Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Supernatural season 12 episode, “The Raid.” If you haven’t watched it yet, jump into the Impala and drive away.
With Sam and Dean learning about Mary’s quiet team-up with the British Men of Letters, it was only a matter of time before things would come to a head. “The Raid” brought the brothers face-to-face with the sketchy organization, and did so in unexpected ways–each Winchester got a sort of customized sales package. The events picked at the heart of the British Men of Letters conundrum–what they want, ultimately a monster-free world, isn’t terrible.
Mary lying to her boys about her alliance with the organization for so long? That is bad. She should have come clean as soon as the partnership crossed her mind. But. I will say this. The Winchesters do a few things exceptionally well–hunting, drinking, and lying to each other. A large portion of the conflict in the series over the past 12 seasons has been caused by Dean or Sam keeping some crucial piece of information from the other. The problem has been less common in recent history, thank goodness, but deceit was part of the plot playbook for a long time.
The brothers’ poor communication skills aren’t an excuse for Mary. Overall, she’s still been a rotten parent since her return from the dead (that’s a sentence I don’t get to type often). However, maybe it’s a tad hypocritical of Dean to get angry about what she’s been hiding from them, as he’s kept equally huge secrets from his brother over and over again.
All important perspective out of the way, I was interested to see how the British Men of Letters managed to attract the attention of each brother. Mary didn’t intend to give Sam a sales pitch; she wanted to share what appealed to her about the group. While he was there, Mick jumped on the opportunity to score another Winchester win for the team. As for Dean, Mr. Ketch approached him on a one to one basis.
We’ll get to the monster discussion in a moment, because it’s important in this episode, but I want to call out some parallels between Dean and Mr. Ketch. They’re not apples and apples alike, but they are apples… and another fruit that’s a lot like apples but has a different flavor. I’m suddenly feeling like I should know more about fruit. Maybe Ketch is like a pear? Anyway. Both Ketch and Dean are in pursuit of the same goal. They both like fine alcohol. It appears each of them likes working through emotions by taking out monsters. I didn’t expect to find this expanse of common ground between them, and judging by Dean’s reaction, he didn’t either.
Now the monsters. They brought the fight to the Men of Letters base and hunted the hunters. Given the success of their vampire elimination program, the last thing anyone thought would happen is vampires coming to the front gates. It was a smart storytelling move. The flip added a variable which allowed us to some of the weakness within the Men of Letters. We needed to see them falter, and we needed to see a Winchester save their skins. Needed.
“The Raid” gave me hope for the British Men of Letters realizing they can find a middle point in their talks with American hunters. They have advanced technology and organization and acronyms; all of it could be beneficial in making an impact. The hunters have street smarts. By blending practical fighting skills and knowledge of weaponry with fancy gadgets, they could make waves.
Since there is potential, albeit shaky potential, to rid the world of monsters, I can’t help but ponder this as an end to the series. I know all parties involved have said they’ll basically never stop making the show (I’m paraphrasing), and they already have season 13 on the books. But, what if? The monsters would be gone. Sam and Dean could have a regular life. It wouldn’t be the worst. Do you think it’s a possibility?
What do you think abut Mary’s actions thus far this season? Head to the comments and let me know your thoughts.
Images: The CW
