Supernatural 12x13 "Family Feud"

I didn't forget about the show being on this week! Yay! Ha. Too bad this week's episode wasn't as worth watching immediately as the past couple of weeks when I was delayed. Not to say it was awful or anything, just kind of blah. They did try to make a monster of the week have more of a connection to the main story, sort of, but only just.

Anyhow, yes, a seeming monster of the week is afoot in the form of a ghost killing a bunch of teachers. Sam and Dean trace the ghost to a shipwreck from the 1700s. A shipwreck that it just so happens was supposed to contain Crowley's son so many moons ago. You know, Gavin, who was brought to the present day by Abaddon some time ago. I honestly didn't even really remember that happening, but there you go, paying it back, show!

The boys don't know where Gavin is, so they try going to Crowley for help. But, Crowley is little busy at the moment with none other than our dearly resurrected favorite form of Lucifer. That is to say, Mark Pellegrino, back at it again. Crowley apparently subverted Rowena's spell, and now has Lucifer chained up. He also conveniently saved the vessel he used before, hence Mark being back again. Lucifer also tells Crowley that his bun in the oven is still alive, which big C is none too pleased about.

And what about that bun in the oven? Well, Kelly is out there, barely able to scrounge enough change for a small orange juice. Some angels are on her tail, but the demon who we knew was going to appear, Dagon, does indeed appear just in time to save her from the angels. And it looks like Lucifer calls her there at the end of the episode as well, so you know that's all going to end well.

Okay, back to the boys. Since Crowley won't help, they call up the next best thing - Rowena. She's reluctant at first, but eventually agrees, and they tell her Gavin is her grandson. Basically, it turns out that Gavin's sweetheart had stowed herself away on the ship, thinking he was going to be on it. But, he never was on it thanks to time travel, and she ended up being taken advantage of on the ship before dying aboard it. Because their childhood teacher said she deserved it, she's now going after teachers in the modern day.

The only way to fix things, really, is for Gavin to go back and join her on the ship. Crowley shows up to object to all of this, but Rowena stops him from interfering, so the boys are able to send him back. Crowley is none too pleased with his mother, but she was just getting some payback from that time when Crowley made her kill that kid she loved to remove the Mark of Cain. You know. No big.

The boys had also tried to call up Mary to see if she wanted to join them on the hunt, but she declined, saying she was still recovering, but instead she was off working with Mr. Ketch, taking down a Rugaru with some head explody device thingy. Ketch wants her distance herself from the boys because she's a better hunter when she's not motherly, but instead she decides to confess to them that she's been working with the BMOL. They're none too pleased about it, but she asks them to at least listen to her. So... we'll see what happens there.

Random Thoughts:

- Seriously, though, are they just never going to show previews at the end of the show again? Do they really think the little bumper about Riverdale is making a difference? Because I have to tell you, I watch on my DVR anyway, so I'm not sticking around in realtime to watch Riverdale.

- Even though I've been a bit over the Lucifer storyline as a whole, I must admit that it is nice to have Mark back again. He's such an improvement over every other version of Lucifer, it's almost silly.

- You know the BMOL and the Winchesters will have to team up to try to take down Lucifer once he inevitably gets free and the baby is either born or almost born or something. It just feels naturally where things will have to go, right?

Quotes:

Crowley: What, no snarky devilish comment? You have nothing to say?
Lucifer: Thanks?

Dean: Hmm. Aztecs were pretty serious about their killings. Aztec ghost. Yeah I like that.

Dean: Wait a minute, I know something about something.

Lucifer: A chip off the ole ball of Heavenly light, if you know what I mean.

Crowley: Turns out behind that whole moron facade, you and your brother are, in fact, morons!

Lucifer: I could use a little dad advice right about now. When do you let 'em date?

Dagon: I'm a demon. You're Rosemary. Complete with baby.

Mary: Do not give me the face.
Dean: What face.
Mary: You know the face.
Dean: There's no face.
Mary: That's the face.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 12x12 "Stuck in the Middle (With You)"

Oopsie. Guys, I completely forgot the show was on last night. I was home doing whatever, totally could've watched it, but nope, didn't even cross my mind! So... whoops! Shame because this was another pretty good episode. I must say things have been better this season. I particularly liked that it hearkened back to the long ago days of the yellow-eyed demon that started everything. But I'm getting ahead of things!

This episode is a little tough to recap chronologically within the episode itself, as it did a lot of jumping around in time, focusing on different characters in each mini chapter. So I'll just give a rundown of what basically happened in the right order. Basically, Mary got a call from the BMoL (British Men of Letters) to go get something from a demon's place. She called up her friend Wally for help, along with Sam, Dean, and Castiel, though she didn't tell them that her real mission was to pick up a mystery item.

Anyhow, they make a plan to ambush the demon when he gets home. Only the ambush doesn't go so well - he's not phased by bullets, and more importantly not phased by the demon knife. Also, some other demons have shown up as well, so of course a fight ensues. One of those extra demons manages to kill Wally before Sam and Dean are able to dispatch them. And the head demon guy pulls this lance thing out of midair and stabs Cas with it, and then reveals to Mary that he has yellow eyes! Oh but I forgot, while they were getting the ambush set up, Mary was secretly obtaining the mystery object from a locked safe. So she has it.

Ok! So basically they manage to get away because Mary hits the demon with a car and they drive off. Cas isn't able to heal himself, and indeed has some bad looking black lines spidering out from the wound. Sam is all like WTF Mom, what's a YED doing here? Crowley shows up for a helpful explanation - he's Ramiel, and Prince of Hell. One of the first demons created by Lucifer himself, much like Azazel from yesteryear. He was a prince of hell? I don't remember that bit, but that doesn't mean it's not true. Basically, he tells them the wound can't be healed, it was from the lance of Michael, which it turns out he gifted to Ramiel some six years ago, along with the mystery object. Ramiel was supposed to take over Hell, but instead told Crowley to do it as he didn't care.

Crowley tries to talk Ramiel out of going after all of the Winchesters and Castiel, but he's having none of that. He comes in, pulls out the lance, and proceeds to beat down them all down after first giving Mary a window to hand over the mystery object, which she doesn't, and still doesn't tell anyone else about. Fight fight fight, Sam manages to get the lance out of Ramiel's hands and stabs him with it, turning him into a dust cloud.

Of course, Castiel is still lying there dying, but Crowley manages to come to his rescue, breaking apart the lance, and thereby the magic runes that do its dirty work, which magically heals Castiel. They all wonder what the heck Ramiel could've been talking about, but Mary still doesn't tell them. But, when she meets up with Mr. Ketch later, we see - it was the Colt. Yes, that Colt that killed ole YED so many years ago. I admit I forgot whatever happened to it. But doesn't it need special bullets? I thought those were all gone.

Also! Crowley goes back to his lair, and who does he have locked up? None other than Lucifer, who I'm pretty sure was being played by Mark Pellegrino, but I can't be 100% sure since they only sort of showed him. And again no preview for next week, so who the heck knows what that episode will be about.

Random Thoughts:

- Soooo now Crowley can lock up Lucifer in some flimsy cage? Apparently that egg thingamajig took out some of his powers or something? And how is he back in the Pellegrino vessel? So many questions.

- You know we're going to be meeting those other two Princes of Hell that were mentioned, particularly since one of them has "taken an interest" in the gestating spawn of Lucifer.

- You also know that eventually the boys are going to find out about Mary's dealings with the BMoL, and they are going to be pissed, especially when they find out that she gave them the Colt. I'm still unclear on if there are any more bullets. And I really have no recollection about what happened to it so many moons ago, but I guess Crowley somehow got it? Sure.

- It seemed pretty easy to break that lance and magically heal Castiel. I mean obviously they're not going to kill Castiel in some random mid season episode, but still.

- I also kind of wanted more of Ramiel, he was interesting. But also really bad at fighting seeing as Sam got the lance away from him so dang easily.

Quotes:

Mary: Thanks for coming, I know you're busy.
Castiel: Mmm. Not really.

Mary: Did you see his eyes? He had yellow eyes.
Sam: Mom, what did you get us into?

Mary: Since when is life about getting what you want?

Dean: Wow, you look like hammered crap.
Castiel: Yeah, that sounds about right.

Crowley: You idiots. You're all going to die.
Dean: Well this day just keeps getting better and better.

Crowley: Ramiel, Prince of Hell. It's catchy, it rhymes.

Castiel: You're my family. I love you.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Magic Custard Cake

As I may or may not have mentioned before, my boyfriend is not a huge chocolate fan. A travesty, I know. It also makes it somewhat difficult to find yummy desserts that he will actually enjoy. But, this is one that can be added to the list! It's custardy and downright strange, but delicious all the same.

Basically, you get two layers of cake on the top and bottom, then this large middle layer of vanilla custard in between. I forgot to dust mine with powdered sugar, but it didn't really need that extra hit of sweetness, no matter how pretty a powdered sugar dusting may look in pictures.

I'm including that picture above of the cake still in the pan so you can see how it looked for me when it was done. The middle was just slightly jiggly when I pulled it out. I wasn't sure how jiggly it should be, so I left it on the top of the oven to cool down, which meant it probably cooked it a bit further due to the heat from below still being there. It's a little trick I have when I'm not sure things are quite done.

The good news is, the middle did not sink, which meant that it was done! Yay! I've definitely had my share of sinking desserts, which is always sad.

Definitely recommend this for anyone who likes custard or pudding-adjacent desserts. While there are a lot of steps, none of the steps are hard. Just a lot of dishes to deal with in the end!

Magic Custard Cake
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 9 Pieces
Prep time: 00:15

Cook time: 01:00

Total time: 01:15

Two layers of cake with a large layer of vanilla custard in between – what’s not to love?

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups milk
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 4 drops white vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter an 8x8 baking dish.
2. Melt the butter and set aside to cool. Warm the milk until lukewarm and set aside.
3. Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
4. Beat the egg yolks and sugar until light. Mix in the melted butter and tablespoon of water for about two minutes until evenly incorporated.
5. Mix in the flour until incorporated. Slowly beat in the milk and vanilla extract until everything is mixed well.
6. Fold in the egg whites 1/3 at a time, until all the egg whites are folded in.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the cake is barely jiggly in the center. If the top is browning too quickly, you can cover it with aluminum foil.
8. Allow cake to cool completely before cutting in and enjoying. You can also dust with more powdered sugar here, if desired. Place the cake in the fridge if not eating it all at once.

Recipe via White on Rice Couple

Supernatural 12x11 "Regarding Dean"

I suppose we were due for a funnier episode, right? Because this one certainly provided a lot of humor, and a lot of chances for Jensen Ackles to show off his comedic timing. I admit this one is probably one of my favorite ones of the season so far. It's nice to have a little diversion, don't you agree? Also, sorry this review is a bit late. I was on a late flight home last night and didn't have a chance to watch the episode until this morning.

Anyhow! On to the plot. Dean is running through the woods, in chase of a man. We must assume this man is a witch or something thanks to the reminder in the previously on section of the show, and low and behold, he does some spell on Dean that knocks him out cold. When he wakes up in the woods in the morning, his phone is broken, so he finds a young jogger who will let him borrow his phone to call up Sam to meet him at the waffle house close by.

Turns out, Dean doesn't remember much of the previous night. He assumes this must be the remnants of an epic night that turned into a blackout, which seems to be supported by a woman coming up to him and slapping him when he doesn't remember her. But, we the audience know differently, of course. Witchy shenanigans are afoot! So, Dean increasingly starts acting odd, not remembering which key starts the impala, or certain details of the case they came to this town to investigate without being prompted by Sam first.

However, said case gets a boost when they find a hex bag in the victim's autopsy leftovers. Yep, witches are at hand. But things are just getting worse for Dean - he can't remember what a lamp is, and starts forgetting even more important details than that. Like, you know, that they're hunters and all that. Sam knows this isn't right, and calls up Rowena for help. She says the only way to get rid of this memory wiping curse is to kill the witch who did it, so they go searching for said witch. Eventually they do find him, but lo, Dean must have gotten in a shot, because he's dead.

With nowhere else to turn, Sam asks Rowena to come help. She does, secretly wanting to get her hands on the grimoire that she knows these witches have. Because she knew them once upon a time when she first moved to the states, but they were jerks to her. Sam goes off to try to find the grimoire while Rowena stays back with Dean, to make sure he doesn't, you know, go wandering off, now that he doesn't even really remember who he even is.

But, when Sam finds the witches, they promptly get the upper hand. Luckily, he happens to be on the phone with Rowena at the time, so she overhears this and knocks out Dean, taking them both to the house. She leaves Dean in the car, but of course he wakes up and doesn't stay inside it, despite the many post it notes. That, however, turns out to be a good thing, because the other witches are getting the upper hand on both Sam and Rowena. Thanks to a handy dandy "witch killing bullets" note and a "this one" note to the right gun, however, Dean comes in just in the knick of time and kills off the evil witches. But, you know, not before hesitating about whether he should shoot the witch dude or Sam, not remembering who was who.

So, Rowena restores Dean's memories. She tries to abscond with the grimoire, but Sam stops her and takes it away. However, they do owe her one, so you know that will come back around sometime. Then the brothers Winchester have their patented by the impala brotherly end of episode chat, wherein Sam says it was nice to at least see Dean look happy without the weight of the world on him for a bit, but Dean counters with it made him forget the good along with the bad, so in the end that's not worth it.

Random Thoughts:

- The little montage at the end was a bit silly since we'd just seen all of those scenes a few minutes ago, apart from riding the mechanical bull.

- Are they not showing previews for next week's episodes anymore, or is my DVR just cutting them off now? I already have it set to record a minute longer than all of my shows because it constantly was cutting off the endings of shows before that, but not sure if this is just me again or what.

- This episode was one of the few times where I didn't get totally annoyed with Rowena. Which is pretty amazing considering she was in a good portion of it. I think maybe because she didn't have so many quippy lines or something? Am I the only one?

- There were a lot of quotes this week with Dean losing his memory. I didn't get all of them, but I got as many as I could below!

Quotes:

Dean: What psycho doesn't like waffles? I mean they're fluffy, filled with pockets full of syrup, just covered in whipped cream. Am I right?

Dean: Devil baby mama drama. Say that five times fast.

Dean: I guess it's true what they say. Mo' money, mo' problems.
Sam: I hope you're still drunk.

Sam: Dory?
Dean: I'm not gonna apologize for loving that fish. Not to you, not to anyone.

Sam: What are you doing?
Dean: Trying to read my lips.... my salsa, you mittens.
Sam: You can't read lips.
Dean: I can't read lips.

Dean: I like you, you've got plenty of snuff.

Rowena: You know what they say, nothing heals old wounds like opening fresh ones.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 12x10 "Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets"

For anyone looking for a Castiel/angel-centric episode, look no further. Yes, we took a break from the main storyline.... well. What IS the main storyline? Maybe we didn't take a break from it after all. As promised, it doesn't seem like there is really a big bad this season, other than perhaps the British Men of Letters, Lucifer stuff, and Mary being around.

Anyway! Back to this episode. Dean is miffed at Castiel for messing with the order of the universe by killing Billie. Which I call a rather huge case of hypocrisy given how much the Winchesters have done just that. I mean really? Where does he get off lecturing Cas about that sort of thing? Do we not remember how they got rid of the Mark of Cain?

That has to take a backseat for the main story of the night, though. A angel that used to be in Castiel's regiment, Benjamin, was killed. He wants to find out who did it, so he meets up with some other angel friends of his who were in the same battalion. Turns out, Benjamin was not the first, some others had been killed as well. So why did Cas not feel those deaths? Whatever!

When said murderess shows up at the very diner that Cas (along with Sam and Dean) are meeting with Ishim, they realize they know her. She seems to have some kind of issue with the angels, as she only goes after them and tells the brothers that she doesn't have any problems with humans. The brothers make the angels fess up to what happened, in order to better try to solve the problem. Turns out, Lily was alive back in the early 1900s, in a relationship with an angel, who fathered her child. Since Nephilim are prohibited, the group of angels came to take care of it. Now Ishim believes she is using some kind of demon deal or something to stay alive and have these powers. Because, you know, angel powers don't really work on her.

Sam and Dean go off to reason with her, since they're human and she's human and they can explain that the angels have changed now, ie they care more about people. Things aren't quite so simple, though, because she tells them what really happened. Her daughter was not a Nephilim, she'd had her before the relationship with the angel. She was only with that angel because she was trying to protect herself from Ishim. See, she was the foremost human expert on angels, and figured out how to summon one, which turned out to be Ishim. He became obsessed with her, and she could only get away from him by having this other angel dude come, or something. Anyway, Ishim got pissed and made up the story about the kid in order to get revenge on her - to break her heart the way she had broken his.

Dean goes back to tell Castiel the truth while Sam stays and hangs out with Lily, who informs him that she's not using dark magic, but rather figured out how to use angel magic, though it does slowly consume her soul the more she uses it. Sam knows a bit about being soulless, and soon realizes she's just kind of hanging around waiting for Ishim to kill Dean so Sam will be on her side. Not so fast, lady!

Indeed, Ishim is trying to kill Dean, and Castiel isn't much help in preventing that, as he used a lot of his energy to heal Ishim from Lily's earlier attack. Luckily, Sam and Lily show up just in time. She uses this special eye orb thing to angel light him long enough for Cas to stab him with the angel blade. He also apologizes for his earlier ignorance and understands if she still wants to go after him.

She puts away her revenge, at least for now, while the boys head back to the bunker to drink and contemplate whether they should actually kill the spawn of the devil or not.


Random Thoughts:

- How much do we wanna bet that using angel magic is going to come back up somehow? Also, how did no one know that was possible before? It seemed like the angels were completely unaware of it as well.

- Also, would using that much angel juice there at the end not have used up the rest of Lily's soul? We know what happens when people don't have souls. It's not pretty.

- The title of this episode is much more flip than the tone of the episode itself. Odd choice.

Quotes:

Sam: I don't think we have the kind of mom that's going to stay home and make chicken soup for dinner.

Castiel: You know what I like about him. He's sarcastic, but he's thoughtful and appreciative too.

Sam: And you're gonna storm in, right.....now.

Castiel: These are my friends. My friends who don't listen very well.

Lily: Patience is a talent. You'd be amazed what a person can do with a little bit of purpose and an abundance of time.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode