Supernatural - There's Something About Mary - Review

Supernatural “There’s Something About Mary” was written by the team of Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming and was directed by PJ Pesce. Given how much I didn’t like this episode, I wasn’t surprised by the team behind it. I think this is another giant mis-step. It continues the show’s legacy of treating its female characters in the worst possible light. Killing off Eileen Leahy (Shoshannah Stern) was particularly short-sighted and disappointing. Finally, we had a disabled hunter, and a wonderful chance to highlight her abilities, but of course, she was getting close to Sam (Jared Padalecki), so she had to die. The one thing that this episode did have going for it was really great performances from Pakalecki, Samantha Smith (Mary), Mark Pellegrino (Lucifer), and Mark Sheppard (Crowley). However, one way or the other, it’s hard to imagine that this isn’t the beginning of the end for Mary.

The episode begins with Ketch (David Haydn-Jones) using a Hellhound to kill Eileen. Her death is used as jumping off for Padalecki. Sam is understandably distraught over her death. This isn’t to take away from Padalecki’s performance, but it is a shame to have used a character with so much potential for such a lame plot point. Why not kill off a younger hunter – with far less experience – who would have had an equal pull for both brothers? Like Claire – who’s just annoying.

Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam go to Mary’s motel room in response to Mary’s distress call and find her room empty. Dean calls Ketch who stonewalls them. I loved Dean’s side of the conversation which doesn’t sugarcoat how Dean and Ketch clearly hate each other. They quickly decide that he’s lying to them when he tells Dean he hasn’t seen their mother and they know she was working a case with him.

Sam then receives a call from Jodi Mills (Kim Rhodes – and don’t you DARE kill her off show. There will be hell to pay if you do) to let him know that Eileen’s been killed. When Dean sees Sam’s face, he immediately panics that it’s Mary. He’s not happy when he finds out it’s Eileen, but at least it isn’t Mom. Sam points out that that is two hunter deaths in two weeks. Dean is reluctant to see two as a pattern, but Sam points out that Mary is a hunter, and no one has seen her.

The two head to examine Eileen’s body as the official cause of death is being mauled by a wild animal – and in their world that opens up a few possibilities. Sam is clearly overwhelmed as he looks at Eileen’s body and there’s a nice shot of Dean watching his brother, trying to gauge the depth of his grief and wanting to be there for him.

There are too many questions at this point. Why did she leave Ireland? Why would a demon send a hellhound after her? And now the body count is up to 7 hunters in 3 weeks. Sam is the one who wants to punch something in the face this time, nicely underscoring how much in turmoil he is. It’s also both sad and interesting that they have come to see Mick as an ally. It’s too bad the show couldn’t have found a way to keep him alive to help bring the British Men of Letters into line.

The two will have to turn to Crowley in order to find the Hellhound. Crowley is desperate to find Kelly Kline and Lucifer’s baby. Crowley’s demons (Ian Edwards) continue to be ridiculously stupid.

Meanwhile, Mary shows ups at hunter Rick’s (Andrew McNee) with a story about needing help with a vamp’s nest. And then she kills him! His death is actually a nice nod back to Wayne’s death in “Bad Day at Black Rock.” However, this isn’t a light-hearted episode, and Mary wakes up in a sweat, unsure if she just dreamed the encounter or it really happened. But then she’s got the cut on the palm of her hand that Rick gave her as he fought for his life. Horrifyingly, it happened. The BMoL are weaponizing her.

Toni (Elizabeth Blackmore) visits Mary in her locked room in the BMoL facility. I’m going to have to give Blackmore a nod for her performance. I wanted to say she was dreadful, but that would only be projecting on the actor how much I hate this character! From her perfect hair, to her posh accent, to her fake solicitousness! Mary senses that something has happened, and Toni immediately jumps on whether Mary can distinguish fact from fiction.

Mary then gets flashes of what’s really been going on. She’s being drugged and brainwashed. Still, it’s easy to know that she’s never going to forgive herself for what she’s done. Toni tells her she’s being “re-aligned” – all her thoughts will come from them. Toni tells Mary that her perfect life was always a lie. There were always secrets and lies and she’d made that deal with Azazel.

Toni goes on to tell Mary what life was like for John and the boys after her death. John was slowly going mad, searching for revenge. Toni is surprised that the boys didn’t fill her in on John’s drunken rages and weeks of abandonment. Of course, Mary has spent very little time with her sons. On the other hand, this sounds a lot more like Toni’s been reading fan fiction. Are we all ready to forget the interactions we saw between John and his sons in the first season? Or that he sacrificed himself to save Dean in the second season premiere?

Toni tells her that she’s about to play a key role in what the BMoL have planned for the American hunters. They’ve refused to be assimilated, so they are being eliminated. And replace by natural born killers like Mary Campbell. Mary makes an attempt to attack Toni and is easily put down by her. One might believe she is week because of her torture, but didn’t she just kill a male hunter twice her size?

Crowley apparently has a deal with the BMoL – and has clearly had a long history of dealing with Dr Hess (Gillian Barber). Crowley knows exactly what’s going on – he gave Ketch the Hellhound. Hess tells him that as long as Crowley and his demons stick to collecting the souls of those stupid enough to sell them and continue to supply information, the same deal stands – the BMoL will leave him alone. They both have capturing the Nephilim as the top priority. Hess tells Crowley she’s not intending to spare Dean and Sam just because they’re his friends.

Back at Crowley’s lair, Drexel (Alex Barima) continues to try to release Lucifer. Lucifer is getting impatient. He doesn’t care if he’s at full power, he just wants out to find his son. He’s ready to roll the dice.

Crowley tells the Winchesters all his Hellhounds are accounted for, and he doesn’t care about the hunters being killed. He then informs Lucifer that Dagon is dead and his son is in the hands of the Winchesters’ love slave, Castiel! Crowley tells Lucifer that his plan is to save his son’s life. However, he’s going to raise him himself and use his power for himself. It’s hilarious that Drexel is simply hiding behind the door! Lucifer tells him he needs out…now!

Back at the BMoL, Toni is thrilled with the progress she’s made with Mary – and we see that there is absolutely no love lost between her and Ketch, who are clearly vying for Hess’s approval. Ketch doesn’t really want to be an administrator, but she’s very impressed that Ketch has no problem torturing Mary – she knows Ketch was sleeping with her – and he also slept with Toni!

Dean and Sam check their mail and find a letter from Eileen. She left Ireland because she was scared and thought the BMoL were after her because she’d killed one of them. She’d found a microphone in her house and was coming to bunk with them for protection.

Dean and Sam search the bunker and eventually find the microphone under the table. Dean and Sam pretend to be setting a meeting to talk to another hunter. The BMoL are fairly drooling as they listen in – but the brothers are clearly setting a trap.

Ketch feeds the Hellhound – and Toni is clearly – grudgingly – impressed. Ketch asks her outright if she wants Mick’s job. It turns out Hess has told them both that they can have the job. Apparently, Hess is still using the ruthless methods of the academy. Toni tells Ketch that she’s been studying the “American situation” for years and how to fix it. The assignment is hers. Of course, this still begs the ever present question. If they knew about the Apocalypse, why didn’t they get involved then??? It’s just not a question that can be brushed aside.

Ketch goes to Mary, and she tells him that she’s losing her mind. Smith is fantastic in this scene as she really struggles to come to terms with what reality is and what she’s done. Ketch tells her it’s ok. He kills his friends all the time! It is clear that Mary did get under his skin. He throws back in her fact that she made it clear that they weren’t in a relationship. He’s also maintains that she doesn’t know him – and is also clearly sad that she wouldn’t want to know him.

Mary tries to take Ketch’s gun, but she wants to kill herself. She pleads with him to kill her. All her life, all she ever had, other than her family, was her will. She can’t live knowing that she’s putting her sons in danger. One has to wonder how much of the torture Mary went through that Ketch himself was also subjected to – and likely as a child. He promises Mary that it will all soon be over.

Toni is waiting to spring the trap on the brothers. She was clearly hoping to gain an advantage over Ketch in her bid to take over Mick’s job. However, Sam and Dean spring their own trap on her. Toni tells them that if they think that they BMoL killed someone – Eileen – they probably did, but by taking her prisoner, they’ve doomed themselves.

Toni tells them that their punishment might even come at the hands of Mary. She tells them that Mary has joined them and is now one of their best killers. Toni also tells them that Ketch slept with Mary – Dean slams on the brakes and is about to go over the backseat at her, but Sam stops him – sadly. She also tells them that Mick is dead because he was too sympathetic – and the rest of their flannel-wearing-whiskey-swilling hunter friends will be soon too – including Jodi!

Drexel makes an astounding discovery. The control that is carved directly in both Lucifer and Crowley’s DNA is shifting polarity – giving Lucifer control over Crowley. I loved the scene in which Lucifer tests this theory – and toys with Crowley the way a cat toys with a mouse. And given that Crowley ends up as a rat, that’s a pretty fitting analogy!

I loved Lucifer making Crowley scratch his chin, make a face, stick his tongue out, and finally catch on when Lucifer makes him flap his arms! But of course, Lucifer isn’t satisfied and makes Crowley hop on one foot too! Crowley’s dawning realization of what’s happening is classic. Lucifer’s already rubbed in how hopeless the Winchesters are at achieving the end game – he’s not worried they’ll manage to kill his son. And really? Who didn’t know it was inevitable that Lucifer would best Crowley in the end?

Mark Pellegrino clearly has a blast playing Lucifer, and he knows when to take it over the top and when to bring it back in. Lucifer has some fun batting Crowley around, but he isn’t going to make the same mistake twice by letting Crowley live – even to torture him further. We get an awesome shot of Lucifer’s wings at what looks to be full power. I loved that he even says to Crowley that he had to know it was inevitable that he’d kill him.

We see the rat that Crowley clearly jumps into before Lucifer jams the angel blade into his heart. Shouldn’t Lucifer have been suspicious that there wasn’t more of a reaction when he drove the blade home? And shouldn’t Crowley’s body have turned to smoke and ash? But for plot purposes, of course, his body has to be dragged out – followed by the rat he now inhabits. And how did he do that with no smoke-out? Plot holes writers, plot holes.

Dean and Sam make it back to the bunker with Toni, but Ketch and his men have beaten them there. There’s a terrific firefight – loved the stunts in this sequence. Dean gets the drop on Ketch and then Mary shows up. Dean is devastated when Mary shoots at him, clearly on Ketch’s side. He warns them that she really will shoot them. Ketch is happy to solve all of his problems in one go.

In what has to be the stupidest move ever, he doesn’t just kill the brothers and Toni. Suddenly, he’s not a ruthless killer? He’s willing to leave lose ends? Of course he can’t kill both stars of the show – or being Supernatural, he could and then we could have another stupid sacrifice of Mary’s life for her boys – but no. They don’t go that way. Instead, Ketch seals all three into the bunker. Did anyone think they wouldn’t find a way out? Let’s not forget that Toni is an expert on the American hunters – she’s studied them for years. No doubt she knows everything there is to know about the Bunker – all it’s secrets, no doubt more than Sam and Dean even.

There’s a chilling final scene as Ketch and Mary drive away. Ketch is impressed with how successful Mary’s treatment has been. He tells her that it will become easier to hurt people she doesn’t remember. He asks how she feels and she says fine, completely emotionlessly. Ketch looks a little wistful. After all, wasn’t it her passion that drew him to her?

The final scene is Lucifer, loose in the world. Pellegrino has to be thankful for the change of wardrobe! Will the BMoL have a change of heart now that Lucifer is loose? Might they have some use for his vessel? Or maybe they know that Lucifer doesn’t need another vessel now? Hopefully, Crowley didn’t fill them in on everything.

This was far from my favorite episode even if it did contain many fine performances. Showrunner Dabb has indicated that the two hour season finale will end a number of storylines forever and clearly indicate where season 13 is going. Given the missteps of this season, particularly as we’ve approached the end, I’m worried. To give credit where credit is due, we have also had some satisfying fan service sprinkled throughout the season, but not enough to assuage all my worries. What did you think of the episode? Feelings going into the two hour season finale? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!