Supernatural: Family Feud (12x13)

So far, this second half of Season Twelve has featured at least one additional main character in every episode, meaning even the C-plot episodes like "Regarding Dean" still tied in heavily to the main plot. Rowena, Crowley, Mary, Cas, Lucifer, etc. It's a regular party up in here! No Cas this week, but we did get lots of Mary, along with various baddies. Let's take a look.

Cons:

Crowley's son Gavin is back, which is quite fun, but this is one of those rare moments when I felt some concern for casual viewers of the show. I barely remembered what happened to Gavin, and I can't imagine that most other people did. Also, the justification for the C-plot is kind of flimsy. Basically, Gavin had a girlfriend, Fiona, who sneaked on to the boat he was supposed to be on so many centuries ago. Since Gavin ended up going through a time portal instead, courtesy of Abaddon, he wasn't on the boat with her. She was attacked and mocked, and because the teacher on the boat didn't stick up for her, she now has a ghostly vendetta against teachers. I feel like that's a weak explanation for a ghost. There also wasn't much of an explanation as to why she started on her revenge now, instead of several years back when Gavin first came to this timeline.

Typical of Supernatural, there was some clunky exposition here. We hear the very end of a phone-call between Cas and Dean, as Dean says "so you don't have anything new on Kelly and Lucifer's baby? Okay, well, keep looking. Bye." or something like that. Since Kelly Kline is actually in this episode, it felt odd for Cas to be absent and so ineffectually shoe-horned in. Why not show Cas on Kelly's trail? Or, if not, why not save the Kelly stuff for another episode, where it could get time to expand and grow?

As I really think about it, another problem with this episode is that it was trying to accomplish too many things. The main story is about Gavin and ghosts, but then Crowley has Lucifer tied up and is talking about all the torture he has planned, and then we also see Dagon, one of the Princes (Princess?) of Hell, find Kelly Kline and offer her protection. And then on top of all of that, the episode is bookmarked by Mary working with Mr. Ketch, and then deciding to come clean to the boys about working with the British Men of Letters. It's a lot to get through. Too much.

Pros:

The C-plot elements of this episode were weak, but they also weren't given that much importance. So, it worked itself out. The real meat here was the relationship stuff. Rowena helps Sam and Dean track Gavin down to see if he can shed some light on some recent ghost killings. Rowena is delighted to meet her grandson. Things get interesting when the Winchesters discover a way to fix all of the problems - send Gavin back in time to where he originally belongs, condemning him to die via drowning on the ship with his girlfriend. Gavin agrees to do it, calling Crowley to say goodbye. It's a beautiful moment of sacrifice. Sam and Dean seem really torn about it, which was a nice touch, but everybody knows it was the right thing to do.

The delicious tensions of the family drama come to a head as Crowley asks his mother why she would do something like that. Rowena replies that it was all revenge, since Crowley made her kill Oscar, a boy she considered a son, in order to get rid of the Mark of Cain. This is another bit of esoteric information from the show's past that a casual viewer might not care enough to remember, but that's alright. I just love the fact that Rowena talks about how Gavin wants to do the right thing, and how this is the best thing for everybody even though it's tragic... but then it turns out that she was just doing it all to hurt Crowley. She couldn't care less what the "right thing" to do was. That's so evil and awesome. More of this side of Rowena, please!

Meanwhile, we do finally get to check in with Kelly. She's saved from a bunch of angels by Dagon, one of Azazel's siblings. Now that Kelly and her unborn baby are in a demon's custody, this can only mean bad news for our heroes. I liked seeing Kelly again, because it reminded me of the trauma of a regular old human being thrust head-first into the crazy world of the supernatural. She's seriously freaked out, and all turned around. And now she's got Dagon, a demon, rescuing her, while a group of angels want her dead. As Dagon says, things aren't always black and white, good and evil. We've seen that throughout this show, and now it's as important as ever.

Mark Pellegrino is back as Lucifer, and I don't give a damn how convoluted the explanation for this is. Apparently, back when the Winchesters expelled Lucifer from the President, Crowley altered the spell to send Lucifer back to his Mark Pellegrino vessel, which Crowley's minions had tracked down. Crowley says something about it being Lucifer's "final resting place," which sounds good to me. It was fun to have Lucifer!Cas for a while, but rock star!Lucifer and POTUS!Lucifer were both a little bit of a letdown. I'm really excited that Lucifer is sticking around, and I love the idea that Crowley is the one who made an impulsive, emotional decision to keep him out of the cage for the sake of his own revenge. I imagine this is going to come back to bite him.

Finally, you've got the bookends with Mary. Like I said, this episode was a wee bit crowded, but I still liked each individual element. Mary has been working with Mr. Ketch, and when she gets a call from Dean to see if she wants in on their case, she lies and says she's still resting up. Mr. Ketch tells her that she should detach herself from her boys, since clearly they make her weaker, and she's supposed to be a hunter. Mary doesn't listen to this. Instead, she heads back to the bunker and she tells her sons that she's been working with the British MOL. They are both understandable hurt and confused. Mary tries to justify this, saying that she's been helping a lot of people. As the episode ends, we see that Mary is talking through the situation with her boys, as they listen in stony silence.

I don't hate Mary for this, I really don't. I mean I'm mad at her, and I think she's in the wrong, especially for hiding this from her family. However, I really like the fact that Mary is not some sort of a saint. Sam and Dean have put their mother up on a pedestal all these years, and they need to learn that she's human - capable of making her own decisions, and her own mistakes. I think I see where this whole British MOL plot thread is going, and I'm excited for it. Eventually, the philosophy of the British MOL, that of total extermination, is going to come back around to a few key allies of the Winchesters. Crowley, Rowena, and... Cas. Cas isn't human. Cas has powers that are unnatural to the world of humanity. It's not unreasonable to think that Mr. Ketch and the others might want to do away with him at some point, and that's where we're going to have to draw a firm line in the sand.

Poor Sam. Honestly. Dean seemed to suspect that something was going on with Mary, but Sam was innocent and trusting. Ever since Mary reappeared at the start of the season, Sam has been doing all the work in their relationship. He's been gentle, and patient, and forgiving. And he's just learned that his mother has been going behind his back and working closely with the people who tortured him. Brutally. For days. He doesn't even yell or get angry when he learns the truth. He just tries to explain things to Mary. Dean's got an icy look of disappointment on his face, while Sam has got his puppy-dog eyes going full-force. It sucks. It's angst-y. I can't wait for more.

As I write this review, I've come to the conclusion that it's difficult to come to a conclusion about this episode. I'm happy we brought some old plot elements back, since that's been a theme of the season. I'm happy Lucifer is around. I'm happy to check in with Kelly. I guess I'm just not that happy with doing all of these things at the same time.

7.5/10