Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Supernatural episode “Don’t You Forget About Me.” If you haven’t watched it yet, hop into the Impala and drive away.

It’s not often I can say Supernatural is about girl power, but “Don’t You Forget About Me” put the emphasis on the ladies. Fan favorite Sheriff Jody Mills returned to the series, dragged back into the monster world by Claire Novak. Jody’s been looking after Claire in addition to Alex, and the two girls couldn’t be more different—at first, anyway. Alex put her traumatizing past behind her, while Claire prioritized hunting above everything else. She called the Winchesters for assistance with a case.

Having the Winchesters drop by Jody’s house opened the door to all sorts of delightful domestic situations. The best one was the brothers being unwilling participants in a safe sex talk. Jody has really stepped into it with the whole motherhood thing, and it was lovely to see Kim Rhodes tackle the role. She conveyed Jody’s pride in Alex and frustration with Claire with on-point expressions; Rhodes says so much with the slightest gestures.

Jody recruited Dean and Sam to help with Claire, who had been burying herself in hunting to hide away from life. Although he didn’t show his hand, it was clear this hit home with Dean. He and Sam both had “come to Jesus” talks with Claire, but they took different approaches. Sam is better at those sort of delicate situations, and was particularly on point since Claire has the life that Sam wanted when he was her age. He tried to pursue a normal life and got pulled back into the family business.

Claire has had problems in the past with mistaking innocuous situations for cases, but she was right this time: a vampire from Alex’s past had hunted her down. The actual vampire and his desire for revenge was the least interesting part of the episode, but one facet made him stand out. He built Alex up and orchestrated happiness for her before he tore it down. So rude, vampire dude. And it’s brutal. This isn’t a sunny show, but damn—this was certainly a tonal shift from that awkward discussion about the value of condoms.

As soon as it was revealed Henry was a vampire, I couldn’t help but worry about Alex’s psychological state. I’ve mentioned it before, but I wonder if, somewhere in the world, there’s a hunter support group or a specialized psychologist to help victims of monsters. They need it, and they can’t exactly talk to an average therapist about their unique problems.

The vampire kidnapped Jody, Claire, and Alex. He wanted to kill Alex’s family in front of her eyes. That, of course, didn’t happen. The Winchesters arrived and distracted the vamps, but Alex and Claire took it from there. I was bummed to see Jody incapacitated with a broken leg, but it meant the girls had to stand up and fight for themselves and for each other. Claire and Alex’s team-up was more triumphant because they couldn’t rely on Jody.

The unwelcome return of Alex’s past served nicely not only to unite Jody’s ragged little family but also to set up different futures for the two girls. I appreciate Alex not suddenly doing a 180 and craving the life of as a hunter. No, she decided to continue with school. The same happened with Claire. She’s still committed to being a hunter, but I do think she’ll make more of an effort with college and being better towards Jody.

Random observations:

• Dean and Sam rarely get to eat among friends or at a dining room table in someone’s home. Their reaction to getting a home-cooked meal from Jody was precious.
• Not to keep the subject on food, but Dean’s appreciation of The Elvis makes me want to go hunt down donut burgers with him. If he was ever going to start Instagramming his meals, it would begein with that burger.
• Dean’s judgmental stare towards Henry was priceless. Both brothers got to pull the parent suits on in the episode, and they both wore it well.

There was a whole lot of girl power in tonight’s Supernatural. What did you think? Share your opinion with me in the comments or come talk to me on Twitter.

—

IMAGES: The CW