Supernatural Think Tank - Anna's Thinky Thoughts on 12x02 Mamma Mia

I keep thinking of the title of the premiere episode, Keep Calm and Carry On and how it not only applies to our beloved characters but to the show as well.  I thought the first episode absolutely amazing and there was indeed much to love about the second ep as well, and I did really enjoy this ep very much.  I will admit though that I did have to adjust to the way the story was told.  It wasn't a difficult or major adjustment, but it was still something I very quickly accustomed myself to.  

This season feels very much like a new beginning in more than one way.  As I mentioned last week, I felt that there were two stories being told, both of Sam and Dean and of course, Chuck and Amara.  It is Chuck and Amara's story that came to it's conclusion, and the story of our boys....well it still continues and it is ever changing, as life usually is. While Show is still and will always be about the boys' and their relationship, and  we still we see new characters, old friends and family that will cross paths with our heroes, it's the telling of this story that feels different.  We are only two episodes in, the ground work has been laid out for the rest of the season, but still I feel the difference in the way our story is being told.  It feels slower and unrushed.  I got the sense, and it could be just me, (as it often is LOL), but I got the sense that Dabb has a story to tell and he's in no rush to tell it. I don't feel like too much information is being crammed at me all at once, even though a lot is happening. I am totally enjoying the realistic way in which they are handling Mary's return and her boys' reaction to it as well. I like that we are seeing small moments of joyous and precious moments, a little at a time, each special to each one of them in it's own way.  I look forward to Mary learning so much more about her family and what she's missed out on not only from her children, but by John's journal as well.  I am really enjoying Rick Springfield's take on Lucifer and hope he can stick around for awhile.  I'm even intrigued by what it is that the BMOL are really up to.  I think it's going to be an amazing season and I'm really looking forward to see how it all plays out.

I'm going to sing praises about Jared once again for giving an amazing performance. Can I just say that there's nothing I enjoy more than seeing a half naked Sammy, with a smile on his face no less, on my tv screen...yes, even if it's in bizzaro world. From the moment it began I knew something was amiss, but alas I'm a Sam girl and I dared to bask in the glory of the eye candy before me. Yes I do like to spend my time in the shallow end of the pool. It pleases me so. LOL. All objectification aside, I thought Jared did a fantastic job once again. I was so proud of Sam and his ability, as tired and physically and mentally beaten as he was, to have the strength to pull himself out of a very powerful hallucination brought about by magic no less. Some people felt that Sam wasn't badass enough and was reduced to a Samsel in distress....I've never ever seen Sam like that ever by the way. I have to disagree with that assessment. I thought Sam was just as badass as he was in the first episode and that's saying a lot given that he'd been tortured both mentally and physically for days.  Lady B was most definitely not playing fair using magic and spells...bad form, very bad form. Still Sam didn't give in, even with the knives penetrating his chest, even when Lady B started threatening Dean. Granted if Mom didn't show up when she did, I'm not sure how much longer Sam could've watched her hurt his brother...lucky we'll never have to worry about that. Sam's most outstanding moment, the conversation with his mom and that hug that she practically disappeared in. Mary was so scared to face Sam.  How she must have imagined that he blamed her for everything, as she was in fact the one who started it all. Yet there was no blame from Sam. There was nothing but love and understanding. I do hope that Mary talks to Sam regarding her guilt, not only will it be an amazing exchange between mother and son, but I believe, especially because Sam never really blamed his mom, she will be burdened from the guilt she carries.

Remember above I mentioned my having to adjust to the way the story is being told, well here is where I had to kind of get used to how the story was unfolding.  In one word....Dean.  Last week I mentioned I was a bit at sea because Dean was uncharacteristically too calm when he discovered Sam was missing.  I chalked it up to Mom.  I figured he was playing it cool because Mom was there and he didn't really want to show her how freaked he truly was.  I was very happy to see him break the phone, because that is the Dean I'm accustomed to seeing when he knows his brother is in trouble.   This week was more of the same. Dean at home leaving all the work to Cas?  Waiting around instead of actively searching?  Dean was way too calm again to the point of discomfort, but more than that, it was the fact that he was idle. I know he was doing some kind of research, but really...Dean staying home on the computer letting Cas do all the work?  Did anyone else find that totally unDean-like?  I don't recall a single time when Sam had gone missing that Dean wasn't front and centre in the hunt to find him.  Given that Dean's uncharacteristic behaviour pretty much began when Mom showed up, I'm once again chalking it up to the fact that Dean is putting on this façade of calm for the sake of his Mom.  I totally believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that if Mary weren't there, and Dean had come back to an empty bunker, he'd personally be moving heaven and earth to find Sam.  There is no way he would be waiting it out in the bunker. As much as I have to get used to Dean being portrayed uncharacteristically, I do understand the reasoning for it.  I guess that's the point really.  They're not used to each other and they don't know each other that well.  I guess it'll take a bit of time before they can be themselves around their mom and vice versa.  I will say that  I really love that even in shackles, Dean is still full of sass. This is the Dean I'm accustomed to. Who says Dean hasn't read some of those books in the bunker, he showed her. LOL.

Like a lot of others, I was waiting for that Sam and Dean reunion hug, and it didn't go unnoticed that it didn't happen, at least not on screen...and believe it or not,  I was ok with it. I understand that it is practically standard operating procedure that we get a brother hug when the boys are reunited after death, or even a presumed death.  In all honesty, the way the rescue went down, there was really no place for a hug.  I mean that guy Mick came in and there was that whole monologue of b. s. that he gave the boys, there was really no moment the boys could give us that hug. Sometimes though, it's not always necessary to get the physical hug, sometimes the love is all in a look.  When Sam saw Dean, as confused and surprised as he was, there was that look, the look that said everything a hug would say.  It reminded me of the Benders when Dean found Sam locked in the cage. There was no hug, but the look, well the look said it all.  I do believe that there was most likely a bro hug off screen.  The hug between Mom and Sam totally made up for the one we didn't get to actually see between Sam and Dean.  Can I just say that I loved the hug between Mom and Sam. It was so long overdue and the speech Sam gave to mom which preceded the hug....I really do need to buy stock in Kleenex.

 I read a lot of posts and  I know that there were those who wanted more in those last ten minutes and were disappointed that all we got was them at the table eating pie, well Dean eating pie....but I have to say that I was the opposite of disappointed.  I  felt that moment to be just what Sam needed, what they all needed.  Sam had just endured extreme torture, both mental and physical whilst suffering what he believed to be the loss of his brother. Mom has come back from the dead, missing 33 years with her children.  She's feeling like a fish out of water regarding just about everything and she bears the burden of guilt knowing that she was the one who started it all.  She feared Sam's reaction upon seeing him for the first time and was burdened with thoughts of what she should say to him, what he might say to her. Dean, while playing it cool for Mom on the outside, was most likely freaking out on the inside worrying about Sam. Then seeing Sam all beaten and worn in that chair, well it was only his shackles that kept Lady Toni alive. So that moment at the end, where it was one of pure levity made total sense to me.  I totally think Dean's enamour of pie at that moment was meant to make Sam smile, as much as it was for his own enjoyment and I also believe it was his way of connecting with his mom.  These three needed a moment of simple joy, because in time, there will be emotional conversations between Mary and her boys. These three have much to talk about.  Mary has much to learn.  The boys will have to find a way to adjust with having a mom again, a mom who's a well trained hunter. I look forward to all these moments to come.  For now I'll appreciate the special joyous moments they are beginning to experience now, even if those moments seem silly when really they are so much more than that.

I really do wonder what the real deal is with the BMOL. Here's what I think I've gathered so far:

Lady B took it upon herself to torture Sam Winchester. From what I understand she was simply to bring them in.

I'm guessing Mick was sent when Lady B didn't show up like she was supposed to. According to Mick, some of the BMOL think that some American hunters might be compromised? Some think the Winchesters have done some good.

Lady B thinks the Winchesters need to be killed because they're just as bad as the monsters they hunt.

Am I missing anything?  I gotta say, I'm not buying into the BMOL being all friendly.  I'm with the Winchesters on this one.  I do however have questions and uncertainties. 

Lady B could've inflicted any number of hallucinations to get Sam to talk.  She could've planted one with Dean in it. She's the one who planted the hallucination of them having sex, so I gotta ask, what's up with her on that.  Was that her fantasy?

Also, the way she's torturing him, don't get me wrong, she'll get hers...but it just makes me wonder.

She could've used scalding hot water and burned Sam into submission, but she used cold.  Torture, but the torture could've been worse.

She didn't have the desire to burn Sam herself.

She used drugs to break his mind, when she could've used electroshock or something.

I can't be sure if she admires his strength or is agonising over his ability to endure her torture.

She ingratiates a hallucination into his head that includes her in bed with him.

She cuts him where she could've stabbed him.

She didn't want this Mr. Ketch, who she deems a psychopath involved.

As much as she claims the Winchesters need to be eliminated, I'm not sure if that notion is set in stone with her.  She's self righteous indeed, but I don't think she knows as much as she claims to know, especially regarding the Winchesters.  I'm just not sure if she's irredeemable or not. Guess we shall find out in time.  What about these factions of BMOL?  Are they really out to protect the world or rule it?  I have a feeling not all of the BMOL are the good guys.  I can't wait to find out more.

I'm looking forward to Cas and Crowley teaming up to find Lucifer. I'm also interested to see what Luci plans on doing with Rowena. If Luci gets his hands on the BOTD, holy hell.  The Winchesters will definitely have their hands full this year.  I wonder who'll be more trouble...Luci or the BMOLs.  Guess we'll just have to wait to find out. 

That's it for this week.  Thanks for reading.

-Anna