Supernatural Season 14: Michael missing, monster menagerie

The second episode of season 14 has eleventeen new plot twists. Supernatural has put down groundwork for Michael, Dean, Nick, Jack, monsters and more, all in one hour.

Last Thursday the entirety of the SPN Family watched in awe as we saw the story lay down. Nick is alive, Jack is sad, Dean is missing, Michael’s plan is a mystery. We got a glimpse of Showrunner Andrew Dabb’s creative prowess with such things as the slow-motion drama shots during the demon bar fight. Poor Castiel’s face.

This week, that continued as we saw a single fight scene tell us everything we need to know about the new things that can be described as archwolves. Jack took a trip through the woods to grandmother’s house. Dean shows up unscathed and befuddled.

With a single hour, we have learned that in season 14 of Supernatural, it’s not the story but the stories. Yes, it is (probably not) all here in front of us now and already there is no shortage of “Holy Chuck” to go along with all of our new questions and thickened plots.

Jack’s family tree

It’s no surprise that Jack is turning to his human roots now. After talking with Castiel, he once again gets the reminder that family matters most. While the Winchesters, Castiel, and the other characters we know and love are a family without a doubt, Jack also has a bloodline to follow. He has crisp memories of his mother who taught him many things before he was born.

Now that both she and Lucifer are gone, of course he will seek out the only thing he thinks is his natural connection outside of the Supernatural realm he’s been immersed in from the start. He’s always been one to look for knowledge and understanding. He knows his responsibility on this Earth is as great as his desire to follow it through. All the while so far, he has struggled to figure that out as it burns a hole in him.

The (mostly) humans raising him have put most of their focus on teaching him right from wrong, and how to handle sticky situations. He experiences great sadness through his mistakes and takes pride in helping people. He wants to know more about where he came from as a human, now that it may be all he has left to his nature.

We find him going to the home of Kelly’s parents, his grandparents. Sadly, they are unaware that his birth took their daughter to the other side and Jack cannot find the way to tell them. My instincts lead me to believe they may have figured it out, though. They seem to realize he has a deeper reason for visiting them, but they don’t dig deeper than he is willing to go.

Jack takes a lot from that visit. Castiel is angry at first because Jack ventured out on his own without any protection. But Jack assures him that this was something he absolutely had to do and he’s back safe now. Castiel backed down quickly realizing that Jack needs support more than a lecture now.

With a renewed sense of family and purpose, Jack is more determined than ever to do what must be done to save his friend and brother. Even if that means staying out of the way and working on his hunter skills. He is learning more as a human than just how to throw a punch. He is also learning that humans are vulnerable, emotional creatures. This is going to be a good foundation for him when (if) his powers do return.

At the same time, he has also seen now that humans as a species need protection from Michael and anything that threatens their survival. Part of his responsibility is the fact that he does have a purpose, above all.

Even if he doesn’t have his powers now, his drive to do that job still stands and he reminds Castiel that Michael must be stopped at all costs. Even if that means losing Dean. He doesn’t stop short of pointing out that Dean would expect that if it was the case. Poor Castiel’s face again (slap).

Nick seeks justice

Nick. Wow, holy geez. We discussed the completely incredible performance from Mark Pellegrino, as Nick remembered why he accepted Lucifer. I’m not going to sugar coat it, I was destroyed right along with him when I saw that scene (we all know you cried). I’m no scientist, but I’d say he gave it at least 167 percent.

As the episode zipped on, we saw a total character rehash as Nick got up from his sadness bed and tried to solve the mystery of what happened to his family. We saw him call the police for details and confront Castiel, saying he was no better than Lucifer, taking a vessel/life from a man. We even caught a glimpse of a new twist.

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• Is a new episode of The Winchesters on tonight? (March 14, 2023)
• The Winchesters Season1 finale explained: Did it connect to Supernatural?

Apparently, there’s a little Lucifer residue in there, at the minimum. Nick got upset and instinctively did the “You are destroyed” snap at Castiel. Our angel buddy was more than a little bit alarmed and when he asked Nick why he did that, Nick gave no help. Inevitably, Nickifer ends up at the home of a former neighbor, the on-record witness who retracted his early statement about the night Nick’s family was killed.

I have to say the man seemed nervous and I certainly didn’t believe he saw nothing. I guess Nick didn’t either because you know, he smashed his head in with a hammer that got a nice close-up shot of its own. Incidentally, that was the way his wife and child were killed. I’m thinking Supernatural will circle back to that detail. I’m actually thinking there’s going to be a lot more to the Nick story and some of the early Nick theories are coming to pass already.

Monster menagerie

We learned that Michael sees pureness in the monsters. He talked to a lot of humans and just decided they were full of crud and have no idea what they’re doing on this planet. No purpose, no pure motivations, no reason to be saved.

Just when we thought we knew all the monsters Supernatural had to offer, hybrids come into play again. We’re not talking Jefferson Starships, this time. No, Michael had a fun, fresh idea in mind. When it came to the monsters, he found what he was looking for, or at least a starting point. Why should the werewolves be the hunted when they are superior? And vampires, also pure with their intentions, well aware of what they want.

With all these factors playing into his thought process, the monsters seem to have won the contest when it comes to who’s going to rule the planet. Michael grabbed up some strays and started the experiments.

We got to see what that glimpse from the season 14 Supernatural trailer was teasing with Michael asking, “who’s next?” We had theories, but now we know he was working on a formula to make an ultimate creature.

With a little of “this” and a little of “that,” he gave the monsters an archangel boost with what we assume is his own grace. We quickly witnessed the effects in a fight scene, the horrible fact that none of the usual remedies would do with this monster menagerie. Any wolf, vamp, or other big yucky that got this little gift was supercharged and fairly indestructible. But it does seem they have no defense against the old Supernatural standby, decapitation.

So now that Michael has had the powwow with the werewolf chief, given the creatures their gifts, and let them roam the lands on their own (presumably), where has he gone? Taking a page from his father’s book and stepping back to see what happens? It remains to be seen.

Welcome to Michael’s idea for the new Supernatural Apocalypse World. Who knows what other tricks he has up his sleeve. Surely a pack of enhanced werewolves wasn’t his best card to play.

Michael is missing

Episode 2 and Michael is gone? It appears Dean is back at the wheel and has no idea what’s going on, either. So Michael just jumped ship for no reason? Personally, I’m not buying it. We can see the gang is a little doubtful, too and a preview of Episode 3 shows us that even Dean is concerned. He asks Castiel to get in his head and see what’s what. We’ll circle back to that after the episode airs. I’m betting there will be nothing to see inside, a feature installed by the archangel who wants his tracks covered for the time being.

We knew he would have some after-effects, and a little birdie mentioned the season 14 big bad being something other than Michael. Something about a “semi-possession.” Is this what we’re looking at?

Michael has been more than determined and quite confident from the start. Even with the best-laid plans, what better vessel can there be aside from his own sword? Dean’s body is literally the perfect carrier for his angel badness so where else would he go?

In Episode 2, Michael made mention of the trap he set by way of Lydia, the vampire he allowed to escape during his experiments. Are we to think the trap he spent all this time creating was simply the archwolves attacking the actual Winchesters? Puhleez.

They were stunned but spent no more than a few minutes defeating the creatures. I’m thinking the real trap was getting them all there and convincing them Dean was good to go. Meanwhile, is he still in there gathering information, watching everything that goes on, getting into Dean’s deepest motivations and weaknesses by watching his interactions?

Back in the bunker, surely Michael will get the chance to observe their family connections, weaknesses, concerns and more. Gadreel was able to pull this off without a hitch, for the most part, while he occupied Sam. If he didn’t choose to be known, no one would have had a clue he was in there, not even his vessel. I anticipate that’s more like what we may be looking at.

But surely, Supernatural has something even more sinister and sketchy in mind than what my little fan brain can whip up with such scant detail. I can’t wait to see!

We have a lot to think about for the next episode and beyond on Supernatural. What do you think will happen with Michael next? Are there other arch-monsters we have yet to see? Do you have another theory to share? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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