The Mid-Season Finale was always going to end with Dean surrounded by a pile of bodies. What’s surprising is how little the episode focused on Dean in the run up to this, and how much time was spent laying the groundwork for when the show picks up again in January. Previous Mid-Season Finales have gone out with a bang; The Things We Left Behind popped quietly.
Supernatural has not been kind to Castiel’s storylines, frequently poorly developing an interesting premise before dropping it entirely, and it would be a shame to see the same thing happen here. Castiel’s interactions with Claire were heartbreaking at times as he tried to navigate the muddy waters of teenage adolescence (the abandoned teen girl magazine was particularly bittersweet), but this was balanced with Claire’s anger at the way his interference destroyed her family and changed her life forever.
Parallels ran amok this episode, some stronger than others. Listening to Dean and Sam reminisce about their father served to highlight how Castiel was approaching his new relationship with Claire in the wrong way, but as a whole the scene felt like a clumsy attempt to reinforce the theme of bad parenting in an episode that already featured Crowley and Rowena, and Castiel and Claire. Honestly, they may as well have announced the theme in neon lights on the bar wall when they invoked the name of John-questionable-parenting-skills-at-the-very-least-Winchester.
This week the plot moved slowly, and at times it felt like the characters were clunky chess pieces moving about only because the writer believed it necessary, not because it was a natural part of the story. However, the episode was enjoyable, particularly due to the presence of Claire and her interactions with Castiel. Another highlight was the final scene of the episode. It was heartbreaking to see Dean surrounded by the bloodbath from his dream, and even more so when Sam rushed in and begged Dean to tell him he’d had no other choice.
Overall it was a solid if unfocused episode. Though there wasn’t as much action and energy as usual, Misha Collins gave a great performance as Castiel and a firm base was laid for the episodes to come. Additionally, The Things We Left Behind passed the Bechdel Test; it will be a real achievement for Supernatural if every episode this season manages to accomplish this. Hopefully next year will see the show return with a burst of energy, ready to hit the ground running and using Dena’s bloodbath to thrust us firmly into the rest of the season.