We’ve split the
brothers up - we have Sam and Charlie going one way with Jack and Dean the
other.
Sam and Charlie are
technically trying to hunt down some fly monster but the real plot is that
Charlie is thinking of giving up hunting. Because she never was a hunter -
she’s good at it, but she’s good at it because she’s from an apocalypse world.
A world where she lived a very normal life as a programmer and met a woman who
was the love of her life
And, smallest of
small praises, but thank gods that Alternate world Charlie is not straight
She didn’t chose
this. She’s seen her love killed as society utterly collapsed and she’s done.
She doesn’t want to do this, she never wanted to do it and she wants to move to
a distant mountain and just avoid everyone.
One of the main
points she keeps making here is that she isn’t this world’s Charlie (who died
in unacceptable fashion), something Sam is clearly having repeated problems
with. He continues to try and talk her into staying and the fly monster became
evil because it’s totally lonely because this is SUBTLE. After much killing and
a stirring speech about doping good and helping people (which was actually a
really good and a nice callback to them hunting to help people. Protect the
innocent. Save people - I mean it’s been so lost for so long that it’s lovely
to call back to it) which ends up with Charlie sort of agreeing to think about
it
So I’m guessing she’s going to return to being around maybe twice a season but not being around all the time. Until she’s killed in a convoluted and dubious fashion for no damn good reason
Yes, I’m bitter. I
will always be bitter.
So over to Dean and
Jack - and Jack wants to go Hunting while also talking about mutual unfounded
guilt over Michael. Dean feels guilt because he was Michael’s host while Jack
feels guilty because if he had all his powers he’d be able to squish Michael
and all would be saved. Dean is quick to assure Jack that it’s not his fault
which has Jack being all “well right back at you”
Seeing Jack acting
all mature and sensible and going as stir crazy as him, he agrees to take Jack
hunting but makes sure to tell Sam first - hey Dean is becoming a reasonable
dad! So it’s time for a fun little hunt in a pleasant small town were a series
of men have died, all apparently connected to librarian Harper who is known to
be very very very unlucky in love.
So they need to talk
to her and see if she’s hiding anything. And they seem to be abandoning the
whole “I’m an FBI agent, do as I say schtick” as more people give them grief
for assuming they have massive powers just because they’re FBI. Someone in the
writers’ room is learning. Another twist is the plan to ingratiate with Harper
involves JACK defending her against Dean so Jack can be the romantic hero. Why
isn’t the very-sexy-Dean doing the romancing? Welp, it could be that Jack
called him “old man” in this confrontation which did not sit well with Dean
But it, again, shows
evolution in the writers’ room as people are recognising a sexy 40 year old
Dean needs to adopt different tactics to a sexy 25 year old Dean. Or that the
optics of a 40 year old Dean trying to seduce a 25 year old is less than ideal
Also cute is Dean
sidestepping talking to Jack about sex, dating and relationships. Which is
probably a good idea, he’s likely not the best choice.
Jack is adorkable,
does get invited to her home (her decor is an assault on common decency) manage
to confirm Harper isn’t a shapeshifter or demon quite well, appears to be
successful but we have a twist - Harper is a necromancer. She loved her first
boyfriend, he tried to leave town so she killed him and raised his corpse to
keep as her love slave and now has him eating other men who flirt with her both
to keep him sort-of-alive and because it’s a weird sex game. With lots of shiny
co-operating Dean and Jack manage to subdue the zombie guy but necromancer
Harper escapes
But she sends Jack a
love letter about how she’s totally fallen for him and she wants to find him,
kill him and raise his body. Aww… how romantic. Thankfully she doesn’t know
where he lives.
Dean and Jack return
to the Winchester cave with Jack making the case for him taking more hunts
because he did good. But Dean brings in his own philosophy - hunting isn’t all
about doing well but also about screwing up and how you deal with that. Because
we’re being subtle again and this is all about Dean’s guilt fest over Michael
Which is when Jack
coughs up more blood and faints
