Supernatural Think Tank - Anna's Thinky Thoughts on 12x06

I love my show. 

This was such a great episode, I totally loved it. I can't believe that it took this long to do an episode like this.  We get a group of hunters on lockdown, getting killed off one by one by a demon, what an awesome storyline this is.  What a great twist that the demon never actually got the chance to kill Asa in the first place, turns out, once again that it's a human who is portrayed as the monster.  Kudos to this new writer for not only coming up with a terrific story, but doing their homework and sticking with canon, while introducing new canon as well. I want to thank Mr. Yockey for giving me one of my all time precious Sam moments too.  I love how the boys were written and I love how the boys interacted with both Jody and their mom.  It was just such an emotionally satisfying hour and it left me with a grin from ear to ear.  I am so loving this season so far, especially the personal direction it's taking.  We've seen the boys talk before, but I can't remember them being so openly honest and willing to share more than I've been seeing this year.  I also love that show is dark and scary again.  Andrew Dabb has kept his promise about bringing our show back to its roots and I'm basking in the glory of it each and every week.

I am enamoured with the fact that we are seeing the more personal lives of our boys.  We have been getting such special moments, the stuff we rarely got to see in the past and it tickles me to no end.  It's not a big thing, but the most precious moment for me in this episode was Sam sitting on Jody's couch.  I know it might seem silly, we have seen the boys sit on couches before, but all the times the boys have sat on a couch it was while they were interrogating someone. Even in Death's Door when Sam and Dean were on Bobby's couch arguing about licorice tasting like dirt, they were sitting erect. This is the first time in 12 years, that I can recall, Sam sitting comfortably on a couch. I swear it was more like Jared on that couch than it was Sam. I totally loved the comfort level he had being in Jody's home.  I've never even seen Sam that comfortable in the bunker. The sharing that the boys did with Jody, to confide such personal information.  I laughed so hard that I nearly fell off the couch when Sam outed Dean's love of anime. Even more special was Sam telling Dean to be proud of his hobbies, it makes him who he is. Such a display of love, I squeed all over.   The very fact that Sam and Dean stopped by Jody's uninvited, simply because they were in the neighbourhood was so damn sweet. Jody really is family to them and vice versa.

Speaking of Jody, I just have to declare my love for that woman, she is so awesome and I love that she is in the boys' lives. I thought it was really cool that she had a thing with Asa Fox, especially given that he was a hunter.  Jody kind of had a thing for Bobby too.  It's good to know that she has a life outside of Claire and Alex. I genuinely adore the relationship she shares with the boys, especially Sam. Sam and Jody have a long history together. It was Sam after all that saved her life back in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. Jody helped Sam when Dean went back to the 1940's. Though we didn't get to see it onscreen, Sam did contact Jody when Dean was a demon and went missing. I loved that it took Sam all of 30 seconds to realise Jody wasn't being herself.  It just illustrates how close the boys are to her. Dean is close to Jody too. Jody has always offered Dean an ear when she felt he needed to talk. She did it when he got cured from being a demon and she did it again in this episode. She knew he was having a hard time, she could sense it and she was ready and willing to be the ear he needed if he wanted it. I loved how she intervened on their behalf with Mary, letting her know that she was supportive and understood she was going through something, but also making sure Mary understood what good men her sons are.   I even enjoyed Jody getting to be a bit of a badass, when she was possessed by the demon. I find it sweet that both she and Sam are optimists by nature. Sam still has hopes that the boys might survive hunting and die another way and Jody envisioned a life with Asa. I hope neither one ever loses that optimism. Now I'm going to go all fan fic for a second...Does anyone else secretly want Jody and Sam to just spend one night together? It's not that I have to see it, but I would love for Sam to confess one day that while Dean was a demon, Sam had gone to Jody and then . Dare to fantasise.

Now to the speculating. I think I'd like to start with Billie. I like Billie. I'm also absolutely confused by her as well. I'm never quite sure what she's up to but I often feel like she's always there to help. First off she allowed Dean to see her. She also warned him that she was there because she reaped a fresh soul, knowing full well that this information would send Dean on full alert. She also knew that the house was on supernatural lockdown and he couldn't get in.  She knew Dean would need her to get back into the house and with that she would want a favour. It turns out that what Billie wants is Mary. It seems that Billie can sense how unhappy Mary is, how she doesn't fit in, she doesn't feel as though she belongs. She can sense her sadness and her desire for Heaven. Billie referred to taking Mary as a show of mercy. Mary very much considered the offer and didn't actually turn Billie down as much as she kind of rain checked her. I have a feeling somewhere down the line Mary will want to return to Heaven. The question that is tugging at my shoelace is, why didn't Mary go off then and there? 

I totally understand and sympathise with Mary's plight. I do get that she needs some time to try to adjust to ...well just about everything. She came back from the dead, taken from her Heaven where she had a husband and a baby and a little boy, to a place where she's a widow. She missed an entire lifetime with her children who are now grown men and are living the life she never wanted for them. I really do understand that in order to be able to fit in with her children, she's got to find a way to fit in with herself. I also imagine the tremendous weight of guilt she must be feeling given that she's the one who cursed her children. Their lives as hunters was never a life she had wanted for her sons. Their journey into hunting began because of a deal she had made to YED.  Sam has been nothing but loving and supportive of his mom. He's been understanding and comforting. I can only imagine that it makes it even harder for her. Dean is angry and shows it. It's totally understandable and probably on some level a comfort for Mary. Sam has shown no signs of anger towards his mom whatsoever which probably makes it that much harder to face him, knowing what she did to him as a child and holding on to all that guilt. But here's the thing, is there more to what's going on with Mary than her feelings of guilt and not belonging?

Mary Winchester met Asa and saved his life in 1980, as Sam pointed out that was two years after Dean was born. Sam had tried to explain to Mary that hunting was in their blood just as it was in Asa's. Mary had noted to Asa that she was still hunting due to unfinished business. The werewolf that had gone after Asa, she had history with. Was it more than just a werewolf that had Mary hunting when Dean was only a year old?  What was the unfinished business she was referring to?  Mary told the boys that she had remembered Asa was young when she met him and that he might still be alive. She then told them she came across an article where she learnt he had been killed.  Why did she specifically pick Asa?  Would there have been no one else who would still be alive that she recalled from her past? I just find it odd that Mary remembered someone who happened to have an angel blade in their possession. Not many humans have access to an angel blade. I don't recall Mary wandering the house, so how did she know about the blade and where to find it when the demon was possessing people? Does Mary still have that angel blade? Can an angel blade kill Lucifer? Mary took John's journal claiming that she's trying to catch up, but is that all she's doing? Is Mary needing time by herself only about her trying to acclimate or is she on some kind of a mission of her own? Does it have anything to do with the unfinished business she spoke of to Asa? Are the writers setting up for Mary to sacrifice herself for one of her children? Maybe Sam?  They keep bringing up the point that Sam was a vessel for Lucifer, as a matter of fact Mary pretty much found out about that from Demon Possessed Jody. Will Mary seek out Lucifer and try to kill him? I have a feeling that Mary was just postponing her date with Billie and Billie might very well have sensed that.

I have to go on record saying that everyone did an amazing job on this episode. Jared and Jensen killed it. Kim Rhodes did her best work to date. Samantha Smith and Lisa Berry were terrific. The guest crew were great as well. The whole episode felt like a movie. I love the slow boil to the season. I find it very interesting that in almost every episode we've seen it turns out that the monster isn't supernatural at all, but in fact a human one. Looks as though perhaps the big bad this season may not be Lucifer at all, though he's a problem that must be dealt with. I'm thinking the real monster the boys will have to deal with will be all too human. I think the real bad guys will be the BMOL.  It will be so interesting to see how the boys handle the human monster. 

That's it for this week. I just want to wish everyone a safe, healthy, happy Turkey Day.  Will see you all when show comes back in two weeks.

Til then...

-Anna