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Supernatural: Nightmare Logic

"This case obviously ain't a milk run."

I am loving Sam's arc this season. How interesting that it brought him in conflict with "new" Bobby.

Here on our Earth, Earth-1 or whatever, Dean and Sam are not Bobby's unofficially adopted sons; they're strangers. As a shot-caller himself, New Bobby was feeling threatened by Sam's ascendancy. Clever Sam has made a team of refugees into a team of hunters, into what the British Men of Letters should have been but weren't. Homework. Check-ins. Body-cam footage uploaded directly to the server, even.

Personally, I'm loving it. It's like Sam finally found his calling. Mary said that Sam had been born to this, and even Bobby had to admit in the end that Sam was doing a good job. Dean seemed to be enjoying it, too. He was observing and not interfering, and I think he's proud of Sam taking over and managing the "hunter Five-0 thing."

Why did Sam allow Maggie to hunt alone, then? That was one thing that made no sense to me, especially as our good guys are slowly realizing that Michael has given our standard Supernatural monsters superpowers so that they can more easily take out hunters. I guess we didn't really know that until this episode, though. It was difficult to tell what was going on for most of this one, what with the monsters exploding into dust like they were refugees from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, only with yet more dust.

(I was a bit surprised that Maggie survived. She feels like a character that I don't want to get attached to because we're eventually going to lose her.)

Of course, I did pick up immediately that Neil the nurse wasn't what he seemed to be – so obvious – and voila. That scene where souped-up super djinn Neil touched Dean's mind and tried to discover his personal nightmares was a very strong hint that Michael is hiding inside Dean, wasn't it? Is Michael simply riding along, watching Dean's life like a movie, scoping out Sam's new operation in order to pop out and take over Dean's body at the worst possible moment? I think so. And damn.


And I was so enjoying Dean's newfound calm, especially when he was with Rawlings' daughter Sasha (nice performance by Leah Cairns from Travelers). The scene where she confided in him about her workaholic father and suicidal mother was a pointed callback to all of the Winchester family drama, and Dean gave her some good advice – to try to let go of her baggage, something he has been trying to do himself. I kept thinking that Dean wouldn't be able to share his comparable experiences with her, as in, hey, my mom burned on the ceiling when I was four, except she's back now and hunting with me and she's even romantically connecting with a double of my dead foster father. Resurrected mom and resurrected dad. Supernatural just isn't like other shows.

This episode did strongly feature "new" Bobby, who has a different but still achingly similar backstory as original Bobby. Driven and flirting with death, this Bobby also lost his wife and blames himself for the death of his son Daniel during the Angel War, a son that original Bobby didn't have. This left me with an unanswered question, though. If Bobby never found Daniel's body, how does he know that Daniel is dead?


Anyway, I like that Mary Winchester might just be Bobby's new reason for living. He actually pulled that blade out of his own shoulder to save her from Daniel's dusty doppelganger. And now the two of them are off to Donna's cabin so that Bobby can heal. I bet we're not going to see them for a few episodes.

Bits:

— I loved that bit where Dean told Sasha to go make him a sandwich. :)

— No Jack and Castiel this time. They were in Sarasota.

— Dean called Garth. Been a long time since we saw Garth.

— Dean and Sam talked about The Walking Dead. Please bring Jeffrey Dean Morgan back. I know I say that every season, but please.

— There's always good photography in a Supernatural episode, but this time I particularly liked the shots of the Impala flying down the road and Sam in the crooked hallway of the Rawlings house.

— This week: Claremore, Oklahoma. Sam was Mr. Harrison and Dean Mr. Byrne from the Historical Preservation Society. Talking Heads?

— Loved Bobby's hat. I also liked the navy blue jacket Sam was wearing instead of the tan one.

Quotes:

Sam: "Don't even say it."
Dean: "What? No, it's good. It's got, like, a very camp counselor vibe to it. Just need to get you a whistle."

Sam: "We just wish you'd checked in with the main office before coming all the way out here."
Bobby: "Well, we don't need permission to look at houses. Especially when the main office is run by a bunch of idjits."
Idjits. I've missed Bobby. And Bobby-isms.

Mary: "Bobby's not open, like your dad."
Sam: "Wait. My dad?"
I thought Mary catching herself as she was confiding in Sam about her love life was rather dear. It has to be nearly impossible to see this very tall grown man as the baby she just left behind.

Sam: "A vampire chased her down the hall."
Dean: "Okay, you're right. No sense. I mean, what kind of vampire lets its dinner go AWOL? And that thing that I killed? Died weird."

Dean: "Why are you going after hunters?"
Neil: "Because you told me to. Is this still part of the game?"

Interesting and emotional episode about family. Three out of four idjits,

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.

7 comments:

  1. This left me with an unanswered question, though. If Bobby never found Daniel's body, how does he know that Daniel is dead?

    Bobby doesn't KNOW that he is dead, but the Djinn was feeding on people's worst fears, and Bobby's worst fear is that he got his son killed in the angel war. Basically they went on a mission, there was a ton of destruction and Daniel didn't make it back. The options are 1) He was killed by an angel 2) he said yes to an angel and was possessed. 3) He found a place to hide and deserted the cause or allied with the angels the way Kevin did. Bobby is picking the one that has his kid being a hero, instead of a collaborator.

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  2. Yes, exactly. It seems so unlikely to me that Bobby, even if he isn't *our* Bobby, would ever stop looking for his son.

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  3. Well, I called it an episode back ... as you did too Billie. Michael is still inside Dean. Dean should be thinking about this, especially since he knew how possible this scenario is with the experience with Gadreel. Also, now that they know they are no longer playing by the same rules with the monsters, another reason to wonder where Michael is and think outside the monster box.

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  4. I hope we get an "Ocean's Eleven" moment where, indeed, Michael pops out at the worst moment, only to discover that Sam and Dean have figured this out earlier and somehow found a way to communicate without Michael knowing. They could foil his plan. That would be sweet. And a nod to the fact that this is the show that understands its fan base the best... that is consistent with its considerable lore.

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  5. Heather1, that would be terrific. After what happened with Gadreel, they should be suspicious.

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  6. Is Michael simply riding along, watching Dean's life like a movie, scoping out Sam's new operation in order to pop out and take over Dean's body at the worst possible moment? I think so.

    I think so, too!

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  7. What struck me about the exchange about Bobby not being "open like your Father" is how much it must hurt for Mary to be reminded of what her death did to her family. It also made me wonder how much she knows about this world's Bobby. He was kind of a surrogate father for Sam & Dean for years, so there's a certain aptness to Mary winding up with a Bobby.

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