Claire returned… but with a werewolf twist. Sam, Dean, Mick and Claire took on a case of the week, but were the end results a positive one?

Should Sam and Dean have given Mick another chance? And what about Claire’s role in it all?

TV Fanatic staff writers Sean McKenna and Christine Laskodi and The Winchester Family Business’ Alice and Nightsky dive into Supernatural Season 12 Episode 16.

Join them in the latest Supernatural Round Table!

What was your favorite scene or quote?

Nightsky: Dean’s description of hunter training will surely be a series classic: “You put on the flannel, you pick up a gun, you go out there. Either you get good fast or get dead faster.”

He officially dubbed flannel as the hunters’ uniform! The whole quote is perfect.

Christine: I actually really liked how enthusiastic Dean got about the hotel and the teeny tiny bottles of shampoo.

You'd think with all the motels they've been to, they'd have splurged once in a while, but he seemed genuinely excited about staying somewhere fancy for a change.

Alice: I’ll go quote. and it’s from Christine’s favorite scene. Just priceless!

Dean: Man. Those pillows, right? The little chocolates they put on them? I mean, I'm ruined, Sam. Those limey sons of bitches ruined me. I even took a swim this morning.
Sam: You brought a swimsuit?
Dean: No.

Sean: The hotel stuff was definitely humorous. Though I really liked Dean’s one-on-one talk with Mick about things not being black and white. It really captured what the episode was really going for with respect to the hunt and Mick’s thoughts on his mission.

What did you think of Claire being cured?

Nightsky: For a brief moment, I thought the show was actually going to kill her off.

Once she recovered, her being the one in nine who survived seemed tritely predictable.

Mick’s comment at the end about her being “a walking miracle” sounded ominously important, though. Perhaps a bit of Castiel’s grace still remains within her?

I have to wonder if this was the Supernatural Season 13 clue that Robert Singer teased was in this episode.

Christine: I also thought they were actually going to kill her! But then I thought, they wouldn't do that in a Cas-less episode.

I think it served as a really good emotional compass for the Winchesters. They didn't totally agree with her decision, but they had to let her make it on her own and live with it.

I took Sam's moment of backing Claire up to Dean as the more ominously important thing. They're slowly learning to let other people choose their fates, and not follow what the Winchesters deem to be the right thing.

Alice: I found it predictable. This show loves it’s parallels and since Alex was cured from being a vampire, now Jody’s other adopted child Claire is cured from being a werewolf. 

Can you see Jody at a hunters’ social mixer proudly bragging about how tough both her kids are because both were cured from being monsters? Oh, the stories she gets to tell.  

Man, when is Jody going to get on the road and start hunting? I’d have rather seen her kicking some ass in this story. Claire still hasn’t won me over.

Sean: It was a no-win situation.

It would be lame to bring her back just to kill her off, and then it would be predictable to save her.

I just wished I cared more about the character either way. 

Were you glad Claire called Jody at the end?

Nightsky: Yes, I’m glad she told the truth. From a parent’s standpoint, it’s always better knowing what’s really going on with your kids, even if they’re doing something you don’t like (which echoed Dean’s conversation with his mom about accepting her decisions even if he didn’t like them).

I was disappointed though that Claire still felt she needed to hunt alone. “It’s just something I have to do” was such a weak excuse and totally unsubstantiated from the writers.

Why did she still need to be on her own? She had just told her attacker that she wasn’t alone, that she had family who loved her. 

A more believable ending would have been to say that she wanted to give hunting with Jody another chance. The go-it-alone cliché with rebel music playing at the end felt like an awkward set up to either next season or a spinoff trial.

Christine: Like Nightsky, I was also bothered by the fact that Claire felt like she had to hunt alone.

I mean, she's essentially surrounded by hunters and people who understand, so it makes no sense that the writers would concoct this "lone wolf" (pun intended) story for her.

That being said, I'm glad she called Jody because I think it's important that we see that relationship intact and strong moving forward.

Alice: I know there wasn’t time, or perhaps Kim Rhodes wasn’t available (or there’s the guest star budget) but wouldn’t it have been cool if Jody showed up in a panic after hearing Claire was turned? 

I think she would have been great in that cure scene. She would have added a big emotional punch.

Then she and Claire could have had a good honest heart to heart in person afterward instead of that bland one-sided phone conversation. Then I might have been emotionally invested. 

Sean: It was good for her to call, but not having Jody there really let out all the emotional weight that scene could have had.

And unfortunately, I’m not that invested in Claire to begin with, so it wasn’t some big ending that really brought it all home for me.

How will Mick's relationship with the British Men of Letters be going forward?

Nightsky: From what we saw in this episode, I think him taking orders, assigning cases and writing reports will go back to normal.

So far, they shouldn’t object to anything he’s done. He killed the turning werewolf and the werewolf sire, and the cured victim no longer poses a threat.

I believe he’ll have second thoughts about kill orders but not enough to intercede… yet. The previews for next week’s episode tease a very different relationship brewing, however.

Christine: I don't trust Mick! He killed a kid, echoing Ketch doing the same earlier this season. It's not OK.

I can't get behind a character who KNOWINGLY does that when there's another choice. Period.

We talk about Cas and his blind orders from the Angels, and Mick seems to do the same - the difference is that Cas didn't have the additional information that Mick does.

So unless Mick plans on turning against the organization he works for, I don't see much changing between him and the British Men of Letters.

Alice: I don’t think it’s going to change.

I’ve got this theory. I think Mick knows more than he lets on. Think of it, if he wasn’t honest with Sam and Dean, maybe he isn’t totally honest with the British Men of Letters either. 

Was it really their orders to kill the girl? Maybe that was just an excuse.

How do we know he isn’t calling the shots? As long as he files his reports, his superiors are happy and he can do what he wants. I see Mick getting into conflict with Mr. Ketch more than anyone in the future.

Sean: I think so. Otherwise, what was the point of him being in the episode?

Though, Alice’s theory is an interesting one…

Should Sam and Dean have given Mick another chance?

Nightsky: Yes. They’re slowly bringing him around to their point of view.

Sam said it best when he was convincing Dean to let Mick tag along as a trainee: “We’re working with these people now and we’re getting wins. We’re saving people. The better they are, the better we are.”

Mary had it right when she assessed that doing the same hunting routine over and over just isn’t working.

Christine: While I agree with Nightsky's assessment, I'm still not sold. I don't think Dean is either.

Mick killed a kid when there was 100% another option - and even if that option didn't work, he owed it to her to at least try.

Alice: Yes. Despite being a hard ass, Dean once upon a time used to think that if it’s a monster they kill it, just like Mick. 

I think Dean remembers that. Plus, I think both Sam and Dean think he’s a good guy and means well.

Ultimately, though, he saved Dean’s life. That’s the only reason that matters.

Sean: Yes. He may have his flaws, but there seems to be a good person underneath.

And he helped the brothers out and even tried to save Claire. 

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