in mind that Wraiths are extremely dangerous and Dean is a practically superhuman Hunter at this point who’s been in the Hunting life for almost forty years and can do remarkable things in a fight like take on three demons at once. Jody’s not supposed to be at his level. No one is.

      Yeah, I remember that scene. I was hoping that Dean would put the moves on Donna right in front Doug, Ducky-love-style. Personally, I think Donna needs to bang Dean like a gong and get her groove back. Dean’s got a puppy crush on her the size of a planet, so he’d be totally up for it.

      1. Glad you agree with me.

        Now the scene was all about Jody/Donna bonding. So Dean coming in to ‘save’ the day would not have fit with the plotting of the episode, but I sure wanted to see it.

        Donna has a resplendent smile.

      2. There is nothing in tv for me as cool as when Dean does a solid ‘strength’ move; last week he used his THIGHS to hold back the big beefy demon (one of the three Asmodeus kept in his entourage). Thursday it was a pure strength move to push the Wraith back to have the room to go stabbity-stabbity.

        I was watching the Dean-Cole fight scene in Reichenbach and I caught his ‘stunt double’ only once working it out with Cole. I was curious about Krav Naga (?) because I gather that was going to be their fighting style but I don’t know enough to recognize that style. Did they ever use the Israeli fighting actually in the show? Did they both just never get the moves down so it could never be at speed? I gather Kripke decided that ‘brawler’ style was a better style for the show. I enjoyed Dean taking every style Cole threw at him and just ‘smiling’ thru the whole thing in Reichenbach. I also like that in a pure fight (nobody ‘powered’ up) Dean does win. I am curious if anybody thinks Sam ‘learned’ young he could not win so does not believe he can not win and thus does not win.

  7. It was an episode which did not really move the plot forward. That is why I called it an ‘explainer.’ I liked Dean’s two fights with the Wraith. The stunt coordinator is really doing good on fights here. He is giving Jensen little ‘tricks’ (like him shooting the BMOL with a behind the back move last season).

    They are judiciously using Jack; I don’t know how he is going to turn out. I know IF he walks in and says I have felt Castiel and he is alive. Well, Dean will be his buddy forever.

  8. The episode was entirely an ‘explainer’ to me. We meet Patience. We lose Missouri. We keep James the nothing-burger…and for Patience to move to Sioux Fall I guess we lose him too.

    How did the Wraith get into her bedroom to hide in the closet? That made no sense. I like though that he could not drain her until his spike grew out again.

    When Dean made his speech to Patience at the end, Jody stepped in and told the girl something different which made no sense because the GIRL WAS WITH HER FATHER AND A HAPPY HS STUDENT. Dean was more forceful, yes, but he has told every single person he has ever run into who had any interest in Hunting NOT to get into Hunting. He talks about the loss and pain of it. EVERYBODY gets the ‘lecture.’ Heck in the Clue Episode he threatened to SHOOT a guy who showed interest! (That was ‘MOC’ Dean so maybe overwrought but the point remains.)

    Was Jody taking ‘personal time’ or has she quit being the Sioux Falls Sheriff? Confused.

    Sam ‘is’ concerned about Jack, but he also wants to use him to GET HIS MOMMY BACK. That is first in his mind.

    It appears next week the 3 of them go Hunting, wonder if Jack will evince his powers?

Leave a Reply to Administrator Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *