Supernatural Review: Safe House (Season 11 Episode 16)

I have to be totally honest with you all.

I think I may love Bobby and Rufus more than Sam and Dean. I want them to have their own Supernatural show.

Just because a characters dies on Supernatural does not ever mean that they can’t return, with the exception of John Winchester. Come on Jeffrey Dean Morgan! Take a break from boning The Good Wife and get back to your boys!

Usually we see our favorite dearly departed friends in Heaven or as ghosts. The writers strayed from that idea in favor of creating a fun, unique, and unexpected way to bring Bobby and Rufus back into the fold.

When a little girl goes into a coma after her mother accidentally breaks the seal holding a demon hostage, the Winchesters are on the case. It turns out that it’s the same case that Bobby and Rufus also worked, “a handful of years ago.”

Now, I don’t understand how Sam and Dean can possibly know that it was Bobby and Rufus’ case based solely on the neighbor’s description of “two of the rudest FBI agents” that she’d ever met. I mean, yeah, that sounds like Bobby and Rufus, but it sounds like a lot of other people too.

But I digress. The Winchesters working the same case that Bobby and Rufus worked years ago gives us a chance to watch both teams work the case parallel to one another, coming to similar conclusions, thinking along the same lines, even doing some of the exact same movements.

This episode never feels like a flashback episode, due to some excellent editing and great direction. It’s another example of Supernatural trying something outside the box with the end result being extraordinary. (See “Baby” Season 11 Episode 4.)

Another thing that this episode does, just to tickle your nostalgia fancy, is connecting the two stories using phone calls from Dean to Bobby at the time and an awesome scene that allowed Bobby and Dean to be in the same room together, outside of time and space, even if just for a second.

It’s also a great opportunity to see one of Bobby’s side projects when he wasn’t with his “boys.”

That…we are always aware of how much love there is between Bobby, Dean, and Sam.

But that simple reminder of how much he cares for them…it’s good to know that for all the looking out Sam and Dean for each other, that there was someone who spent a lot of time worrying about them in the way that someone SHOULD worry. With John gone, it’s good to know that there was a father figure agonizing over the decisions and the risks that the Winchesters take.

And any reason to have Bobby utter his signature phrase, “Idjit” is fine by me.

I should also mention that while we Supernatural fans mourn the loss of Bobby nearly every week, I always forget how much I enjoy Steven Williams as Rufus, until he shows up again. And then I’m struck with the realization that we don’t miss him enough.

Not much of this great episode has anything to do with the Darkness or the Devil, aside from a few quick lines to remind us that this is a side story, but “Safe House” doesn’t feel like a typical Monster of the Week story.

It feels like a fun reunion.

Next week will feature the return of the Darkness and the return of the reaper, Billie. Here’s a little preview to hold you over:

What did you think of this episode of “Safe House”? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Supernatural airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

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