Supernatural: The Raid (12x14)

Yeah, okay. I quite liked this. Surprising, because the BMOL stuff has not exactly been a hit with me this season.

Cons:

The big thing to talk about in this episode is that Sam decides to work with the British MOL. I actually don't have a problem with this at all, which I'll discuss more fully below. I do have a few qualified complaints to make, though.

Sam's mind is changed because he sees what a fancy operation they have going for them, and is impressed by their results. He says they're "changing the world" and he wants to be a part of that. But in this episode, Sam and Mary are the only ones able to actually get shit done, with a brief assist from Mick. If this episode was supposed to convince Sam of how awesome the BMOL are, then why showcase them failing so badly? Not only do they fail to protect their base, they also don't have enough people to defend it safely. All of the bureaucratic members of the BMOL don't even have basic training with weapons. And their intel about the Alpha Vampire wasn't even accurate!

The second qualified complaint is this: if Sam hides what he's doing from Dean, I'm going to be pissed. I don't think that's where they're going with this... it seems like Sam will try and convince Dean to see things his way. But if we go through another plot thread where Sam lies to Dean and Dean feels betrayed, I'm going to scream. So. Not complaining yet. Here's hoping I don't have to.

Pros:

We learn in this episode that Mick and Mr. Ketch, our two primary BMOL contacts, are reporting to a higher-up who really wants to recruit Sam and Dean Winchester. The idea is that with their support, the rest of the American hunters will fall in line. I think it's smart to humanize Ketch and Mick a bit, show them actually doing their job and in their element. It's also smart to maintain the mystery of the shadowy organization, controlling things from afar. Whoever really is calling the shots, I'm excited to meet them, and I hope the wait is worth it.

It was a really smart idea to separate Sam and Dean for a bit, and let them both explore Mary's decision to work with the BMOL on their own. After freezing Mary out for three days, Sam finally agrees to go see her when she texts that it's urgent. He goes out and sees the BMOL's operation. He is then on hand to help defeat the Alpha when he shows up, angry at the BMOL for killing so many of his children. Meanwhile, Dean and Mr. Ketch go on a vampire raid of their own, but the nest is empty, owing to the fact that the Alpha has sent all his remaining children after the BMOL.

I liked the scenes with Mr. Ketch and Dean, because essentially we were watching Dean being seduced. Maybe not sexually, but still. Ketch appeals to the brute animal inside Dean - the man who needs to kill. Obviously, Ketch doesn't know our dear eldest Winchester brother very well, but he still managed to hit on something very real. He brought expensive scotch, and lured Dean with the promise of some base brutality.

The scene where they find one lone vampire is enormously telling - Ketch starts beating up on this girl, and this makes Dean extremely uncomfortable. He stops Ketch, and tells the woman he'll make her death quick and painless, once she tells them where her nest went. Dean never wavers in the fact that this vampire needs to die, but this is a guy who once befriended a vampire. This is a guy who's best friend isn't human, and who sits around and has drinks with the King of Hell. He's not so black-and-white about monsters. He seems to regret the necessity of this vampire's death, something that Mr. Ketch isn't able to understand.

Meanwhile, Mary takes Sam to the room where it happens - she shows him the reality of their resources, and the numerical evidence of the results. It's an effective pitch, and even after Sam suffers another betrayal - learning that his mother stole the Colt - he still ends the episode by deciding to work with the BMOL. Killing the Alpha Vampire is a big deal. It proves that real change is possible here.

Sam gets MVP this week. He's seriously the best hunter. I think Mr. Ketch might change his tune about Mary being the best Winchester hunter after he sees what Sam is capable of. When Sam realizes that they have the Colt and can use it to kill the Alpha, he wastes only a few moments feeling betrayed by his mother, and then he just gets down to business. He teachers Mick how to make bullets, saying that he learned from Bobby. (God knows I can't remember back that far... was it Bobby that had the recipe for Colt bullets, or was it Ruby?!) Sam is the one who kills the Alpha. Sam is the one who saves everybody's asses. I love him.

I'm actually really okay with Sam deciding to work with the BMOL. I know he was shot, kidnapped, and tortured, but Sam is nothing if not a martyr. He's able to compartmentalize his own pain very well, which we see again and again in his relationships with the people he cares about. If the people he loves hurt him, he doesn't make them pay for it. And it's the same thing here - the BMOL have the ability to make the world a way better place. Of course Sam would set aside his personal feelings and listen to what they have to say.

Dean and Ketch show up too late to participate in the epic showdown, and Dean and Mary make up. I loved the moment with the three Winchesters there at the end. Dean says he drove like hell to get to the BMOL base once he heard that the vampires were attacking. Sam is at first confused - Dean didn't know he was there, so why would he be so desperate? Then he realizes it's for Mary. Dean confesses that the minute he knew Mary was in trouble, the rest of it didn't matter. He needs to get it through his head that Mary is an adult, and more than just a mom. She can make her own decisions, even if Dean himself doesn't approve. The question is, will Dean extend the same courtesy to Sam? Seems unlikely, from where I'm sitting.

I guess I don't really have much more to say on this one. A solid episode that successfully held and even deepened my interest in the British Men of Letters. The minute they became tied to the family drama between Mary and the boys, things got so much better.

8.5/10