Supernatural: LOTUS (12x08)

I'm not... unhappy with this episode, but there were a lot of details that were a bit bewildering to me.

Cons:

So, the basic plot is that Lucifer has now possessed the President of the United States, a man named Jefferson Rooney. With help from Cas, Crowley, Rowena, and Mr. Ketch from the British MOL, Sam and Dean manage to come up with a plan to get to the president through his secret girlfriend Kelly. Using a MOL McGuffin, Sam expels Lucifer from the president's body, and Rowena uses her witchy powers to banish him back to Hell. Ta da!!!

So, some issues straight up: The British MOL have been useless all season, and then Mr. Ketch, who they were building up as this really intimidating assassin dude, shows up with a grenade launcher, hands them a magic object, and then just leaves. Pretty weak payoff, I must say. I'm not totally giving up on the MOL becoming interesting, but so far I've been a tad disappointed. Also, this show has a McGuffin problem. I hate it when magical objects conveniently show up and save the day. At least make the characters work for it, like with Colt back in earlier seasons!

The president's secret girlfriend, Kelly, was a perfectly fine character, until the very end. See, the group explains to her that her boyfriend is now Lucifer. Kelly is horrified, confused, and also... did I mention... pregnant? With the devil's child? Oh, great. Sam expels Lucifer from Jeff's body, and then Kelly runs off, escaping Cas' protection and then calling him to tell him she won't be getting rid of the child. This makes very little sense, considering that just hours beforehand, Kelly definitely saw her boyfriend's eyes flash the devil's red. She saw the whole exorcism go down, so she definitely understands that she's carrying Satan's spawn. This feels like a cheap way to give our leads something to chase down for the rest of the season.

Also, is that really it for Lucifer? All I can say is, what a lame resurgence! I mean, on the one hand I was getting sick of him so I guess I'm glad he's gone for now, but... that's it? It's a little disappointing! Did they put him back in the cage, or just back in Hell? Is he really gone? It makes very little sense to me.

I actually really like the twist at the end, which is that Sam and Dean have been arrested for the attempted assassination of the President of the United States. We can see in the promo for next year that they're locked up and in government custody. But I do have to mention a quip: why did Cas just take off with Kelly, leaving Sam and Dean behind? I'm pretty sure he could have gone in there, knocked the guys out, and whisked them all to safety. It all feels a tad contrived.

Pros:

I know that seems like a lot in the "cons" section, but I actually really liked a lot of this episode.

Lucifer possessing the president was just as ridiculous and silly as it sounds, and that actually worked in its favor, in an odd way. If we had to carry this concept for more than an episode, then I would have been worried, but as it was, I actually got a bit of that old playful Lucifer back in the mix. He starts daydreaming about the things he could do with this new power, muttering under his breath: "I grant a full pardon to Charles Manson..." That had me cracking up! Also, it was really unsettling to see Lucifer holding a bible and speaking in the name of God. Effective, to say the least. And even if it seemed to happen a little too easily, I was really happy to see Sam be the one to banish Lucifer. It was fitting, since I think he carries the highest level of guilt over Lucifer's actions.

There was one really interesting aspect to this episode that unfortunately did not have very much time dedicated to it: Sam called the British MOL for reinforcements. He's the reason that Mr. Ketch showed up and saved them from the President's guards. Dean and Cas both look a little miffed that Sam would do that, but it makes a weird kind of sense. Sam has been tortured by a member of the British MOL, but he's also seen a hint of their operation, and he knows that he and his allies are in over their heads. He's right - the British MOL have competent weapons and solid strategies for getting rid of monsters. It makes no sense why they would have been dormant all this time, but whatever. That's a quibble. What's interesting is that Sam would reach out to them, even though he did change his mind. His thirst for knowledge and desire to do the job right is leading him to a position where he could find a lot of value in working with these people. Somehow, I don't think Dean will ever feel the same. That could be a lot of fun to explore!

Cas felt like a powerful being in this episode, which is really nice. He gets a message on angel radio that an angel has conceived a child with a human, and they immediately deduce that Lucifer got somebody pregnant. Cas also has this pretty bad-ass moment when Mr. Ketch shows up with his grenade launcher. Sam, Dean, and the President's bodyguards all go running for cover, while Cas watches with a look of mild curiosity on his face as a car blows up not ten feet from him. That was a pretty awesome moment.

Rowena and Crowley also had some of my favorite material this week. Crowley goes to fetch Rowena to bring her in the plan to banish Lucifer. He finds her in a screaming match with her erstwhile fiance, who she finds out was actually trying to swindle her for her money, instead of the other way around. Since she has no money, the guy is taking off. Crowley, bored with the drama, kills the guy and explodes his blood all over Rowena. After staring at Crowley in shock for a moment, covered in blood, Rowena says "that is the sweetest thing you've ever done for me!" Love it! Another really great detail with the two of them is at the end, just after the climax. Rowena and Sam have successfully worked together to expel Lucifer from the President, and banish him back to Hell. Once everything is over, Crowley grabs his mother's shoulder and they disappear quietly without a word of farewell. It was a small moment, but it helped in the perception that these two work with the Winchesters only because it's in their best interest. There's still no love lost, there.

I do want to praise the actual moment of Lucifer being exorcised and banished, even if I think logistically it all happened a bit too easily. There were great effects going on with the light and the wind. Things in the room were breaking, everybody was being pushed back by the great forces of energy at work. I really felt how big and important that moment was, which can sometimes be hard for this show to pull off. (Think: Amara all last season).

As we go forward into the back half of the season, I hope we can get more of the promised "smaller" stories. The ones that focus on the family drama instead of big "the world is going to end" drama. Sure, we've got the spawn of Satan to look forward to, but other than that, I hope we get a lot more of Mary Winchester next year. Will Mary and Cas team up to break Sam and Dean out of federal custody? God, I hope so. That would be awesome!

7.5/10