Supernatural Round Table S12E18 “The Memory Remains”

This week’s episode is aptly named since it was a return to Supernatural’s roots with a simple monster of the week featuring the Winchesters in all their glory.  The episode was written by John Bring and directed by Phil Sgriccia. It was wonderful to see both Sam and Dean back doing what they do best: ‘saving people, hunting things’.  Keep reading to see what Kelly Silva, Jackie Bojarski, Lizzy Schwietzer and I thought of the episode’s return to the show’s roots.

The monster of the week:

Kelly:  I was hooked when the episode started out with a goat man!  I loved that it was a god and it was a god that we never really see. I thought that was clever and it piqued my interest throughout the episode.

Lizzy: What a great episode! I love the scary episodes, and this definitely was in the horror/hold your breath genre that I love!

Jackie: This episode’s “Monster of the Week” felt similar to those encountered in “Scarecrow” and “A Very Supernatural Christmas”: in order to achieve prosperity, local country folk align themselves with a forsaken pagan god that demands regular human sacrifice. There was also a touch of “The Benders” too. Altogether, the familiarity to past stories didn’t really bother me; I felt that the writers were still able to portray this entity in a way that was exciting as well as scary.

Debbi:  I loved this return to the early episodes.  My main complaint about this season has been a lack of Sam and Dean as central characters and this episode reminded me of why I love this show so very much.  The monster was interesting and the premise, while not brand new, still workable and overall kind of eerie.

Bishop family legacy:

Kelly:  I will say at first I didn’t care for Sheriff Bishop.  I give him credit for trying to stop his family’s legacy of feeding Moloch.  He turned out to be alright.

Lizzy:  Killing people…murder…the family business. That is a heck of a legacy. Luckily the sheriff was able to look past his family’s legacy to make his own.

Jackie:  Legacy was a main theme throughout this episode. How is it established and how can one ensure that it lives on? For the Bishop family, this concern became an obsession of sorts and led them down a dark path. Therefore, I don’t think they are going to have the legacy that they would’ve wanted.

Debbi:  The Winchesters, Dean in particular, have voiced concern more than once over the years about what their legacy they would leave.  It seems appropriate that they are confronted with a case that brings legacy to the forefront, particularly since they’ve settled down into a permanent home. I absolutely loved Pete’s twist on ‘saving people, hunting things’ and laughed out loud at the expression on Sam’s face in response. Great piece of symmetry.

Mr. Ketch:

Kelly:  Mr. Ketch is psycho and I’m worried about Sam and Dean.  His obsession with Mary makes me feel uncomfortable. I’m hoping Sam and Dean will decide to dump working with the BMoL.

Lizzy:  Ugh, cannot stand guy. He totally creeps me out and I don’t know where he stands with Mary and the brothers.

Jackie:  I don’t think I’m ever going to like Mr. Ketch as much as I liked Mick. There’s a coldness to Ketch that I don’t think will ever truly thaw out. With that said, I’m curious as to why he took that picture of Mary and Dean. What was it about that picture that appealed to him? Is he starting to develop true feelings for Mary? And what will that mean for his loyalty to the British Men of Letters? These are all pressing questions that I can’t wait to see play out in the future.

Debbi:  I’m in total agreement with Jackie, however, I love Ketch’s coldness.  David Haydn-Jones has really captured the creep factor of a sociopath and has the ability to turn on the charm as well when necessary.  I don’t see him bending the way Mick did with the Winchesters, but his affair with Mary muddies those waters a bit.  I think there is much more of his story to be told and I am looking forward to it.

Sam and Dean’s Legacy:

Kelly:  When I think of Sam and Dean’s legacy, I think they will become legends among hunters. In the future, hunters will study everything about them; of course, that’s just my head canon.  Sam said it best: the people they saved or helped will remember them and pass their story to their children and grandchildren. I will say that I felt a bit emotional when Dean carved his initials into the table and slid the knife over to Sam.  It was a great moment in the show.

Lizzy:  Their legacy will definitely live on with all the hundreds of people they have saved.

Jackie:  I absolutely love what Sam told Dean regarding their legacy. Even if history books won’t remember them, their work will be immortalized through the people that they saved. Moreover, they’ve left the world a better place then they found it, which is probably the most perfect summary of their legacy that I’ve ever heard. I do think that their legacy will continue on in another way though: through other hunters that they both worked with or inspired.

Lastly, I was so touched by that final scene with Sam and Dean carving their initials into that table. It was simply heartfelt and memorialized the brotherly bond that will also be part of their legacy.

Debbi:  Jackie summed it up perfectly; it is really as simple as that.  I have to admit that I cried during the carving of their initials.  What a beautiful memory they shared and kudos to John Bring for including it in this episode.

Overall thoughts on the episode:

Kelly:  I enjoyed this episode very much. When the show starts with campfires and young adults, you know it’s going to be good. It had that creepy feeling throughout out the episode. It had classic Dean protecting his brother. Dean running into danger wanting Sam to stay behind and staying safe. Of course, Sam isn’t going to sit back and let Dean face a god by himself.  When Dean was captured, Sam wasted no time looking for his brother and using the colt on the Moloch.

Lizzy:  I loved it! I jumped out of my seat several times. They used time honored classic horror movie tricks that never fail. I would have liked seeing more of the God, Moloch, but it just goes to show that humans can be a lot scarier than the monsters sometimes.

Jackie:  All in all, I thought that this was a good “Monster of the Week” episode. Although the major storylines didn’t move along, we did get to witness some interesting developments in some key characters, like Mr. Ketch. I’m excited to see what happens next.

Debbi:  Easily my favorite episode of the second half of the season (if not the best of season 12).  As I mentioned above, I love the throwback to some of the very first episodes and the tried and true formula of Sam and Dean against the bad guys.  This had everything that make Supernatural so great: brother moments, Dean thinking with his other brain, Sam indulging him and a little embarrassed by him (he is almost 40 after all!), Sam finding the answer in the lore, a creepy house and serial killer basement, a monster who is made scarier by not fully appearing and Sam saving the day.  Thank you John Bring, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki for a first class episode.

Overall Score:

Kelly:  A

Lizzy:  A

Jackie: B

Debbi: A+

That sums it up.  As always, we encourage to sound off in the comments and let us know what you thought of the episode.  There are five more episodes in the season; where do think it’s going?