Keep Calm and Carry On – Here’s What We Think About the Supernatural Season 12 Premiere!
Yesterday Supernatural fans rejoiced as the show aired its eagerly awaited 12th season. In fact, there was so much hype that we joined in by posting Supernatural articles throughout the day, including a refresher on Mary Winchester in honor of her return, ideas on how to prep for the premiere, and a list of fan favorite episodes from season 11. Fans were even treated to Con*Quest Journals launching new official Supernatural merchandise – we are in love with the new journal!
In Supernatural‘s season 11 finale, we were left with a ton of questions as we watched Dean’s initial reaction to the resurrection of his previously deceased mother, Mary Winchester (played by the amazing Samantha Smith). It really pulled at our curiosity as to how it would play out. That was not the only surprise featured in the finale as we were also briefly introduced to the British Men of Letters – weren’t the Men of Letters supposedly pretty much wiped out? Unfortunately, our curiosity turned to anguish as we watched Toni (Elizabeth Blackmore) shoot Sam (Jared Padalecki).
Now that the wait is over, we would like to share our own thoughts on the first episode of season 12.
WARNING: the following review contains spoilers from Supernatural Season 12, Episode 1.
Keep Calm and Carry On is the type of episode that you have to watch twice in order to wrap your mind around it – once to get the feel of it, and a second time to really think about what is going on. While some people were on the fence on the return of Mary Winchester, I think we could all agree that the writers have done a pretty good job so far with her resurrection. Not to mention that Samantha Smith really nailed her role as she played a very confused and distraught Mary.
I expected her reunion with Dean (Jensen Ackles) to start out much differently, but that was because I assumed that she would have at least remembered sacrificing herself (as a ghost) in order to save Sam and Dean from a poltergeist back in season 1. Because she had no memory of any of the times she had met Sam and Dean as adults, her initial reaction to Dean was perfect. Once realization hit that she had died over thirty years ago, Mary and Dean shared a tearful and heartfelt reunion that evoked a lot of emotion to viewers.
Meanwhile, we see that Sam is still alive, though wounded after being shot in the leg by Toni, and has been kidnapped by the British Men of Letters. Again, we seriously thought that the Men of Letters were pretty much wiped out so seeing a British division pop out of nowhere was a huge and confusing surprise. It also raised a ton of questions, like why did they not help out when the world was ending? We kind of get an answer, but it was far from satisfactory.
What is really irking about these British Men of Letters is not just their excuses for not helping to save the world whenever humanity was in serious danger, but how they go about “questioning” Sam. Based on what we know from the American division, the Men of Letters maintain a code and consider themselves to be less barbaric than Hunters. While the British division proves to be quite organized and has managed to keep monsters out of Britain, their tactics with questioning Sam and the way they are torturing him makes me question if they really still try to maintain that code.
We also learn that Castiel (Misha Collins) is alive (though weak) and get to watch as he goes from surprised to relieved after seeing a very much alive Dean as he gives his friend a tight embrace. Something we really enjoyed seeing was how Castiel and Mary were able to bond by their experiences with having to adjust to a very different world from what they once knew.
While mother, son, and Angel are tracking down Sam (who is being tortured), Crowley (Mark Sheppard) is seen attempting to track down a very weak Lucifer. Unfortunately for him, Crowley is in a right place, wrong time situation as he keeps missing Lucifer (who is trying to find a new vessel).
This was a pretty good episode and the acting was phenomenal. We are really looking forward to seeing how Mary copes with living in a changed world and how she will handle being pushed back into hunting as she searches for her son – who hopefully will get out of his current predicament before it gets worse. We are also curious to see how Crowley will confront Lucifer as they fight for the title of “King of Hell.”
What did you guys think about last night’s episode of Supernatural?