Well, that was adorable. Except for the fingernails.
Mrs. Butters was exactly what every stressed out monster hunter should go home to: a magical Mary Poppins to make them lunches and keep the bunker tidy. She was all about the homecooked meals and Christmas trees and birthday parties; she even waxed cars and fixed the broken television set in Dean's sad little mancave (I assume that was from the "Scoobynatural" episode).
Dean and Sam, who grew up on the road without a mom, were simply happy to catch a break for once. And wasn't it lovely? Mrs. Butters gave them back the joy of fighting monsters as well as the ease and comfort of a happy home. Just Dean in the purple nightshirt made this episode worth it. I particularly enjoyed the sight gag of Dean lifting the shirt up while Sam cringed and covered his eyes.
(I was a bit confused about the holiday timelines until I realized that Mrs. Butters had started with Christmas and then gone backward to Thanksgiving, Halloween, the Fourth of July and Sam's birthday to make up for all the holidays they'd lost.)
It was such a joyous interlude that of course there was a catch – there's always a catch on Supernatural. And that was Jack.
This episode was really all about Dean forgiving Jack. Right now, the boys need Jack, since he might be the only being powerful enough to defeat Chuck and save their world, but Dean could never forget what Jack did to Mary. It was no coincidence that Mrs. Butters was all about defending her family. After Jack confided in her, she expressed Dean's rage when he could not, using, of all things, poisoned smoothies.
Why is it that Sam is the one that gets tortured? Maybe it's the same reason Dean gets the eating scenes. Did it have to be fingernails? At least it was reversable and Mrs. Butters got a happy ending, returning to her home in the woods.
Here's hoping she doesn't kill another two hundred people at some point.
Bits:
— I'm a Star Trek person, so the beginning of this episode strongly reminded me of Scotty in the pattern buffer.
— Meagen Fay gave a lovely performance as Mrs. Butters. It's not easy playing a psycho Mary Poppins. I also enjoyed the brief return of Kavan Smith as Cuthbert Sinclair.
— Sam had an off-camera date with Eileen. I'm glad she's still alive. I'm also glad they're actually dating because I didn't think they were going to go there, and I wanted them to.
— Loved that the low-rent vampires were watching Dark Shadows.
— I also loved Sam with Thor's hammer.
— So that big telescope-like thing is an interdimensional geoscope? What would that do? Allow them to see the other dimensions that have now disappeared?
— Dean has Scooby-Doo boxer shorts. Why am I not surprised?
— This week: This was actually a bottle episode. How many episodes have we had set almost entirely in the bunker?
— Title musings: With the end of the series approaching, "Last Holiday" sounds especially ominous.
— Apologies for my lateness in posting this review. I seem to be having some writer's block these days. Maybe I'll feel better after the election.
Quotes:
Sam: "Too bad we can't just call a plumber."
Dean: "Oh, yeah. Hey, Mario Brothers, yeah, could you come to the most secretive secure supernatural hideout in the world? Great, thanks. Go Luigi!"
Sam: "Even if she is what she says she is, a kind of..."
Dean: "Magic Roomba?"
Sam: "Whatever. Do you think it's a good idea having her around?"
Dean: "I mean, we do have the son of Satan living down the hall."
Dean: "Look at me. I'm the picture of health."
Sam: "Ignoring your trauma doesn't make you healthy."
Dean: "Sure it does."
Dean: "Whoo! Well, that's gotta be a record. I mean, no investigation, no dead ends, just ding! Bloodsuckers. That monster radar rules."
Only six episodes to go, can you believe it? Three out of four magic Roombas,
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.
I thought this was incredibly cute (although a weird episode to come back to, which obviously they had no control over).
ReplyDeleteI had to close my eyes during the fingernail parts. SPN doesn't usually gross me out that much. :-)
I thought this was superfun. I am so glad that Supernatural is back. I was worried we might never get the conclusion to the series.
ReplyDeleteGiven the pandemic, will the episodes that are left all be in the bunker?
Before filming shut down for COVID, they had just started the next-to-the-last episode. The other shows still had to edited. When production started back up in September, they definitely had location shoots. Some of the guest actors, as well as Jared and Jensen posted on social media on filming days. One post was next to a lake, and Jensen said on Instagram that their last day of filming was in a place that wouldn't have cell service.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you've come back to review the final episodes. I've always enjoyed your reviews since I discovered them recently.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping the AV Club would continue to do reviews of these last eps after they stopped at the end of season 9. And I'm baffled about why they stopped then when the last episode review of season 9 had 557 comments!
I enjoyed the episode for the most part. My only small gripe was when they killed the vampires. I know it was meant to be a very minor portion but considering that they complained about the British Men of Letters killing every werewolf (I think? I remember a brief mention of Garth) because not all of them were bad and these vampires were drinking blood from a blood bag. They had no knowledge of anyone who was killed by them so why are they killing them? Obviously when they busted in the vampires defended themselves but self preservation makes that a reasonable reaction.
ReplyDeleteGood episode and I love how Jack is still struggling with what he did. I also liked how Mrs. Butters was "determined" to "protect" her boys! Felt bad for Jack as he was used as a battering ram and Sam for yet another gross, senseless round of torture but overall I liked the episode.
ReplyDelete