‘Supernatural’ | ‘The British Invasion’ S12E17 Overview
Did you happen to feel a great disturbance in the force last Thursday evening?...
SPOILER ALERT!
Well, it may very well have been the ‘Supernatural’ fans united, crying “No! But I was just starting to like him!”
The real power and ideology behind the British Men of Letters is revealed in this episode, and it’s not pretty. Their 'Code' is a harsh, inflexible dogma that goes against everything the Winchester brothers stand for (and it actually smells a little deus ex machina, allowing the writers to explain away with all sorts of nasty stuff).
In the highlight of this episode, fan favourite and kick-ass deaf hunter Eileen Leahy (Shoshannah Stern) is back, helping Sam and Dean to hunt for Kelly and Dagon around Idaho, where they were last seen. And she has some gorgeous interactions with Sam in this episode. Come back soon, Eileen!
Episode 17 was written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming - a duo coldly known by fans as 'Buckleming'. While their episodes tend to be hit-and-miss, this was notably more enjoyable than their previous offering in Season 12, ‘Family Feud’. Buckner and Ross-Leming wrote plenty of tense moments, and the scenes flowed well, although many were quite short.
‘The British Invasion’ starts with a dream sequence, featuring a young Mick Davies (Adam Fergus) at the Men of Letters school, Kendricks (not at all like Hogwarts... Okay, maybe a little…). There he is forced by a Head Teacher to kill his best friend in order to advance to the next level of training; this nightmare recurs during the episode, as Mick finds himself doubting the strict Code.
Eileen, Sam and Dean finally track Kelly and Dagon down, and Sam tricks Kelly into coming to a doctor’s clinic where she is kidnapped by Dean. The rescue is a bust when Dagon shows up and Eileen accidentally shoots one of the British Men of Letters with the Colt, allowing Dagon and Kelly to escape.
Mick wants to kill Eileen, according to the Code’s protocol, but Sam and Dean protect her while talking Mick down. The brothers soon take her back to the bunker, where she is comforted by Sam. There’s definitely some romance in the air, here!
When Mick returns to the BMoL base, his old headmistress, Doctor Hess (Gillian Barber), is there waiting for him. She orders him to bring the American hunters into line, but he claims he’d rather live by his own code. Following Mick’s particularly heartfelt speech, Mr Ketch (David Haydn Jones) shockingly shoots him directly in the head.
The writers certainly did a great job these last few episodes, developing Mick’s character as sympathetic, especially since ‘The Raid’. Mick was becoming too comfortable with the Winchesters, and beginning to give in to their way of life and order. When finally he stood up to the elders and questioned the Code, he was eliminated in cold blood.
It is definitely sad to farewell Mick. He would have been a great ally for the Winchesters in the fight against the less tolerant Men of Letters, and it is easy to ask what exactly his death actually did for the story - apart from killing off a character the viewers were just beginning to know.
That said, the villains cast in this season have been duly selected. Doctor Hess is delightfully evil, although her lines in ‘The British Invasion’ were dreadfully two-dimensional. Hopefully fans will get to see a little more depth of character before she is inevitably killed in some awful fashion. And Mr Ketch is starting to let his inner psychopath run free again – to our viewing delight.
This week’s episode proved that the Men of Letters are a ruthless organisation, with no compunction when it comes to killing their own if they dare step out of line. It’s going to be very interesting to see how the American hunters get out of this one…
We can only hope that Eileen is hidden safely away, and that the Winchesters change the locks on their bunker!
‘Supernatural’ airs on the CW at 8pm EST Thursdays, & on Eleven at 9:30pm Mondays in Australia.
