Supernatural Season 14 Episode 16 review: Don’t Go in the Woods

On this week’s Supernatural, Sam and Dean travel to Iowa to fight yet another new monster while Jack stays behind and tries to act like a normal kid.

Oh, Supernatural, I love when you travel to places I’m familiar with. This week Sam and Dean traveled to Polk City, Iowa, and Big Creek State Park, which is where my husband proposed to me many years ago. So being familiar with it, I found it very amusing that where we go to the beach was a giant forest, which we don’t have in Iowa. But I digress.

This week, Sam and Dean left Jack behind because they can’t trust his powers, and after what happened with Eliot, Max and Stacy, they were right to be worried. The episode was very light, and the only plot it seemed to push forward was whether or not Jack’s soul is in tact.

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The episode also raised a very excellent question that I’m sure will push the narrative as we move into the final season next year: why doesn’t Sam and Dean tell everyone about the monsters so they can choose to fight for themselves? With the deaths of all the extra hunters and Sam and Dean basically being solo again, I’m sure this will be something the show will be revisiting as we move forward.

“I’m two”

When Sam and Dean left Jack behind while they went on their hunt, they gave him the important task of shopping. While in Lebanon, Jack runs into the teens we met during the 300th episode, Eliot, Max, and Stacy. They recognize Jack as the person who lives with Sam and Dean. Eliot is now way into monsters and ghosts, even watching “Ghostfacers.”

They open the store for Jack and spend lots of time questioning him. More than once Stacy and Max call Dean old. They tell Jack he needs to hang out with people his own age so they invite him to an abandoned house. His exchange with the teens shows how naive he is to interacting with people outside the bunker. And really shows his true age of two.

Jack shows up to the house with a bunch of books in tow to share with Eliot. When Eliot asks if the illustration in the book is really what demons look like, Jack informs them that demons are just a pillar of smoke and they possess people. The kids look a little spooked. Jack then brags that he’s killed one before.

They all go out into the yard and Jack shows off an angel blade and tries to show off using it. After failing to get the knife to stick in the tree when he throws it, he uses his powers. When the kids are impressed, he starts showing off, making the knife fly all over the yard.

Stacy and Max start getting spooked because the knife is flying really close to them. They beg him to stop, but he reassures them he has everything in control. But when Stacy moves, the knife stabs into her stomach.

Exactly what Sam and Dean were worried about: Jack hurting someone on accident because of his powers. He ends up healing Stacy, but the kids want nothing to do with him anymore.

Back at the bunker, Sam and Dean return, and explain the real reason why they didn’t want him to go on the hunt with him. Jack promises to never use his powers without their permission. He leaves out everything that happened with the teens. That encounter is sure to pop back up and haunt the Winchesters at some point.

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“Old and hungry.”

Sam and Dean traveled to Polk City, Iowa to go check out a multitude of deaths in the woods there. When they get there, the sheriff doesn’t really want them poking around.

After a bit of research, they discover they’re looking for a Kohonta, which is part of Native American lore. It spits acid on its victim because even if it wants to eat them, it can’t.

Sam and Dean go into the woods to hunt the thing, even though they have no idea how to kill it, when the sheriff stops them. He tells them the story of the Parkers, and how the local tribe turned the cannibalistic son into this Kohonta. He also tells them how to kill it: a silver blade through the heart.

The sheriff is actually the person who brings up the matter of Sam and Dean not just filming the monsters and putting them on YouTube so people will know they exist. Dean doesn’t seem too opposed to sharing the burden, but Sam, remembering all the hunter deaths is definitely against the idea, because all it does is get people killed. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we hear about this idea.

Once Tom, the sheriff’s son, decides to take on the “coyote” that killed his girlfriend himself, the conclusion is pretty quick with the Winchesters and sheriff coming in the nick of time and stabbing the Kohonta. Dean encourages the sheriff to tell his kid the truth about what was really in the woods. On the drive back to the bunker, Sam helps Dean realize they should be honest with Jack about their fears over his powers.

Performer of the week

Alexander Calvert. This episode really focused in on Jack and how he’s doing. Alexander was able to play naive Jack and superpowered Jack, and then guilty Jack.

All Jack wanted was to fit in and make friends. And he struggled a bit to fit in because he’s only two years old and he’s been sheltered in the bunker for most of it. He thought his powers would help him make friends, but he only learned that he really doesn’t have control over his powers. Calvert played all aspects of Jack this week to perfection.

What did you think of this week’s episode? With only four more episodes left of the season, do you think we’re going to get answers to Jack’s soul? Please let us know in the comments below.

Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW