Supernatural: The Scar (14x03)

I'm having feelings.

Cons:

I'm sad that Wayward Sisters isn't going forward. It would have made a great show. But I'm happy that we get to keep the characters around and make them a part of the world in some way. All that said, I wasn't happy with Kaia dying last season, and while I love that Claire/Kaia as a romantic pairing was confirmed, the whole thing is icky when you consider the fact that Kaia died, making this yet another woman, another queer character, another person of color, that Supernatural has decided to kill off. However, I'm withholding my anger a little bit, because there is a version of Kaia still in the story, and I could definitely see a story coming out of this where maybe she and Claire find their way to each other... maybe there could be something there.

I'm still annoyed that Michael!Dean lasted for so short a time. I wish we could have stretched it out a bit longer, honestly. Oh well.

Pros:

This episode was pretty great. Starting with the subplot, we see Jack and Cas work together to save a girl who was cursed by a witch. At first it seems they have failed, but then Jack solves the mystery and saves the girl's life. Cas says he's proud of Jack, and the two plan on going on their own hunt together. There are many things I love about this. One, Jack actually says that Cas is "one of his dads" and I just about died of happiness. And Cas reinforces that, telling Jack he's proud of him, offering to make him soup since he's feeling sick, and encouraging him in every way.

Another thing that's great about this? It provides an organic, natural way to write Cas out of C-plot episodes. Of course I wish Misha could just be around every week, but for whatever reason, that doesn't seem to be a possibility. For years, we've had to shunt Cas away from the main story for the stupidest reasons. Now, with this new "ensemble cast of hunters" situation, there's the perfect excuse to get any of these characters out of episodes. Oh, Cas and Jack are on a hunt. Charlie and Cas are on a hunt. Bobby and Mary and Jack are on a hunt. Cool, that's all the explanation we need. Sam is running an operation here with lots of people going out on different jobs, and it provides a way for characters to be absent without needing to make a big to-do about it. We can even send Sam and Dean away on a hunt for an episode by doing a brief establishing scene in the bunker, give one of them a line like "I'll go tell Cas and the others we're heading out," and then have those conversations take place just off-screen. This lets Cas live in the bunker for once. I'm thrilled.

We see that Jack is getting sick, and it probably has something to do with the fact that his grace is gone. I'll be livid if we lose Jack, but I'm excited for the angst this might provide. I love this kid. It's like that gif from Brooklyn Nine-Nine where Rosa says she'd kill everyone and then herself if anything happened to her puppy. That's how I feel about Jack. He's just adorable.

Turning to the main story, Dean and Sam team up with Jody when it becomes clear that the murders in Sioux Falls that she has been investigating are tied in some way to Michael. Dean has a scar on his arm that matches the victims that Jody has run across, and they quickly discover that it's Kaia. Or... the thing that looks like Kaia from the other dimension. Dean is desperate to get his hands on the weapon that "Kaia" used, because it's the only thing that they know can hurt Michael. In the end, with her help, they defeat some mega-vamps that Michael had experimented on, and "Kaia" runs off again.

Where to even start with this? Although we only see Jody in this episode, we get lots of mentions of the girls, especially Claire. Jody says that Alex and Patience are doing great, and that Claire is also doing better, but when it comes to anything to do with Kaia, she goes off the deep end. She's desperate to find Kaia's killer. Why? Well, as Jody says, first love. It's intense, and to lose it the way that Claire did... that's pretty much unimaginable. (By the way, Jody is talking to Sam about this, and I would have loved it if Sam had brought up Jessica). I love that we get to have this glimpse into the Wayward world, even without the TV show. Jody breaks a promise to her girls by going on this hunt with Sam and Dean, as she has promised Claire and the others that they get to be a part any monster-y things that come up. I hope that we get to check in on Jody and the gang more throughout the season.

And then there's Dean. I adore the way they we're playing this out. I wish Michael was around for longer, but since he's not, and since it does seem like it really is Dean, it's only appropriate that we dive in to the trauma of all of this. He's clearly on edge. He's wound tight, and he's desperate to get through this, to keep powering forward and solve the problem. It's all he can focus on. Sam keeps trying to ask him if he's okay, and although Dean is deflecting, he's not snapping. He's not mad that Sam is worried, he's just... not able to talk about it right away. Sam is clearly worried, and we can see that these boys have actually grown up a bit over the years, because by the end of the episode, Dean is voluntarily talking about it. He says that he lied about not remembering anything. He didn't know most of what Michael was doing, but he felt like he was under water, and he does remember that.

I was always mad at this show for not doing more to show Sam's trauma after all of the stuff he went through with Lucifer. I'm glad to say that they're not making the same mistake with Dean. They're dealing with it. And maybe, just maybe, this will be a way in to discussing Sam's trauma as well. I would love to have more frank conversations between the brothers about all of the pain they've both been through.

Some favorite moments with Dean's return - Sam talking about what it was like for him when Dean was gone. This was so great, because it was a chance for Sam to display his vulnerability, and actually ask Dean for what he needed. He needs a little bit of reassurance, and it took Dean a while to get there, but eventually he did. Also, Dean's return to the bunker. He and Jack shared a hug, which was great, but even better is the major heart eyes from Cas. Cas looked... wrecked. Having Dean back meant the world to him, and Misha did a great job portraying that.

Next week looks like a fun Halloween episode. I hope that as we move forward, we can keep this more ensemble-ish feel to the show, and pull in our extended cast of characters for more episodes scattered throughout the season.

9/10