Supernatural Sets the Stage for Season Finale With ‘There’s Something About Mary’

“Dean, monsters and demons don’t team up. Seven hunters are gone. We can’t grab a signal from Mom’s phone. Cass has Kelly Kline who knows where. Mick has slipped off the grid. Ketch is lying to us. I, I… I wanna punch something in the face.”

— Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) in “There’s Something About Mary”

This week’s episode of The CW’s Supernatural is one of those type of episodes. How do you feel about Eileen’s (Shoshannah Stern) death? She was ripped apart by Mr. Ketch (David Haydn-Jones)’s pet hellhound, which is admittedly ridiculous, but at least different. (Apparently, Crowley (Mark Sheppard) has some sort of deal going on with the British Men Of Letters.)

Despite appearing in only three episodes, Eileen had quite a devoted following among fans of the show, who deemed her “interesting” and a rare worthy romantic interest for Sam. Some fans have even gone as far to suggest that the death of her character was misogynistic, and demand that the writers of this episode be fired. While I’ll certainly admit that this season has had a strange habit of killing off intriguing characters, I wouldn’t say that it has anything to do with gender, as literally, any character could leave the show soon (or not).

Whereas last week’s episode ended after Dean (Jensen Ackles) heard his mother’s voice mail of warning, with the Winchesters racing down the road at night in an attempt to locate her, this week’s episode curiously began in the daytime, with the brothers discussing the recent unexplained deaths of seven hunters (including Eileen) before checking their local post office box. They receive a letter from Eileen, saying that she believed she was in danger after finding a listening device and was on her way to stay with them in the bunker for protection. (Why would she send a letter through snail mail? We’ve seen her video-chatting with the brothers two weeks ago, so why wouldn’t she just call them?)

This leads to the brothers hatching their plan against the British Men Of Letters (BMOL): sweeping the bunker for listening devices, and speaking a false message into their very large, living room bug. The message only lures out Lady Bevell (Elizabeth Blackmore) (for some stupid reason), and she recaps the organizations’ recent activities and plans at gunpoint. Upon taking her to the bunker, they discover Ketch and other BMOL agents waiting for them. Despite a shootout/fight scene, Ketch reveals that he has set the bunker’s air and water supply to shut down, effectively leaving them trapped and doomed to die with Bevell, because Ketch desperately doesn’t want her to get a coveted job promotion that he wants. To add insult to injury, one of the BMOL goons is their own mother.

Previously, Mary (Samantha Smith) found herself locked in a very bland room, with visions of being drugged by Bevell and violently killing her hunter friend, Rick (Andrew McNee). For a brief time, we were left wondering whether she’s remembering something or if Mary is losing her mind. In fact, she later pleads with Ketch to kill her, because she’s losing her “will”. She becomes so desperate that, upon stealing his gun, she attempts to shoot herself in the head with it instead of trying to escape. However, the next time we see her, she appears to have no free will of her own at all, blankly aiming a gun at her own sons.

Here’s another plot hole: if the BMOL have the ability to drug/brainwash someone into complete submission, then why didn’t Bevell do that to Sam when they held him captive? Instead of killing off all American hunters, why wouldn’t they just brainwash all of them? However, this does make for an interesting theory: what if Ketch, Bevell, and all of the other “bad” BMOL agents were just brainwashed, presumably by Dr. Hess (Gillian Barber) and the rest of the recently-unheard-of “old men” who run the organization? It would offer the Winchesters a way to possibly redeem these new villains/characters, and leave both America and Britain safe for hunters.

Meanwhile in Hell, Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino) receives a very confusing explanation for a very simple concept. Apparently, Drexel the demon (Alex Barima) has found a way for Lucifer to reverse the curse/cosmic link Crowley has over his vessel, allowing the devil to break free from his chains and also, rather amusingly, control Crowley like a puppet. After compelling him to hop and dance, and throwing him through doors and against walls, he takes a demon blade and stabs him in the chest. As two demons drag his lifeless carcass away, Lucifer takes a walk on a (very fake-looking) mountaintop and sets off to find his son.

The fact that fans online are currently fuming about Eileen’s death, but have nothing to say about Crowley’s potential demise just tells you how smart they are about the way this show works. Do you really think Crowley is gone for good? I doubt it. The major hint was that rat that was scurrying around the entire time. Do you remember the end of The Departed? As Ralph Wigum once said on The Simpsons, “The rat symbolizes obviousness.”

All in all, despite a few glaring plotholes, this episode served as an effective preview for what is clearly going to be a big finalé. Despite the fact that its tense, action-packed pace left next to no room for the irreverent humor or fan service that we’ve come to expect from the show, it’s understandable, considering that the season is winding up. Once again, we’re left dying to know what is going to happen next, giving season twelve a binge-able quality that will serve it well in syndication, DVD viewing, and online streaming.

Next week: Carry on wayward sons and daughters! The two-hour, double episode finalé arrives with (hopefully) all of the answers we’ve been waiting for! Or will the show leave us with a devastating cliff-hanger that will boggle our brains all summer long?