Supernatural 13x17 EARLY Early Access!
Added 2026-01-01 16:09:37 +0000 UTC
Comments
Not yet seen the episodes after this, though I gathered that this was more or less the prelude to the climactic stretch for the season. Very simple and straightforward Lovecraftian style story. Didn’t really feel slow to me. So, I have been hearing fan scuttlebutt that Asmodeus is not strictly speaking a beloved villain with the fandom. Your comment indicates along the lines of what I’ve heard. Do hear you about how Lucy said that Asmodeus is his weakest creation, hence it makes sense that he doesn’t come across as the greatest threat. Feels like you could still establish that low on the villain totem pole though he is, he still conveys a genuine threat and danger. I acknowledge I’m a big villains guy who can be picky sometimes, and it is nice to see I’m not alone in thinking him lukewarm. He definitely loses many points with the needle scenes, and his complete stupidity in leaving Ketch, Gabriel, and the blade unguarded. I take your point of him feeling like an interim villain. Feels rotten how we have him and not Crowley. Is saying something about how he’s not facing the boys directly. Good notes on the parallels of Dean and Sam having the bad habit of being attacked by monsters and humans respectively. Dean is taking his fair share of hits, as you describe, this season. Good note on how we’d have three nickels after it is thrice now that Sam inadvertently let out a god-level threat from their eternal prison. I still would have been testier with the people who kept Yokoth imprisoned, saying things like, “Didn’t cross your minds to maybe put up better signage warning people to NOT let the god-level threat loose?” Granted, the chances of the boys or anyone finding the place as they did were remote, but you think they’d account for the possibility, however unlikely though said possibility is. I also got defensive of Sam with the judgy waitress. I do side with Dean on kale. Likewise, it felt like we glossed over how this chapter of the Men of Letters got a poor innocent girl killed for the Cthulhu of it all. Sam’s better than I would be on getting the people to come around to helping him. I will say that it’s nice that you had the adoration of the opening scene. Preface that. Jess more or less mirrored my reaction to that scene. I suspect because both she and I are the younger siblings in our families. In my case, my brother never pulled that shit much. I can’t speak for Jess, though what she has shared indicates similar experience. I’m not saying that there was never sibling drama, just not those sort of childish shenanigans. Do love how Sam catches it before they leave. Still with Jess on hating Ketch, which it is going to take effort to not feel HATRED when I see his actor in other stuff. Mom had on one of those Hallmark movies that he’s in. I had to leave the room several times as just seeing him was unbearable with the hatred of Ketch. Sad thing is what Asmodeus says to him is far too relatable, and I’d taunt Asmodeus with stuff like, “...If your intention was to wound me with your words, Sir, I think you missed the mark as I already know all that which you just said.” And Ketch and Dean are off into apocalypse land. Dean benching Sam: figured you’d have the response to it that you wrote. The protective big brother instinct I understand. The little brother frustration of being sidelined like Sam has, I feel Sam’s pain on that one. Jared did do good facial acting there.
Thomas Corp
2026-01-02 19:48:37 +0000 UTCI really love this episode, not because it has the most dynamic, or crazy A plot that we have ever seen (actually the whole Yokoth/secret section of MOL, while not boring by any means is very straightforward and relatively simple), but because of everything else this episode gives us, and sets up. So, without any spoilers, this really is the kickoff episode to the finale. This is the starting point for the wrap up of the season, and I am super excited to see your reactions to what is about to come. It kind of feels slow paced, or low stakes (at least it did to me on my first watch) but it makes a lot more sense once you see the episodes that come next. Regarding Asmodeus, I agree with you, that his threat level isn't the same as we saw from Dagon, or Ramiel, or especially Azazel, but it actually kind of makes sense. Lucifer told us Asmodeus is his weakest creation. He isn't supposed to be a big threat, or all that evil. He's supposed to be this guy trying to be what Crowley was, a poor substitute stepping into way too big shoes to fill. The fact that he didn't try to deal with the Winchesters, beyond spying on them, speaks to his level of incompetence, and it shows that our boys don't consider him a big enough threat to deal with. Storytelling wise, I think he is meant to be kind of a placeholder character. He isn't the next big bad, he isn't after us (being the boys), he's just in charge of Hell, playing King and keeping the demons occupied while the boys worry about getting to and back from Apocalypse world. The way Sam and Dean were both attacked in this episode is always fascinating to me. It's a perfect mirror of what each boys biggest threats usually are. So Dean, the natural born hunter, is almost always attacked, kidnapped, or threatened by monsters, by some supernatural threat. Those are consistently his enemies that he has to face or overcome, so of course its Yokoth who attacks and then takes Dean. Interestingly, Yokoth reminded me in that scene with Dean chained up of Abaddon back in season 9, both evil cosmic beings who take a liking to Dean's body and want to use it for their own means. It's a very familiar mentality that we see often in this show, but especially this season, we have been seeing Dean take his fair share of hits (such as the shapeshifter early on who used him to try and trap Sam, or the Plumm sisters using the love spell). It's an interesting theme that keeps reappearing over and over again for Dean this season. On the flip side, we have Sam. Be it Gordon Walker, Kubrick, Creedy, Walt, Roy, the British Men of Letters, even his own grandfather Samuel, Sam is constantly attacked, or targeted by other humans. The people who Sam is trying to save and protect are the ones who most often put him in direct danger, try to use him, or just straight up try to murder him. So here, of course, he's drugged and taken by the people who were trying to keep Yokoth contained. (also, unrelated, but if I had a nickel for every time Sam inadvertently let out a god-level threat from their eternal prison, i'd have 3 nickels, which isn't a lot but its weird it happens 3 times). But, on the flip side, Sam's best, most effective weapon is his words, and his knowledge and ability to communicate, which is what saves him here, and ultimately turns potential enemies into allies. Sam's ability to lead, and step up, and essentially, recruit, has seriously developed in the recent seasons (especially in 12), and here we get to see this newer, bolder version of Sam come into play. Just, overall, a really, really interesting episode with a fairly simple overall story, but a lot of depth and subtext to the season overall. Also... I adore the opening. Dean just being a big brother is adorable, and refreshing and I love seeing the two boys just be idiots for a while lol. Almost enough to make up for that heartwrenching ending where Dean, stupidly, leaves Sam behind. Because things always go so perfectly when the brothers are separated. Jared knocked it out of the park with Sam's facial expressions
Elisia
2026-01-02 17:35:02 +0000 UTCAnd now the biggest takeaway from this reaction: You have seen The Thing. Noted. That’s been one that I know always makes a great reaction, but I’ve always been very afraid of requesting it given the uh, that one scene with, uh, well, you know. I kept having it in the list for the suggestion box with the timestamp for when you could just fast forward. Now you say that you’ve seen the film, and for obvious reasons, it has traumatized you. Good to know, Jess.
Thomas Corp
2026-01-01 17:04:35 +0000 UTC
