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Supernatural: The Raid

"We'll walk away. Go back to the way things were, the way things are supposed to be. Hunters and vampires, cops and robbers, a fair fight."

They did it again. They came up with a new idea.

Why not go corporate?

Yes, of course I feel massive resistance, but that is probably because I love Supernatural as it is. My Supernatural is about Dean and Sam hunting monsters, about the Winchesters and their tragic lives. If the British Men of Letters truly have a way to wipe out monsters everywhere in North America (I'm assuming that includes Canada), what exactly is wrong with that? What's wrong with the idea of Dean and Sam having a life, of Sam going back to law school, of Dean maybe starting his own garage and working on classic cars, of wives and kids and the whole nine?

This completely explains why Mary joined up in the first place. We know that the hunter life is never what she wanted for her children. What mother would? Dean saw her joining up with the British Men of Letters as a personal betrayal, but she's been fighting for a future for her boys all this time. It makes perfect sense. I should have realized.

Sam would be good at it, too. The entire BMoL temporary storage container bunker would have been wiped out if it weren't for Sam taking command. I almost liked Mick this time, too, for being so clever and quick about getting that bullet for the Colt into Sam's hands. It's obvious that, if the BMoL are depending on traitorous idiots like Pierce Moncrieff, they are in desperate need of the leadership and practical experience of hunters like Dean and Sam, and points for them, they're even aware of it.

But... the very idea of our Winchesters joining a huge organization turns the primary focus of this series on its ear. What about the upper management, the "old men" in England, whom I can't help but see as the Supernatural version of the ineffective, idiotic Watchers' Council on Buffy? What about Lady Toni torturing Sam the way she did? Not to mention the fact that they deliberately employ psycho killers like Ketch? Despite the way Ketch was acting all buddy buddy with Dean and bringing him expensive scotch and we're all psycho killers together, Dean is not a psycho killer, and he'll never fit in with them.


Much of this episode was exciting and a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing Mary and Sam work together so well in such dire circumstances, and of course, they fought rings around Mick and his inexperienced team. Did I believe it when Sam was offering to make a deal with the Alpha Vamp? No, it didn't sound like something Sam would ever do. But the bit with the Colt and the slomo death of the Alpha vamp was very cool.

With that as a possible exception, the best scene in the episode was the opener when Dean finally had enough and showed Mary the door. Amara gave Dean his mother back, but it has been far from the joyful gift it could have been. How painful has Mary's constant rejection been for Dean? Maybe less so than for Sam, our peacemaker, who never knew Mary at all when he was little, but I was relieved that Sam took Dean's side. I would expect him to do that.

Will Dean be able to let go of his resentment and join the BMoL? It's an interesting situation. Dean does not play well with others, and he won't like anyone telling him what to do. He might not do it for Mary. Maybe he'll do it for Sam.

But will it work out? I'm going to go out on a limb and say no.

Bits:

— The storage container temporary base seemed out of place for the BMoL. You'd expect them to pick up a gorgeous old estate off in the woods somewhere.

— Farewell to Rick Worthy as the Alpha Vampire. He goes pretty far back to season six: "Live Free or Twihard," "Family Matters" and season seven's "There Will Be Blood." Honestly, I wish they'd found time to write a bigger plot arc around him.

— Hunter and traitor Pierce Moncrieff, who once knew our guy Rufus, survived but was taken away in chains. What's going to happen to him? Not that he deserves tea and scones for betraying the human race, but seriously?

— Aaron Douglas and Rick Worthy both played important characters on Battlestar Galactica, so this episode was a Battlestar reunion.

— This week: the MoL bunker, the Morest Motel vampire nest in Wichita, Kansas, and the BMoL temporary headquarters, which was where? Was it in Kansas, too? Kansas is centrally located, and probably where the BMoL would set up.

Quotes:

Sam: "A hunter got killed."
Mary: "You think I don't know? I'm the one who burned his body. I'm the one who told his wife. I watch him die every night."
Dean: "Good."

Dean: "How about once, you just try and be a mom."
Mary: "I am your mother. But I am not just a mom, and you are not a child."
Dean: "I never was. So between us and them..."
Mary: "It's not like that."
Dean: "Yeah, Mary, it is. And you made your choice. So there's the door."

Sam: "You know, I dig the whole low-budget Mission Impossible vibe, but I'm gonna head back."

Alpha Vamp: "You've killed so many of my children. I've seen your work... in England. I didn't get involved because, well, it's England. But America, yes. America is my home. And it is time that you Get. Off. My. Lawn!"

Good one, and food for thought. Three out of four Mission Impossible vibes,

Billie
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Billie Doux has been reviewing Supernatural for so long that Dean and Sam Winchester feel like old friends. Courageous, adventurous, gorgeous old friends.

5 comments:

  1. While I do completely understand Mary's reasoning, even if I think she's going about everything horribly and doesn't understand her sons at all, Sam really puzzles me. He's about to go to work for a group of hunters (they may use fancier titles but that's what they are at the end of the day) that wants to eradicate all supernatural creatures from the face of the Earth (they said America but you just know their endgame is the world), regardless of whether or not they've even done anything to deserve it. Where's the Sam Winchester who actually has compassion for people who are trapped in situations they have no control over? Sure, a lot of the creatures are evil but not all of them. Does't Sam remember when HE was the one being targeted as a creature by a group of hunters who figured out he had powers and set Lucifer free, the same group that subsequently tried to torture him and force-feed demon blood down his throat? Those guys were using Mick's logic to a tee, that if something is unnatural you should just kill it, regardless of any evidence of wrongdoing. If he really is forgetting all that just so he can have a normal life, I'm highly disappointed.

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  2. I really hope they will reveal what the 5 immune entities are. Especially now that they introduced Amara making her the second obvious inclusion after God which leaves 3 open spaces and that means all creatures that come in 4s (Horsemen, Archangels) are no longer eligible which means tehy could technically finally kill Lucifer for good.

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  3. Oh I'm so frustrated. It's not that I don't like the story arc, I do, but I'm very frustrated with the decisions Mary and now Sam are making. It's like the brits are invading America and "ok, I'm in". What? No! I actually rooted for the Alpha on this one, and I'm disppointed in Sam. He's the first one who learned about grey in this profession, the one who let Lenore go safely, just to say one. The Winchesters know not every monster is, actually, a monster, and they have learn how to make a difference and who to kill. They are not the extermination kind of people, there is justice in their actions, and none in the Bmol ones. So yes, I can see how Mary can be tempted -she has been raised in a black-white vision of hunting, and I can understand her motives- but come on, 12 years have passed, do you really think Sam can just go back to law school? I don't. I think Sam has found his call, his purpose in hunting, and if you take it from him -same as Dean- I don't think he can have just an apple pie life. Is not who they are, not anymore, and Mary is so focused in other stuff she has not taken time to understand her boys, to know them.
    So yes, I'm disappointed in Sam this time. Come on, what are you gonna do when they send you on Garth's pack? On Lenore nest? On Rowena, or Crowley? On Kate? Have Sam thought this trough?
    Dean is usual Dean, needing to punch something andndrink, just as he always do when he is upset. And yes, he is a killer, and he enjoys his work, but he's not a psycopath like Ketch, he has his values and a moral and thank God he hasn't the Mark of cain anymore. I liked the Dean bit with the vampire girl, he shows what's lacking in anyone else, compassion. And compassion is a very important and lovable quality in the brothers.
    I liked the ep, very much, even if I'm sorry to see the Alpha die ("see you next season" not anymore, pal), but I'm frustrated. Three out of four broken anti vampires device.

    And thank you, Billie, for the reviews. They are always very good and are my favourite thing to read after an episode, to win a bit of distance and understand what I really thought about them.

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  4. This was a good episode. But I do hope Sam retains his view that not all monsters are evil. I have a feeling he is going to maybe sabotage BMOL. As even though there end game appears to be getting rid of the supernatural threat but I feel that they have something more planned. In regards to pierce I feel ketch just took him out and killed him and I am surprised Sam and dean allowed that to happen.

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  5. I felt that Sam can see both sides of the equation which makes him a good hunter. His strength is logic and Dean's is emotion. I felt that Dean was being a jerk when he told Sam to pick a side after he lashed out at Sam. Perhaps it was surmised in the earlier post that maybe this is Sam's endgame to end the British Men of Letters. Time will tell, plus it's the show's usual let's keep secrets, so everyone is angery with each other storyline!

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