Supernatural Season 12 Episode 21 Review: There’s Something About Mary

This Supernatural review contains spoilers.

Supernatural Season 12 Episode 21

We prep for the season finale by seeing the tables turned on all of our favorite characters, from the Winchesters to Crowley. No word lately on Kelly Kline and her spawn, but that will certainly come to a head in the finale.

My only gripe about the episode: Eileen got a crappy send-off. She was a recurring guest star and a hunter. Eileen was killed off like some unnamed intro character who stumbles into the wrong room, and I think she deserved better.

I love the hunter who throws his bloody machete into an umbrella stand. Just normalizes the hunter life.

The interactions between the Brits seems to indicate a polished system starting to fall apart. We got a sense of that with some flashbacks in previous episodes. The way that Dr. Hess interacted with her former students in this episode just furthered my belief that the British M.o.L is the real dying breed here. Then when a certain betrayal happens at the end of this episode, it cemented the dog-eat-dog mentality of the British M.o.L.

The strategizing in this episode was great. Sam and Dean thought they finally got the upper hand when they found the hidden mic in the bunker and blabbed some false information to catch the Men of Letters in the act. It was really smart, actually, because I assumed they would just rip the mic down (thereby announcing that they had caught on) and then would storm the M.o.L. HQ guns-a-blazing. They were able to get the drop on Lady Bevell this way. I’m glad the boys responded this way because usually they get emotional and overreact, leading to an eventual downfall. We don’t want our Winchesters to look bad. They’re highly skilled hunters and sometimes they way they’re written, you wonder how they’ve gotten this far. This scene was worthy of them.

The scene that followed in the bunker was a tense one. Although the Winchesters were quickly outnumbered, they pulled some serious secret-agent style moves to take out the guards flanking them and nearly save the day. It was incredibly well choreographed and belonged in a feature length movie. Then Mary showed up.

The Brit Dicks from the Men of Letters have reached a new level when they brainwashed Mary into their own personal killing machine. I had a feeling Mary would be used against the boys, but never like this. Her last moments in the episode in the car are underscored with a dissonant twist on the classic Supernatural sad/happy/family theme.

The funny moments in this episode belonged to the Brits and Lucifer. Some noteworthy quotes include: “Am I going to say ‘bad dog?’ He could be unpleasant,” “You’re right, there is no decoder ring,” and “Eight ball, corner pocket!” Sam and Dean were pretty serious this episode, so it’s great to get our levity in elsewhere.

That whole scene with Lucifer playing a silent “Simon Says” with Crowley as the control passed from one to the other was priceless. Crowley is never living that down. Especially if he doesn’t get his vessel back and is stuck in that rat. You did notice he possessed the rat right before he was stabbed with the angel blade, right?

All that brainwashing stuff makes me wonder — maybe the lovechild of Lucy isn’t Season 13’s villain. Maybe it’s Mary Winchester. A two hour season finale to enjoy next week. Get ready folks. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.