Supernatural Review: The Raid (Season 12 Episode 14)

Sam Winchester is full of surprises.

On Supernatural Season 12 Episode 14, the tension between the Winchesters is at its height – Sam and Dean have completely frozen out Mary, and desperate for a connection to her boys, she reaches out to Sam on the same day of a huge vampire raid.

When advice from Dean forces Sam to choose a side, the choice he makes is quite shocking.

We’ve got a lot to talk about, so let’s just sink our teeth into it, shall we? (I love vampire puns.)

There has been a somewhere around a dozen episodes about vampires on Supernatural. Nests, raids, the Winchesters becoming vampires – it’s all been done and done again. So what makes this one any different?

I’ll be honest with you – not much. The vampire aspects of this episode don’t lend much, aside from the Alpha being killed by the Colt. (Pretty sweet moves between Sam and Mick there!)

The vampires serve as a really nice backdrop to the emotional story playing out between Dean, Sam, and Mary – and the internal struggles that we’re starting to see in the BMoL – propelling the arc to a new level, and paying off with a nice surprise.

Vampires aside, I’d rather get into the dysfunctional family that the BMoL is desperate to get their hands on.

Dean has always been the more emotional affected brother, and Sam the peacemaker. It’s a dynamic that’s always worked. Dean gets pissed, breaks something (or someone), and Sam comes in to clean it up, calm down his brother, and set the pieces of the puzzle back in place.

Dean’s done with this formula.

Mary’s betrayal is killing Dean, much like he was more hurt by her leaving earlier this season than Sam was. Mary and her older son have a relationship that is very different from hers with Sam.

Dean knew his mom before she died – he played with her, looked up to her, gleaned comfort from her as a child. He was old enough to process her death, and spent more hours with his dad tracking down monsters to avenge her than Sam did. Her reappearance is like winning the lottery for Dean.

Which is why it hurts so deeply that when given the choice, she’s choosing the BMoL over her sons.

Sam has it a little easier with Mary – she’s basically a stranger to him, and he’s just happy to have a chance to get to know her. Combine that with his natural tendencies to be a “fixer” and it’s no wonder that he’s the brother who breaks the freeze and goes to see Mary.

Their meeting turns into a sales pitch of some sort – Mick is thrilled to have a Winchester at the base.

Yeah, Mary is a Winchester, and she’s been there for some time. But when push comes to shove, Mary isn’t Sam or Dean. They’re the legendary Winchesters, the prize that the BMoL are desperate to capture.

It’s interesting that Mick and Mr. Ketch are at odds concerning the Winchesters. Ketch is ambivalent about Dean and Sam, believing that Mary is the real prize. Mick wants to follow through on orders.

The friction between them is building and will undoubtedly come to a head down the line, especially given that Mr. Ketch seems to be tired of Mick giving orders while he fights in the trenches.

Regardless, Ketch’s attempt to connect to Dean at the bunker is nice – he meets Dean in the middle, with fancy scotch and an opportunity to kill something. He’s a man after Dean’s heart.

Back at the BMoL headquarters, Sam gets a first-hand look at the operation and is shocked to discover that what the BMoL have been doing is actually working.

But they don’t know everything. Their intel has holes. Holes that Sam and Dean can easily fill in, because between the two of them, they’ve got more intel than any hunter in the world.

That mis-step almost costs the BMoL everything.

Which is why I’m genuinely surprised that Sam is willing to join their team when all is said and done, and they successfully stop the raid on their headquarters. Sam witnesses needless deaths, stupid mistakes, and bad intel – and somehow still decides that the BMoL are the good guys.

Dean urges Sam to stop settling in the middle and pick a side early on in the episode. After everything that Sam sees, I really expect him to go bananas on Mick for his shoddy operation that almost leaves the entire team dead.

Instead, he joins?

What’s Sam’s long game here? He’s much too smart to actually join forces with idiots who go hard and fast without thought.

Dean and Ketch arrive on the scene after the action, and Dean’s apology to Mary is sincere – he doesn’t want to fight with his mom. He knows that he’s not a little kid and that Mary can’t kiss the boo-boo’s away anymore.

While the Winchester family reunion should feel like a victory, it’s twinged with a new dark secrecy – Sam is going to try to convince Dean that the BMoL are worth their time.

I feel like this merry-go-round of secrets between the Winchesters needs to stop.

Since Mary’s return (and really, before that) it’s been one secret after another – Dean’s got a secret, Sam’s got a secret, Mary’s got a secret, and round and round we go, over and over again.

I’m not saying I need to see the Winchesters eat chicken and pie together and be a happy family – I’m just growing weary of these contrived stories keeping them from functioning at all.

My fingers are crossed that Sam and Dean talk out the BMoL option quickly – and that this entire story can be put to bed in favor of focusing on Lucifer’s new baby and the princes of Hell.

That’s a far more compelling story than yet another secret between the Winchesters.

What did you think of this episode of Supernatural? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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