Supernatural 12x20 EARLY Early Access!

Not everyone is a fan of season 12, but honestly this episode for me kind of encapsulates why it is one of my favorites. After the sheer grandness and epicness of season 11, fighting against the devil and God's own sister, meeting God himself, combining the forces of Heaven and Hell, witches and hunters all together, there really wasn't a whole lot of room to go above that. But this, I think anyways, was the best direction they could go, bringing in a human threat like the British Men of Levels. Just like i feel season 11 was a reset for the brothers themselves, a return to a pure, if improved brotherhood that they had shared in season 1, I like to see season 12 as sort of a return to what hunting, fundamentally is, and what it means to fight monsters. We saw in earlier seasons glimpses of this theme, especially regarding Sam- what it means to be good, what it means to be evil, what makes a hero vs what makes a monster. Gordon, Bela, Tim and Reggie, Walt and Roy, hell even with John Winchester. The Special Children like Andy, Weebs, Max, Ava, Jake, Lily. Regular, honest to goodness people struggling between the line of light and darkness, good and evil. But I really love that this season takes that concept, that question- how far can someone go in the pursuit of "greater good" before it stops being good- and applies it on a much larger, grander scale. It really takes that ethical dilemma and forces you to examine if something is black and white, or where the shades of grey may be. Is it better to wipe out every monster, even those who didn't commit any acts of evil, on the off chance that they might hurt someone down the road? Or is it better to be more discerning, more nuanced, and deal on a case by case basis, even if it means more people might get hurt because you couldn't stop it in time? Fundamentally, what is hunting? Is it killing monsters? Is it making the hard choice? Is it fighting evil with any weapon possible, or is it fighting for humanity, even if that humanity is found more in a werewolf, or a vampire, than a fellow human? I feel like if last season was basically all action, and battles, and very physical in nature, then season 12 is very much philosophical in the same regard. Not to say it isn't also full of action, because there are still monsters, still fights to be fought, but it does a great job at making people stop, and think, and question what they are doing. And then, with the characters themselves. Everyone this season is written so well, so complex, and the problems they face have forced them all to confront some deep, dark parts of themselves, and to decide where they stand on the divide that is schism-ing the British Men of Letters from the American Hunters, which is a black/white view on hunting, or a much more shades of grey one. Mary is struggling with how best she can be a mother to kids she doesn't even really know anymore and likewise, Sam and Dean are struggling with how best to be the children of a mother they never really got to know. They are all struggling with how to do the jobs they were all born into- saving people, hunting things- in the best way possible. Mick we saw struggle with how far is too far, Ketch even (although more subtle) is struggling with his duty and his (for lack of a better word) affection for Mary. Cas is struggling to find purpose, to find his faith and his mission. Even Crowley is struggling to figure out his role, and what he truly wants, and is using Lucifer as a way of making up for the confidence that I think he really lost when Lucifer was possessing Cas, but which has been steadily declining since Sam almost cured him and reminded the demon of how to feel human again. With Tasha, Alisha, and Max, even though the story is dark, and tragic and beautifully written on its own, they three of them really encapsulate what I think this season is trying to show us. Monsters (witches like Tasha) can be good, good people can make the wrong choices (Max taking the ring) and hunters can get hurt even at the hands of people they love (Alisha's death). Even by a mother's hands, children might not always be safe. At first glance, this episode might seem like a one-off, a MOTW style, but I think just below the surface, it really does tell us the heart of this season- moral dilemmas, dangerous truths and a foreboding sense of foreshadowing that might be coming down the pipeline. And, of course, because it is Supernatural, and we can't have any more than one season of a sort of step back, return to basics, focus on the truths of hunting and return to basic monsters, and day-to-day grind of the job, we have Cas, Kelly Kline, her baby and Lucifer looming over the entire story like shadows. Not a substantial threat yet, but coming, inevitable, like a brewing storm. God I love this show lol

Elisia