Supernatural: Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox (12x06)

Oh my God, what?! That episode was absolutely amazing! Jody Mills! A group of hunters! Mary Winchester! Even Billie made an appearance!

Cons:

Uh... okay. I will admit that this episode required some suspension of disbelief. And I don't mean the standard "there are demons" suspension of disbelief, or even the "how many times can these two guys be in perilous situations and still make it out alive" suspension of disbelief. I'm talking about the fact that this episode featured a whole group of hunters trapped in a house together, and they were soooo ill prepared. They didn't have holy water, or weapons other than a few knives. I would think that hunters would all be over-prepared for a situation like this. Also, hasn't this show established that you can just say "Christo" to reveal demons? Oh, and why do they all not have anti-possession tattoos? Doesn't Dean still have his, anyway? Shouldn't that mean that he couldn't have been a suspect, even at the beginning? I'm willing to put up with a little convenient incompetency for the sake of the plot, but this did stretch my belief just a tad.

Pros:

But honestly, I'm okay with it. This episode rocked. The plot was pretty simple. Sam and Dean stop by to see Jody. She gets a phone call that a friend of hers, a hunter named Asa Fox, has recently died. They agree to come with her to the wake. They hang out with a bunch of other hunters, including Mary, who had known Asa when he was a little boy. Things go wrong when a demon shows up and starts possessing people. In the end, it turns out that Asa wasn't killed by this demon, as everybody assumed. He was accidentally killed by his friend Bucky, who strung him up to make it look like the demon was responsible. A few of the hunters are killed in the struggle against the demon, but eventually it is vanquished collectively by the hunters.

First of all, it was so cool to see a group of hunters! Sam and Dean never interact with the larger hunter community. What with the British Men of Letters hovering around waiting to cause trouble, I think it was an incredibly smart idea to establish this hunter community as something a bit more concrete. I loved all of the characters, from Bucky, the story teller who ended up being the bad guy, to the twins who were raised by a witch and were hiding the fact that Asa was their father, to Elvis, a guy with a bit of a crush on Sam. They all felt very distinct and interesting to me. Asa's mother, too, made a great impression. For such a short amount of time, all of these characters really did get their moment to shine.

Jody Mills is awesome. I always get nervous whenever she's in an episode, because I'm scared she'll be killed off, but she's survived another one! I love her relationship with Sam and Dean. She's been such a mother figure to them, and that became especially apparent in an episode that also featured Mary Winchester. It was also nice to know that Jody has a life other than just caring for Alex and Claire, who apparently are off at a concert being angsty together (yay for sisterly bonding!). Turns out, she and Asa were seeing each other. Poor Jody! Losing another lover? Yikes.

Despite the incompetence of these hunters when faced with a demon, I did love the way they all ended up working together to create a trap, light candles, and then, in the final moments as the demon is possessing Jody, they do a group exorcism, each picking up where the last left off. That was bad ass and so cool and it makes me wish that Sam and Dean would engage in some teamwork every once in a while and form relationships with other hunters.

You know what my favorite thing ever is? Sam and Dean being legends in the hunter community. Everybody was all impressed and starstruck to meet them, which was all kinds of adorable. On a more dour note, Dean talks about how he and Sam are both destined to die on the job, just like Asa did. I guess we're back to this - Dean can't see anything beyond this life, while Sam still holds out hope. I want to explore this idea a little more, especially since things have changed so much in the last several years. They have the bunker now, which has become a real home to them, and they've got their mom back.

Speaking of Mary... I was so thrilled to see her! Dean is still bitter about her leaving them, but Sam understands. I loved Jody stepping in to tell Dean that she was there if he needed to talk, and then later Jody talks to Mary, reassuring her that her boys are good people. I want more of Mary and Jody interacting, please and thank you. Jody's reaction to Mary was hilarious. She just kept saying "wow!" and she hugged Mary, which was awesome.

Then there's Billie. She shows up to reap one of the hunters who gets killed by the demon, and Dean asks her to help him get back inside the house, which has been warded shut. She does so, but Dean now owes her a favor. Later on, Billie comes to collect, offering Mary a ride back to Heaven. Mary declines, and Billie leaves in a huff. As the episode ends, Mary tells the boys that she still needs some time, but she will be coming home eventually. They then go off to get some breakfast together.

I want to be frustrated that Billie didn't have more to do in this episode, but the truth is that this actress milks every second she's onscreen. I'm always happy to see her, and I'll be even happier when she starts to have a bit more relevance. Here, she was mainly used as a plot device to get Mary to make a choice. Now that Mary has made a decision to stay on Earth instead of returning to her cozy life in Heaven, I think she'll be able to adjust a bit more easily. I was so glad that she decided to stick around. Mary is the most interesting element this show has introduced in years.

There were several mentions of Lucifer in this episode, as Elvis, one of the hunters, asks Sam all about being possessed. Later, the demon, inhabiting Jody, mentions being shocked that Lucifer left a "meat suit" alive. What with Lucifer being a going concern once again, I'm really glad we're refocusing a bit on the idea of Sam as Lucifer's vessel. I hope they capitalize on this interesting turn of events.

Favorite bad-ass moment of the episode was when Dean, with assistance from Billie, bursts through the magically closed door and get back into the house. He rolls to his feet, pulls out his knife, and growls "where's my brother?" as Elvis and Asa's mother look on on shock. Dean was outside when the house went on lock-down, and when Billie shows up and tells him she just reaped a fresh soul, Dean gets that look on his face, that panicked "Oh God, Sam is in trouble" face. Now, don't get me wrong, I know Dean Winchester would have trapped himself in that house voluntarily for Mary's sake alone, or for Jody's sake alone, or, hell, even if he hadn't known anybody on the inside. But it doesn't escape my notice that the first thing he asks when he reenters the house is "where's my brother?" I seriously feed on this stuff, you guys. I love it.

Comedy highlight of the week: Elvis, the somewhat socially awkward hunter (RIP, dude) comes and sits down next to the twins, and asks them about themselves. The male twin (whose name I never caught) says: "Could... could you, like, go... away from us, now?" His delivery was hilarious.

Dean apparently spent the entire car-ride to the wake bragging to Jody about how he killed Hitler. Despite last week's less than successful episode, I'm so, so glad that Dean is still talking about this.

I'll end my discussion of the episode by mentioning its beginning. We see a young Asa, who gets saved from a werewolf by a younger Mary Winchester. She is newly married, and already has Dean, but is tying up loose ends from her life as a hunter. We then see a montage where Asa grows up and becomes a successful hunter, writing postcards to Mary Winchester that he never sends. The montage ends abruptly with the sight of him hanging dead from a rope. It was a really effective way to start things off, immediately making us feel something for this dead guy before we even get to the story proper.

That's all I've got! This episode kicked ass. I didn't even mind terribly that it connected so little to the main story. It looks like we've got Cas back for next week, and that's more good news!

9/10