The ladies of Supernatural rescued the brothers from the Bad Place during the Thursday, January 18th mid season premiere.
This episode opened with Claire (Kathryn Love Newton) swiftly killing a werewolf then returning home after a call from Jody (Kim Rhodes). Claire was reunited with Alex (Katherine Ramdeen), and psychic Patience (Clark Backo). Jody informed Claire that Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) were missing.
“They were on a hunting trip, and I haven’t heard from them for a few days,” she said, making a direct homage to the pilot, which aired in 2005.
Jody also informed Claire that Patience had a vision that Claire was killed in The Bad Place. When Jody tried to persuade Claire to lay low and stop hunting, Claire became angry at Jody’s lack of understanding of her talent and escaped to the hospital to visit Alex, who is a nurse.
In an effort to save Sam and Dean, Claire found Kaia (Yadira Guevara-Prip), the dreamwalker who tore the hole in the universe. Kaia was brought in as a Jane Doe, and Claire bonded with Kaia by showing her scars in solidarity.
A monster from The Bad Place tried to attack Kaia while she tried to escape, and Claire killed it by slitting its neck. Jody called Donna Hanscum (Briana Buckmaster), the sheriff of Stillwater, Minnesota. The team of women armored up and tracked the rip to an abandoned boatyard.
Meanwhile, in The Bad Place, Sam and Dean were attacked by a hooded figure, which Dean nicknamed “Darth Dickwad.” The hooded figure tied the boys up and rang the dinner bell, which the audience assumed that the monster/dinosaur/alien would feast on them.
Back in Sioux Falls, the women found the rip, but Jody was forced to let Claire and Kaia travel through it to rescue the brothers.
However, they knew Claire would die as predicted by Patience’s vision. Claire and Kaia found Sam and Dean in time and, in an instant, Kaia pushed Claire out of the way, sacrificing herself to the fatal arrow shot by the hooded figure. The trio jumped through the rip just in time.
The scene cut to Sam and Dean saying goodbye to Jody where Dean cautions Jody that a “whole lot bad” was coming.
“We will handle it,” she replied. “You guys take care of the world. We got Sioux Falls covered.”
Dean agreed, and, in a voiceover Claire, talks about how awesome it was that the women could come together to save Sam and Dean.
“They don’t know it yet — they think I’m staying because I’m broken, but I’m staying because I need them, my family, my army,” she said. “The thing that killed Kaia is still out there. And I don’t care if I have to tear another hole in the universe, we’re going to find it. And I’m going to kill it.”
The episode ended with the hooded figure escaping through the rip into the real world and taking off her hood. It’s Kaia’s doppelganger, which opens the opportunity for jam-packed adventure that the Wayward Sisters will face.
“Supernatural” co-stars were supportive of the backdoor pilot.
Eric Kripke, the creator of the series, expressed his support and shared never before seen episode inspiration.
Jared Padalecki tweeted his excitement.
The show returned with a feel-good episode. From seeing the women team up again to fight the good fight to the conversations between Sam and Dean, the episode lightened the heaviness of the season’s plot.
For example, when Sam and Dean were trapped in the rip, Dean cooked a lizard for a meal. When Dean took a bite, Sam said, "Don’t tell me it tastes like chicken." Dean replied, “No, Sam, it’s a lizard — it tastes like lizard.”
Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
