Supernatural: Alex Annie Alexis Ann (9x19)

This was Jody Mills' episode, full and simple. And I loved it. Yeah, it was C-plot, but after next week's backdoor pilot, we're just going to have a three-part finale ahead of us. I'm really excited about how this season is wrapping up. Let's take a look at what happens.

A girl named Alex is brought into a police station as a runaway. A vampire turns up to take her back home with him, but Sheriff Jody Mills kills the vampire to protect the girl. She calls in Sam and Dean to help her clear out the nest of vampires in the area. Things get more complicated when we learn that Alex (whose real name is Ann) was kidnapped by these vampires when she was just a kid, and considers them to be her family. She has moral problems with their drinking blood, but at the same time she loves them.

Jody takes Alex to her family's cabin to keep her away from the vampires, while Sam and Dean go to deal with the vamps. However, when they get there we see just one vampire, disposing of the remains of recent victims. Sam and Dean (mostly Dean) torture him for more information, and then Dean kills him. Turns out, Alex works as bait to draw men into the vampire's midst. Sam and Dean realize that Jody is probably in danger. They call her, but they're too late, as the vampires turn up at the cabin, knock Jody out, and take Alex.

Jody insists on joining Sam and Dean as they try and take the nest. She says that Alex is under her protection. When they get to the vampire's nest, Sam and Dean are caught by some of Alex's brothers, while the Mama vampire captures Jody. To Jody's horror, she sees that Alex has fed from Mama's blood. This means that she has to feed on Jody to complete the transformation into a vampire. Alex did it because she was feeling guilty about all the killing, and her "mama" told her that this was just a silly side effect of being human. Jody figures out that "Mama" has been using Alex as a replacement for her own daughter, who died a long time ago. Jody says she understands that kind of pain.

Alex injects her own mother with Dead Man's Blood, and Jody kills the vampire. Alex is able to be cured of her vampirism, just like Dean was back in Season Six. Sam mentions to Dean that it seemed like he enjoyed killing the vampires a bit too much, even going so far as to say "look at me, bitch!" to one of them before decapitating him. Dean tells Sam that it's not a crime to enjoy their job, but Sam is still worried. Jody offers to be there for Alex however she wants, and we're left with the feeling that Jody might take over as Alex's caretaker.

So. Do I have complaints? Uh... no. Honestly, no. This was more than I ever could have hoped for from a C-plot episode. It was, at its core, a story about Jody and Alex, and how they're both learning how to grieve for their lost loves, and move on to a healthier place, together. If I was forced to complain a teeny tiny bit, I guess I would say that I was getting annoyed with Sam and Dean's attitude with Jody, as if she were completely incompetent. She's a damn good hunter, and Bobby helped train her too, you know. They should maybe have respected her a bit more from the start. But... then on the other hand they totally admitted when they were wrong about Alex, and respected her decisions. I don't know. I honestly can't think of any complaints!

Dean is falling deeper and deeper into this Mark of Cain thing, and it's really starting to stress me out. I can't wait for the ultimate low point. I'm sure it'll be deliciously angsty. What I love is the fact that we can still see the old Dean underneath, quite clearly. For example, the difference between old Dean and new Dean can be seen quite clearly when we look at what happened at the vampire nest. When Dean saw that Sam was in danger of being shot, he instantly dropped his weapon. At his core, he'd still do anything to save Sam. However, when Sam was being painfully and slowly drained of blood, Dean pretended to be unconscious, letting Sam suffer, because he knew he'd get a good chance to kill his enemies if he waited. The fact that he didn't even consider Sam's pain seems like proof that Dean has changed.

I do have one moment I want to talk about... maybe someone reading this can help me out? I'm confused by Dean saying "yeah I know, you wouldn't have done the same for me." What the hell is he saying? That Sam wouldn't have killed a vampire to save his life? Come on, Dean, you already know that Sam would do a hell of a lot more than that to protect you. He's risked himself a thousand times - even in just this season alone - even after finding out about Gadreel. On the one hand I feel bad for Dean, but on the other, I feel like I just want to tell him to get over himself. He has so many examples of what Sam would do for him, so why is he being such a baby about this? It's greatly intriguing, I'll tell you that. I really want Sam and Dean to air out this dirty laundry, but the tension is so interesting as it is!

I also love the way that Sam is trying to toe the line between being a concerned brother and a impartial work partner. Clearly, Dean's actions are worrying him, but he's also not in a place to make Dean talk to him about it.

But really, what we should be talking about is Jody. And Alex. I love the way that this show dealt with the Alex thing. This girl was kidnapped, and abused, but she doesn't think about it that way. Well, she sort of does. She knows what her "family" is doing is wrong, but they're still her family. Even though the episode didn't push the parallels with the Winchester family, I still think they were there. What if Sam became a vampire and started killing humans? Would Dean put him down? I don't think so! Alex's intense loyalty towards her family is very interesting, as is her decision to save Jody at the end by betraying the woman she has thought of as a mother all of these years.

The best, most interesting thing that happened in this episode was that after Alex had stabbed "Mama," she says "I'm sorry, Mama." She doesn't suddenly see the light and realize that her family is made of monsters. She doesn't instantly stop loving them. In fact, she's going to grieve for all of her dead family members for a long time to come. What's wonderful is the fact that Jody respects that. She might not respect the vampires who hurt Alex like this, but she does respect that Alex loved them.

The fact that Jody was able to be honest about her grieving process is just so refreshing for me. She admits that she was projecting a lot of her feelings about her dead child and husband onto Alex. She wants to be a mothering figure to her, which actually parallels her to the really unhealthy and damaging actions of the vampire mother. The parallels and resonances between Jody and the mother were really amazing, and they were so well developed.

The episode ends with Jody and Alex. We don't know the fate of their relationship, but we know that Jody is respecting what Alex is going through and that Alex is starting to understand what a real family figure should be. It was a relatively happy ending, actually, although it had some uncertainty and bittersweetness to it as well.

As you can tell, I'm a fan of this episode. Jody Mills has now been in more episodes than most characters on this damn show, which is hilarious. She's actually been in twice as many episodes as Charlie, isn't that crazy? I hope to see more of her in the future.

9.5/10