The topic of creepy clowns is once more visited in the Supernatural canon and we get an appearance of a well-known character. Does it succeed or fall flat? There’s arguments for both sides.
Note: This recap may contain spoilers!
Centered around a carnival in Fort Wayne, Indiana, we kick off the episode with two young guys walking around the fairgrounds after the carnival has closed. One of them, Wally, finds a ticket on the ground and gets lured into a carnival attraction with a clown. His companion sees nothing except his buddy disappearing. Meanwhile, Wally walks through to a Hall of Mirrors, then starts freaking out when he can’t find an escape. He looks into a mirror and sees himself in clown makeup, seemingly driven crazy if he’s mirth is anything to go by.
The team is drawn to the case, even if John wants to focus on tracking down Dean. There’s also tension between himself and Mary, who is concerned with his anger issues and the fact he’s repressing what happened in Lawrence. But they can’t deal with any of that at the moment because they’ve got a clown to catch!
They head out to the carnival and spot a clown, though it’s not the monster. This one was passed out at a bar when the disappearance happened. Although, he does have some information on an urban legend of Limbo the Clown. The kid was just his latest victim. And when they confront a man who is following them, they learn that his name is Clarence and he lost his little brother Roger to Limbo 30 years ago.
Clarence was 18 and Roger was 8. Clarence took him to the carnival the day after their parents’ funeral, but instead of dealing with their grief, Roger gets taken. Clarence has been researching Limbo ever since. We learn that Limbo used to be a featured act, but then the Depression hit. He sold his soul to dark magic so he could be happy forever. And he targets victims who are sad or depressed. His happiness is connected to the mirror the occultist gave him. Creepy.
The anger between John and Mary are good fodder for Limbo. When she storms off after a fight at the carnival, she sees a ticket on the ground and is allowed entrance to Limbo’s tent. After John consults with Carlos and Lata to figure out a way to get Mary back, they use the old golden ticket in Clarence’s research to gain entrance for themselves. But their hopes of confronting the clown together are dashed when John gets locked into the Hall of Mirrors on his own.
With Limbo taunting him, John attempts to stumble through the hall with his eyes covered so he doesn’t accidentally look into Limbo’s magic mirror. But when Mary appears in front of him and says she wants them to stay, he is tricked into looking anyway. They are both marked with clown makeup and seemingly trapped unless their friends can free them. Which they eventually do. Outside, Carlos and Lata are first confronted by a car full of clowns and then Limbo, John, and Mary appear as well.
Running to take refuge in the clown car, they find Roger in the back seat in full clown makeup. And Carlos tries to talk to him, to break through the spell. It doesn’t seem to work until Carlos brings up Roger’s brother. That causes Roger to cry and it breaks the spell. Everyone is freed, all the victims able to reunite with the loved ones they left behind. John and Mary even make amends to one another.
Meanwhile, Ada has been seeking out power from witches. But her attempts to infiltrate a backroom hideout for the powerful group does not work as she planned. Instead, her reputation precedes her, and she does not have their respect. She is seen as too weak to yield the power she desires. They all reject her, save for one lone witch – Rowena. While it was nice to see her again, I feel like it could have been any character serving the purpose.
Rowena is seeking out the demon trapped in the plant, as he has information on Crowley. But when Rowena pushes Ada on taking the plant, Ada unleashes her potential and Rowena takes more of an interest. Before she disappears, Rowena gives Ada a crystal that will kill the Akrida queen. The only other ingredient Ada will need is a piece of her soul. While Ada tells the team about the crystal, she does not tell them about the need for the soul, so this may turn out badly.
We’re heading into the season finale, which might be the series finale since renewal hasn’t been announced. Hope we get some things tied up before we say goodbye.
Rating: 3 / 5 Stars
