Supernatural: The Thing (13x17)

This was quite a solid episode! When I saw the promo, I wasn't all that interested, but the actual episode had quite a bit of new information, some forward progress, and some genuinely cool and funny moments as well.

Cons:

The one problem I do have is with this new outpost of Rhode Island Men of Letters. Sam and Dean encounter some descendants of MOL, and these characters are introduced as if they are one-offs, instead of a big deal. Sam and Dean thought they were all that remained of the MOL - at least, the American ones. Shouldn't they want to set up some sort of information-sharing network with these new people? It felt like the existence of other MOL was downplayed far too much. Similarly, it seems a little flimsy to me that the MOL would open up another dimension to cleanse the earth, just because one crazy dude said so. I mean, I know he went rogue, but still.

Also, no Cas. And only one Cas mention all episode, from Asmodeus and Ketch. They need to come up with better excuses as to why he's not around.

Pros:

I really liked Sandy, the woman from the '20's who was actually a goddess/monster thing from another realm. The plot twist with her wasn't a super big challenge to figure out, or anything, but I still appreciated it in its own way. Sam and Dean can be a bit gullible at times, but to their credit, they did test Sandy for all of the things they could think of. This whole multi-verse thing is still pretty new to them, so it's understandable that they wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on right away.

I actually... enjoyed Ketch this week. I kind of can't believe I'm saying that. But the fact that he rescued Gabriel and brought him to the Winchesters is kind of wonderful. It occurs to me that he's probably doing this because he has feelings for Mary, which... ew. But even with that being the case, it's fun to have a character along for the ride whose motivations you can never entirely pin down. Crowley served that function for a very long time, but he had become a bit predictable in the later seasons. Here, we can see why Sam and Dean would want to utilize his information and skills, but obviously trusting him is not going to come easy.

The humor in this episode is on point. I really enjoyed the balance as well. Sometimes I feel like when writers give Dean humorous content, they erase all of the depth and complexity of his character. And when there are serious or emotional episodes, Dean doesn't crack a single joke. Here, we got an episode that actually furthered the plot quite a bit, in that they have what they need now to open up a rift to the apocalypse world, and Dean and Ketch actually go through the rift as the episode ends. But even though it's serious and A-plot oriented, Dean and Sam have a lot of funny banter. My favorite was the moment when Sam and Dean are researching in the bunker and Dean fakes Sam out that he's found something. The whole exchange works with very little dialogue because Jensen and Jared have such good onscreen chemistry with one another. And then you mix in the humor with the darker moments, like Dean's reaction to Sam being kidnapped: "they have my brother. I'm going to get him back." When Sam is in trouble, Dean drops the jokes real damn fast.

Asmodeus is the absolute worst, and so far I haven't found him particularly compelling as a villain. However, I must admit to some intrigue over his apparent archangel grace addiction. The scenes with him and Ketch should have bored me to death, but they actually brought things forward in an interesting way, not only regarding Ketch's motivations, but Asmodeus' as well.

And Gabriel. I don't know what to believe with him, either. He looks thoroughly freaked out and wreaked, and so far we haven't heard him say a single word. Is this our Gabriel? Is it another dimension's Gabriel? Is he playing up how badly he's hurting, or is he legitimately this traumatized by his torture? All I can say is, I'm really, really excited to find out, and the idea of Sam and Gabriel spending an episode in the bunker together seems delightful to me in every way.

Dean's decision to go through to the Apocalypse world with Ketch, and not Sam, seemed stupid at first. But, surprisingly, they actually have a very good justification for why this is a good plan. Only something that has already been to a specific world can travel there again using the spell. So, if Dean goes in and doesn't come back in the 24-hour window, then they have Sam as backup to come in and save Dean and everybody else. It's actually solid, although I of course understand how freaked out Sam is to let Dean go without him. This was a well-acted scene from Jensen and Jared both. I loved how Sam sounded almost betrayed as Dean accepted Ketch as a companion for the journey, but then Dean said "well, I don't care if he dies." And the way Sam can't quite meet Dean's eye, and they don't really say goodbye to each other, Dean just claps him on the shoulder. There's a lot of subtlety here, and I really appreciate it.

I'm pretty pumped for next episode, honestly. Here's hoping for lots of good Cas material, plenty of Gabriel, and maybe a successful rescue of Mary and Jack?

9/10