This season was a true return to glory for Supernatural. New characters and old come together to make this season unforgettable.
The general storyline for this season begins with Sam and Dean facing a horrible loss after losing their mother (Mary Winchester) into a portal to a different world, Castiel to Lucifer, Crowley sacrificing himself and Lucifer’s young adult son now standing before them. They soon realize that Lucifer’s son (named Jack) doesn’t want to be evil and the Winchesters decide to take him under their wing. They hope that they will be able to use his power to reopen the portal and get their mother back. Although as Jack is able to open the portal, he finds himself stuck on the other side alone leaving the Winchesters to make some risky partnerships to rescue not only Mary but now Jack as well.
This season was a true return to glory for Supernatural. With a show being on for 13 years, you are bound to lose overall quality though that is not the case with this season. There have been some storylines that have been… not great (*cough* Dick Roman and the leviathans *cough*), but with this story we get something that we have yet to have before in the show, a family. Yes, the show has always been about two brothers and other family members have cycled in and out of the show. Though with this season we are given the stakes of not only a brother losing his brother, but so many pieces of their family that they are all afraid to lose.
This new family dynamic was introduced after Jack came into the picture and began caring about the Winchesters. Jack was a character who had so much emotion and internal conflict that you can’t help but hope that he gains the family he so desperately wants with the Winchesters. He tries so very hard to prove himself and make the Winchesters proud, it is just about the most heartwarming thing to happen in Supernatural for years. It doesn’t take too long for the Winchesters to warm up to him either after seeing that, despite being the son of Lucifer, he wants nothing to do with evil. In fact, he wants to fight evil side by side with the Winchesters. Watching the relationship grow between Jack and the Winchesters was my favorite part about this season, I am excited to see him in season 14.
In typical Supernatural fashion, there is a slew of returning characters that have been either dead or unseen for years who return this season, some of which are shown in a way unlike we’ve seen before. In fact, season 13 has the most returning characters out of any of the seasons so far. Anyone that is a long time viewer will be pleasantly surprised with the reward of seeing old faces again. While it was great to see these characters, it does bring up my biggest issue with the show as a whole; the stakes are never really high for the Winchesters or anyone for that matter.
Time and time again there is a character that is killed, everyone is sad, but they are back not too long after. The idea of death not being permanent for really any of the characters has been hammered into our head in every season. There is even one episode in this season when a character tragically dies, though they only stay dead for a matter of 5-10 minutes. This is something that I have found to be rather annoying throughout the show. Then this season has a slight redemption in this regard, where Death shows a character a shelf full of notebooks of all the different ways that character dies. This seemed to be Supernatural recognizing how often resurrections happen and poking fun at itself for that very reason.
One of the best things about Supernatural is that it never takes itself too seriously. There is always a healthy amount of melodrama between the brothers, end of the world scenarios and oh so many deaths (with resurrections). Those elements are very much present in season 13. Though another great part about the show is that Supernatural is never afraid to make fun of itself or just have fun in general. For nearly every episode about the next apocalypse or giant battle there is also an episode about Sam and Dean being the stars of a TV show in a different universe or being a part of a musical about their lives or even killing Hitler. That is something that we very much see in this season, we actually get a few episodes that deviate from the regular Supernatural episode blueprint and they were all fantastic. These episodes are three episodes that I felt the need to talk about individually. Not because they were my favorites (although some of them are), but because I found them to be the three episodes of this season that exemplify what Supernatural is and what it has become.
Wayward Sisters:
Wayward Sisters shifts the focus away from the usual Supernatural formula of: Monster kills someone -> Sam and Dean find monster -> Sam and Dean save day. This time, Sam and Dean get trapped in another world and it is up to Jody Mill’s, Donna Hanscum and a few more women introduced throughout the show to save the day. This episode has no Damsel in Distress, it is 45 minutes of badass women kicking butt, and it is a fun time to watch.
Unfinished Business:
This episode saw the return of one of my personal favorite characters in all of his glory. The theme of this particular episode was that this character had been horribly wronged by people he considered to be friends which lead to him being tortured for many years. Once he had recuperated and regained his strength, he along with Sam and Dean set out to get his revenge. The beginning of this episode was shot with an eastern cinema feel to it, much like one of the 70s kung-fu revenge movies. This was very fun to watch and an interesting choice to do though unfortunately it lasted all of one scene. While still keeping the idea of 70s revenge in mind, they switched to a more modern inspiration with Tarantino’s Kill Bill going as far as to make quips and jokes about the film. The entirety of the episode is shot in a different style than typical episodes of Supernatural while the music also diverges from the usual rock instruments in change for 60s Western style music which was a great choice for this episode. The last thing I would like to mention about this episode is, one particular shootout scene that was done in a very spectacular way, it begins with a character taking out the lights and the rest of the showdown is only scene by flashes of gunfire giving the audience quick one second peeks as to what is happening.
ScoobyNatural:
Arguably the most well known episode of this season, ScoobyNatural was a highly publicized crossover episode that sent the Winchesters into the Hanna-Barbera world of Scooby-Doo. Let me tell you, it is hard to stop smiling when watching this episode. It is a perfect blend of the two shows’ strengths shining through while making sure that one doesn’t overpower the other. Anyone that is a fan of Supernatural and was (or still is) a fan of Scooby-Doo growing up, is sure to be a fan of this episode. Seeing Scooby jump into Shaggy’s Arms and Shaggy jump into the arms of Castiel as they run away from the phantom is just a delight. Throughout the episode, Dean almost acts as the voice of the audience in his excitement and remarks regarding his dream come true. My biggest concern before watching this episode was that I didn’t know how they would be able to tonally fit in this lighthearted episode towards the end of the season in which the Winchesters were taking heavy loss after loss. Though they managed to do it quite well actually by tacking on the episode after the Winchesters finally had not only a win, but actual hope. It was the perfect time to launch into a goofy and fun adventure.
Overall:
Supernatural Season 13 was a blast to watch with emotional highs and lows to match the excitement of all the various monsters they encounter over the course of the 23 episode season. The character of Jack could have very easily been an annoying teenage character, though luckily, he became a character who you truly cared about. There was a dang near perfect mix of seriousness and fun throughout the season. And the last episode gives us an epic fight that fans have been waiting to see for years. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this season. It reminded me why I love this show so much. It is by no means a perfect show, but it is incredibly entertaining and a fun time to watch.
