#meta-writing

Mary’s off-hand comment about why we don’t see Bobby, that he’s trying to cope after the stuff that happened with his own son, plays into the season’s theme of parent-child relationships. Yes, this was most likely a way to explain his presence off-screen, but they said this rather than, “he went to work a case solo, and I was sick at the time” or something like that. I suspect Bobby’s out of the picture, however temporarily, in preparation for episode 300, so it can focus on Mary and John. I feel like things between Mary and Bobby are serious, but we still need this moment of her clearly choosing a future with Bobby, and not the past with John. 

When Dean’s talking to Mary, trying to get her away from the cabin for a while, he uses the excuse of being hungry, and wanting ‘Winchester Surprise’. Not only is the viewer supposed to pick up on this as a blatant lie, but Dean forces himself to eat anyway, Like, he and Donna put away a lot of food in just the previous scene, stuff that was probably super unhealthy, with no nutritional value. Then, you see Dean force himself to eat something even worse, just to please his Mom. Maybe it’s a commentary on Dean doing stuff to please others, without actually doing anything that’s personally fulfilling? Or, I’m talking out of my ass faster than Winchester Surprise, we’ll see.

That moment, when Dean’s wanting to add something else before Mary leaves, I wonder if he was gonna say ‘Love you’? Like, try to add it casually, like he did with Sam’s hug earlier? There’s clearly something missing from the dialogue we’re meant to pick up on.

The song playing as Dean welds is “No time” by The Guess Who. Of course, the opening lyrics are “No time left for you.” 

“No time for the love you send, seasons change and so did I.” god DAMN Davy AIN’T PLAYIN’. And, right after this, we get sparks flying over the image of the shirtless cowboy. Good lord, this is gay.

As far as I’m concerned, Donna turning her back on Nick isn’t the dumbest thing I’ve seen an SPN character do to get the plot rolling. Like, have you met any member of TFW? Sometimes they mimic a bag of rocks.

Mary bought him an apple pie! Did we ever get to see them eat it? 

(I’m from the future, we don’t know if they eat the pie. How sad.)

So, a lot of the shots of Mary in this episode are very isolating. Shots from a wide angle, that make it feel like someone (Nick) is watching her, a lot of shots showing how separate her and Dean are. It’s great for building a sense of dread.

There’s a number of sneaky horror movie references in this episode: the murdered girl scout troop, probably at a camp site. Nick being THAT creepy mass slasher, the Enochian puzzle box straight out of Hellraiser, and according to IMDB, a Chucky doll. You know, Child’s Play, the movie about the soul of a murderer being trapped in a doll, and assuming control of it, ‘cause guess what? The container the killer’s in doesn’t do dick to stop him. Huh.

Time and again, we see Mary actively trying to free herself, be it getting her hands unbound, leading Nick into a booby trap, and in general buying time when and where she can. To me, this doesn’t make her a damsel in distress, she’s doing what she can to save herself.

“Didn’t really think this through, did you Nick.” well if that ain’t shades of Lucifer in S12.

“When people are past the point of saving, you need to walk away.” Dean is obviously talking about himself, and Nick, maybe even John, THIS LINE IS LAYERED.

So, why Mary? Why does Mary get kidnapped by creepy Nick? Well, Nick is chasing after the Demon that murdered his family, and is desperately seeking closure by any means necessary. He’s pretty much John, only with no regards for Human life.

In the same episode Dean brings up a memory of John not handling Mary’s death well, Mary is confronted with a John mirror.

“The more slow and bloody, the more chat.” Nick agreeing to these terms, after describing his own wife and child’s murders as “bloody, brutal, slow” shows Nick has become the very thing he hunts. I mean, we knew this the moment he hammered his neighbor, but whatever. 

Things we know for certain: Billie gave Dean fuck-all to work with at the end of ‘Nihilism’. Dean claims in 14X11 she gave him the recipe, when everything Mary looked through in the shed earlier came from books Dean got from the bunker. Not a single one of them resembled the book Billie gave him. Two options: the book was empty, or it’s something worse and more vague.

Dean, I love you, but you’re an idiot. Remember how I said TFW sometimes acted like a bag of rocks? This, the entire plan to chuck himself into the ocean, when not even the Mark of Cain was safe there. I know everyone else has been making fun of that specific point, and how our boys never seem to learn, but, damn. Dean, please, love yourself. Can you, maybe just a bit?

Pretty please?

Anyway, I loved this episode. The past two episodes have renewed my optimism for s14′s main plot, and i’m so happy about that.