#BritMoL as a parallel to Heaven

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

A few posts ago, you said "should they - against my personal gut feeling - not cause a rift between the Winchesters and possibly 'try to break Dean’s mind' as Toni tried with Sam in the season premiere because they see him as a 'rogue one' that needs to be 'reformed'" Could you evaluate why you think the British Men of Letters are going to do that to Dean!?

Hello dear anon!

I think the season has been showing multiple times that the BritMoL don’t shy away from extreme methods in order to get what they want or to do what they think is right. Their entire hierarchy as an institution reminds very directly of Heaven and how Heaven is run and structured. There are the ones highest up - in Heaven those for example were God himself, Michael, Naomi, Metatron, Cas and now it seems Joshua - most of the time (aside from Cas) none of them interacted with people directly but had others do their “dirty work” so to say. For a long time even the show made a point about the fact that the orders Castiel for example received came from high up, but it seemed no one really knew who that was. Likewise the BritMoL cut the “Old Men” the entire time for why they are on the mission, but they remain a non-entity on the show. Then the BritMoL we have seen further give their orders and for their dirty work they tried to enlist hunters. In Heaven we know due to Castiel and Anna what happens to Angels who don’t obey, pose questions and not just go where they are told and do what they are told - they are tortured and brainwashed in hopes to re-programm them. Given all that it would not be surprising if the BritMoL had a similar way of takin care of those who step out of line.

And in fact we have seen that happen twice already. Toni disappeared and Mick only said as much as that she’d have to answer for what she did - which to me absolutely suggests a very tough hearing at the very least. And then there is of course the fact that Toni herself tortured Sam physically as well as mentally by “trying to destroy his mind” to get him to comply and give her what she wanted - and she also very decidely talked to Sam as if he was a rogue or rabid dog which falls in line with the whole rogue status of the BritMoL. Those are learnt behaviours and strategies and given how a trigger and torture happy we have seen Ketch it is not too surprising that these mechanisms are indeed options the BritMoL are fully okay to pursue if it helps them.

The second time we haven’t seen any torture, but 12x14 “The Raid” very directly implied that the hunter who worked with the Alpha!Vamp would be “dealt with” and that this isn’t “pleasant” for hunters who “go rogue”. I have made a few comparing gifsets on this scene and how it frames Mary and Sam on the side of the BritMoL vs. Dean and the hunter on the other. There is a clear alignment going on. If you look up the 12x14gif tag on my blog you should find those gifsets + meta.

So all that combined with the fact that Dean will never trust the BritMoL and will likely not simply “do as told” should cause issues and tension with the BritMoL because they aren’t interested in people using their own mind - which is why Dean is a problem for them. Not only has he always been the ultimate symbol for free will, he also may jeopardize their plans by putting common sense mercy and understanding - very human values - before simply killing someone, just because one fits the category of monster because he/she happens to be a vamp, etc. Dean will not back down, he won’t be easily swayed, he has morals he fights for and someone like that of course is much harder to control.

So the only way for them to minimize the “danger” Dean may mean to them is to “break his mind”, his free will and try to assert control over him and that may very likely entail physical and mental torture.

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

10x05 “Fan Fiction” // 11x13 “Love Hurts 11x16 “Safe House” // 12x20 “Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes”

“Of Twigs & Twine and Scarecrows & Tin Men” or “The Thing about Hearts and Minds”

I finally found timt to rewatch the episode and write few thoughts down. I know this is probably not interesting to anyone anymore as it’s been a couple of days, but I feel like typing this out anyway.

The symbolism and metaphors surrounding the “Wizard of Oz” have been introduced in Carver Era in S8 and have been used repeatedly in relation to the entire MoC arc and also carrying on and over to the Darkness/Amara arc which of course could also still be considered the MoC arc. Especially last season @lost-shoe​ and I have been talking a lot about how Amara and how she used “mind control” and was able to pull Dean’s strings parallels and compares to Calliope in 10x05 “Fan Fiction” working her magic by controlling the scarecrow (missing a mind of its own) to protect the narrative and story the high school kids had penned about “Supernatural”.

Since that episode in S10 a lot of time has passed and S11 saw Dean losing his free will and agency to Amara and it was heavily suggested all throughout the season, like in episodes such as 11x16 “Safe House” that Dean may truly be turned into a puppet and a screcrow to Amara’s will at some point down the line. Of course that didn’t happen, but it seem that Dabb has taken said arc and trasnferred it and re-imagined it, so that one season later we may end up at a similar point as last season was meant to end at (because we know that the season was meant to end differently as initially God was supposed to die, but the CW wouldn’t allow that), because thrughout S12 rather enragingly for anyone who cares about Dean the narrative has framed Dean to be losing his agency and free will and his choices and wishes being ignored by the people closest to him and them by that action in extension turning Dean or rather treating him like a scarecrow - ignoring Dean’s input and thoughts or doubts or apprehensions, basically his mind - while the season as a whole to me lacked one thing in particular: emotion. Or differently worded and coded in “Wizard of Oz” language: heart. Because Dean’s emotions too were walked all over ignore or rendered as either “over the top” or “unimportant” thus effectively treating Dean also like the tin man, missing his heart.

Now this week’s episode brought both the scarecrow and tin man symbolism back in a major way and intertwined both with one another and I personally feel that it shows rather heartbreaking and dark things ahead for Dean - and yes, I know I’m biased cause I’m a Dean!Girl and that’s where my focus goes, so all of this may end up completely wrong, but I’m going to type it out anyway, because this week’s episode was thick with narrative callbacks visually as well as thematically to a few episodes also focsuing majorly on the heart or the loss of it and the mind and mind control.

Of course Max’ and Alicia’s story was meant to call back to the entire Supernatural origin story with the missing mom opposed to a missing dad, a deal with horrific consequences and two siblings who head down dangerous and dark paths, because they can’t live without the other. And while the Banes’ tale of the week definitely called back to a multitude of past Winchester mistakes and tragedies, I feel it may also be rather suggestive of what will happen in the season finale.

@lost-shoe​ has been talking a lot about how this season has been playing with Dean death allusions and while I personally don’t think they’ve been handled consisently or rather well, I agree that in the second half there were a few things suggesting Dean will pay the price - his life - for his loved ones walking all over him during the season and that maybe being resolved with Dean actually truly becoming tin man and scarecrow after he has been treated as those all season and the events of the latest episode to me suggest it is entirely possible for things to go that bad (As a brief in between, what still bothers me majorly about this entire arc is that Dean when he dies due to how he was ignored all season, this entire arc wasn’t about him, that would only be the case if Mary or Sam would be framed in a way narratively that suggests that they realize that they should have been more open towards Dean’s words, but that is sadly not the vibe I am getting from this arc, but rather feel that Dean will just further be used as a prop to propel other characters’ stories - namely and in lin with this week’s episode and siblings decision for Sam to possibly go to rather dark ends to “bring Dean back” - should he really die).

Because the callbacks to Calliope and the scarecrow were to be caught in the details, such as the robe the witch wore or the colours of the flowers

the concierge arranged or the creepy doll (which was of course another nice allusion to the whole puppet theme of the episode as well as Dean waking up among flowers when first meeting Amara in S11) on the stairs wrapped also in purple. It’s impossible to see due to the colouring I worked with on the gifs, but the purple definitely aligns Calliope and the old witch. But of course not just through that. The witch literally turned these people into scarecrows, made out of twigs and twine. She made them “her creatures”, puppets she can control and pull the strings of, “beings” she can mind control while she killed the real people by ripping out their hearts and making the real person tin men, corpses missing their hearts. That action as such also called back majorly to last season’s episode “Love Hurts” featuring the quareen, that set out for its victim’s hearts and could only be stopped when its own heart was sliced apart. Only after that it dissolved into nothing in a similar fashion as the witches puppets/scarecrows turned to dust once Dean shot her.

Now, as I said during live watch already on friday, the colour combination Dean wore during this episode is heavily tied to topics of loss of self and mind control as they were presented in the MoC and particulary the Amara arc. It’s not accidental imo that we saw Dean wear the red shirt of doom and the dark blue jacket on top here, because - as I said above - I think this season will end very bleak (but when is it ever not lol). It’s not just the colour and clothing however that to me suggests tragedy ahead, it’s also

how in this shit for example Dean is directly framed with the scarecrow-esque twigs and twine creature thing behind him. Most of all however it’s the Banes’ siblings serving as the biggest warning sign, because Alicia - Dean’s mirror - dies and her brother, unable to let her go, makes a deal, takes a burden (yes, it’s all an MoC repeat and callback to Sam removing the MoC too, hell even the silly knife looks like the first blade sigh), overrides his sister’s agency, carves out her heart, makes her a tin man and puts it into the scarecrow. It is all kinds of messed up when you keep in mind that he has the power to control her now, even worse that she is “not real”, but he takes that as better anyway, plus Alicia may have all her memories, but she is hollow in the end, she doesn’t know she’s not real - it’s also a parallel to Mary and her return and her struggle.

So if you keep this in mind and treat this episode as a piece of foreshadowing - and this episode seemed thick with it - then I think it is not out of the real of possibility that Dean will die, painfully likely, due to his loved ones misplaced trust and ignorance over his doubts and thoughts all season. And I think that either Sam or Mary (should she not die or raise Baby Lucifer and walk away) will make some sort of deal, bringing Dean back maybe, but just the scarecrow version of him anyway... And if they went there it would allow them for Dean to still be around, but not as truly him of course  (@suebsg9​ I am going to reply to your ask in here, because it feels fitting), so maybe what Jensen teased with “something purgatory-esque” happening could be the true and dead and now heartless, tin man!Dean either locked up in the Empty after all (which would fit the pattern of something being released and locked away - where Dean usually gets to be the one ending up locked away in some other dimension) or he may go to Heaven and the scene the boys talked about before with lots of beloved character being part of a scene they shot for S13 ends up being at Harvelle’s or something. But of course all of this is just crazy spec.

But just to mention it last but not least, the topic of mind control here also directly relates and connects to to the nephilim arc as well as the BritMoL arc as the gifs hopefully can capture above. Dean in this episode said outright in the beginning that Lucifer Jr. isn’t even born and is already “sock puppeting” Cas, meaning mind controlling him. Likewise Ketch when tieing Mary to a chair that reminds a great deal of the one we saw Naomi torture Cas in also S11 is revisited when he tells her that “he can keep her safe” even if everything else falls apart as long as “she plays her part” - which of course calls back to Calliope who protected the narrative in the musical, but also reminds of Dean when he was possessed be the soul eater and tried to coax Sam into giving in.

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

12x16 “Ladies Drink Free” “Don’t tell me how to do my job.”

Well this is why hopefully the BritMoL will bite themselves in the a** at some point soon, because though they may deem themselves so much smarter, so much better, like so many other people before they underestimate Dean. And Dean knows how to turn that into a strong suit. He knows his job, he knows how to read people, he can call bluff and bullshit on almost anyone, so him calling Mick out in this moment showed crystal clear that Dean is lightyears out of Mick’s or the BritMoL’s league. And that conversation proved something else too. Mick is a follower, not a leader. He clearly is afraid of the “old men” who gave him his orders (yes, it’s really all the big parallel to Heaven as a I talked about so often) and you can see how he starts to question if what he did was right. Who knows, maybe the Winchesters will have a positive effect on him after all, cause the other way around, there really isn’t much for them to learn from them. Just look at Dean here, the level of self reflection - he is the most grown up person on the show whil still managing to be a kid heart. He can question himself, can admit when he’s wrong, when he has to call defeat, but he won’t back down for someone else’s bullshit. Bless him that he won’t! People are more than labels and the same way monsters aren’t monstrous just because that’s what life has attached to them. Dean knows that and learnt that in his own evolution. It’s the choices we make that matter, what our heart tells us, not what is written on the bumper sticker, not what the code demands. And if there is one last thing this conversation surely set up like little else before: In the end Mary may be the one ending up alone, burying her two children, but unlike Ben’s and Hayden’s (damn, I liked Eden better lol) mom (unless further down the line in the episode it will be revealed she is involved too somehow, I haven’t watched the full episode yet, if so just scartch the last sentence), she won’t be free of blame or responsibility. Because in the end it was her who started it when she made a deal with Azazel and it seems she didn’t learn a damn thing, because in some fashion she made a deal with the BritMoL too...

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

Things about 12x21 “There’s Something about Mary”

WANK TO FOLLOW, you’ve been warned!!!

I actually don’t have a whole lot to say on this episode other than that I am feeling terribly angry and let down, because everything I expected to happen did actually happen and for some weird shitty reason I still kept hoping that maybe I was wrong. Turns out I wasn’t. The episode featured the typical absolute horrific Bucklemming writing and bullshit (don’t even get me started on the whole Lucifer and Crowley power transferal thing or that absolutely delirious last scene with Lucifer, I just.... Dabb what did you turn this beautiful show into?!), but more than that exactly what some of us have been dreading and saying right from the get go of this season about Dean’s arc being shifted to Mary with mind control and loss of self and agency and free will that we saw with Dean with the Moc and Amara and that was never truly resolved for him.

The whole brainwashing/mind control thing also was of course shifted and then aligned with this absolute bs of Lucifer making Crowley his puppet/scarecrow and the BritMoL making Mary their scarecrow and hellhound and the Heaven paralleling with reprogramming and blah blah, just... yeah, I am ANGRY!!!

And like I wanked about yesterday already of course nothing that Dean experienced this season will be resolved because clear as day Dabb doesn’t give a flying fuck about the character... Sighs and punches into thin air. I’m going to stop talking now, but wow the only thing one can hope for that truly once and for all the Winchesters will light this fucking bunker on fire once they escaped (I’ve been wanting that for a long time) and get back on the road with baby. Not that I have any hopes that Dabb can pull of something worthwhile with how this season ended up turning out, but yeah... Man, I am so angry and not even sad anymore about how much Dabb and Singer destroyed the show that means so much to me. Well S1 to S11 did (with S6 being an exception), S12 to me killed so much that makes this show great: emotion for one, the Winchesters actually mattering and being the focus. None of that was the case this season and yeah for me it didn’t work at all and it saddens me, though right now I feel something else, but yeah I’m shutting up now and rather think of nice things, such as JIB being so close.

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

Things about 12x17 “The British Invasion”

I am going to put all thoughts in one post today, because well... there’s not so much that needs separate posts. ;P I don’t why I was expecting something at least a little bit better than what we got from a Bucklemming episode, but apparently I did. My own fault for thinking that lol. But yes, sadly another all too predictable episode from the beginning right until the end. :/ I miss the times when the writers surprised me and there was a backdoors somewhere, but these days sadly everything truly is the way it seems and that’s just not terribly interesting to me personally.

The parallels between Heaven and the BritMoL can’t get any more glaring and obvious and with Mr. Hess and her entire stance on just feels very reminded of Naomi. But like talked about so often before, the expectation to obey, just kill, don’t ask questions. Yeah, we’ve all seen it before... With Heaven it was called a mission, the BritMoL call it a code...

Anyway, the entire Mick backstory I sadly found cringeworthy at best (the Kelly, and Lucifer and Crowley and Daegon parts too). I know it served to illustrate further how caught in the middle he is and focus on his development, but the Hogwarts-esque school (also, please Rowling for the elitist BritmOl asshat as a name?), the killing another student randomly, all of that was just... It didn’t deliver anything for me. It also didn’t serve to make the BritMoL a bit more multi-dimensional. The remain cardboard villains, who are stupid and evil just cause plots demands it or because the writers didn’t come up with something more interesting and that sadly to me personally doesn’t make a good or compelling villain. Also, with all of the stupid elitism and arrogance and ignorance the BritMoL stand for to me it feel wildly unlikely tbh that they’d take Mick in, because they saw potential in him. Also, he ain’t dead for real, is he? I thought he was seen shooting until 12x21 or something... Crazy thought: The fact that the show brought up his full name - Michael - and Lucifer once more name dropping Michael too. Could be crazy Michael would use Mick as a vessel to hopefully blast Lucifer to parts unknown (seriously, show please please get rid off Lucifer, that character has so overrun his course). and that’s why he was in the episodes?

The “our way or the highway” was hammered down each season and that the Winchesters would be the first who would have to go also comes to no surprise and yes, the fact that miss Hess has read Dean’s file in hand at the end only ligns up with how Dean has been the one to disobey most, who is called rogue-st of them. So no surprise there with Ketch being ordered to kill them and yes of course that will cause artificial drama because then Mary would finally have to see what a bunch of dickbags she’s worked for (like I said earlier today, I think the show may try and redeem Mary by making her wanting the Colt to travel back in time to shoot Azazel before he could get to Sam - with Sam and Dean of course stopping her from going thorugh with that). That’s what of course the entire hook-up with Ketch and Mary served. Question is now, will Ketch at the end also side with the hunters due to his emotions for Mary or will he stick to the code? Or will he in the end be the one to kill Mary - maybe with the Colt because she would stand between Sam and Dean and them? That shot today in this regard felt like it could be revisited. Of course it would be even more painful - as discussed a few weeks back - if the Colt killed Dean or Sam.

Which brings me to the next part that struck me as absolutely OOC and odd: The fact that Dean was just “yeahhh the Colt, welcome back”. I kind of still hope that the only reason he had this reaction is due to the fact that Sam did not tell him how the BritMoL got their hands on it in the first place and what part Mary had in it, because I just can’t picture Dean to just be alright with that.

I also for some reason had hoped that Daegon would be a bit more layered than just blindly following Lucifer’s orders. I mean, Abaddon was very strictly evil coded too, but she to me was still the more interesting character and I kind of feel like they want to take Daegon that road.

So yes, overall a very underwhelming episode. Actually, the only non-cringworthy parts of the episode and the only ones I enjoyed were the Sam and Eileen moments and most of all cute, disheveled hungover Dean (that’s what I’ll focus on). The rest was just so much plot driven silliness that was not original at all. :/

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

you mentioned there has been some foreshadowing about the brothers both dying in other eps than last week's. have you written on this already? that's super interesting and i can't find anything on it

Hey anon!

I haven’t written about it extensively no just in bits and pieces and here and there, but I discussed it more in private with some friends and @lost-shoe for example who wrote a bit about the possible Dean and dying hints she has found popping up across the season. So no, I don’t think I can point you to one particular post of mine, but I am more than happy to talk about some of those instances throughout the season right now. :)

Some of these instances were not as bold and obvious as some others and of course this is all up to interpretation ayway, but to me there were a few hints that could be seen as possible foreshadowing through the mirror characters in the MotW episodes.

For example in 12x04 “American Nightmare” we meet Magda and her family, who is basically operating under the influence of the mother, who has decided that Magda is the devil and needs to suffer and torture herself so she won’t hurt anyone. She of course served as a major parallel and mirror for Sam’s story, but given the nephilim storyline you can also read the episode in relation to “special kids”. In relation to this episode it is also important to keep in mind that in the end it is basically the mother who poisons Magda’s brother and Magda is killed by Ketch later. As siblings they can be read as loose mirrors for the Winchester brothers and since none of them survive they do not serve as a good omen for the Winchesters, especially as I personally cannot shake the feeling that Mary - much like Magda’s mom at the end of the season may be partially to “blame” should the brothers truly die (whether literally or metaphorically).

Another instance of siblings dynamics serving as a parallel for the Winchesters played out in 12x16 “Ladies Drink Free” where first the boy is killed by a werewolf and then later his sister dies by Mick’s hands. Once more we have a sibling pairing dying and interestingly enough one by supernatural causes and one by human means. This may be something worth considering that could happen in the final two episodes as well. Meaning that one of the brothers may be suffer harm by the BritMoL as the human counterpiece and one may suffer by supernatural causes related to the nephilim arc.

And as a third example, there is 12x11 “First Blood”, which was the episode most head on suggesting the Winchesters’ death as they both did die in that prison and the deal said one of them would have to go permamently with Billie.

It will also be interesting to see what will happen to the twins in the upcoming episode, because I think we may be able to draw a lot of conclusions from that episode in relation to Sam and Dean as well as also how the arc with Mary may wrap up.

And then of course there was the bold ominous ending scene of the last episode with Cas saying he’s seen the future, but the Winchesters quite obviously weren’t a part of that as they were dead on the ground, but moreover Cas’ mission was always tied to them and Dean in particular, so for him to reject them completely is a major turn of events, because for Cas it used to be the most important thing to keep them safe, now they don’t even seem to be on his mind anymore, so...

Plus: It has been teased that this season fnale may be even more drstic than some others before, so something the show hasn’t done yet is two dead Winchesters and who knows, maybe the scene they talked about having shot for S13 already with lost of “old characters” involved could either be some kind of “Nephilim induced vision” or Sam and Dean meeting up with their lost loved ones at Harvelles in Heaven...

Hope this explained it a bit better. :)

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

MARY VS. TONI BEVELL – Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) are alarmed when they learn hunters are being killed by suspicious “accidents” all over the country. They decide it is best to find Mary (guest star Samantha Smith) and make sure she’s safe. Meanwhile, Toni (guest star Elizabeth Blackmore) is back in the states and she and Mary face off. PJ Pesce directed the episode written by Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming (#1221). Original airdate 5/11/2017

Hey dear!

I guess I’m way late to the party with this spoilery bit, but thank you for sending it. xx

To be honest I dread this episode given the writers and while episode descriptions almost always sound extremely boring and straight forward this here just seems even more.. I don’t know dis-exciting than usual. But I am overly critical at the moment, so I am definitely biased. But if Sam and Dean won’t catch on to who may be behind the killing immediately it would be just OOC imo - at least Dean, I think, will have an idea early on, but Sam may not believe that possibility with the BritMoL being to blame.

In general what to me feels like it may seem to have to come to a head at some point is how Ketch factors in on all of this, because I kind of have the impression the whole seraching the bunker and placing a microphone etc. thing wasn’t any kind of mission he was sent on by the BritMoL but was solely his own plan, because it simply disconnects completely with what we have heard fro Mrs Hess tell him last. So question is how and when and if that may play a role in the narrative and the confrontation further down the line.

Overall I find it to be dishearteningly boring how the show has handled the BritMoL this far and even more so if they truly now just stick with them wanting to kill all hunters, it’s just blah to me, because I personally can’t shake the feeling that they simply in the end didn’t know what to actually do with the organisation. It seems to simple to me basically, but I guess we’ll.

As for the basic plot of the episode itself, to me it feels very reminiscent of 5x13 “The Song Remains the Same” when Anna returns brainwashed by Heaven and deadset on killing Sam and/or the whole Winchester family. It surely would further tie in with the paralleling that’s been done with the BritMoL and Heaven.

Furthermore I think the big topic that will be tackled here may be the aspect of “being a mom” as Toni was very decidely introduced in a similar manner as Mary was when she tucked her son in at night which was very similar to how we saw Mary carry Dean in her arms to wish Baby!Sam a good night in the pilot. And well, the topic of mothers or absent mothers etc. was kind of a leading theme this season, so I fully expect this to come around when these two “face off”.

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

12x02 “Mamma Mia” Some More Thoughts on the Season Finale, Dean as a “Rogue”, Mary and Lucifer(’s Child) and Castiel’s Possible Role in the “Game”

All throughout the first half of this season we got copious amounts of parallels and throwbacks to the beginning of Supernatural and in particular Sam’s story as Lucifer’s chosen through side characters such as Magda for example. Aside from that, of course the return of Mary could be seen as the ultimate possibility to re-write the story and in many ways it seems the general elements of what happened back then are firmly put in place to possiblly play out once more just in slightly different fashion. I have talked about my theory in regards to the end of S12 and Mary’s and Lucifer’s story a couple days back already, so this post is kind of building on what I proposed there.

Basically I feel like there is a way to tie up the Lucifer and Mary alignments with the extreme re-visiting of the Supernatural “origins”-story with Azazel feeding Sam demon blood due to the deal Mary made and it is by resolving the nephilim issue (I still btw could magine the ultimately the show may go as far as revealing Sam not just as having been a special kid, but possibly nephilim too) with Mary taking the child under her wing and walking away from the life (hell with Daegon we even have the direct parallel to a yellow eyed demon taking special interest into a child directly connected to Lucifer). Like I said in the post linked to above I don’t expect Kelly Kline to survive, but I expect the child to stay alive. I could even imagine that the BritMoL may try and get their hands on the kid and that being something Dean would not be very happy with (basically it could turn into a sort of Jesse-esque scenario) and that serving as one of the reasons to cause a fallout between them that may also put Dean and Mary at odds completely, because she may think the kids is safest with the BritMoL.

So while then Dean may be subjected to whatever horrifying things the BritMoL do to those who don’t comply, some other incidents may occur that slowly but surely would make Mary realize that she was wrong in trusting the BritMoL (better late than never, right?) causing her and Sam possibly having to fight against the BritMoL. What if then, the BritMoL may try and use Dean who they subjected to torture and mind control to attack Sam and Mary and both of them don’t really manage to get through to him and so maybe one of them would truly opt for the Colt? And Dean would get wounded (and break free from the spell), but not die, because humans are one of the 5 things in creation the gun can’t kill. Let’s assume then in some fashion they get the BritMoL - to borrow the Alpha!Vamp’s words - “the hell off their lawn” and only the Winchesters remain.

That wouldn’t stop their problems however, because there is still Daegon and Heaven still wants to see the child dead, so that brings Castiel into the mix, who would once more be caught between Heaven and his human family and of course we know who he will side with in the end - which entails Cas once and for all leaving Heaven behind (hopefully, if the writers can finally give Cas a meaningful arc without always going back to the same issue) and helping protect the child, because: no kid is born evil, but is innocent. That is something that was emphasized a few times imo. So…

Long story short: Keeping the conversation captured in the gifs in mind, I think it would make sense if Mary decided to walk away for one because she can’t stand seeing what the BritMoL did to Dean and how badly she messed up and therfore tries to make the best of it and take the kid with her. Cas would ward her and the child from all angels by tattooing their ribs (if Daegon turns out to not be the bad guy she could end up possibly even going with Mary and Lucifer’s child) and Mary would get the chance to kind of “start anew” with another kid that unwantedly is connected to Lucifer, so by taking care of that kid she may be able to somehow feel like she could “make up” for where she failed Sam. Because she does struggle with having started all of it as she says above, this could be a way for her to think she may be able to redeem herself.

LOL, I’m sure none of this would happen, but if I had to make sense of the clusterfuck of a season with all these stories still hanging in the air, this might be the way I would go. LOL ;)

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

@lafitte said: I have no idea what the majority opinion is on 12x16, but apart from the absence of Cas, I really liked it, I guess. What about you? Broad opinion of the episode? It’s still blurry where the writers want to go with the BMoL arc. Seems to me that instead of showing them as a….. team? They are exploring Ketch’s and Mick’s characters separately. We still don’t have much on their “higher ups”. Where do you think they’re going with the BMoL? Also. No Mary. No phone calls to her either. Is she hunting? Alone? I think this was the first ep that did not feature Mary in any way (I may be wrong)… I think I once sent you an ask about Claire-Dean and Alex-Sam parallels. And this ep made me so happy about that omg :’) Claire hunting alone, but she used to hunt with Jody, like Dean used to hunt alone for a while; and was it just me or did anyone notice how her car was like a personal space? And the end scene except instead of Baby driving out in a scenic location it was Claire’s car. Gave me truly Next Age Hunter vibes. As for the Jody and Alex. How Claire called Jody her mother. It’s like she found a mom, like Dean found Mary (am I making sense? Like how Claire lost her mom and then found a new one in Jody, kinda sounds like a Dean-Mary parallel to me?). And as for Alex, how she managed to get out of a life she was thrust into and go to nursing school (I was so happy they remembered Alex and gave some update on her too :)) Sounds like what could be. I wonder also if Mick tried to recruit Claire? She was a young trainable hunter looking for jobs. It’s odd that he didn’t? But I guess Sam and Dean and Jody would probably not have let him do that.. jshdjhds anyway omg that is all, I think. Sorry for my messy thoughts, oops o_o Have a good week!

Hey dear!

I decided to tackle all of your messages in one go, because otherwise I’d be spamming just bits and pieces. Makes more sense to me to reply this way. :) Surprisingly I did like this episode, which I had not expected to ever be the case again this season tbh, but the bar hangs pretty low, so… LOL. I won’t go into detail here again, you can read up my thoughts on the episode from during live watch you can find them in the link in my sidebar “Things about SPN-posts” and then 12x16 “Ladies Drink Free”), but as a broad statement. I liked Claire’s arc and how I see it in relation to Dean and I loved Dean calling Mick out on his bullshit. Mary not being part of the hunt made absolute zero sense, but that’s one of those “it is because it had to”-moments. Plot-driven reasons that just feel off from within the narrative. Cas’ absence is a similar case. They just drag a story out and it makes no sense for Sam and Dean not even mention him. But this is the stuff you get when writers start up a million tiny stories and then try and juggle them, but fail. I mean, just count all the open threads we have - really none of them really is told satisfyingly. Imo they should have stuck to one or two big aspects and go into detail, but that’s an issue for another time ;)

Anyway… I have written about the BritMoL and their possible plans earlier today as well as over the past couple of days, so you should find a bit more on that if you crossread through my blog. :) But in general to me the current big themes they seem to be tackling with them is a) Mick’s doubts in the methods of the BritMoL and at some point possibly siding rather with the Winchesters and b) the Winchesters and particularly Dean labeled as “rogue” and needing to be “eliminated”. And then of course the black and white thinking on what counts as monster falls into that too. The reason we get Ketch and Mick is because you need PoV characters to better illustrate the BritMoL as a whole to put them into perspective. That wouldn’t work if you just have them act as a group but don’t get to know them as people. I know I have said this countless times, but in general the BritMoL arc is a repeat of S4 arc with Heaven. The orders from high above that should be obeyed without question is the same in Heaven in S4 as what we see with “old men” to whom Mick reports. And Mick is taking Castiel’s place in this analogy (hell, they now even have him wrapped in a coat that’s fitting the color patterns of Cas. Ketch and Mick also serve as the two extremes of the organization of the BritMoL. Their contrasting natures show how this group works and how it is structured. They clearly have a distinction between “brain vs. brawn” and that in the most elitist, arrogant and ignorant way. There are the thinkers like Mick who get their orders and they are the ones siccing their “dogs” - hunters like Ketch or others working for them - on cases. As for those “higher ups”: Seems that this week’s episode may introduce on of them: The one who says either the Winchesters “assimilate or they have to be eliminated”. Furthermore, like I said this morning, I think the BritMoL ultimately may want to get their hands on Kelly Kline and the baby. Not to kill them, but to possibly run some tests or use the kid as their ultra power or so when they “reformed” or rather raised it to their liking.

As for Mary, like I said above, it made no sense for her to not be part of this other than the show can’t have her in every episode due to contract reasons. In a gif set I had spoken of how one could see Mary working similarly as Claire. Needing to be alone and hunting alone for a while (though to me Claire was more of a parallel to what Dean ultimately needs: some time for himself). I think there were a few episodes were she was only name dropped in, but not really part of the episode in a bigger way, so this wasn’t surprising to me. That her absence wasn’t addressed however was plot-driven nonsense imo.

LOL, could be you sent an ask about that a while back. :) I can’t remember right now, but Claire has definitely always served as a Dean parallel. And this episode was no different. She lived in the car and that does align and relate directly to Dean telling Mick “that he had better sleeps in the Impala” (which was a lie of course, but we have seen Dean live in Baby multiple times over the course of 12 seasons). And it made sense for the episode to end on her driving away - it was her important self-actualization/individuation episode and I - and yes, I probably shouldn’t hold any hope to that - still hope that this will be in some fashion Dean at the end of the season. Going on a trip on his own to figure some things out.

Hmmm, when thinking about Claire and finding a new mom in Jody I actually don’t see that as a parallel to Mary and Dean (and Sam), but rather see it as a painful contrast to how Mary is their mom, but really nothing like a true “mother figure”. Jody was there for Claire, she may not have agreed with everything she does, but she always had her back. Mary on the other hand of course was dead for the longest time so she wasn’t there for her sons in a similar fashion, but even now she doesn’t truly seem interested or able to build a meaningful relationship with her sons. And whereas Jody had Claire’s back and made her make her own decisions, Mary so far has pressured them to work with the BritMoL and outright betrayed them when they worked the Ramiel-case.

And last but not least Mick not asking Claire to hunt for them: I think he rather puts her in the “rogue” category of hunters. Sure, she’s interested in working cases and she’s young and trainable, but she made perfectly clear that she didn’t think very highly of Mick’s whole spiel, which further aligns her with Dean as she reacted to them similarly as Dean. So I think Claire would have been too unpredictable and uncontrollable for Mick’s and the BritMoL’s liking - again similarly to Dean. And yes, I think Dean would have very much opposed that, if he tried to recruit her. Though it would lead into dilemma and fir to Claire being annoyed with the Winchesters’ hypocrisy at times as she told Sam outright.

Alright, that’s it, I think :) Thanks for this monster ask. Just as a heads up. If you have such long asks, you can also use the /submit. Makes it easier. :)

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

Not sure but I think I see the colt making another appearance in British Invasion looks like Mick brings it so I wonder will Dean see it or not. Since he seems to be with Lucifer's baby mama trying to get her away from the bad guys. I tried to post a link for the pic but couldn't put it in.

Good morning, dear!

No problem, I saw the pics. :) I think they definitely kept it purposefully vague with the shot they chose there as it does only show Sam in the frame with Mick and that other BritMoL guy. I guess the reason he brought it with him is due to Daegon. It would be great if Dean was clued in within this episode about the Colt and such, but I am not holding my breath that he will get the full story. I rather could imagine that they go with the story of “the BritMoL managed to get the Colt back”, but leaving Mary and how she almost had traded that gun for her sons lives out of the equation, because that would certainly serve as a perfect reason for Dean to walk out on the whole thing. I definitely hope that they will not just play it like “oh yes Dean knows already and he’s fine with it”, because that simply would be wildly out of character.

When I look at the promo pics I have to say that the crazy spec regarding the season finale may not be too crazy after all (can’t link to the post here, because I’m typing from my phone on my way to work), because I personally do think that Dean and Sam will take Kelly with them. I do really hope that Daegon will not die in this episode though, because tbh they could then have just left that entire bit of “Princes of Hell” out completely. But like I said before, I think the BritMoL may in the end be interested in that child to train it and use it for their own purposes, so that when the Winchesters take Kelly in they may act as if they are “alright” with it only to wait for the right moment to strike.

I think the show will - if the baby is born and Kelly Kline won’t die while pregnant - move the direction that the child is innocent and can’t be punished for Lucifer being his dad, that no child is born evil, etc. but a blank slate. So that’s I think something the Winchesters will stand up for and focus on (also due to Sam kind of working as the loose parallel to the kid as he also was forced to a connection with Lucifer). That opinion sooner or later will clash with the BritMoL because it opposes them in not seeing the child as a “lab rat” (that’s btw also the reason Magda was brought up again, she was innocent too).

So given all that and given that slow motion clip Jensen posted yesterday, I think there’s possibility that either Daegon will find Kelly and the boys in the bunker (which I would find really interesting as a parallel to Abaddon) and may try and get her back or it’s the BritMoL trying to take Kelly with them or both. And it would be pretty awesome then if Daegon sided with the Winchesters (especially if she truly had no sinister things in mind for the child) because it would drive the supposed “tainted and compromised” Winchesters against the BritMoL home by highlighting once more who the true monsters are.

From there on out I think it still could play out as I said in the post a couple of days ago. Mary (and Daegon) may disappear with Kelly and the child to protect them (and conveniently have them out of the picture - tbh Mary not being with them last episode and this week’s makes no sense yet again). That would bring the Angels in again, who also still want to kill it. That’s where Cas’ arc could come in with him one last time siding with humanity over Heaven, maybe marking the child’s and Kelly’s ribs to make them invisible. Basically it would serve for Cas to finally choosing his family on earth being his true family - that decision is long overdue, but I suppose unless the writers figure out what to do with Cas we’ll get another round of that next season all the way until the last episode ever where he chooses to become human for real and by his own decision.

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

Things about 12x16 “Ladies Drink Free” #6

Alright, so... verdict:

I never thought I’d ever hear myself say this in this crappy season, but aside from 12x11 “Reagrding Dean” imo this was hands down the best episode so far this season. I overall liked the pacing of the episode - save for the Magda intercuts. I think that was unnescessary and felt once more the “hammer it down”-approach. Similarly what was kind of annoying was how predictable the episode was. Like I said before, from the official description already we knew that there would come a cure into play that would may shift things a bit for Dean (anybody else btw thinking that the BritMoL knew the cure worked all along, but simply are a bunch of bloodthirsty assholes who rather go round killing people?). And I suppose the cure thing will be something revisited next season?

That said, it appears to me that Mick may be fairly afraid of his superiors and I suppose he may have to decide much like Cas had to between the BritMoL or the Winchester way. Only that Cas of course had to decide between Heaven and the Winchesters and well that is the never ending story they seem to currently once more play with Cas.

Aside from that I enjoyed Dean calling Mick out on his bullshit and the glimpses we got in regards to what crazy shit the BritMoL seem to have going with wiping out entire families and with that really only causing more issues.

Also enjoyed the parallels and alignments though once more they lacked subtlety, but that’s an overall issue of this season. But the exploration of family and betrayal and disconnect certainly was handled better than a whole lot of other episodes this season. So that’s something. ;P

As for acting appreciation. Jensen knocked it out of the park just reall really like Katherine Newton as Claire. I think she did a great job. Jensen as well.

So yeah, solid episode in my book. But the bar is pretty low these days. ;P

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

(1) hi! i hope you're doing good because damn 12x15 was a rollercoaster 👀 i hope they do justice to all the things they're foreshadowing to in regards to dean. this is gonna sound petty but was it just me or did anyone else notice the way he said "let's hope it still runs"? he calls the car "it", not "she", moments after berating sam for her condition and a few hours after calling her a "beautiful woman." idk why that really struck me. i have been reading your dean-impala parallels so

(2) what do you make of that? also did anyone else grimace when dean said "girl of the week"? excuse me? i didn't know you switched jobs from hunting monsters to saving poor damsels in distress who can't even hit a hellhound with an axe- oh wait.... --___--(3) (i am so sorry for the spam but this ep left me kinda bitter) no offence but cas has been caught in the same situation so many times where angels keep telling him he is not welcome in heaven but it is still his home, why :/ what do you make of The Return Of Joshua lmao(4) last one i promise: dean did nothing but go in the woods with crowley, take a walk, talk about stuff that had no relation with the plot or character development, sounded gay just for the heck of it, and was a good waste of quite a few hours? :// also he kinda joined BMoL so your feelings on that? it seemed like smth he told himself he was doing for his family bc thats how he is but maybe he just didn't want to be alone and feel like they chose the BMoL over him... 

Good evening dear!

Well there go a lot of questions. :) I’m gonna tackle all of them one after the other in the order you asked them.

Yes, I did actually stumble upon the “hope it still runs” as well when I re-watched the episode. During first watch I hadn’t really heard that. And it is indeed I personally think meant to stand out. It’s a distancing happening here that I am seeing directly in line with how Dean consciously and very decidedly distanced himself from their mother the episode before by calling her Mary instead of Mom (see here). We have seen this kind of treating the Impala as an it only once before: when Dean was a demon. And that is indeed an interesting aspect to keep in the back of your mind, because as much as the Impala is a symbol for Dean himself, it is also an object directly tied to family. When Dean was a demon however, he didn’t feel any kind of responsibility or care for the people he usually feels closest too. Instead he only did what he wanted without taking anybody else’s emotions into account. There have been a few allusions and nods to Dean’s time as a demon/with the MoC in the past few episodes and this is especially interesting in so far as the last few episodes very directly eroded the feeling of family Dean craved and the understanding and wishes he had for it. In the past few episodes he has been lied to, betrayed, walked all over and treated as being ridiculous for feeling the way he felt (and which he had every right to feel like, because well, he wasn’t going behind someone else’s back) and in the end even decided to work with the BritMoL against his better knowledge and wishes, because his closest family “chose” the BritMoL over Dean or rather their own set of dealing with stuff. So yeah, in that regard imo one could read this moment as one more sign of Dean shutting down in order to not get hurt any further.

Aside from that however, one could also assume btw that Dean meant the engine with “it” - that the engine still runs when the car was damaged so much.

The “girl of the week”-line to me seemed like one of those moments the writers tried to be funny and maybe even a bit “meta”, but instead it was just a bit eyeroll-worthy. I think however that Dean said it with enough sarcasm and self deprecation in his voice that I didn’t get that vibe from it that you did. :) The line in itself was absolutely un-needed though.

I do get the disappointment. What the show is doing with Cas’ arc is dissatisfying too, especially as they had made such major progress with Cas up until this point in the season with him pinpointing his feelings and emotions, etc. and now they go back to yet another round of “Cas trying to reconcile with Heaven” and it ending with Castiel being even more beatdown in the aftermath of it and likely hated even more so that his depression will only get worse. I truly think the issue with these stories lies in the fact that the writers sadly have no clue what to do with Cas and because they need to explain his absence and Misha not beign in more episodes in some silly fashion Castiel must always be on some other mission. And yeah... I wished they stopped with that. I do hope that this will be the final part of Castiel’s arc before he choses to become human on his own terms. Because for that I think it is vital for Cas to return to Heaven once more, feeling like he redeemed himself yet another time, but most importantly isn’t remembered and hated any longer. I personally hope that this may be Castiel’s last mission with the angels. A mission that wil show him succeed and would mean him being welcome back in the fold in Heaven and getting the chance to be with his “family” again as the angel said in this episode. I think it is vital that Cas will go back and will be considered part of the family again in Heaven in order for him to truly realize what he has voiced multiple times before: that he may be an angel, but his home and family is no longer Heaven. That’s my hope for this arc.

I am a bit weary about Joshua tbh. I just hope he won’t be turned into another power hungry angel, because I did really like Joshua as the gardener in 5x16 “Dark Side of the Moon”. I really hope they’ll use the same actor too. That said, story wise I’m not sure why they introduce exactly him, we’ll maybe because he was closest to God for a while, but yeah... No immediate thoughts on him. I just hope he won’t trun out being a massive dick.

I actually really enjoyed Crowley and Dean walking through the woods together and having that conversation. It of course echoed the conversation they had in 10x18 “Inside Man” and it does show that despite everything they do in some fashion care or at the very least appreciate the other one. To me that conversation actually did relate quite directly to the episode and big arc as imo the point is to contrast “monsters” who do good with “humans” (BritMoL) who are way more dangerous and monstrous. Like the conversation highlighted was: there are a whole lot of shades of grey between black and white - which the BritMoL aren’t even interested in seeing.

And last but not least Sam’s revelation about the BritMoL: I think Dean has sown very clearly how disillusioned and hurt he is by Sam’s and Mary’s actions and their lies to him and with Sam even worse having him work for the BritMoL without Dean even knowing. To me Dean hasn’t joined the BritMoL at all. He was bullied into saying alright, we give it a shot, but he is not on board with it and I don’t think that will change at any point in time. I think what the show is heading towards is a moment where either Sam will not bail with Dean as he had promised and that will cause even more tension or Dean may be considered too rebelious and therefore may have to suffer whatever the other hunter they called “rogue” did too. And sadly it may only then be that Mary and Sam truly get a grip on what nasty fuckers the BritMoL really are. But that’s of course just my personal headcanon. :)

Hope I didn’t forget any question.

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

Things about 12x15 “Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell” #3

Oh how fitting yet again the state of the Impala at the end of the episode is as a metaphor for Dean.

Baby was literally walked all over and beat up. Exactly what keeps happening to Dean all season. Everybody he cares about is walking all over him, lieing to him, seemingly not trusting him or at the very least thinking they know better what’s best for him/them. Sorry, but I am tired of this. My only hope for something being in store for Dean is his reluctance and his absolute defeat turning into becoming a storyline further down the line and making him the important piece of the puzzle in the end and proven right in everything he is skeptical of etc., because if that won’t be the case. Seriously, wtf?!

Also, this episode was so much plot driven nonsense and stupidity and ooc-ness front to back. The episode was just duuuuh. And the absolute “in your face” paralleling of Cas getting compromised and yearning to belong and therefore trusting the angels again and Crowley wanting to belong and trusting he has the upper hand over Lucifer and Sam and Mary thinking they can truly estimate who the BritMoL are and what they want is just... well: boring.

And then the whole Ramsey thing and her as a female hellhound being saved by Lucifer when she was carrying a child... sorry, but the paralleling here is just... well, I find it pretty un-called for. Also: if this episode is in any way foreshadowing then I suppose Sam will kill Kelly Kline.

I’m sorry about these harsh words yet again. I never would have thought I would be this angry and disappointed in this show I love, but atm there is literally so much stuff that is just plain dissatisfying.

The only things I liked about this episode were the Dean and Crowley interactions. Oh, and Dean looked super cute with the glasses again, and when having siren stuck in his hair too btw.

I keep hoping against hope something may come up for Dean, maybe a re-addressing of the mark etc, because there were some small shoutouts, maybe he’ll be the one to use Michael’s lance after all, but it’s not very likely. The ending of the episode sure as hell suggested however that Dean will not be easily swayed but there’ll be a fight. If I may say something, and I’m sure this may upset a few, but the way the show and the narrative has been treating Dean lately, I kind of hope that Dean will steal Ketch’s bike at the end of the season and take some much needed vacation from his family.

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

What's in A Title

Even though it is fairly impossible to make any definite assumptions about episodes based on their titles alone, I have to admit that some of the new titles revealed for the second half of the season sound intriguing and sparked a few thoughts (thank you @suebsg9 for the heads up). I don’t know if there exist official descriptions or filming tidbits for some of them yet as I have had so little time to catch up on spoiler lately, so these thoughts are all just based in the titles alone.

12x10 “Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets” If I remember correctly, this should be the Castiel centric episode, which features Alicia Witt as Lily Sunder, who is an old enemy of Castiel. There really is not much to go on here, but question surely is here if Lily Sunder was/is possessed by an angel then and therefore may have had beef with Cas (meaning it’s not really Lily Sunder, but the angel inside her that’s Castiel’s enemy - and we know many angels have their issues with Cas due to his alliances and choices) or if Castiel maybe had a run in with the human Lily Sunder some time prior. Question to me here is how far back this goes and if so how Castiel interacted with Lily Sunder - if she was human - because it would affect how we’d have to see Castiel’s arc from S4 onwards, meaning that we may get to know if Castiel actually may have used a different vessel before Jimmy Novak. Either way, I could imagine possession playing a role as that has been the big recurring theme of the episodes of S12 so far.

12x11 “Regarding Dean” Now, this seems to be the episode where Dean loses his memories. I dearly hope that this topic will not be downplayed and turned into “something funny”, but will be handled with care. I have talked about my hopes for this episode in this post already (see here), but given the title I’d like to expand on said post a little bit as I feel a few things I speculated about in that post are not too unlikely to be tackled. Obviously the title is a nod towards the Harrison Ford movie “Regarding Henry” - and yes, I totally will mention here that this feels like an interesting parallel also because Eric Kripke took Harrison Ford’s Han Solo as inspiration for Dean as a character - in which the lawyer Henry looses his memories and figures out what a horrible person he must have been as a lawyer but also in private life. He therefore abandons his former life and continues living as a much more likable person.

As I have pointed out in the post linked to above, the memory loss and being confronted with your own life that you feel out of touch with is not only a direct parallel Dean will share with his mother, but most of all I saw Dean losing and regaining his memories as a possibility for Dean to work through or rather see his own story with fresh eyes and with that maybe in a different light. Meaning, it may give him possibility to re-address traumas lived through and finally heal.

Harrison Ford’s character Henry is the epitome of an egoist and far from a loving husband and family guy prior losing his memories, which changes massively once he takes a look at his life with fresh eyes. If I compare this to Dean, then it is clear that Dean is nothing like Henry as Dean is selfless and puts everybody else before himself and family surely means most to him. Still despite all his good qualities, Dean is unable to see himself as the wonderful person he is, but only sees his shortcomings. In contrast to Henry therefore I think it would be beautiful if Dean, when looking at his life and himself when regaining his memories could start seeing himself in a much better light and acknowledge what he has been through and that his mistakes doesn’t make him a horrible person, but a survivor. Yeah, maybe this could be the start of Dean accepting that he deserves to be loved.

And of course, if you want to draw a parallel here between Henry leaving his old life behind, etc. you could argue that maybe the show would use this set up as another hint at Dean at some point finding balance between hunting and normal life.

Oh and what I also wonder, since I remember the Memento-promo before the season started, wouldn’t it be cool if this episode was executed in a similar fashion. It surely would fit the topic of the movie “Memento” too.

12x12 “S(t)uck in the Middle (with You)” I have seen two versions of this title floating around. One as “Suck in the Middle (with You)” and the other as “Stuck in the Middle (with You)”. If the first one turns out to be a thing, my mind immediately jumped to 9x13 “The Purge” and the Pishtaco. Aside from that the title seems to be a in reference to the song “Stuck in the Middle with You” by the band Steeler’s Wheel" which was used in Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs”, which heavily deals with themes like trust and betrayal, which certainly are heavy handed themes on SPN as well.

What to me is interesting here is that in combination with 12x15 we have two titles addressing an “in between”-state. And in regards to the lyrics of the song that build a recurring element the lines “clowns to the left, jokers to the right” I also feel the topic of duality could come into play again in this episode and with that also issues of identity.

Also, since the movie is about a robbery. Wouldn’t it be cool if we got another 2x12 “Nightshifter”? Could be fitting especially if the show decides to have Sam and Dean be much more on the FBI’s radar after escaping their prison in 12x09 “First Blood”.

12x13 “Family Feud” Hmm, wasn’t Gavin McLeod supposed to return this season at some point? Maybe this episode deals with Crowley, Rowena and Gavin in particular? Though of course the title could fit to Heaven as well as the Winchesters or the BritMoL too.

12x14 “The Raid” I suppose if the title is in any way a reference to the movie, then I assume the Winchesters may try and take someone out who has a lot of manpower behind him. Could be interesting if the raid - as in raiding something for information - would be connected to the BritMoL. Who knows, maybe they’ll be searching for something particular in the bunker?

12x15 “Somewhere between Heaven and Hell” Like I said in relation to 12x12 already this episode may deal with “in-between”-states too. Of course the first thought to pop up when reading this title was: PURGATORY. Commonly in christian belief after all it is understood to be the realm between Heaven and Hell and a place for souls that neither fit to Heaven nor Hell and may need purification first. That said, that between “Heaven and Hell” may as well be seen as earth too. And interestingly enough there are enough studies to suggest that really human life on earth “is” purgatory and determines whether you end up in Heaven or Hell. So judging from all that this could be another episode dealing with duality and identity themes. Oh, and of course I will not give up the tiny bit of hope that maybe the show didn’t completely forget about the Empty/limbo. Maybe that is the place between Heaven and Hell and not Earth or purgatory…