Supernatural: The Things We Left Behind Review

It’s mid-season finale time for the CW shows and Supernatural baited us with a heartfelt episode before pulling the traditional shocking ending. January 20 can’t come soon enough.

The majority of the episode was the hinted-at continuation of Jimmy Novak’s story from two weeks ago with the episode “Girls, Girls, Girls.” Now we have the definitive answer to our conversation in the comments section of that review. Jimmy Novak truly is gone and in heaven since his vessel was destroyed. I’m assuming the fatal blow was when Lucifer ‘sploded him after the triumphant declaration of “Hey, Ass Butt!”

Anyway, we got to see what became of Jimmy’s daughter, the innocent devout little girl. Due to the events with the angels and demons interfering in the Novak’s normal lives, Claire became a rebellious delinquent. Seems almost no kid in Supernatural can grow up without being screwed up just a little bit. Actress Kathryn Newton pulled off the troubled teen schtick while holding onto the core of the character—the hurt little girl who lost both her parents, and now internally suffers seeing Castiel look like her now deceased father.

There was a change in Castiel’s demeanor in this episode. He seemed more innocent and vulnerable. And this is more than just a “is ketchup a vegetable” kind of innocence. Despite what Claire said, I do believe Cas’s interest in her safety was more than just guilt. He was just too busy the last few years to check up on her. Y’know, because he was preventing the apocalypse and all that. No big.

The main story about a father rekindling a relationship with his daughter (sort of) was complimented by a story about a mother rekindling a relationship with her son (sort of). A few times throughout the episode, we got a sneak peek into Rowena’s cell in Hell, and Crowley’s reaction to having her there. He’s got major Mommy issues, but she did abandon him when he was 8 years old, presumably after telling him he’d die in a ditch. Where’s the mother’s day card for that one? These Crowley issues are so human and made him so vulnerable that we must wonder if Rowena is the reason Crowley became a demon to begin with. Not the best parental figure, being an evil witch. What kind of hold will Rowena have over him, now that he’s set her free? Guess we’ll find out in the second half of the season.

The last scene—we knew it was coming. I knew the season would end with Dean in the middle of a room of bloody bodies. It’s been teased in the disturbing flashes Dean received. The real hard-hitting moment was when everyone reacted to Dean’s bloody mess. Castiel, who promised to kill Dean if something like this were to happen, ushered his “daughter” away from the carnage. Sam grasped onto his brother, pleading to hear that Dean had no choice and had to kill all these men. But Sam knew it in his heart—Dean was slave to the Mark’s malign influence all over again.

Okay is it January 20 yet?