There were so many storylines on Supernatural Season 12 Episode 17, but was it just a mess?

From the British Men of Letters storyline to Kelly and Dagon to Lucifer and Crowley, TV Fanatic staff writers Sean McKenna and Christine Laskodi and The Winchester Family Business’ Alice and Nightsky had plenty to discuss. And not all of it was positive.

Can you believe Mick got killed off?

Yeah, you’re going to want to join in the latest Supernatural Round Table to talk all about “The British Invasion.”

What was your favorite scene or quote?

Alice: When Sam handed Dean the colt. Dean’s swagger with that gun back in his hand, it was priceless. Honestly, it was the only enjoyable part of the whole hour. 

Christine: I liked the playful interaction of Dean teasing Sam about Eileen in the car. That little, "Aw, that's cute,” and watching Sam get slightly flustered... I love a good rom-com moment on Supernatural.

Nightsky: Eileen saying “Nobody cares” to the top of his class Mr. Know It All! I laughed for five minutes after that. Her timing was superb because it shut him down so completely.

Sean: I actually liked Eileen getting involved in the case and her getting to have a beer with the brothers. It was great to see how capable of a hunter she is as well as her camaraderie with the brothers.

Mary and Mr. Ketch: A good hook up or not right at all?

Alice: At first I thought that it seemed rather random, but considering the time they’ve spent together and Mary hasn’t gotten laid in 35 some years, why not?  He’s not a bad looking guy. I think Mr. Ketch was more surprised that she was just using him. 

This isn’t going to bode well with the whole “kill all the American hunters” order, especially since she claimed her sons come before hunting. He’s going to use that as justification to take her out. 

Christine: Ugh. Mary! Why?! I saw it slightly differently than Alice. I definitely think he's had a thing for her for a while, and he seemed hurt when Mary said she was using him.

I'm wondering if one of the big twists will be Ketch switching sides and helping the Winchesters take down the British Men of Letters. That woman, who's name I didn't catch, reminded me so much of Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter. I wanted someone to get rid of her, ASAP.

Nightsky: The whole affair (sorry!) was completely unnecessary. They’re going for Mary being “attracted to danger” and the parallel of Mr. Ketch being what John could have been (a cold blooded hunter).

It also showed a sentimental side of a character they built up as psychotic so he’ll be conflicted now that he’s been ordered to kill Mary and her sons, but it truly came across as forced, done entirely for its shock value.

I agree with Christine that Ketch has had a crush on Mary since he met her, but this was too sudden and awkwardly squeezed between all the other stories.

Sean: It just felt forced. I’ve got no problem with Mary getting some action, but there was something that just felt off about seeing her and Mr. Ketch hooking up. Not a fan.

Does Crowley know Lucifer is lying to him?

Alice: Yes. Crowley is not dumb, despite what the writing this week had us believing. However, I do wonder if Lucifer channeling Dagon was part of Crowley’s contingency plan. He has to know the Princes of Hell are taking interest in the child and will intervene with Lucifer. 

I guess we’ll find out. I’m hedging a bet that Rowena will have to get involved.

Christine: I hope so, for Crowley's sake. Like Alice, I really hope that Crowley guessed that this was how it would all go down with Dagon, and that he's got something else up his sleeve. It seems like an injustice to Crowley if Lucifer gets the better of him.

Nightsky: I’m going to guess yes. Crowley has never been naïve. His whole performance in front of his “court” was pathetically corny, so I’m betting it was staged for Lucifer’s benefit. Crowley wants Lucifer to show his hand.

Sean: It really seemed like Crowley was getting duped though, wasn’t it?

That whole court scene was just a waste of time, too, but I really hope Crowley is still steps ahead of Lucifer. Fingers crossed.

Did you expect more to happen with the Kelly and Dagon storyline?

Alice: No. It turned out exactly as I had envisioned. Once Dagon had her mitts on Kelly, the nice act would disappear. After all, she’s a Prince of Hell. They’ve got tempers. I’m just wondering why they had to go to the doctor if Dagon knew the truth and in the end told Kelly anyway. 

It all seemed like a weak setup for the whole confrontation with Sam, Dean, Mick, Eileen, and British Men of Letters tool.

Christine: Not really. I'm glad it was quick and didn't drag on for six episodes where we wondered if Kelly would ever find out. I wish we were spending more time this season with the Princes of Hell and Lucifer's baby. I'm much more invested there than I am in the British Men of Letters.

And I agree. That confrontation was one of Supernatural's weakest. There were so many "power" players there, and it really went nowhere.

Nightsky: Not really. Its purpose was solely to build up to the climactic confrontation between heaven, hell and hunters over the nephilim.

Sean: I really thought there would be more to it instead of being such a waste of time. Maybe I was hoping that that storyline would really advance rather than just spin its wheels a bit.

Thoughts on Mick's death?

Alice: Oh, I have thoughts! Was his death shocking? Of course not. Deaths are so damned cliche on this show anymore that someone living is more surprising. I just hate that they spent all that time in the last few episodes focusing on Mick and then kill him anyway.

It seems like they were just stalling and thought Mick would make great filler. He wasn’t around long enough for us to feel really sad or outraged about his death. I get the intent was to show how evil the British Men of Letters are, but honestly, they didn’t need to kill Mick to show that! 

The backstory, as completely ludicrous and implausible as it was, illustrated that well. Now they’ve gone and turned the British Men of Letters into cartoon villains instead of something diabolical. They’re evil because… they’re British! Oh joy, it’s the Styne family mess all over again.

My already waning interest in this season has taken a huge nosedive.

Christine: I haven't liked Mick at all. Until this episode. I wish we'd seen more of his backstory and what made him tick earlier, because I feel like the entire British Men of Letters story could have benefited from it.

So now I'm sad to see him go, and I want to know more, but I don't care enough about Ketch to want to know anything about him, so I feel stuck with these British Men of Letters. I'm not SURPRISED that Mick died. That's pretty par for the course.

But there were plenty of other ways to get at the fact that the British Men of Letters are awful. Like... every episode they've been in already.

Nightsky: Unlike Alice and Christine, I had come to really like Mick and I was shocked when Ketch killed him. I mean jaw hanging open, staring at the TV, shocked. I totally expected Ketch to defect at that moment and kill ludicrous lady rather than Mick.

Then Mick and Mr. Ketch would have fought off the British Men of Letters’ nonsense with the Winchesters. The “kill them all” order only makes sense if one considers the ulterior motives of the home organization so while it advances that plot, it destroyed the character growth we had witnessed in both Mick and Ketch.

Sean: It was more frustrating than anything. I finally was invested in a British Men of Letters character, was enjoying the backstory and the conflict, and then bam, he’s dead and we’re left with cartoon bad guys.

It was a really poor way to end his story, and it really elevated the mess that the British Men of Letters arc has been. Ugh. Just so disappointing.

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