The team splits up and seemingly reach resolutions, but there are plenty more questions yet to be answered. Can Sam deal with the deaths of the hunters? Does Jack still have enough of his soul to remain himself? We have to hang on to the hope that the answer to both is yes.
Note: This recap may contain spoilers!
Both Sam and Jack are going through some things, dealing with the repercussions of what Michael did and the steps they had to take to stop him. Every time Sam looks around the War Room at the bunker, he keeps seeing images of the dead hunters that were slaughtered at Michael’s hand. Thus, he avoids the situation by taking on hunts back-to-back. It’s exhausting and not a healthy way to cope. Jack, on the other hand, is trying to deal with where he stands emotionally and morally. He doesn’t know how much of his soul is left and the constant pressure from his fathers to try to figure that out isn’t helping much. It’s time for some intervention for both of them. To tackle the issue, Cas accompanies Sam on his newly-found hunt and Dean focuses his attention on Jack. One-on-one time might help, or it might be all for naught.
Sam’s hunt takes them to Charming Acres – Where Everybody’s Happy. Not ominous at all, right? The murder that took place, to draw them there, was obviously supernaturally-influenced. A kid tries to leave town, but once he reaches the outer borders his head explodes. And when they arrive in town there’s a whole host of things weird about it. The town seems to be stuck in time, disconnected from technology and society as a whole. Everything is picturesque, with smiling townspeople and a happy soda shop and a boarding house that follows the old gender rules. Something sinister is obviously going on below the surface and unfortunately Sam gets pulled into the lure of the town before they can discover what it is.
There’s an overall masking of people, removing them from their real lives to place them into this pristine picture of old town society. And when one person tries to recall their past life, they are struck down and soon replaced by another. Sam slips right into the role of loving husband to one of the female residents, much to Cas’ confusion, but eventually the truth does come out. The old mayor just wanted to retain the town for what it was, before society came along and started chipping away at it. He had good intentions, but not so good follow-through. I assume he and his daughter were psychics or some sort of witches, to be able to control and exact power over others. It wasn’t a clean tie-up of the case in terms of explanation, but it did allow Sam to work through his issues a bit. He understands that he can’t keep running away from the bunker. This is their home and he has to deal with the horrors that happened there. It’s a start, but he’s going to have a long way to go before he’s okay again.
Meanwhile, Dean takes on the task of trying to work out how much of a soul Jack has left. The little test between the Angel’s Food Cake and the Devil’s Food Cake was pure Dean, but it didn’t really answer anything. The private conversation Jack and Donatello had answered a bit more, but not really. Yes, Donatello would be the expert of living without a soul. He explains how he’s empty inside, feels nothing. It’s a black hole in the middle of the galaxy. And Jack doesn’t know how he feels, but he needs time and space to figure it out. I get that, but Donatello suggesting he just think “What Would The Winchesters Do?” when he’s questioning how to act will not be a solution for long.
We’ve already seen the outcomes of the suggestion in the closing scene of the episode. Dean and I feel about the same way about Jack’s pet snake. We both are not a fan of it, but like that Jack has something to bond with. However, its fate does leave some questions to deal with. The mercy killing that he gave the snake, was it an illustration of how he’s trying to do good or a peek inside the fact that he is emotionally and morally numb now that he has so little soul left? As much as I loved Soulless!Sam, I am fearful that Jack’s descent into soullessness will have no happy return. I don’t want to lose Jack, but I have to wonder if that isn’t where we’re going. So much pain and loss for the Winchesters, so many sacrifices.
Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
Screencaps by SupernaturalWiki
