Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please Read with Caution.

Another monster of the week defeated, but at what cost? This episode reinforced what’s been going on since Alt Michael arrived on this Earth… the hunting business. Sam is “Chief” of these people, which is funny to Dean, but a position Sam takes seriously. He is losing sleep over training and monitoring all these hunters from the Apocalypse World. It’s like they have a whole new family to take care of.

Alt Bobby and Mary returned in this episode too, which helps with the center problem: one of their hunters didn’t come back. This was Maggie’s first hunting trip, and it didn’t go as planned because she disappeared. It helps that we somewhat invested in this character when Lucifer killed her and brought her back to life… thanks intro recap for that reminder.

The beautiful setting of the episode also went along with what the episode was trying to do with this family situation. I don’t know if my recent binge watching of The Haunting of Hill House influenced me, but that I couldn’t help but feel the same familiar vibes. I was half-expecting the Bent-Neck Lady to attack, which made me unprepared for the reveal: the caretaker turned out to be the Djinn, the Genie monster.

The woman who lost touch with her father paralleled well with the feelings Sam and Dean struggled with when it was just them and their dad. The “John Winchester” mentions were sweet… It reminds us as an audience that Mary and Sam, plus Dean, had vastly different views on this complicated man.

Alt Bobby is not our Bobby. This version is essentially the same in personality, but their tragic backgrounds separate them. This Bobby Singer had a son named Daniel. He lost him during the Angel War and holds immense guilt over what happened to him. The classic example of what happens if you choose the hunting life.

It’s also what’s stopping Alt Bobby from getting closer to Mary Winchester. I knew there was something going on with them. The conversation between Sam and Mary about this was so natural and one we needed to address her romantic intentions.

I like how we got more information about Alt Michael’s “super monsters” without him being directly involved in the episode. He assigned the Djinn to kill as many hunters as possible in exchange for the power-up he’s been giving to other monsters. I have a feeling Alt Michael is not entirely done with his true vessel, Dean Winchester, either.

Especially when the Djinn used his “powers” on Dean but backed off and got scared.

These Season 14 episodes are not entirely bad. At least it’s better than Season 13.

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