Supernatural Season 12 Episode 14 Review: The Raid

This Supernatural review contains spoilers.

Supernatural: Season 12, Episode 14

The opportunity to wipe out entire species of monsters is tempting, but everything the British Men of Letters promise is too good to be true. They think they’re BAMF like “We eliminated 90% of the vampires in the Midwest” and then eleven of them sneak into their secret treehouse and decimate their numbers. Whoops?

The introduction this season of the British Men of Letters and their superiority complex worried me at first. Hunters have always been sold to us as pick of the litter, and here we have some folks who can push a button and take down monsters with ease. How do we believe in our hardworking hunters when these other guys make it look so easy? This episode was needed to show that the British Men of Letters  can’t quite compare when it comes to the family business.

This was a Sam/Mary-centric episode, which I think was needed. We haven’t seen quite enough of their interaction. It seemed Dean was the one doing most of the communicating until the big fight last week. Dean had actually remembered his mother from his childhood, but Sam never got that chance. Their connection is sweet but strained because of that. I’m glad they were forced to work together and let bygones be bygones.

The temporary home base of the British Men of Letters was layered in high tech and surrounded by barbed wire. It looked like an old government compound, or at least something you’d see on Arrow. The location and the interaction with the nerdier members of the Men of Letters lent a thriller format to the episode. It worked but it took some getting used to.

The Alpha Vampire portrayed by Rick Worthy returned and he is wonderful, but I hope you didn’t get too attached. His presence is appropriately menacing, as his assertion that he can’t even be killed by The Colt seems possible. The Alpha got a few good moments, such as telling those crazy Brits to get off his lawn. Then he becomes the inaugural bullet holder for the resurfaced Colt. It’s too bad, he was a great villain.

There’s a fantastic switcheroo that occurs right before the Alpha is capped. Sam very convincingly pleads for his mother’s safe escape in exchange for the last Brit in the room, Arthur Ketch. I was personally conflicted – Sam had a good point about the vampires and hunters having the right relationship, neither too threatening to the other. Sam plays up the good ol’ days vibe. Sam is then tackled by Arthur in what seems like a retaliatory move.

In a smartly done chain of events, we see the scene again, through the Alpha replaying the situation in his mind. He’s figured out that it was all a ruse to get a bullet to Sam’s empty gun. It’s too late for the Alpha though, he’s been ventilated.

It was a definite improvement on what I saw was a weak episode last week. I look forward to see where Sam’s renewed interest in the British Men of Letters will go. Sam’s got some ‘splainin to do.

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