Season 12 Episode 13: Family Feud

This week's episode of Supernatural, "Family Feud" focused on the troublesome relationships that parent's have with their children. The episode begins with the mysterious death of two teachers. The second victim was found in the parking lot of a museum, which is hosting an exhibit for the merchant ship the Star. It is later revealed that this is the work of the ghost of Gavin MacLeod's lover, Fiona. Fiona died on the very same ship which Gavin himself was supposed to board before being transported to present times by Abaddon. When Sam and Dean call Crowley to ask for his help he refuses, and they resort to teaming up with Rowena. She aids them in locating Gavin, who they take to the museum in the hopes that he will recognize an artifact that the ghost is attached to. When Gavin performs a seance to speak with Fiona's spirit, she tells him that she smuggled herself aboard the Star where she was abused and then later mocked by her teacher. Fiona tells Gavin that teachers are supposed to protect their students, but often do otherwise. While Fiona cannot punish the teacher that failed to protect her, she explains to Gavin that she is capable of punishing other teachers.

Bringing back Gavin's character allowed us to explore the family dynamics between Crowley and Rowena. It was engaging to see Crowley's human reaction to the thought of his son being returned to the 18th century. As well, it was not surprising that Rowena advocated for Gavin's return to his own time-period as a way of 'getting-back' at Crowley. Rowena's character as a whole has a great deal of untapped potential, and allowing us to examine more of her story-line was enjoyable. 

We also see more of Mary and her relationship with the British Men of Letters. At the beginning of the episode, Mary is using a high powered gun to kill rougarou, while Mr. Ketch observes. He warns Mary to distance herself from the boys because she can't afford to have attachments in such a dangerous line of work. When Mary tells him that "Nothing comes before my family, not with me", Ketch confronts her by saying her actions prove otherwise.

"Now you might play at being the good mummy, but when you’re in the thick of it, nothing but a blade in your hand and blood in the air, that’s the real you, the best you."

This seems to unsettle Mary and motivate her to reveal to Sam and Dean that she has been working with the British Men of Letters. This was an unexpected twist, and might be the first step in Mary beginning to develop a trusting relationship with Sam and Dean.

The story also flashes to Kelly Kline, the mother of Lucifer's child, who was able to escape Castiel's watch in the season finale. When Kelly is confronted by two angels in an alleyway, Dagon, a Princess of Hell, saves her. Kelly is terrified, especially when Dagon informs her that she is a demon. However, near the end of the episode we begin to see an alliance forming between the two when Dagon offers to protect Kelly's child, and comforts her by saying that a child's upbringing is more important in determining their character. I was glad that Dagon's character was introduced so soon after she was mentioned by Ramiel in last week's episode.

The episode was written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Lemming, a duo known as "Buck-Lemming". They penned the episode "Route 666" in Season 1 and didn't return to writing for Supernatural until Season 7. Buck-Lemming episodes are notoriously disliked in terms of characterization and continuity of lore. While this episode isn't on my favourites list, I think it did a good job of cleaning up loose ends from the first half of the season. In Hell, Crowley's conversation to Lucifer explains to the audience the circumstances leading him to inhabit Nick's vessel, which was last seen at the end of Season 5. Crowley explains that he tampered with Rowena's spell and that Lucifer's essence went back into Nick's vessel, which he improved so that it could contain him. Perhaps we can hope that Mark Pellingrino will be back for more episodes in the future as Lucifer's permanent vessel.

The scenes with Mr. Ketch and Mary were extremely well done as they gave the audience insight into her personality. Ketch acknowledges her as an excellent liar and one of the best hunter's he has seen. Throughout Seasons 1-11, Mary's character is often idealized by both John and her son's. However, as the audience, we have never actually seen Mary interact with others (with exceptions of Dean's time-travelling experiences), and thus we have little to no concept of her true motivations. In one of the earliest introductions to Mary, we see her making a deal with Azazel in order to resurrect John. When Ramiel threatened to kill Mary and her sons if his stolen item (which we later discover is the Colt) wasn't returned to him within 30 seconds, Mary continued to pretend that she didn't know what he meant. This is definitely contradictory to the philosophy that John instilled in Sam and Dean about the importance of family. Mary did not appear to have any difficulties in placing her sons beneath having possession of the Colt. I think if the situation were reversed and John had been in Mary's place, he would have surrendered the Colt to Ramiel immediately if it meant the safety of his sons.

The episode itself was overly busy, dealing with several story lines at once. Season 12 has been slow at advancing plot thus far, so this felt like an attempt at cramming. Certain components of the episode were unrealistic and could have been explained easier. For example, the circumstances that led Lucifer to possessing Nick's dead vessel seemed far-fetched. It would have been more plausible that Lucifer was simply manifesting as Nick. Crowleys reason for preventing Lucifer from being returned to the cage felt uncharacteristic. Crowley is known for his cunning nature and ability to manipulate situations to best suit him. While having Lucifer as his slave might provide him with short term satisfaction, he must no doubt be aware that this will have long term consequences. In addition, Fiona's reason for targeting teachers felt random and was generally unsatisfactory after such a long build. It was excellent to see Mark Pellingrino back in the role of Lucifer, which he plays with chilling humor. Pellingrino has always been a fan favourite for his portrayal of Lucifer- he is able to make the character funny but also to a certain degree quite terrifying. Overall, this week's episode created many possibilities for the future. I am definitely looking forward to seeing more of Dagon and what her role will be with Lucifer's child, as well as how the relationship between the Winchesters and the British Men of Letter's will develop.

Details
Episode Writer: Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Lemming
Episode Director: P.J. Pesce
Air Date: February 23, 2017