Directed by Supernatural alumni Richard Speight, Jr., this week’s episode of The Winchesters marks the season finale, and there is a lot to unpack. On the hunt for the Akrida, Mary and John find puzzle pieces leading them back to their fathers. Carlos helps Mary find the location of Akrida while Latika works on figuring out how to get the monster box to work again. In doing so, they have to enlist help from the most unlikely person, Millie.
Off Air
This week’s episode opens up with chirping birds, blue skies, and picture-perfect trees. However, things aren’t as they seem. The voice of Dean narrates as we see a man’s leg creeping along the tall grass. Panning up, we learn it’s John on his walkie-talkie communicating with Mary. The camera quickly jumps to the radio tower as Mary creeps alongside the building. The building is dark and suspiciously quiet, and when John catches up with Mary, the two hunters break in only to find it destroyed and abandoned. Someone had already been there. Looking around for clues, Mary stumbles across a blood-covered bag left behind with the initials S.C. Mary quickly reveals the bag belongs to her father, Samuel Campbell, and the clock starts ticking.
Long Live the Queen
At the clubhouse, Carlos and Latika work on figuring out how to recharge the Ostium. Running out of ideas, Ada shows up with a box filled with Men of Letters documents and papers she discovered while trying to help her son Tony control his Jin side. Each document lists abandoned offices they believe are connected to the Akrida. Still, at the radio tower, Mary and John discover an abandoned vehicle with someone or something trapped in the trunk. Investigating the thumping from the car, they find a badly beaten member of the Akrida, disguised as a human male. The two learn that Samuel beat him before getting dragged off. While the location of Mary’s father is still unknown, a message was left behind for Mary and John. The work at the radio tower was over. They have all the monster essence they need, which they learn is for the Queen. The monster refuses to give up any more information despite being punched in the face multiple times, and right before leaving, its human host shouts, “Long live the queen!”
The scene jumps to an unfamiliar location. A door opens as Roxy, the Akrida leader, walks into a room that appears to be a lab. She begins talking to a member of the Akrida masked as a scientist working on a powerful potion. Growing impatient, Roxy threatens him and mentions that a dig has begun.
The Ransom
With no time to waste and Samuel’s life at stake, Mary and John return to the clubhouse to find more information on the Akrida and anything to help them figure out the mystery of the monster box. Latika discovers that it’s called Ostium. However, the Men of Letters had terrible handwriting and figuring out what the files say is no easy task. Except for John. The notes on the Ostium are in shorthand, and the writing belonged to his dad. John learns that his father was an initiate, and his job was taking notes in meetings. But to figure out the notes quicker, they need to call in extra help.
Meanwhile, Mary finds hotel keys to where her father was staying. She and Carlos head to find clues that could help them find him. Before heading on the road, Carlos sits down with Mary to have a much-needed heart-to-heart to help ease her guilt. Carlos dreamt of being a rockstar, but Ghouls killed his parents. He blamed himself for their death because they were working in Phoenix for extra money to help buy him a new guitar.
“It’s not your fault.”
Mary begins to understand that Akrida taking her dad wasn’t her fault. The guilt may never leave, but revenge is a great coping mechanism.
Meanwhile, John returns to the clubhouse with their secret weapon, Millie. Taking one look at the notes, she immediately recognizes Henry’s writing. John breaks the news that they need to save humanity, leaving Millie noticeably shock.
After leaving Samuel’s motel room, Carlos and Mary get stopped by a police officer, but the encounter is more sinister than just a speeding violation. Roxy finally shows herself to Mary and Carlos but only wants to talk to Mary. The Akrida leader reveals that Samuel is still alive and that she wants the Ostium. Roxy wants an exchange, Samuel for the Ostium. Roxy tells Mary what she needs to do to get instructions. If she strays from the plan, then they will kill Samuel. After Roxy leaves, Carlos explains that he left a hex bag in the police cruiser so they can track their next move.
Plant Marks The Spot
Mary enlists Ada’s help to perform a spell to track the hex bag before the drop while they figure out how to get the Ostium to work. Millie finds her way into Ada’s plant room as she works on creating a potion to track the hex bag. Ada tells Millie how Henry would talk about her and John all the time and that he worried about what the Men of Letters were doing to their marriage, giving Millie peace of mind. During the conversation, Millie expresses her worry about John heading down Henry’s path but having spent so much time with John. Ada explains that he is different from his father and needs to let go of his anger and talks about Tony and how he is working through his anger. Millie then asks Ada how the location spell works. Ada opens the map and says one single word, “Excreso.” The table begins to rumble as a plant sprouts in the spot where the hex bag should be.
Latika learns from Millie’s deciphers that the Ostium doesn’t kill monsters, only transports them. Latika continues to explain that the Akrida is an invading species acting like a colony of ants sharing a connection to the Queen. If you kill the Queen, you kill the entire colony. Millie calls everyone to look at the map, and they learn that Akrida’s location is where Mary was attacked and stung.
As Time Goes By
While decoding Henry’s handwriting, Millie comes across instructions for a spirit session. They realize that they don’t have to keep digging through the notes. If they do a séance, they can pull Henry from the spirit world just long enough to ask him how to fix the Ostium. For the séance to work, they need an object with a strong, emotional connection. John has just the thing, a music box given to him by his father. At an undisclosed location, the colony is still digging for Roxy when one of the workers begins knocking down a brick wall, revealing a sealed vault door.
Back at the clubhouse, they begin the séance, and Latika explains that the connection will only work with open and honest emotions. But it doesn’t work. The candles blow out, but the spirit of Henry doesn’t show up. John becomes angry because, as usual, he didn’t show up and storms off. Mary goes after him. John talks openly about his anger with his father and how he felt it was his fault that he left. His parents always had fights about him. John believes that if he had been better, Henry would have stayed. Suddenly, with no warning, Henry (Gil McKinney) appears behind Mary. Smiling, Henry asks who John’s friend is when he introduces her. Henry then asks for Millie, and Mary quickly leaves to get her. There isn’t much time for them to catch up, and John goes into asking Henry for help with Akrida and the Ostium. Henry explains that it’s not broken only needs to recharge. The Jasmine vine at the garage is the secret hiding spot for the Ostium energy source. Asking about Millie, Henry’s eyes swell from tears. Henry urges John to be careful and to protect himself and his mom. Henry then says the one thing John has wanted to hear his whole life “I’m proud of you.” When Henry is about to disappear, Millie shows up for a long overdue and emotional family reunion, sharing an “I love you” for the last time.
The Rescue
The Energy source for the Ostium turns out to be a rock, but no ordinary rock. They believe it to be from another world. The box itself acts like a portal, according to Henry. When Ada places the energy rock on the Ostium, its magic restores itself.
The group goes to the Akrida’s location and splits up to cover more ground. Upon entering the building, John and Mary run into a handful of angry Akrida. Giving John a quick hunter lesson, she reminds John that the Akrida are using the bodies of innocent people and that demon possession rules apply while fighting. However, John being his clever self kicks things off by using a trash can lid as his weapon of choice. Mary jumps in, showing John how a hunter fights.
The battle continues as Carlos and Latika stumble across the lap in their search for Samuel. Latika notices the red glowing vial of monster essence, but as quickly as they spot it, one of the Queens workers comes in and takes all of it. John and Mary run into Roxy and her creepy crawler Akrida watchdogs. When Mary pulls out the Ostium, they are in for a big surprise. Roxy gets sucked right in, but the creepy crawlers stay behind. Roxy was not the Queen after all, just a decoy. Now, they find themselves surrounded by Akrida, and they do the only thing they can, run into an empty room and lock the door. Things are looking bleak at this point, both of them believing it to be their last night on earth, but that doesn’t stop John as he lays it all on the line. They look over at each other one last time and finally share a deep and passionate kiss. Suddenly, the door is pushed open by the Akrida, ready to attack, but they end up getting sucked into the Ostium. But who activated it? The last Akrida gets sucked in, the box drops to the ground, and stepping from the shadows is Samuel Campbell (Tom Welling), making his grand entrance.
To tie it all up, the worker who took the essence from the lab arrives at the dig sight with the vault now open. They slowly take a few steps in before falling to their knees in astonishment, leaving the audience guessing the Queen’s identity.
Winchester Stupid Count: 1
If you have been following The Winchesters podcast, On The Road Again, you’ll know of our newest segment. All season, we’ll be keeping track of moments our lovably hardheaded Winchesters have thrown themselves into danger or generally made some questionable decisions, knowing them the count will be high by the end of the season. Without ado, this week’s incidents include:
- John goes up against a group of angry Akrida and decides a trash can lid is a good weapon, throws the lead at them, and ends up in a head-to-head fight.
The Winchesters will return for its midseason premiere on Tuesday, January 24, at 9 p.m. ET, a change from its current time slot. You can find our other coverage of the show here, and be sure to check out On The Road Again, Nerds & Beyond’s podcast covering all things The Winchesters!
