Sofia’s Review: Supernatural 9.17 – “Mother’s Little Helper”

What an episode! Talk about some serious plot movement. This is my favorite part of the season because it’s the time when everything gets turned on its head. I love watching plot threads come together into a perfect storm of awesome which is exactly how I would describe this episode. Awesome.

This episode managed to hit on all my favorite elements of this season so far. The first of which is the knight of Hell herself. It’s been a long time since we’ve actually seen Abaddon, but the writers are certainly keeping her fresh in our minds. It was really interesting to learn more about Abaddon’s backstory and how she came to possess Josie. Really, I’ll take anything that gives me more information on the Men of Letters. I’m really not ready to be done with the Men of Letters storyline yet. But perhaps the most interesting thing about Abaddon’s backstory is the insight it gives into her current plans.   

So she is attempting to harvest souls and twist them into demons that are only loyal to her. I mean, it’s not a bad plan. At this point there is no way of knowing how many demons are actually on her side. And of the ones that are, how many of them would abandon ship as soon as Crowley resurfaces? Let’s face it, her odds aren’t looking great. But I do have to agree with Sam that this seems like a pretty lofty goal. Even if there are other demons helping harvest souls, how long would it take to build an army equal to the countless souls already residing in Hell? How about forever?

Regardless of how long it would actually take Abaddon to build an army, her actions are still a threat. Look what just one of her followers managed to do to a small town. That was a whole lot of crazy. Can you imagine soulless people roaming the streets all over the country? Soulless Sam was bad enough on his own and he was sensible compared to some of these people. At least he had some self control. These people were definitely out of control. So much so that I was kind of surprised how easily Sam made the correlation between their behavior and being soulless. It felt like a bit of a stretch to me. In fact, I don’t think that he even needed to be the one to suggest it in the first place. We would have gotten around to it once Julia’s character made her appearance. I think I might have even liked it better not knowing we were dealing with souls until later in the episode. It would have felt like more of a big reveal. What do you think?

This episode also gave us some interesting movement on the Mark of Cain. Last week’s awesome episode hinted at what the First Blade would do to Dean, but this week we got to go inside his head a bit more. It’s looking pretty grim in there. We knew that the more contact Dean had with the blade, the more he would come to welcome the feelings it gave him. But I didn’t fully realize just how much Dean would crave a fix. It’s really troubling to see him drinking again. He’s in denial about what seems inevitable and I wish he would talk to his brother. Even though Sam made it clear where their relationship stood earlier this season, in recent weeks it has seemed that he’s coming around a bit. And it’s obvious that he’s really worried about Dean. He even tried to get Dean to open up a bit about what he’s been feeling but no dice. Dean’s not ready to talk about it yet. He’s got at least another week or two of bottling up his emotions. But if Sam is ready and willing, I think it would do a lot of good for him to have a talk with Dean about their relationship. I know that he will be there for Dean through this whole ordeal but I don’t think Dean knows that. It might be good for him to hear it right now. Again, that’s if Sam is ready and willing to have that conversation. It’s his right to make that decision for himself. But personally, I think he’s ready.

Because Dean is unwilling to confide in Sam at this point, his only confidant is Crowley. That’s really not a good thing. Not only is Crowley as hell-bent on killing Abaddon as Dean is, but he also understands what Dean is going through with his growing addiction. And Crowley is more than ready to use this knowledge to his advantage. He has already tested Dean’s loyalty by planting a fake hunter and he’s confirmed the lengths that Dean is willing to go to kill Abaddon. Or get his hands on the blade. I’m not totally sure which is the bigger motivator at this point. Either way, all Crowley wants is for Abaddon to die.

Like I said, good episode! It really hit on all my favorite storylines this season and it set us up for what I think will be a very interesting final stretch. It would be remiss of me not to take a moment to give props to Misha on his directorial debut. I thought he did a great job with an episode as chock full of story as this one was. I look forward to him directing again in the future.

It looks like the next episode will be focusing heavily on Metatron and Gadreel. This is the storyline I’ve been the least interested in this season. To be fair, that could be because we really haven’t had any movement on it for a long time. I’m hoping the next episode cranks it up a gear because I do think there’s a lot of good potential there.

So what did you guys think of the episode? Are you worried about Abaddon’s plan for the souls? What do you think about Dean’s addiction to the First Blade? Do you have any predictions for the last part of the season?  

As usual, I have some stray comments and quotes to include:

“Meatloaf. Really? Again?” Anyone who has ever cooked for an ungrateful person can relate to Mrs. Young. Am I right?

Crowley: “You’re lying to Sam like he’s your wife. Which kind of makes me your mistress.”

I really liked Julia Wilkinson’s character. It’s not often that we get to see flashbacks through someone else’s eyes like that.

Dean Winchester can make anything look hot. Even racking up pool balls.

Crowley: “Unless Abaddon likes ten cent wings, stale beer and the clap, I doubt she’s here.”

Dean: “Go to Hell.”

Crowley: “Oh, if only.”

Crowley: “Just between us girls, how did you feel when you sunk the first blade into Magnus’ head?”

Dean: “Not half as good as I’m gonna feel when it’s yours.”

Crowley: “Love it when you talk dirty.”

It was interesting to hear Henry doubting becoming a Man of Letters. And it’s sad to think that the case that convinced him to take the plunge was all a lie.

Poor Josie, offering up her life to save Henry Winchester. I was starting to wonder if she was in love with him. It was interesting to have that confirmed.

Abaddon: “Abaddon takes what she wants. And right now, she wants everything.”

Crowley: “Why are you fighting what you really are?”

Dean: “I’m a hunter.”

Crowley: “Who’s a chip off the old block of Cain.”

Dean: “When I kill, I kill for a reason. I’m nothing like Cain.”

Crowley: “I’m going to go water the lilly, care to cross streams?”

Crowley: “What about you? It takes a junkie to know a junkie.”

Crowley: “Of course he saved me. We’re besties. And now he’s ready.”

Sam finally put that exorcism recording to good use. Talk about a time saver.

Sam: “Can I ask you something?”

Julia: “If it’s for a date, sorry. I never date anyone under 65. Too much drama.”

Sam: “After witnessing what you did, why didn’t you warn Henry about Abaddon?”

Julia: “I became a nun because I wanted to help people; make a difference. But they never prepare you. They never tell you how to act in the face of true evil.”

This broke my heart. That must have been such a burden to carry and she doesn’t even know what Abaddon is capable of.