Supernatural Season 12, Episode 3
“The Foundry”
Posted by Dawn and Jaymee
Special guest comments by Rebecca Kovar
Welcome to the roller coaster. Episode 3 brought us up and down so many times that we probably should have taken some dramamine before watching. We have a new format this week as well, so expect less of a scene-by-scene and more of a reaction to the three plots: The Family Winchester, The Laurangel and Hardemon Show, and Rowena is Our Queen (long may she reign). And also, we’ve had a bit of a standoff this ep, so Dawn will be repping the side of I loved it, while Jay will be repping are you effing kidding me. And introducing Rebecca Kovar, our guest “referee” for this recap. So let’s get going. There will be ranting, and there will be spoilers almost instantly, so if you’ve not yet seen the ep, do head on over to cwtv.com and watch before you read.
Jay: As my heart is made of a solid block of ice, it’s fitting for me to go first. I was heavily disappointed in this episode and in particular the turn of events that left my counterpart Dawn achingly sad. After so much hope for our boys finally having some sort of semblance of a responsible parent, we are again cut up and left in bloody ribbons by Mary Winchester. I get it, you know, I get that she doesn’t know the John our boys do, that she cannot even FATHOM what he put them through, emotionally, mentally, physically, all the abuse they suffered; I get that she doesn’t understand the depths they need her to be the parent they never had, I get that! But honestly, I’m pissed. Not an explosive font of Mount Vesuvius pissed, but a cold, creeping, dread sort of pissed. I didn’t cry; I didn’t even blink (ok, I may have internally sighed). I was left aching and hollow and so very, very cold. I guess it all boils down to the fact that I truly believe that any parent, given the chance Mary has been given, would jump at the opportunity to get to know and love their children again, no matter what age they are. She hasn’t even tried. Spending her time reading Johns journal and one measly hunt, come on Mary! So to me this hunt was absolutely fitting for how the episode left me, ice frosted up the sides of my still beating heart, punching chilled blue blood through my veins leaving me disinterested and silent. Much like Dean when another Winchester turned their backs on him.
Dawn: Overall, I loved the ep. But I need to make it clear that I am very, very not ok with how it ended. If I stretch, and far, I can kinda understand Mary’s confusion and distress. As Stephen King once said and as SPN has suggested on more than one occasion, “Sometimes dead is better,” but I am not buying that as the case here. And let’s add a touch of logic as well. Yes, Mary, this is a terribly confusing world you’ve found yourself in; hell, the technological advances alone would leave any past time traveler’s head spinning. And I also get that you miss your husband (probably because you have no idea what a son of a bitch he turned into after you died, but I expect we will get to that at some point) and that while these are your kids, they are not your kids. You left children. You found men. That’s a kick to the chest, no doubt. But how in the hell could it be easier for you to learn, to assimilate, to at least start on the road to okay BY YOURSELF? You barely know how phones work and you don’t have one of your own. You have almost no knowledge base. So I am ready to take bets now on how long it takes for Rowena, Crowley, more Men of Letters, or the Morning Star himself to find Mary and snatch her up as bait. And we all know our boys will take that bait.
Reba: After an incredible start to the season, I was disappointed this episode was not as tight and smooth as the previous two. I did like the parallels between mothers going with their instincts and revealing their power while purposely flouting the wishes of the men. Agency, mad skills, and a bit of a mean streak were nice things to see in female characters. And then. And then they took both of those amazingly strong women off the chessboard. Sure, I can understand the reasons in both cases. I get that they are in situations that they didn’t choose which are uncomfortable on a lot of levels and involve dealing with parts of their lives they thought/hoped were over for good. As individuals, I am behind these women wanting to nope the hell out to do whatever it is they think they need to restore balance and calm and get to where they want to be. HOWEVER, because they insisted on these scenes being back to back, instead of making a strong point, it stole the power of the moments when they chose themselves over everyone else and/or the fate of the world. (More on what Mary’s decision says about her later.)
In general for this episode, the “hunt” was typical of something from mid-Season 2, where we were still — as a show, as a fandom, as actors, and writers — finding our sea legs. Remember, the show was originally envisioned as two brothers experiencing The X-Files-ish monster of the week adventures, with the family plot very secondary, and Season 2 was where things began to change. So this opening with its trope camera angles and shaky close-ups just felt typical, which isn’t something we ever expect from SPN, and very two-four-eight giant steps back from episode 2 and its all-consuming, emotion-infused scenes. SPN is always good at cutting from one storyline to another in an abrupt and unexpectedly dramatic fashion, and ep 2 did it in a way that all of our emotions revolted, rioted, and quivered throughout. Ep 3 didn’t quite manage as well.
Jay: Needless to say I had high expectations for episode three and I was left feeling
wanting, empty, and unsatisfied. The only saving graces for me were the beautiful moments of Crowley/Cas, Rowena’s sass, and Dean/Sam/Cas zen.
Dawn: I found some of the plot cuts to be a bit jolting, and not in a good way. Again, I still loved the ep overall, but the normal SPN cuts of drama, humor, drama, humor, DRAMA were really uneven in places, and it was hard to make those jumps as a viewer. But when they worked, goddamn, they worked.
Reba: The repeated focusing on the doll was not effective. We’ve seen scarier dolls—rooms full of them—and it didn’t feel like a real threat or even like it was connected to the actual mystery. The monster of the week plot was not really fleshed out. There was no explanation of how the ultimate monster did what he did, and no, “his grief was that powerful” is not an answer, when there is an entire mythology that covers this in Voodoo. Heck, similar mythology was covered in “Of Grave Importance” (S7 Ep19), so they had canon to fall back on.
The Family Winchester: Dean, Sam and Momma Mary
Swinging light; mildly creepy, broken, busted doll; and crying baby sounds aside, we were super excited to see Mary on a real hunt. We were not surprised however that she was attempting to bury all her emotions inside of activity. Gee, where have we seen that before?
It’s completely hilarious that it’s Sam who needs to point out to Dean what their mother is doing, because how many seasons have we watched Sam sit in the front seat of the Impala and convince Dean he was doing the exact same thing? And though it’s very courteous of Sam that he is attempting to include himself in the family dysfunction of “hunting ‘til I drop,” what Sam really meant to say, which was painfully obvious to all us fans was probably more like “I spent 11 seasons watching you do the exact same thing and trying to convince you that hunting yourself to oblivion wasn’t going to help you, Dean, deal with your emotions and feelings. And now I don’t want to watch our mother go through the same thing.”
Alas, he did not say that. But one great thing about the hunt is that it solidified Mary as the BAMF we knew she was, and it’s clear that the boys get their hunter instincts from her. Maybe John can have some credit for the weapons skills, since he was a military man and pretty much raised them to be the perfect hunters, we don’t really like giving him credit for anything because he was an abusive, neglectful, self-absorbed son of a bitch. But let’s hold off on that (for now) and get back to the point of why Mary is seeking out a hunt, aside from the obvious family trait of ignoring emotions.
Dean has confessed to Mary that this is their life; hunting is what they do. And Mary, for all of her confusion and discomfort our modern age, is trying to connect with her boys by doing what they do best, even though it was the very last thing she wanted for them. She is trying to see if she can be part of the family business, the one she turned her back on long before her death. It’s what John wanted for the boys, right? And Mary loves John and misses him, so in her head and heart, she trusts that he did what was right for their family after she was gone. Mary is seeing if this is something she can do, be with her boys, hunting, living their life with them. Picking up where she left off, except it’s 33 years later. Dean doesn’t hesitate in enveloping his mother into their fold, excited by the prospect of them all hunting together as a family, which is all he has ever wanted. It’s not what a normal family would be doing, but no one ever said our Winchesters were anything but dysfunctional. For Dean, this is like Mom taking them to Disneyland.
But it doesn’t work. For Mary, the hunting trip only solidifies that she is obsolete, that her methods and her approach to hunting are no longer valid, needed, or important. It’s clear she sees herself as slowing her boys down, and—worse for a mother, we suspect—she can’t help seeing them as her boys, “My baby Sam. And my little boy Dean.”
Dawn: I was clutching my dog and crying, at this point. I may have even promised my dog that it was okay that he wasn’t a puppy anymore because I still loved him.
Jay: I was not. I may have lost an eye from how hard I was rolling them at her.
Reba: I was sitting, mouth agape, as I watched Mary gut her own children. I get her being freaked out about her situation. She is, in essence, spending time with two grown men she doesn’t know at all. That has to be super weird. I was willing to allow her an adjustment period, as the boys also needed to deal with what is certainly a bizarre turn of events. But then she says, in essence, “I have to go because this is too hard.”
And worse than Mary’s pain was Dean’s. Dean and his resounding silence, Dean who never shuts up even when he really should. He is just silent. Shocked. Everything he ever wanted, everything he finally got, is walking out the door. The level of hurt is bone deep; it’s in the marrow. And when Dean took a step back, away from his mother, oh my Chuck. Two episodes of the joy of that reunion and now… All episode long, we saw how Mary and Dean are so alike, from their taste in music to their feelings on bacon. Dean was the happiest we’d seen him in a long time, possibly ever, so the fall from that height, from that kind of build up, yes it fucking hurt, and not just Dean but all of us. (Massive props to both writer Robert Berens and Jensen Ackles for that.)
And Sam? Sam, who never knew a mother? Sam, who has been looking for someone to take care of him and has made terrible choices in women as a direct result of that? Sam, who finally had a chance at the most impossible thing? His full-body flinch as the door closed behind Mary was a punch in the sternum. Jared Padalecki, add that to your Emmy reel.
Oh, and Mary cut her hair and Twitter went insane and yes, fine, it looks fucking fantastic on her even though nothing screams I’m lost, confused and having a second life crisis like a feisty new haircut.
And it gave us a nice Dean and Mom moment when Mary explains that long hair is potentially unwise for a hunter and Dean responds, “I’ve been trying to tell Sam that for years.”
Jay: It’s infuriating how obvious it is that Mary really isn’t trying to get to know Sam and Dean, how she is avoiding them, false smiles and distractions. Yes, things are different but if you really want to be here with them, then do it; you rebelled against your entire family for Chuck’s sake. You gave up on hunting to have a family. Well now that family needs you. You’re supposed to be strong. I’m only seeing fear, and weakness from you now. I mean for goodness sake, Castiel isn’t even human or related OR THEIR MOTHER and he’s never given up on our boys. He’s learned and adapted and taken each of his shortcomings with a head tilt and and urge to understand. Get it together Mary!
Dawn: Her leaving was really hard to take, even more so for me because she had to intone “I miss John” and John presses all my rage buttons. I KNOW she has no idea how bad of a father he was, and I kinda fear for her when she finds out, but yeah, I am fully on the “These are YOUR KIDS, FFS” train.
Reba: Okay, but she’s been reading John’s journal. It’s obvious the kids were with him sometimes, but not always. How does that not open up a world of questions for a mother? She has to already know that John didn’t give them a stable life.
Having the hunt involve child ghosts was fitting, and Mary’s ghost possession worked as well. It’s clear after the hunt is over and Mary is freed from that possession (by a crazy father who collects children’s souls, imagine that) that she has had some kind of revelation. It’s important to remember, as she states flat out, that before coming back, she had her perfect family: “Just feels like yesterday, we were together in heaven, and now… I’m here, and John is gone, and they’re gone. And every moment I spend with you reminds me every moment I lost with them.”
Dawn: Cold, Mary. That was cold. Even I felt slapped in the face. As if these boys haven’t had enough experience with feeling unworthy and undeserving, now their mother, their whole reason for this life in the first Chuckdamned place, just essentially told them that they are not enough. I’m glad you miss John so much, Mary, because that shit was worthy of his kind of parenting.
Jay: Couldn’t agree more. You’re speaking the words of my soul! And not for nothing, can someone explain to me how is Mary’s pretend family in heaven — the one all in her head, concocted by Heavens Might to give her a perfect little slice of pie — more important, or more wonderful, than her real family? Her actual real, living, breathing, [not some concoction of heaven], loving you, Mary, until they ache, family. You’re being given a chance no one else has ever had before and this is how you’re going to waste it! Pathetic. I need a motherfucking moment of GOD DAMN ZEN, because Mary is quickly approaching John in the “A+ parenting” section of my book.
Reba: Also, she took John’s journal with her! The last and most powerful and most useful goddamned thing they ever got from their dad, one that also contained pictures of Bobby, and there wasn’t even a single raised eyebrow. Heck, she could have asked and Sam could have said that he made a copy ages ago (or that you can buy it on Amazon…but I digress) so it was cool for her to take it. SOMETHING to acknowledge how very important that journal is to the canon of this show, the characters, the fans.
Mary’s statements create a mythos problem as well, though. How can her heaven have been that way, when we know that even Jimmy Novak had to wait for Amelia to pass before they could be reunited in heaven? So how could Mary have had her husband and her boys? It doesn’t make any sense. (Big glaring plot hole — we’re looking at you, Berens.) And because she can’t have them as she remembered them, she won’t take them as they are now, as adults who want her, need her, and who are STILL her children? Instead, she runs. Big freaking Winchester-sized surprise there. #NOT
source: brothersinsync
Dawn: I cannot handle Dean’s expression or his nod. HE NODS. Because he is Dean, the one who understands everyone, the one who chokes down his emotions, still the good little soldier who does what is expected. His ultimate happiness is leaving, and he nods. As a long time Dean girl, I have never wanted to wrap my arms around him and just stroke his hair more than I do right now.
Jay: THIS, CHUCK DAMN IT, Dawn! ::incoherent wailing::
The Laurangel and Hardemon Show
The boys are back in town!
Jay: This segment of the show really saved the episode for me and if I could do this portion of the review entirely in GIFS of how freaking adorable these two men are together I would, but I can’t, so I’ll use my words….
Dawn: I need this to be a spin-off, or a series of movies, or at least one WHOLE episode with just these two, making their way across America. I need it like breathing, and I want to bake both Misha and Mark a cake because I love them so.
Reba: I love the characters and the actors and this was a fun segment, but it felt like it was wedged in, and I thought it deserved more than that. Once Rowena has her ultimate BAMF moment, it makes sense, and I suspect I’ll like it more on rewatch.
Cas and Crowley are hunting Lucifer, independently at first, until Crowley decided they need to go on a reunion tour and work together to bring their archangel/lord of hell/aging rocker/Rowena kidnapper down. Of course Cas is reluctant to fall into any deal with Crowley after how badly the last one worked out. So though Crowley puts on his best suit and orders the fruitiest drink from the bar and attempts to woo our Fallen Angel into a partnership, Cas turns him down flat. And we all applaud his strength because let’s face it, that shit would have worked like a charm on all of us. Two sips into the drink, we’d have been all, “Why yes, I’d love to join you on this impossible and probably deadly mission. Now tell me more about my eyes.” ::eyelash flutter::
Crowley, King of Hell, Maker of Deals, King of the Crossroads, holder of our fealty forever, simply does not know how to take no for an answer. He hounds Castiel, pushing all his buttons until Cas is so clearly done with Crowley.
Cas: I should’ve known there was something you weren’t telling me. Rowena?
Crowley: So mother and I had an unfortunate, if not rather embarrassing, run-in with Lucifer. You’re just mad because you’re only my second choice for a Lucifer-hunt team-up.
Cas: No, actually, I think it’s sweet. I thought your motivation was ambition and revenge, but now I know you just wanna save your mother.
Jay: I do hope we get more sparks of Casifer through Misha’s portrayal of Castiel now. I feel that having the other angel in his vessel would have left an impact. I hope that we get to see that impact much like we did during this confrontation between Cas and Crowley, breaking free of the normal stoic microexpressions of Castiel, and into the full blown antagonistic sarcasm of Lucifer or Casifer. ::makes heart eyes at Casifer in season 11::
Dawn: ROAD MOVIE. I NEED A ROAD MOVIE.
Our boys team up as Agent Beyonce and Agent Z and we cannot even, and nor could anyone else because #AgentBeyonce was actually trending on Twitter the night this episode aired because it was a stroke of effing genius and we love Robert Berens forever for it. Off they go on their hunt, making threats at each other and being absolutely adorable the entire time.
Cas: I’m Agent Beyoncé, and this is my, um… my partner, Agent Zee. Um, we wanted to ask you a few questions about your bro…[ Door slams ] …ther.
Cas: Do you think that happens to Sam and Dean?
Crowley: Oh, all the time.
If there is ever a spin-off, it needs to start these two.
Jay: Didn’t we learn our lessons already, Castiel does not get to pick the FBI Agent names, he just doesn’t. He may get that reference now but he certainly doesn’t know how to use it in context.
Dawn: Shut up, I want him to pick names forever. Agents T-Pain and Eminem. Agents Shakira and Cher. Agents Liberace and RuPaul. FOREVER.
They chase a couple of dead ends and nothing is more adorable than Laurangel and Hardemon here sneaking around trying to be Sam and Dean.
Eventually they do find where Lucifer has taken Rowena, and of course they are too late. But you know, only because Rowena can handle her own damn self, unlike some other mothers we know.
And speaking of our little ginger minx…
Rowena Is Our Queen
Despite a lot of misfires, particularly when it comes to terrible, terrible love interests, SPN has done a good job with strong, platonic female characters. Pamela, Ellen, Charlie, and new Reaper Billie were all terrific, and Mary has been holding her BAMF own. But we ask you, if anyone truly more badass than Rowena? She is afraid of NOTHING. She has taken on Lucifer himself more than once, and she just keeps on trying. And her whinging about wanting to leave it all behind and retire to Boca Raton fools no one, but it’s delightful to behold.
We didn’t get a lot of screentime with the Witchiest Witch that Ever Did Witch, but what we got was gold. Lucifer thinks he is in control. He thinks, quite reasonably so given that he has all the power of both the demonkind he created and the archangel that he is, that he cannot be beaten. But Rowena? Oh my Chuck in Heaven, she pretends to be helping with some kind of eternal youth spell for this vessel, but in actuality she TEARS HIM UP and send him to the bottom of the ocean. All without even a smudge to her perfect eyeshadow. And. AND. As if that is not enough to make you bow down and worship, when her son and his new BFF angel finally catch up to her, she is ultra casual and sassy AF. “If you’re looking for Lucifer, you just missed him.”
And then, just to Cas:
Bow to the queen. Bow.
Jay: My obsession with Rowena is really starting to reach Castiel levels. Ok, maybe not, but HOT DAMN I love that Witch. From her makeup to her spell work, every scene she is in she steals. I wish they’d bring back those fantastic dresses though. Her fashion sense is amazing, but there is just something about a full length ball gown that suits her more than slacks and a blazer.
Dawn: Rowena is #lifegoals. “Not my hex bag” is my new thing.
So that’s it. We’ve got some pretty big unanswered questions, of course, such as what was the deal with the motorcycle, why did Mary take John’s journal, where the hell did Rowena actually send Lucifer, and we still haven’t forgotten about that Bobby picture from last week. But that’s what keeps us watching, isn’t it? So until next week, we will be in the corner, rocking slowly.
Are you with Jay or Dawn on this one? Cast your vote in the comments!
i was not sure the casifer moment was entirely intentional or just misha had a flashback
We can only hope that it was intentional.
I didn’t have time to read the whole thing right now, I’ll be back later but, I did get so far as your reactions to Mary leaving, dog hugging, crying, and eye rolling. My two cents she chose her dead husband who abused her kids over her kids, think about that. Think about mothers who choose abusive men over their kids all the time, she can rot for all I care. Even if he wasn’t “abusive” she still chose a man over her kids, the feminist in me is screaming in anger. Grown or not those are your mother effing kids, act like it!
I couldn’t agree with you more Tiff. Its also painfully obvious that she chose the ‘idea’ or memory of her small children over the reality of her adult children. I’m not sure if you got to our reactions on that part yet but it was a cold bucket of water over our heads when we realized what she was doing. In contrast the John she remembers was a vastly different John then the boys knew, which is fair, but also he’s gone and we couldn’t disagree more with her decision to again abandon her babies.
This is not the first time Mary has put her own self interests in front of her boys. It has happened an alarming amount of times in the show so far. The most recent of being this event in episode 3. Dawn and I are working on a post addressing this reoccurring theme in the show.
We would love to hear the rest of your thoughts once you are able to finish reading through the review.
Hey guys. Vinny here, life long fan first time caller. Just wanting to add my 2 cents to the fold.
First thing – I won’t say I hate Mary herself but I hate this story arch. Does it make Sam and Dean happier now? Probably but it is only setting them up for utter heartbreak again when’s she’s inevitabley dies. I’m kinda glad she went off on her own so hopefully we won’t see her for at least an episode or two. Her lying about having her visions and stuff during the hunt is classic Winchester tho
2nd – cas and Crowley are great together a new odd couple spinoff show with these two would be fantastic.
3rd – I don’t necesarially like where this season is going. They had to deal with the darkness last season and lucifer is out there now and this London chapter. It what happened to the plan of trying to close the gates of hell forever I know last time didn’t work out but I’m Supernatural there is always another way.
4- I think it’s time for Rowena to die already. Does she have a cool accent yea is she powerful yea but what else is she doing now. Same old song and dance plus she’s not hot enough to be the main lady on this show right now.
5 – overall the episode was fine. Got to take even these ghost hunts with a grain of salt (no pun intended) as Sam and Dean are the best hunters in the world but are constantly getting cases wrong and being saved by other people.