Supernatural: The Thing

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

It's the same old story for Sam and Dean Winchester: find the clues, enter the crypt and rescue the woman that hasn't aged a day since 1925. What could possibly go wrong?

In a shocking turn of events, Sam has actually found something on the Seal of Solomon in one the books in the bunker. This leads them to more research but still, it's a good start. It's during this research that Dean learns of the many chapter houses of the Men of Letters and how the Seal is kept inside the Rhode Island chapter. After a quick drive and a look around the Rhode Island chapter house where Dean finds the picture of a woman named Sandy Porter dated form the year 1925, they find something on Solomon but then suddenly hear a scream. The brothers investigate and find that a woman has been chained to a table inside the chapter house. They free her only for Dean to realize that it's Sandy Porter but she has been inside the chapter house for well over a hundred years. They don't why she was taken or how she survived but after stopping off at a nearby diner, she was taken by some people the boys are very familiar with – the Men of Letters. Suddenly the power is cut in the diner and they are attacked by robed figures. Dean fights them off but Sam is taken. Elsewhere, in hell, Asmodeus is reinforcing to Ketch what it means to be freelance when working with a demon. Less attitude and more having his teeth knocked out until he understands that he is the property of a demon forever. The cloaked people tell Sam the truth: Sandy isn't just a woman but a god bound to her body as the only way of trapping it. Its only purpose is to eat and mate; leaving Sam has to get to his brother before he becomes dinner or a one night stand.

All in all, Supernatural's The Thing was less like the 1982 classic and more like the 2011 remake for all that is worth. Besides the dazzling practical effects that were employed in the original, John Carpenter's The Thing creates a sense of mistrust and paranoia amongst every character that no one ever feels truly safe and that anything could happen at any moment. Supernatural attempted to create some of that feeling here but it was pretty obvious from the start that there was something going on with Sandy. This made everything in the episode fairly predictable from there on out for the story. What would have likely helped would be if the episode didn't start with a time stamped date and the location as soon as the opening shot fades in. This undercuts the surprise every time they do this and it spoils the moment where Sandy is revealed to be alive. It's better to learn the plot at the same pace as the show's characters but Supernatural insists on putting its audience two steps ahead for little gain.

The one aspect that gave the episode the surprise it needed came in the form of Ketch. I still reserve my doubts about Ketch this season and how good of an idea it was to bring him back but The Thing proved that there is still some, if very little, direction for the character to go. Ketch was given to us as the icy hearted mercenary of the British Men of Letters, has since become a freelance man for demons and is now seemingly on a new path for self-preservation. Whether Ketch attempts to redeem himself is another thing because I'm not sure if that's even possible at this point. He's willing to risk the warzone in an alternate reality to stave off certain death at the hands of Asmodeus. However Ketch's story plays out for the rest of the season, I hope it all pays off.

While the thing can't hold up to last week's Scoobynatural, it managed to further the plot towards the final leg of season thirteen. Dean is headed into the alternate reality to find Jack and Mary with the help of Ketch while Asomdeus begin his hunt to stop them. Maybe next week we'll learn how Gabriel survived in Bring 'em Back Alive.

Tags: Supernatural, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki

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