Supernatural Round Table: Keep Calm and Carry On

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Mary Winchester is back! But is that a good thing?

TV Fanatic staff writers Sean McKenna and Christine Laskodi and The Winchester Family Business’ Alice and Nightsky are ready to talk all about Supernatural Season 12 Episode 1.

Plus, there’s Toni and the new British Men of Letters, and it looks like Lucifer is making a return as well! So let’s dive into the latest Supernatural Round Table and discuss “Keep Calm and Carry On.”

What was your favorite scene or quote?

Christine: I loved a lot of little moments during the hour, but I think the best had to be Mary's reunion with Baby, and that longing look at the backseat... and Dean's totally uncomfortable reaction.

Alice: I’m with Christine. That was easily the best scene of the whole episode. It’s up there when Dean unleashed his baby after keeping her in storage in Supernatural Season 6. Dean’s realization of what was going through Mary’s mind as she gazed at the back seat, pretty damned priceless. 

How about I pick a quote though, just to mix it up? The winner for me came from Sam: “You can ask me any type of question you want, but the answer is gonna be the exact same. Screw you. You wanna get mad, you wanna get mean? I've been tortured by the Devil himself. You. You're just an accent in a pantsuit. What can you do to me?”

Nightsky: There are so many (which indicates the high quality of this premiere). CometCas (or as someone said online, “Casteroid”), Dean and Mary on the bench, and Sam throwing his head back in pain are my top three. I don’t know what this says about me, but I’m going with Jared Padalecki’s superb acting of Sam’s defiant, grief-stricken endurance of pain.

Sean: Yeah, it’s got to be the two different looks Dean and Mary gave when looking at the backseat of the Impala. And Dean’s look of realization truly solidified the moment. So funny.

Is the return of Mary Winchester a good thing?

Christine: I'll admit that I was REALLY hesitant about it until I saw this episode. Her re-introduction was seamless. It felt like she'd always been there, in a way. I really love watching her process how much the world has changed, and how her husband and sons ended up in this life that she never wanted for them. I think it's a great angle for the season, and I'm really looking forward to seeing it play out.

Alice: I’m definitely more sold on the idea after this episode. Her reactions to everything and the disjointed feelings was the most captivating part of the whole episode. It got me emotionally involved in the story. It all felt realistic, or as realistic as the whole whacked out scenario. 

I mean come on, she comes back from the dead years later saved by God’s sister, is reunited with her hunter son who is now older than her, gets to hang out with his awkward angel pal, and for kicks gets to kill a very bad woman who is harming her sons. I’d be out of sorts too!  All I can say is they better not have gone through all this trouble to bring her back just to kill her again. They better follow through with the full potential of the story, which means she can’t die, ever. 

Nightsky: My answer is the same as Christine’s. I’ve been skeptical because I didn’t know how Mary’s dynamic would disrupt the two-brother partnership that is central to the show. This episode did a superb job of introducing her, though. Samantha Smith was excellent.

It really seemed like she had been an integral part of the past 12 seasons versus the reality of having been in only 10 of the 240+ episodes. They successfully pulled me in to the point of now being deeply curious where this is going to go.

Sean: I too was skeptical and worried it was more of a gimmick than anything else. But I got invested in her part of the story, seeing her try and cope with everything Dean explained to her and the new world in general. It could prove to be a very interesting and new dynamic for the show.

What do you think of the British Men of Letters?

Christine: Are they the stupidest evil villains ever, or is there something going on that we don't know about yet? If they're this great superpower in Britain, and they're SO good that monsters can't get in, why do they need intel from Sam to find American hunters? It makes NO sense at all. What aren't they telling us yet, because surely it's something?

Alice: Yikes, they’re awful! I’m so damned tired of the stereotypical, stupid, vapid bad guys. For a group that has such an excellent track record, Toni and her bunhead pal were certainly smug and careless don’t you think? If they knew so much about the Winchesters then they should know that the hunters in the USA are NOT organized. Duh. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. 

It also doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it’s easy to be tracked via street cameras and nervous veterinarians. They know how dangerous the Winchesters and their allies are, but they’re just going to take them out with torture and a pair of magic brass knuckles? It kind of reminds me of Bugs Bunny with the spear and magic helmet.

Now instead of menacing and fearsome foe, it’s just another set of villains that we will mock mercilessly. If I have to watch them all season like this, I’m going to be doing a lot of fast forwarding on the DVR.

Nightsky: Besides hating them intensely? I’m concerned about the stereotypical portrayal of British attitudes. I also don’t want a campy James Bond Spectre organization as the foe. The show deserves better than that. I’m willing to see how this is handled but they annoy me tremendously at the moment. They need depth and believability fast.

Sean: I’m definitely not won over. At least when Rowena was first introduced, she seemed like a scary and frightening new foe. Her character wound up going the opposite direction, and I can only hope that happens for the British Men of Letters. I’d like a threatening and menacing bad guy for the Winchesters to face, not one that talks about how awesome they are but just show that they aren’t. We will see though.

Do you believe Toni that she just wants to locate American hunters?

Christine: Not a chance. I have a feeling that her bosses aren't good people, and that she's being blindly mislead.

Alice: I wish I liked her enough to put some thought toward this question. I’ll pass until she actually grows a personality.

Nightsky: Locate them, yes. Talk to them, no. The British Men of Letters are like the dictator or evil mastermind who wants to “better” the world by “bringing order.” I think it will be “Join us or die. We’re only thinking of the greater good, of course!”

Sean: I don’t really get Toni’s plan. If they can find Sam and Dean, can’t they find the other hunters? For such a powerful group that claims to be the good guys, I’m not really seeing it. As for Toni, like the British Men of Letters, I’m just not fully on board yet.

Are you excited for more Lucifer this season?

Christine: Yes...and no. I hope that having Lucifer around will give Crowley something to work with, and that the battle for power in Hell will be interesting. But really, I think after SO much Lucifer on Supernatural Season 11, it might have been nice for him to disappear for a while and let viewers be afraid of him again. If he's constantly around, it makes him feels less intense.

Alice: I’m excited about next week at least. Rick Springfield! My inner 80s teenager is having a fan girly fit! From the brief glimpses of the previews, Lucifer’s latest meat suit looks hot and perhaps a little menacing. Please, can he be at least a little chilling and evil? Of course, I still remember the Sam Winchester “you’re you one true vessel” thing, but I guess that was so Supernatural Season 5. They got over that. So I’ll take an aging rock star that can act as an alternative. 

Nightsky: The promotional pictures of Rick Springfield have made me excited to see how he will play Lucifer. He looks deliciously evil with a touch of Mark Pellegrino’s sassiness, so yes, I’m intrigued. No more daddy-issues therapy sessions. That was pathetic. I’m hoping he’s a true foe to be feared again.

Sean: Weirdly enough, not really. I think Lucifer is a fantastic character and he was great back when he was trying to bring about the apocalypse. And it was fun to see him return for Supernatural Season 11, but I thought he was wasted by the Darkness. I guess it’s fine he survived, but I thought Sam was his true vessel. And really, I’m sort of ready to move on to something new. Maybe my mind will be changed the more episodes we get into?

Sean McKenna was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. He retired in May of 2017. Follow him on Twitter.

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Supernatural Season 12 Episode 1 Quotes

I’ve been tortured by the devil himself so you, you’re just an accent in a pantsuit. What can you do to me?

Sam

Mary: Is that a computer?
Castiel: Yes. I don’t trust them.