Last Night's "Supernatural" - "Captives"
I had exactly one expectation going into last night’s episode of Supernatural, and that was that Castiel and Bartholomew would meet and settle their differences in the bedroom, where it belongs. Not only did that not happen, but also what actually ended up happening was Castiel giving Bart the ax – or the angel blade, to be more specific (and that’s not a euphemism for anything, unfortunately). There went that fantasy!
We’ll get to all that in a second, but first…
The return of Kevin! (Who has only been gone a couple of episodes but whatever)
The episode opens with the Winchester boys in their respective rooms (Normally I’d make a remark about the show’s futile attempt to convince us that they sleep separately but in this case I won’t because given that they’re in the middle of break up #2958, it’s totally reasonable) and then Dean hollering out for Sam and then Sam roaming the bunker looking for Dean. Turns out there’s something going bump in the night at Casa Winchester and it doesn’t take long for the brothers to figure out that it’s a ghost haunting their abode. Not just any ghost though; it’s dearly departed Kevin who hasn’t been able to get to heaven because the gates are closed. Oops! Never one to waste an opportunity though, he uses his connection to the boys to materialize and tell them that he’s heard from another ghost that his mother is still very much alive, as Crowley had hinted previously.
This is tremendous news. Not for Kevin - for me! I love Mrs. Tran! I love her so much that I started a petition on the White House’s “We The People” website all about her.
Anyway, the boys are off on their mission to find Linda Mrs. Tran armed with little more than some information a recently dead girl passed along to Kevin in the veil. For anyone else, this would pose a challenge. For Sam and Dean, it means the guys have tracked down the girl’s ghost and the location of where she was being kept hostage along with Mrs. Tran, and all that before I’ve had time to promote my White House petition on Twitter.
Mrs. Tran was being held at a storage facility by an adorkable and totally my type-looking guy that is working for Crowley. Oh, and did I forget to mention he was a demon? Sorry. He was. He was an angry demon with some serious issues with his boss, whom he hasn’t seen in a while. You have to give this guy credit; he did his best divide and conquer routine with Sam and Dean and it almost worked.
Sam rescues Mrs. Tran and then lets her be the one to wield the demon-killing knife and deal the final blow to her captor/torturer. Did I mention that I love her? I do. Now there’s just that sensitive little detail of telling her that her son is dead. Good luck with that Dean.
While all that’s going on…
Castiel tracks down Batholomew!
Cas is not a fan of angel on angel crime and he’s hoping to put an end to it. While aiming for Metatron, he finds himself in Bartholomew’s grasp instead and he takes the opportunity to have a heart to heart with his brother, whom he feels is going about this whole finding and killing Metatron thing all wrong.
They discussed it a lot and it all looked very interesting but, to be honest, I was having a hard time focusing on anything other than Bart’s beautiful eyes and Castiel’s cute pout. Some of it did seep in though, like when Cas thought he was a prisoner of Bart’s now and Bart told him he was free to go at any time while I yelled at my TV, “Noooooo! Don’t go!” Or when Castiel refused to stick his angel blade inside Bart. Or when he finally did and it wasn’t at all what I was expecting.
Something good came out of it, though. Cas, through his actions, gained some followers. Some of his brethren observed the way Castiel showed compassion and advocated for peace with Bart and between all angels (except Metatron, of course, because that guy must be killed) and it moved them enough to want to join Castiel’s cause, even if Castiel doesn’t consider himself a leader or worthy of the responsibility.
To quote Chichi Rodriguez from one of my favorite classic movies (yes, it counts as a classic!), “Well, get with the program, mijas! No one’s so rich as to throw away a friend.” Castiel knows this. He needs all the friends and followers he can get if he’s going to get anywhere near Metatron, let alone angel blade the guy!
Reunited and it feels so good!
Mrs. Tran and Ghost Kevin lay eyes on each other for the first time and it’s heartbreaking because she knows she can’t reach out and touch her son, even though that’s all she wants to do. I’m guessing at this point that the guys told her about Kevin on the way to the bunker and she’s taking it remarkably well.
After finding the object that Kevin’s spirit is bound to (his father’s ring… one day, I want to hear more of that story), she’s quick to want to go home and take her son’s spirit with her. Dean warns her that the longer a ghost stays in the veil, the worse things get, but being the consummate mother that she is, she reminds Dean that her job is to take care of her son for as long as she can, and that’s exactly what she’s going to do.
Before she and Kevin head off, though, Kevin has some words for the Winchesters. “You two, get over it, “ He's as tired of their high school drama as the rest of us are, “The drama? The fighting? It’s stupid. My mom’s taking home a ghost. You two… you’re both still here.” He makes them promise they’ll stop and they both verbally agree but not even the seconds after Kevin and Mrs. Tran leave, Sam is back to sulking and walking away from Dean to avoid him. There is a glimmer of hope though; he pauses before he enters his own room, as if mulling over Kevin’s words. Progress. It’s minuscule but it’s progress.
Dean, on the other hand, keeps slipping further and further into himself and that self-deprecating, guilt-ridden self is not a good place to visit for long. It’s easy to understand why. “There ain’t no me if there ain’t no you,” remember?
Although I appreciate the break up scruff on Dean, it’s time to mend fences, don’t you think?
Next week: the Ghostfacers are back and they look about as happy to see the Winchesters as the Winchesters are to see them. This should be fun!