‘Supernatural’ | ‘Stuck in the Middle (With You)’ S12E12 Overview
Arguably the best episode of Season 12 yet. The Winchesters help a fellow hunter face a demon with incredible power. But who will make it through this Tarantino-esque case?
SPOILER ALERT!
Mary Winchester (Samantha Smith) calls Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Castiel (Misha Collins) to a small town to help hunter Wally (Donavon Stinson) deal with a demon.
When an ambush at the demon’s house goes wrong and more demons show up, the brothers wonder what their mother has gotten them into. Demon Ramiel (Jerry Trimble) stabs Castiel with the Lance of Michael, capable of killing anything it touches… including angels.
This episode pays homage to the great director and writer Quentin Tarantino and his 1992 film, ‘Reservoir Dogs’. In a departure from the usual format, time-hopping is paired with title cards and time stamps, with some events repeated to reinforce the timeline.
It's a clever touch, as each iteration reveals more about Wally's and Mary’s motivations for coming to the town. The following action is unbearably tense when viewers have already seen Wally's death and Castiel’s injury earlier in the episode.
Written by Davy Perez, and directed by Richard Speight Jr (who previously played Archangel Gabriel), ‘Stuck in the Middle (With You)’ contains many references to the early seasons of ‘Supernatural’, including yellow-eyed demons, the Colt revolver and demon-trap bullets. The writers seem to have collected everything fans loved about the earlier seasons, and jammed them into Season 12 – and we simply couldn’t be happier.
From the very start of the episode, we know that someone is working with the British Men of Letters, but it's eventually revealed to be Mary. What is she up to? It has seemed clear that the organisation are shady at best, but since their ‘bad intel’ almost got one of ‘her boys’ killed, she'll be thinking twice about working for them again. Still, lies always lead to trouble and heartbreak, and Mary’s secrets will inevitably come back to bite her.
When Crowley (Mark A. Sheppard) shows up and reveals that they’ve disturbed a Prince of Hell - Ramiel, it becomes clear that this might be more trouble than they can handle.
Ramiel makes an amazingly creepy villain, especially with his Tarantino-inspired whistling introduction. Crowley shows that he is still on the Winchester’s side, but despite all that he’s done for them over the years, they still can’t show him any gratitude.
Meanwhile Castiel believes he is dying and gives a moving speech, thanking the boys for the time they spent together, and admitting that he loves them. The ‘Destiel’ fans let out a collective scream during this scene, especially when focused on the Dean-centred reaction shots. Whether you’re a shipper or not, there is no denying that this was a pivotal moment for the Winchesters. Cas has been in a dark place throughout the last few seasons. Now he knows that he is unequivocally part of the family, he can begin to heal.
Then there’s the surprise return of Mark Pellegrino as Lucifer, a villain who many love to hate, and some of us just can’t help but love. Things are about to get a lot hotter in hell.
Season 12 is building up to be a busy one if ‘Stuck in the Middle (With You)’ is anything to go by. Between the British Men of Letters making themselves unpopular, and Ramiel revealing that he and the other two Princes of Hell know that Lucifer has fathered a nephilim, things could get very messy. He says, ‘My sister Dagon is taking an interest’, so we can expect to hear from her.
Episode 12 features excellent writing, brilliant acting, quality shooting and clever direction, combined with a dash of nostalgia making this episode the best in the season so far.
‘Supernatural’ airs on the CW at 8pm EST Thursdays, & on Eleven at 9:30pm Mondays in Australia.
Comments