Recap of Supernatural
Season 12, Episode 1:
Keep Calm and Carry On
MAMA WINCHESTER IS BACK — Dean is overwhelmed as he comes face to face with his mom, Mary Winchester. Meanwhile, Sam is fighting for his life after Toni, from the Men of Letters (British Division), shot him.
Writers: Andrew Dabb
Director: Phil Sgriccia
Body Count
For this episode: 6 humans, 2 demons
For the series so far: At least 1279 humans (of which 19 were witches), 1126 angels, 188 demons, 71 vampires, 52 ghosts, 36 Jefferson Starships, 22 gods, 19 zombies, 17 werewolves, 10 hellhounds, 8 Bisaan, 7 shapeshifters, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 djinn, 5 reapers, 4 dogs, 4 ghouls, 4 Leviathan, 3 Khan Worms, 3 Thule, 2 Amazons, 2 arachnes, 2 kitsunes, 2 rugarus, 2 vetalas, 2 zannas, 1 banshee, 1 cat, 1 crocotta, Death, 1 deer, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 familiar, 1 lamia, The Mother of All, 1 nachzehrer, 1 okami, 1 phoenix, 1 pishtaco, 1 Purgatory creature, 1 qarin, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 shojo, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 soul eater, 1 Titan, 1 wendigo, The Whore of Babylon, 1 wicked witch, and 1 wraith.
Tropes
- Action Mom: Mary Winchester.
- Agony of the Feet: Sam scoffs at the idea of being tortured by mere humans, but when the torturer takes a lit blowtorch to his bare foot, he suddenly starts begging and shying away as far as his restraints allow. Though it's clearly painful, this still doesn't get them what they want.
- Ahem: Crowley, almost immediately after the demon he's trailing assures Lucifer that they aren't being followed in a villainous case of Tempting Fate.
- Always Someone Better: As opposed to the disorganized American hunters, the British Men of Letters don't play catch up to the monsters. They've established an extensive network of warding that leads them to monsters before they can do anything. According to Toni, the last monster-related death in Britain occurred in 1965.
- Attack Hello: Mary to Dean. Apparently thirty-three years of being dead haven't dulled those hunter reflexes.
- Auto Erotica: Heavily implied to have happened with Mary and John in the Impala's backseat. Quite possibly how Dean was conceived in fact.
- Back from the Dead: Mary Winchester.
- Body Surf: Lucifer, as after being burned out of Cas's body at the end of season eleven he can't find a body to sustain him and so is reduced to jumping from host to host.
- Call-Back: Several, when Dean is bringing Mary up to speed. He mentions seeing her in the past (twice) and seeing her as a ghost, as well as both her death and John's.
- Car Fu: Toni's Dragon intercepts Dean, Mary, and Cas by ramming the Impala with her own car.
- Car Porn: Baby.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The Women of Letters to Sam. It doesn't work.Sam: I've been tortured by the the Devil himself. You're just an accent in a pantsuit.
- Continuity Cavalcade: Sam hallucinates several scenes from past episodes, mostly deaths of people he knew. These include Kevin, Meg, Jessica, Mary, and Dean. He also sees Dean's face, bloodied and beaten, from the end of "Swan Song".
- Continuity Nod: The billboard that Castiel blasts through is an ad for Mystery Spot.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Possibly justified, as the woman who punches out Castiel (an angel) is wearing brass knuckles with some sort of enchantment on them.
- The Dragon: Toni's torturer and bodyguard.
- Evil Brit: Possibly subverted with Toni Bevell- despite opposing the heroes, she is more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist than an outright villain. Her Dragon, however, definitely qualifies.
- Eye Scream: All of Lucifer's failed vessels have had their eyeballs burned out, presumably from beholding his true form.
- Give Him a Normal Life: What Mary wanted for her sons. She's crushed when she learns that they're living the lifestyle she tried to keep them from.
- Hate Sink: Toni Bevell is a smug, unlikable bitch.
- Head-in-the-Sand Management: According to Toni, this is why the British Men of Letters have never stepped in before, despite knowing full well about the Winchesters' exploits — the leadership thought it was stepping outside their bounds.
- Immediate Sequel: Takes place immediately after Alpha and Omega.
- In the Back: Mary Winchester gets ahold of Castiel's dropped angel blade and stabs The Dragon in the back before she can kill Dean.
- Locked in the Dungeon: Sam in the basement.
- Made of Iron: Sam Winchester is pretty darn resistant to the torture methods of the British Men of Letters. An ice cold shower for a few hours, a blowtorch to the foot and even nightmare-inducing drugs don't break him. Sam boasts that he was tortured by the Devil himself and nobody could possibly match that.
- Mama Bear: Mary Winchester.
- Mind Rape: When physical torture fails, Toni resorts to doing this to Sam. Subverted in that it's nothing compared to what Sam's mind and soul has already been through in the past decade and he fakes being emotionally affected by it.
- Mr. Fanservice: The first round of torture Sam is subjected to is a cold shower. He has on a shirt and jeans, but given that the brothers are notorious for wearing three layers at all times, wet and barefoot is practically pornographic by Supernatural standards.
- Mysterious Parent: Although we've known who Mary Winchester is since the beginning of the series, she's been a fairly flat character, serving only as the catalyst for the boys' life long journey. It took four seasons to even find out the truth behind why she died and longer to find out who she really was. Having her as a living, breathing, interactive character rather than as the center of the brothers' mythical memories, opens up a whole new chapter of Winchester past, present and future.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: Dean's reaction to realizing Mary and John had sex in the back of the Impala and that he might have been conceived there.
- Pride: Toni quite likes talking up her own organization and clearly considers herself above the American hunters.
- Punny Name: The show's unofficial theme song is "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas.
- Underestimating Badassery: Toni keeps making this mistake with Sam and it almost gets her killed with his hands around her throat.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Toni Bevell seems to be more or less made of this trope.
- Wrong Assumption: Toni Bevell is all about this. She demands that Sam give her the names of every other Hunter in America, their meeting places, and their organizational hierarchy. Given that Hunters in the U.S. tend to be a bunch of itinerant nomads who don't recognize any authority (outside of respecting the more experienced among them and whoever owes each other a favor), Sam can only stare incredulously at her for her misunderstanding.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: The poor guy in the truck who sees Castiel slam into the ground from the banishment sigil assumes he's an alien. It did look rather like a meteor hit.
