Thursday’s episode of Supernatural, “The Big Empty,” finally gave viewers hope of Sam and Dean fighting the good fight again.
The episode gave the audience a glimmer of hope when Jack (Alexander Calvert) tagged along with Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) during a case where ghosts appeared in front of their grieving loved ones and murdered them. Unknowingly, the trio initially thought the murder was the doing of a vengeful spirit and burned the body for good measure.
“What gets burned stays dead,” Dean said in a husky voice.
It’s ironic that the brothers are living, when in fact they have died multiple times and should have been burned. The case deepened when more murders popped up and the trio went to a grief counselor, Mia Vallens (Rukiya Bernard), to investigate evidence left by one of the victims.
From there, the audience learned that Mia is a shapeshifter and morphed into her patients’ loved ones to provide a sense of closure, but didn’t murder them. It is then revealed that Mia’s friend, who is also a shapeshifter, has been the one murdering patients to get back at Mia. In the process, the shifter took on Dean’s form and handcuffed Dean and Jack while Sam was on his way, not knowing that Dean was in danger.
Dean came to and urged Jack to break the handcuffs. He also said Sam believed in Jack so, Sam must be onto something. Jack eventually does and slows a bullet that was aimed toward Sam, successfully saving his life. Mia’s friend was killed and the scene cut to Dean and Jack back at the bunker in the kitchen.
“You did good today, Jack,” Dean said, followed by a small smile from Jack.
Dean then gave a beer to Sam and apologized for not believing that Mary was dead.
“I need you to keep the faith for both us, because right now I don’t believe in a damn thing,” he said.
Throughout the episode, Cas was featured talking to the alternate version of himself and was watching a highlight reel of his failures. Fans perked up a bit when real Cas got a grip and demanded to be released. The final scene of the episode is Cas waking up from field.
“The Big Empty” is an appropriate title this week since the cosmic reality Cas is in is quite vast and uninhabited. Cas is shown his greatest failures by a cosmic entity, a more sinister version of himself with an odd British accent. The audience feels lost and helpless as Cas tries to navigate to safety.
Knowing Cas is alive is a positive, but it is also relevant knowing which version of Cas is alive
To forget about all the death Dean is surrounded in, Dean threw himself into work.
Dean’s character also went through a bit of a transformation this episode. When he first learned that Jack was tagging along on the case, Dean was not pleased and mentioned babysitting the Antichrist.
Throughout the case, Dean avoided Jack by ordering him to stay in the car and having him get hot dogs. It is then made apparent that Jack is indeed scared and revealed his feelings to Mia, which gave the audience perspective that, in technical terms, Jack is still a newborn.
When Dean and Jack were chained up, Dean gave Jack hope and a sense of accomplishment. The shift in Dean’s attitude toward Jack was made apparent in Dean’s acknowledgment to Jack of a job well done. Their relationship is morphing as they are put into situations where they have to work together, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the rest of the season.
Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
