Supernatural: Don't You Forget About Me (11x12)

I just want to say, first of all, that I'm so happy this episode exists. I feel as though we only got it because of the upsurge of fan attention and support for the idea of the "Wayward Daughters," that is, Jody, Claire, and Alex. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Cons:

To start with the one rather large complaint, however... I have to say that the actual Monster-of-the-Week plot here was pretty lame. It was a copy of so many other stories, where in the end the bad guys (vampires, in this case) pontificated for far too long with their captives (Jody, Claire, and Alex) until the Winchesters could show up and try to save the day. Both are incompetent enough to get themselves nearly killed, but all is well in the end, as the ladies take out the baddies. There was kidnapping, an all-too-obvious connection with Alex's past, and the annoying fact that none of the adults believed Claire when she said something fishy was going on. I felt like we were falling into a lot of Supernatural's least interesting clichés.

Another smaller thing - what with Claire's heavy importance to the episode, you would think it would have been all too easy to mention Cas. They did briefly talk about how they hadn't heard from him, but I was a little miffed that Claire didn't ask about him, or the guys didn't talk about him in connection with his vessel's daughter.

Pros:

My complaint about the plot itself is neutralized pretty effectively by the fact that the plot was so not the point of this episode. It was all about the three guest characters, and that's where the episode really shone.

First of all, the comedy was spot-on. Sam and Dean come to Jody's house because Claire has called them, suspecting monstrous activity in their town. When the boys arrive, they sit down to a home-cooked dinner with the family, and are overjoyed at the sight of real food, as opposed to the take-out they're used to. At the dinner table, things get weird when Jody tries to have the sex talk with Alex, because she saw birth control pills in her bag. Sam and Dean are profoundly uncomfortable and try to leave the table, but Jody forces them to stay, looking to them as backup. This scene was the perfect way to start off the episode. It was funny, and it helped establish some of the character dynamics going on here between these women. Jody wants to be a mother-like figure to the kids, but she knows she's not really their mom. Claire and Alex bicker like siblings, but with an edge not typical between ordinary sisters. Claire believes Alex hates her, and Alex doesn't do much to disabuse her of that notion.

Claire and Alex each have very different and distinct reactions to their past traumas. Claire takes the Dean Winchester route, falling more and more into hunting until it fuels her as an outright obsession. Alex attempts to do as Sam did and escape the life, but this is made hard by the fact that the bad guys of the week, the vampires, are only in town to get revenge on her for something she did back when she lived with the vampire coven. Apparently, one of the people she lured to the lair is back for revenge. Even Alex's popular boyfriend is revealed to be a vampire who was changed by the main baddie in order to lure her to him. Still, by the end Alex has maintained her wish for a normal life, and talks about how she might have to move on from Jody and Claire in order to get a clean break from the hunter's life.

Although Cas was conspicuous by his absence, I did love the fact that Claire still had the grumpy cat stuffed animal that Cas bought for her from "The Hot Topical." Oh, Cas. I loved the details that showed Claire as a vulnerable young person, even amidst all the bad-assery of her actions, and her hardened outer shell. She's diving in to the life of hunting because it's all she knows how to understand.

Sam and Dean were almost secondary to the story this week, and that's as it should be. Still, I loved how both of them had their moments of talking to the girls, giving their wisdom and talking them through some of the difficulties of their situation. Sam was able to support Alex in her desire to escape the life, while sympathizing with Claire about how appealing hunting can be sometimes. Dean was able to turn on the stern dad voice and remind Claire that Jody deserves her appreciation for all she's done, and for how hard she's trying.

In the climax, Sam and Dean turn up and help, but it's Alex and Claire who get to take out Henry, Alex's evil vampire boyfriend. I loved how their actions in this moment highlighted their differing goals and desires for life. Alex looks into the face of a person she really cared about but now knows to be a liar and a villain, but she doesn't take his life. She's not going to fall into a pattern of killing. Claire takes the fatal swing, decapitating Henry and saving Alex in the process.

I guess that's really all I've got. This turned out to be a fairly short review, but in all honesty the episode stands on its own merits. A fairly inconsequential plot served as an adequate framework for some excellent character work. Hopefully this episode pulled in good ratings, because I'd love to see these girls come back again and again.

8/10