Supernatural 13x08 "The Scorpion and the Frog"

After last week's guest star fest, this week it's back to a tried and true Winchester-focused episode. It was a bit of a filler episode, not really accomplishing much of anything, but when you've got to fill in at least 22 episodes of show a season, I guess that happens from time to time. Will anyone remember this episode by the end of the season? Unlikely, but oh well.

The Winchesters are still at a loss as to how to find Jack, but wouldn't you know it, they get a call from a demon named Bart who has something that will help them find the missing nephilim - a tracking spell. Of course, considering this Bart is the new head crossroads demon, you know he's not just going to hand over the spell for nothing. He gives them half the spell up front, and promises to give them the other half if they do him just a little favor.

What's this favor, one wonders? Well, he wants to steal something from some guy. Why can't he just till it himself, the brothers themselves wonder. Why, because there are anti-demon cloaking spells and such blocking him. But why does he need the Winchesters when he could get someone else to help? Turns out the only way to get access to whatever it is he wants to get requires blood from someone who has been to Hell and back. Ah, okay then.

The brothers agree, but with a secret caveat that they'll kill Bart once they've got the spell. Because these secret pacts always end up going so well for them, but sure. Bart has a couple other helpers for the job, a girl named Alice aka Smash, and a demon named Grab. Well, he's not really named Grab, but you get the joke here. Sam heads in to the estate claiming he's got something supernatural to sell to this reclusive dude Luther with whatever the thing is Bart wants.

While Sam distracts the guy, Dean and the others work to find the secret place where the loot is hidden. Grab does some spell to make Dean's blood pull him toward the thing, and off they go. It eventually leads them to the secret place, but at this point Luther isn't really fooled by Sam's selling tactics. Sam tries to stab him with the demon-killing knife, but it turns out that the guy can't be killed on his own property. I'm not sure if it was established that the guy was or wasn't a demon, but it turns out he's not, I think? I don't know how he's stayed alive so long, but do we really care? Not really.

ANYwayz, Grab ends up getting killed and Alice runs off in the melee, but Sam and Dean manage to knock out Luther and use him to get to the secret vault with an old safe. Alice shows back up to help out at this point, but really she's only doing it because she made a deal with Bart and he agrees not to take her soul if she continues working for him. They grab a big chest from the safe and head out, but Luther has escaped from his bonds and is, for some reason, waiting for them down the street in a car, outside of his property. People be so stupid sometimes.

Luther has a whole sob story about Bart using the fine print in a deal to only temporarily save the life of his sick son, so Luther ended up finding Bart's bones and hid them, and that's how he's stayed alive all these years? It's unclear why he didn't just burn them himself at this point... but okay. Bart shows up and kills Luther. He wants to finish the deal with the Winchesters, but they aren't into it now that they see they can kill Bart if they burn his bones. Bart uses Alice as a human shield of sorts, threatening to kill her if they kill him, so they agree to exchange the bones for her.

Of course, Dean has a trick up his sleeve, and has placed his lighter in the box of bones, and gives Alice a clue about it - so she ends up being the one who burns up his bones. Alas, the rest of the Jack-finding spell burns up with him, because that would be too easy. The brothers bid farewell to Alice, and go back to where they were at the beginning of the episode, pretty much. Ba dum bum.

Random Thoughts:

- Why do they act like Dean is the only one of them who has been to Hell, and thus the only one they can use the blood of for this spell thingy? Sam's technically been there too, he was just in the cage. Am I wrong?

- Hard to tell if they're trying to set up Alice to be a recurring character or not. Technically they never really said why she sold her soul or anything, and typically they would have had a character like that explain it if they were to never be seen again, so it seems likely she may be back. That said, they seem like they kind of want her to be a more emo standoffish version of Charlie, and no thanks, I would've preferred Charlie.

- Next week is the midseason finale, which means we're probably going to find out what's been going on with Jack the last couple episodes.

Quotes:

Bart: Natural destructors. We have that in common, you and I.
Dean: Oh yeah, we're twinsies.

Dean: What is this, a heist? Hold up, is this a heist?

Dean: Hey Winona, '90s called they'd like their shoes back.

Dean: Hey Alice, stay weird.

Dean: We just keep working, 'cause that's what we do.
Sam: Feels really good to hear you talk like that again.
Dean: I'll drink to that.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 13x07 "War of the Worlds"

Have they ever played an episode on an actual holiday before? I'll be honest, I thought we were going to get a break tonight, but apparently not. So, Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it; I''m grateful for all of you who actually read this here blog, and especially grateful to anyone who leaves comments.

Well, as you may recall, in the last episode, Jack decided to take off after feeling all guilty about hurting people and such. The Winchesters and Cas have been trying to find him, but there is a mysterious lack of a trail. Which doesn't seem to be their fault, as Asmodeus has also been trying to find him, and also can't seem to find any sort of trail. Where could young Jack be? If you think you're going to find out this episode, think again.

Rather, let's head back to apocalypse world, where Michael is torturing Lucifer for... well just because, but also because he wants to know how to get back to the other Earth, since it's not quite so apocalypse-y as this one. Turns out, he's already been working on it, as the Kevin on this world is still alive, and still a prophet, and apparently there's some spell in one of the tablet booklet things or whatever the heck they're called that opens the rift, so long as it has a little angel grace to soup it up. Michael takes some of Lucifer's grace to get the job done. And hey, it does work, but the only one who manages to get through if Lucifer himself. ... Okay!

Meanwhile, Cas heads off to chat with some other angels to see if they know where Jack is, so the Winchesters decide to check out a case since they can't do anything else. They think that witches are doing the killing, but soon find out that it's actually witches that are being killed, by someone who looks just like... Mr. Ketch! Oh good, because we were all hoping Ketch would come back! ... Wait. Who was hoping for that? Okay then. They manage to catch this Ketch, who claims to be the twin brother of the BMOL Ketch. The Winchesters aren't so keen to believe him, but there is a paper trail indicating that it could be true. Hmm....

Cas meets up with his angel contacts, but they don't know where Jack is, and apparently if they do find him they want to put him to work rather than kill him. I'll be honest, I was only half paying attention to this scene. Before the angels can do anything nefarious, Lucifer shows up and they scurry away when he flashes his red eyes at them. Lucky for him, they don't know that's about all he can do at the moment, with his other powers not working at the moment. He has a chat with Cas, saying he wants to team up and Jack and him as the alt-Michael is going to eventually make his way over to this world and they need to be able to defeat him.

Dean calls up Cas to check in (or is it the other way around? Who cares.), and figures something is up with the way Cas is being somewhat cagey. They track his phone down, leaving Ketch back at the bunker, but when they arrive at the place, all they find are demons. That's because earlier, Asmodeus and some lackeys showed up and took Lucifer and Castiel back to the hell bunker, since he apparently knows he's more powerful than Lucifer. Anyway, Sam and Dean fight some demons, ultimately getting help from Ketch, who escaped from the bunker after they left and stole a motorcycle to come help. After Dean calls him out on his fighting moves being too Arthur-y, he finally admits that he had the same spell on him that Rowena had, so he was brought back to life. He tries to play it off like he's a changed man, but they aren't buying it. Blah blah blah, he gets away.

Turns out, he's working for Asmodeus, or something. Oh good.

Random Thoughts:

- Recycling actors that are semi-known is not the best idea. Hi there, Erica Cerra, we've seen you here before in a completely different featured role, but okay Supernatural.

- Where was Mary in the alt world?

- I don't mind them bringing back Kevin in this way, because at least it's in another world and not just bringing back dead people all the time.

- But oh look, in the same episode, they bring back a dead a person! Sheesh. I'm sorry but I wasn't clamoring to have Ketch back on the show, especially after he's barely been gone at all. Was there some contingent that wanted him back or something?

- How many episodes will it be before we get one that just focuses on what Jack has been up to in the interim? Three? Guess we'll see soon enough. Probably the one before the mid-season break.

Quotes:

Alt-Kevin: Michael's taking me with him to paradise world, where I can meet hot women.

Castiel: You would seem to be the weak link on this team.
Lucifer: Ok that hurt; that was unnecessary.

Lucifer (to Cas): Smooth was never your strong suit.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 13x06 "Tombstone"

Well, Cas is back. Whether you wanted him to be or not, he's back. And things pick up pretty much where they left off last week, with him giving the lowdown of what happened to Sam and Dean, then shortly thereafter being reunited with Jack. Pseudo father figure #3 at your service, Jack-ie boy!

Jack has also found what he thinks is a case, some grave robberies or something that they all agree to check out even though it seems like it might not necessarily be 100% supernatural. Mostly because Dean hears that it's in Dodge City, which is some famous old west town or something. Once they get there, they do find out that there's been a murder, so hey that's something. While Dean and Cas talk to the local sergeant on the case, Jack and Sam head off to chat with the local undertaker and check out the graveyard, where they discover some gnawed on bones in said grave.

Thus, we have a ghoul on our hands, who basically eats dead things and can assume their shape. After some more detective work from Jack, they figure out that the ghoul in question has taken on the form of some outlaw old west cowboy, who also happens to be dating the undertaker from earlier. Said undertaker gets a letter that she's gotten into makeup school, so the ghoul decides to help pay for that schooling, he's going to rob the local bank.

The gang tracks him down at the bank, a shootout ensues, and Jack tries to step in and use his powers to stop him, only to accidentally also use his powers on the security guard from the bank, killing him. Jack is pretty torn up about this, so Sam and Cas take him back to the bunker. They try to tell him that they've all done bad things and that it will be okay, but he doesn't want to hear it.

Meanwhile, Dean goes off to take care of the ghoul, and with the help of the sergeant from earlier, does just that. Nothing to write home about here, let's be honest. When he gets back to the bunker, he also tries to reason with Jack, saying that even though he though Jack was purely evil, he's since grown to think that's not the case, but Jack is all emo and like I'll just bring pain, blah blah, and hits them with a blast of his power before teleporting out of there.

That's going to end well, I'm sure.

Random Thoughts:

- They made it seem like Dean has always been a huge cowboy fan, but to be honest I don't remember that really being a thing throughout the series, other than they traveled back in time to the old west that once.

- This was kind of a fluff episode, apart from the little bits with Jack. I noticed that he was listed in with the regulars rather than as a guest star, which would lead me to believe he'll be around for most of the season at least. You know eventually he's going to have to face Lucifer, which seems a ways off yet, so yeah.

- For some reason I thought Sam was going to have a flirtation with that undertaker, but I guess not.

- Dean's sudden turnaround in his feelings toward Jack seemed, well, just that, sudden. Is it just because Cas is back so he got his win? Whatevs.

Quotes:

Dean: Oh yes, stirrup hangers. Nice.

Sam: Still can't believe you brought your own hat.
Dean: Can't believe you didn't.

Cas: I told you, he's an angry sleeper. Like a bear.

Dean: I'm getting so tired of fighting things that look like other things.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Peanut Butter Pie

Decadent. Rich. Creamy. These are all words to accurately describe this pie, particularly when you combine them all together. This pie is everything you'd probably want in a peanut butter pie, complete with honey roasted peanuts in the crust and sprinkled on top. What more could you ask for?

Well, I suppose you could ask for better photos, and I wouldn't blame you. I took these before it had truly set up in the fridge, so it looks a little more goopy than it actually turns out to be once you've let it do it's thing and set up for more than two hours.

So, I apologize for the lack of better photos. But I must admit, when I see all of the professional-looking photos on some other blogs, I just think to myself my goodness, how long does that take to set up? Can you actually eat any of that once you're done photographing it? Do you just have all of these cute decorations lying around to add to the background, or did you go out and buy a bunch specifically for these photos? I guess I'm just not as dedicated a blogger as some people. Which is probably why I don't have a huge following either. But dang, guys, I have a full time job. I do this on the weekends when I have time, or at night after work, when it's not exactly the best picture-taking hour.

Yep. Some real talk.

Anyway! The point is, this pie is delicious, though you probably don't want to take a huge slice. It really is very rich and satisfies with just a little slice. It lasts for quite a few days, although the peanuts in the crust will not be as crunchy after that few days, so just bear that in mind. Otherwise, get to it and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Pie
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 8 pieces
Prep time: 15:00

Cook time: 12:00

Total time: 02:27

A rich and creamy peanut butter pie with an added crunch of honey-roasted peanuts in the crust and on top.

Ingredients:

• 9 whole graham crackers, broken into 1 inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup honey-roasted peanuts, chopped
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 3/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 9-inch pie plate. Process graham crackers and brown sugar in food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add melted butter and pulse until combined, about 8 pulses.
2. Transfer crumbs to prepared plate. Using bottom of dry measuring cup, press crumbs into bottom and up sides of plate. Bake until crust is fragrant and beginning to brown, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating plate halfway through baking. Let crust cool completely on wire rack, about 30 minutes. Spread 1/3 cup peanuts evenly over bottom of cooled crust.
3. Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, mix 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, cream cheese, and 
3 tablespoons cream on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy, about 1 minute. Transfer to large bowl; set aside.
4. In now-empty mixer bowl, whip 3/4 cup cream on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Gently fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture in 2 additions until no white streaks remain. Spoon filling into crust and spread into even layer.
5. In now-empty mixer bowl, whip vanilla, remaining cream, and remaining 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Spread whipped cream evenly over filling. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Sprinkle with remaining peanuts. Serve.

Recipe thanks to Cook's Country

Supernatural 13x05 "Advanced Thanatology"

What started out as a somewhat run of the mill ghost of the week episode turned into something a bit more serious when Dean decides to go a little cowboy, making rash decisions all willy nilly. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Well, but am I really? Because being honest, most of the meat of the episode happened in one scene. But fine, let's recap how the show got to that particular scene. Sam hears of a case and asks Dean if he'd like to go, just the two of them, leave Jack behind, a regular ole Winchester hunt. They head off and investigate. These kids, like fools, went into some haunted place, stole a creepy plague mask, and one of them got killed in the process, leaving the other all scarred and such, to the point where he basically won't talk to anyone.

The ghost in question is able to follow the kid to his home thanks to the hidden plague mask that he stole, and the kid disappears. We can all guess where he ended up. Yep, the brothers head back to the house and are able to quickly dispatch of the terrible ghost dude. I'm thinking like, well that was quick, there must be more to this story. And, yep. Even though the evil dude is dead, there are still odd things happening in the house - there are other ghosts! The ghosts of the people he killed.

Sam suggests they need to find the body, but Dean is all we don't have time for that and decides to just, you know, shoot his chest full of that heart-stopping stuff from seasons ago. Which I guess he just carries around now? Oooookay. And then he's off to the in between or whatever we call it on this show, chats up the dead kid from earlier, finds out where the bodies are for them to burn, and heads back to where Sam is ready to stab him with some wake up juice.

Only the wake up juice doesn't work! Dun dun dun. He's not alone, as the reaper who was ready to take his soul on to the other side realizes it's Dean and alerts the new Death. And just who is that? Billie! Because apparently whoever the next Reaper is that dies after Death then becomes Death. Just a way to have Billie back, I'm sure, but okay! This is the meat of the episode, really, because she has quite the heart-to-heart with Deanie boy.

She tells Dean that whether he goes back or not all depends on him. She wants to know about how the rift to the other dimension was opened. What does he get in return? Well, he asks that she let all of the trapped ghosts in that house move on, which she quickly agrees to. He fills her in on Jack's birth opening up the rift, yada yada. Then basically Dean says he's perfectly okay with it being his time to die after she points out that he could've bargained for his own life.

Yep, Dean is not feeling so connected to this mortal coil anymore after losing so many people. But Billie has learned with her new position that the Winchesters have more work to do, and it's not his time to die quite yet. She sends him on back to his brother, who is quick to ask him what the hell happened given that the injection didn't bring him back. He wants to avoid it, but Sam pushes him and gets him to tell him what happened, to an extent anyway. He's feeling not so great, needs a win, etc.

Well. You know what that means. He's going to get a win, in the form of the return of Castiel. As they are driving back, they get the fateful call from their faithful friend, back from the big empty. Bum bum bum bum!

Random Thoughts:

- How much bacon do you think Jensen had to eat in that scene near the beginning when Dean was hungover? My goodness he was just stuffing his mouth with that bacon!

- I liked Sam's last line that they wouldn't talk about what happened if they didn't talk about it right then. So true, ha.

- Dean was just about to ask Billie if she knew anything about his mom, but he was sent to the land of the living a tiny moment too soon. Would Billie even know? She doesn't know much about the parallel dimensions, so who knows. Probably she wouldn't have known either way, but it leaves Dean hanging regardless.

- Is it just me, or does Dean tend to get these more emotional stories? Is it just because Sam is better adjusted overall and doesn't brood in general as much?

Quotes:

Sam: PB and J for breakfast, strong work.
Dean: Yep.

Dean: Bullets, bacon, and booze. A lot of booze.

Dean: What's up with the creepy-ass mask?

Billie: It's funny to hear a Winchester talk about the finality of dying.

Dean: Doesn't matter. I don't matter.
Billie: Don't you?

Billie: You and your brother. You're important.
Dean: Why?
Billie: You have work to do.

Dean: We can talk about it later.
Sam: We won't talk about it later. You know that.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 13x04 "The Big Empty"

After last week's somewhat nonsensical-ness, at least this week's episode isn't killing off characters from years past with hardly a glance. Although they are bringing back characters that perhaps should just stay dead already, so... shrug.

Yeah, let's just get this out of the way now. Castiel is back on Earth. What a surprise! NOT. After fighting with some goofy being in the big empty, said being decides to grant Cas' wish to go back to Earth because he'll be too annoying otherwise? Okay!

Meanwhile, Dean hears about a new case and Sam wants to being Jack along, you know, get out of the house and all that. Dean is still being a big ole jerk about the situation, but reluctantly agrees to it. Before they head out, Jack confronts Sam about being just a tool for him, but when Sam explains that he wants to get back Mary from this hell dimension, Jack is like oh ok, you want to save her. That's okay then.

Dean continues to be a jerk to Jack as they start working the case. You know, making him get them food and digging the grave for them. The dirty work, as it were. Basically some people are ending up being killed by what appear to be dead people who were important to them. The Winchesters think it may be a ghost or a revenant, but are all flummoxed when it appears to be neither. It's pretty obvious what it must be if it's not those two things, but whatever guys, play dumb.

Both of the victims went to the same therapist, so Sam convinces Dean that they should pose as a trio of brothers dealing with the death of their mother, which of course leads to some actual therapy for Sam and Dean. Basically Dean says Sam is delusional by not admitting that Mary is dead, while Sam is pissed that Dean had more of a relationship with Mary, so if she's really dead, he'll never get that. He's so upset that he leaves the room and soon comes to find a pile of... shapeshifter goop! Why yes, what else could be posing as dead people but a shapeshifter? Although I thought they had to actually physically touch the people they were shifting into, but maybe I'm remembering that wrong.

Yeah, the therapist is a shifter, but she's not a bad shifter, she's just trying to help people move on by giving them closure with their dead close ones. It turns out, though, that she knows another shifter that may be doing the killing, a former boyfriend of hers. They split up to further investigate, which eventually leads Dean and Jack back to the therapist and Sam off to find the real shifter. Of course, the real shifter has made his way back to the therapist's house and taken Dean's form, but before that, Jack convinces the therapist to pose as his mother Kelly to give him some of that all important closure.

Yada yada, fighting ensues. The shifter seems like he's going to get a shot in at Sam, but Jack manages to finally power up and stop him after some encouragement from Dean. The evil shifter dies thanks to a silver bullet from Sam, and the therapist gets to live on while the brothers take Jack back to the bunker. Dean finally softens up a bit and tells Jack he did a good job, while also telling Sam he needs him to keep the faith about Mary being alive since he has no faith of his own.

So, four episodes down and we finally get to move on from that bit of melodrama, it seems.

Random Thoughts:

- Soon enough, Cas will be back in the mix, which will change the dynamic again. Will he still have this odd connection to Jack that he had while he was in the womb? Does Cas really have a story here or is this just fan service to bring him back?

- I think the show could take a little hint from The Flash and start to get some levity back into the proceedings. My goodness, so much manly angst.

- Wondering if there is going to be a typical big bad of this season. Will it be Lucifer yet again somehow getting back in the picture? I honestly don't want Jack to "go bad" as that would be too cliche, and I do kinda like him.

Quotes:

Dean: What, adventures in babysitting the antichrist?

Dean: That's right. What gets burned, stays dead.

Sam: Dean, he's not our intern. I asked you to keep an eye on him.
Dean: I can see him.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode