Supernatural’s mid-season premiere, “The Hunter Games,” doesn’t exactly stack the odds in the main characters’ favor. Written by Eugene Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner, and directed by John Badham, the episode continues season ten’s introspective approach Its emphasis on family, identity, and choice leaves me wondering exactly where our characters will wind up by season’s end.
After a lengthy “The Road so Far,” fittingly set to Electric Light Orchestra’s “Long Black Road,” the episode opens with Crowley (Mark Sheppard) being pursued by right-hand demon Guthrie (Russell Roberts) and other angry minions; the King of Hall is driven to the floor and stabbed repeatedly. The scene suddenly cuts to a wide-eyed, sweating Crowley, who Rowena (Ruth Connell) notes is suffering from “horror sweats…haven’t seen the like since the plague.” Since demons don’t sleep, it seems that Crowley has just experienced a nightmare-vision. Alarmed, he coldly exchanges barbs with his mummy before leaving the room. After Crowley leaves, Rowena’s faux-concern disappears, and she pulls a hex bag from a hidden space in the throne: She’s the reason for her son’s “horror sweats,” but to what end? It’s obvious that she wants Crowley’s power, but will she try to harness it? After all, harnessing a demon was pointedly mentioned in “Girls, Girls, Girls” as a way for a witch to gain power (10×7), and I suspect that for a “natural” like Rowena, doing so would greatly amplify hers.
One title card later, the scene shifts to the bunker, where Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) is alone in his room, remembering the massacre at Randy’s (10×9). One of my favorite scenes from the episode is Dean looking into the broken mirror at his fractured reflection. In the research room, Castiel (Misha Collins) is talking to Sam (Jared Padalecki) about his communication difficulties with Claire Novak (Kathryn Newton). “She barely speaks to me,” he says. “She’s like a wounded animal just watching me.” Sam offers reassurance that Randy was using Claire, but Cas says that doesn’t matter: “She thought he was kind, and for that she loved him. Shows how little kindness there was in her life.” The conversation turns to Randy’s murder, and the two agree that Dean went too far. “Dean has had to kill before; we both have,” Sam says, gesturing between himself and Cas, “but that was…” Dean has entered the room without the other two noticing, and he states, “…It was a massacre is what it was…You know, there was a time I was a hunter, not a stone cold killer.” Ackles communicates Dean’s desperation clearly when the hunter demands that the Mark has to go, even if that means burning or cutting it off. Castiel cautions that the Mark is more than physical and that it will take a “very powerful force” to remove its effect. Though the lore has turned up nothing useful, Castiel suggests, “There may be another way.”
Alone in the throne room, Rowena is snooping through cabinets. Guthrie surprises her, and Rowena turns on the charm and attempts to plant seeds of dissension that could undermine Crowley’s authority, but Guthrie is nonplussed. Crowley’s entrance and greeting of, “Mummy! Bored, suicidal, both?” suggests that he’s also immune to her charms. Mother and son exchange barbs, with Crowley making digs for her abandoning him as a child, and Rowena declaring that she won’t “apologize for being a career woman.” The two have a lot of issues, yet Rowena promises, “I’m back now. We can be a family.” She licks her thumb and wipes Crowley’s eyebrow; he responds with a non-verbal “Huh.” Will Crowley buy the idea of family that his mother is supposedly selling? It’s also in this scene that Rowena again references the Grand Coven, which still seems significant.
While Castiel’s “other way” is risky, it’s true that Metatron (Curtis Armstrong) is the one being still alive/accessible who might fully understand the Mark of Cain. However, this scene is one of the episode’s weak spots for me: Castiel convinces an angel, Ingrid, to sneak Metatron out, which – okay. But even though the sandbox/heaven’s door’s guardian angel asks who Castiel is waiting for, the guardian doesn’t comment on the fact that Ingrid delivers Metatron? Despite this, one really intriguing tidbit in this scene is Castiel’s reasoning for why he approached Ingrid: “I know you share my belief that it is angels’ mission to protect humans and it’s possible I can eliminate a great threat to them, but I will need his help.” What is this great threat? Is he referring to a Mark-of-Cain-juiced-up-Dean?
Metatron doesn’t expect to see Sam waiting in Cas’s car. Dean’s not there; I assume he stayed behind to retain the element of surprise since Metatron still seems to think he’s dead. Back at the bunker, Sam settles Metatron in the dungeon. (I’m also confused as to the state of Metatron’s wings – he still has them, doesn’t he? So why can’t he “wing it” out of there?) While Sam chains the mouthy angel, Metatron concedes that he’s “got about two billion fun facts up here” and taps his temple. When Sam clarifies that they need to know how to remove the Mark from Dean’s arm, Metatron appears somewhat shocked. “So. He’s a demon,” he says. Sam gives a succinct denial: “No.” Metatron asks, “Okay, what then? …Did he kill a human or something?” The angel quickly deduces the issue: “He’s gone nuclear – total, foaming-at-the-mouth, balls-out, maniac – that’s fantastic.” Metatron’s glee is interesting; what does he get out of Dean going “nuclear”? He admits that he may know how to remove the Mark but tells Sam, “keep that crazy brother of yours on a short leash.” Sam clarifies that he doesn’t care what happens to Metatron because the angel killed his brother (9×23). Just then, we see Dean standing in the shadows, and the image is rather terrifying. Even Metatron looks scared.
The episode shifts to Castiel, who’s returned to the hotel to check on Claire. He surprises her; she’s in the middle of packing and was hoping to leave before he returned. She explains, “You look like my father. It is his body, but he’s dead, and I get it, you feel bad. But you – whoever you are – you’re nothing to me.” Castiel tries to convince her to stay, arguing, “I’m in large part responsible for the way your life has unfolded. I have a responsibility to help you.… Claire, you have seen things, been through things that no one your age should have…I want to help you have a life.” But Claire doesn’t want Castiel’s help. She counters, “I have a life. I’m good with it. If what you mean is a normal life, well that ship has saved.” Castiel tells her “that doesn’t have to be the case. You’re still young.” His reassurances only make the situation worse, as Claire reacts, “Stop talking to me like you’re my father. You killed my father. And that friend of yours killed the last thing I had closest to family.” This is an interesting dialogue echo that reminds me directly of Dean telling Cas in “The Man Who Would Be King,” “Next to Sam, you and Bobby are the closest things I have to family…” (6×20). It’s an echo that I think emphasizes this complicated situation. It’s also important to note that Claire is a lot like Dean, and like him, she’s loyal to those she considers family. Though she pushes Castiel away, it’s clear that she does feel a connection to him; will we see that deepen? And will she develop a connection with Dean and/or with Sam?
Castiel (and it’s also significant that Claire only calls him Castiel, never “Cas”) tries to talk to Claire about Randy and his not-good qualities, but Claire won’t hear of it. She declares, “Dean Winchester is a monster.” The statement takes Castiel aback, and he hems a bit before acknowledging, “It’s possible there’s a little monster in all of us.” Of course, this is a truth that all of Team Free Will have struggled with through the seasons, and the audience is aware of how far Cas’s self-awareness has grown, as well as what he’ll do to protect Dean (and Sam). Claire, though, is a teenager who is figuring things out while dealing with the loss of someone she considered family. She tells Castiel, “You want me to trust you, and the fact that you’d even try to defend him just proves to me that I can’t…. I’m done. I have to be on my own.”
In the bunker’s dungeon, Metatron continues taunting the Winchesters, asking, “Who knew the Mark was so toxic? Well, actually, I did.” Dean’s not impressed by the angel’s attitude, and assures him he’ll take “personal pleasure…carving the answers out of you.”
Dean’s threat reminds me of his time in hell and of Alistair gloating, “I carved you into a new animal, Dean. There is no going back” (4×1). I’m 
anxious to see if the season’s narrative ties back into Dean’s experiences in hell; I see what I think are subtle nods, but stronger, richer connections could be made. Metatron assures the Winchesters that he’s their “dickwad,” and says, “I have a special place in my non-heart for you both.” Why is Metatron taking this approach? After all, he happily killed Dean only months ago, and he simply cannot be trusted. His reference to his “non-heart” only emphasizes Castiel’s hybridity for me; after all, unlike the “typical” angel, “too much heart” has always been Castiel’s problem (8×2). Despite his lack of human emotion, Metatron declares that he’d be “tickled” to help the Winchesters “pop this biblical zit” and informs them that they need the First Blade.
This scene brings up more questions about Metatron: How does he know the Winchesters don’t have the Blade? After all, Dean had it when he died – and, really, if Metatron didn’t want Demon!Dean on the rampage, why didn’t he take the Blade when he had the chance? Though Sam thinks retrieving the First Blade is a bad idea, Dean calls Crowley anyway. He surmises, “The Blade without me is useless. The Blade with me is trouble for [Metatron].” Sam questions what Metatron wants, but Dean essentially brushes the concern aside, citing their lack of other options. (Ahem. Dean, have you not learned to read the fine print yet? There is always a user agreement.)
At Crowley’s headquarters, which are far less swanky than the settings he’s preferred in the past, Rowena is having tea and reminiscing about singing lullabies to Fergus after he’d fed the goat. He corrects her: “You never sang me a lullaby. You dosed me with whiskey until I passed out.” When Crowley’s phone rings, he takes the call – “Squirrel, it’s been a while” – and promptly leaves to meet with Dean as requested. Once more alone in the throne room, Rowena gathers various materials, including a strip of fabric she cuts from one of Crowley’s ties.
Meanwhile, Claire is playing pool with a couple and telling a condensed version of her life story: “After my mom split and went crazy, Randy was like a father to me. First I lose my first dad, now I lose my second, and who killed him and trashed my life? The buddy of the guy who killed my first dad and wants to be my third dad.” She discourages the couple from taking an interest in her, saying “people near me get pretty unlucky pretty fast.” It’s an explanation that further cements the parallels between Claire and Dean, who’s voiced (or considered) that same sentiment many times over the years. As Clare talks and they play, the man and woman give each other several significant looks that I find suspicious, particularly when the woman tells Claire, “You seem real sweet but sweetness don’t clean up messes.” Who are these people? And why are they taking an interest in Claire?
In a dark alley somewhere, Dean and Sam are meeting with Crowley, who is appalled at their plan. Rowena hastily assembles a spell that allows her to spy on their meeting, so she hears Crowley say, “You want me to procure the most dangerous weapon on the planet for Dean Winchesters, the man who goes mental every time he touches it.” The Winchesters argue that this will be a win/win situation, and Dean offers an on-point but alarming rationale, “You think the body count around me is high right now, wait till hell takes over.” They persuade Crowley who unbelievably reveals that the knife is in a crypt with his bones and complains, “I hate Guam this time of year.” Did Crowley, who has to keep his bones safe at all costs, seriously just tell the Winchesters where his crypt is located?
In the throne room, a smug Rowena attempts to manipulate Guthrie, calling him Crowley’s most “trusted underling.” Rowena’s verbal manipulations are well done, as she emphasizes hierarchy and attempts to assert her own dominance by playing the mother card. Guthrie obviously doesn’t like her, and the feeling is mutual. Rowena reminds him, “You recall I was I who exposed the traitor Gerald? The one the king executed? Turns out all demons aren’t nice, and I’m a tigress when it comes to my bonnie lad.” Guthrie finally assents, and Rowena shows that she’s doing her research; she knows that he used to be a crossroads demon and can, therefore, travel.
Castiel storms into the bunker (either the Winchesters didn’t lock the door or he now has a key), upset that they’ve involved Crowley. “This would be the Crowley, who let the Blade turn Dean into a demon?,” he demands. Sam begins to answer, but Dean cuts him off. “I don’t have a choice, okay? If I don’t do this, I’m down the rabbit hole – hear evil, see evil, do evil. The trifecta.” Sam then tells Cas not to worry about it because he’s dealing with Claire. While Sam’s comment allows a narrative segue, his suggestion doesn’t make sense to me. In what universe will Castiel – who’s dealt with Crowley himself as well as watched what happened with Dean – not worry about this new development?
But, as I said, the segue works, if clumsily, enabling a conversation between Dean and Cas about Claire. Cas despairs to the brothers, “She’s so full of rage.” Dean responds, “Listen man, if I could make it better, I would.” This gives Castiel the opening to ask Dean to speak with her. “As one extremely messed up human to another, you could explain why you murdered her only friend. All I know is she won’t talk to me.” Though Dean rightly doesn’t think that Cas’s wording is going to endear him to Claire, he agrees. But for now, he’s going to make a sandwich.
There’s then an awkward, if endearing, transition as Cas tells Dean he’ll text Claire’s number, explaining, “I like texting, emoticons.” Castiel’s earnest, rather goofy explanation seems exaggerated and intended to put Dean at ease. This particularly seems the case since as soon as Dean leaves the room, Cas’s demeanor becomes thoughtful and serious. He comments to Sam, “He seems calm, considering the effects of the Mark [and] Metatron in proximity.” Sam agrees but qualifies the observation: Dean is “too calm.”
In his crypt, Crowley blows the seemingly un-disturbed dust off his coffin and with a gesture, opens it. When he opens the box sitting beside his bones, though, he discovers that it’s empty. I have two problems with this scene: For one, Guthrie’s not as powerful as Crowley, so how did he gain access to the crypt and coffin without leaving any evidence? And, two, would a devious demon like Crowley actually have trusted the location of his bones to anyone, particularly a demon under his rule?
When Guthrie returns, Rowena is lounging on the throne, though she quickly shifts into complaining about sciatica and explaining that she’d simply need to sit on a firm chair. Guthrie appears unconvinced, and while he confirms having the Blade, he says, “I will deliver it only to the king.” Rowena is none-too-happy with the demon’s loyalty, and coming close to him, tells him in a deceptively complimenting tone, “you more than any deserve this reward from a grateful monarch.” But the reward she speaks of is an angel blade through the gut. (And how did Rowena get her hands on an angel blade since all signs point to her still being a prisoner of sorts?) Guthrie’s meatsuit collapses to the floor, and Rowena scoffs, “Don’t screw with me sycophant.” Crowley arrives, confused by what he sees, and a supposedly alarmed and frightened Rowena asks, “What in the hell is going on in hell?” She claims that Guthrie was inciting unrest, using what she learned from her eavesdropping as “evidence.” According to her, Guthrie attacked, and “I had no choice.”
Crowley has been disbelieving of the idea that Guthrie was a traitor, but he acknowledges that he’d had a vision of the demon attacking him. He opens Guthrie’s bag and finds the Blade, as Rowena coos about prophecy and being an interpreter of signs. Crowley’s still unconvinced and questions, “How could he have known?” But Rowena “sadly” informs her son that there are “spies everywhere. I did try to warn you.” She also takes a moment to assure that Crowley’s not working with the “hunter Winchesters,” which he doesn’t confirm or deny. Rowena poses the question, “Who is there left for you to trust?” It’s a valid question, but the Crowley of yesteryear trusted no one, and it seems off to me that he “trusts” Guthrie, let alone that he might consider trusting Rowena. Perhaps we’ll learn that Crowley’s been in charge of the gameboard all along?
Claire is still with the man and woman whom she befriended while playing pool. They’re telling her a story about squatting in someone’s home when Claire gets a message from Dean. (And I really want to know who’s paying for her phone. Did Castiel get a family plan?) Claire, who’s apparently chosen to open up to these people, shares even more details, explaining that the call is from “Dean Winchester, the one who butchered Randy. I saw him standing there, soaked in blood, looking like he enjoyed it.” Though the woman expresses that they’re concerned for Claire and are willing to take care of Dean so that he’ll never bother her again, all of this heightens my suspicions about their motives. After all, why aren’t they acting alarmed by such details or encouraging her to go to the police?
Dean’s in the kitchen gathering the ingredients for his sandwich when Crowley calls to confirm that he has the Blade and will hold onto it until Dean removes the Mark. The call ends, but instead of making his sandwich, Dean goes and tells Metatron that they have the Blade, though he won’t confirm if it’s in the bunker or not. Rather than share the next step, though, Metatron lays it out that “every future step? They’re going to cost you. Big. Oh, and FYI, there’s a bunch.”
Dean simply pulls an angel blade out from the back waistband of his jeans (Um, I’d like to know if he has a harness or sheath or what, please) and lays it on the table where Metatron can see. The angel asks, “What are you doing there, slugger?” Dean shuts and locks the dungeon door and re-approaches his prisoner: “I’m settling a score that’s taking way too long to settle. And while I’m doing that I’m going to get some information and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. Because you’re going to tell me everything – all of it, and it ain’t going to cost me a damn dime. Slugger.”
Metatron rightfully looks worried, but even when Dean asks again what the next step is, the angel simply repeats his demands – even as he keeps a close watch on the angel blade. Dean’s unimpressed with Metatron’s insistence. “You’re confused,” he corrects. “Each step you don’t give me is going to cost you. And it’s been a long time coming… where do I begin? Stealing Cas’s grace, casting out the angels, making Gadreel kill Kevin using my brother’s hands, starting an angel war, oh and yeah, you killed me.”
The angel’s defense is to scoff at Dean’s threats and go for the figurative jugular – Dean’s self-worth. “My morality is being judged by Dean Winchester? How many people have suffered and died because they believed in you? How many times have you lied to Sam including, oh, by the way, when he was possessed by an angel? Oh and you say it’s all for the greater good but lately buddy… people die just because you want them to.” The words strike home, and Dean strikes out, punching Metatron repeatedly. His physical demonstration of anger only makes the angel happy, though, and Metatron encourages him. “Good, Dean. Go darker, go deeper. Surely you’ve noticed every time you respond, when the Mark gets you all twitchy, you fall deeper under its spell? You think roughing up a few humans and demons makes it worse, try messing with the Scribe of God, bucko.” This exchange leaves me wondering – again – just what exactly Metatron gets out of Dean going darkside, how is this all playing into the Scribe’s plans? Or is Metatron simply observing?
In the research room, Cas notes the late hour and decides to go for a drive and look for Claire. As he and Sam walk through the bunker (to the garage, I assume, since Cas had come in the front door), Sam sees the un-assembled sandwich ingredients on the counter and asks his friend, “Where’s Dean?” In sync, they take off down the hall.
In the dungeon, Metatron is redirecting the charges Dean leveled at him, though we miss whatever he said about stealing Cas’s grace and casting the angels out. But we hear him blame Kevin’s death and Gadreel’s possession of Sam on Dean, and he ends his evisceration of Dean’s character with, “Dean Winchester, whose entire existence is defined by a war on the dark and monstrous, bromancing his way around the country with the king of hell.” Angry, Dean suggests they “try this again,” but Metatron still refuses to divulge the information Dean wants.
Ignoring Sam, who’s beating on the door and yelling, Dean wields the knife and asks again about “the next step in removing this Mark from my arm.” Cas watches Sam as he continues to yell at his brother, and inside, Dean begins slicing at Metatron, cutting his face and chest. Tendrils of grace escape, and perhaps-not-so-coincidentally, the Mark of Cain begins to glow. As Metatron begins screaming in earnest, Cas finally intervenes, pushing Sam aside and gathering his power to blast the door open. It appears to take more energy for him than in the past, and his eyes glow blue, the latter of which I presume is because the Mark is active. When Castiel blasts the bedroom door in “The Things We Left Behind” (10×9), his eyes aren’t glowing, but they are when he grace-hugs Demon!Dean in “Soul Survivor” (10×3). What’s really interesting is that it’s when the Mark is glowing that Metatron pronounces in a prophetic tone very unlike his usual voice, “Behold, the river shall end at the source.” Is there some kind of grace-Mark connection happening? Perhaps when active grace is in proximity to the active Mark, some kind of reaction occurs? Or does an active Mark imbue Dean with powers we don’t yet know about?
Dean, who’s clearly in thrall to the Mark, is seconds from killing Metatron when Sam pulls his brother away, and Castiel unchains the angel. Though Sam promises Cas that “this won’t happen again,” Castiel insists on returning Metatron to heaven. “I gave my word [that he would be unharmed]. I have fences to mend in heaven and as it is, I have a lot to explain.” I’m unsure what fences Castiel is referring to here – his role in the so-called Trials? The orders he carried out while under Naomi’s mind-control? His stint as Godstiel? His role in the heavenly civil war? I’d have liked a 
bit more clarification on this point. Regardless, even if Castiel is upset with Dean nearly killing Metatron, it’s the Scribe who gets the last word: “You ever ask me for help again, I will choose death. You realize, it’s going to get worse, Dean. You’re going to get worse.”
Sometime later, Dean sits at a research table, his head in his hands. Sam asks if he’s okay, and Dean answers, “He said the river ends at the source.” Sam asks what it means, and Dean acknowledges, “Maybe nothing. It’s the last thing he said before you guys busted in.” Sam excuses what he and Cas did with, “We had to.” Dean’s isn’t upset and instead confirms that he was going to kill Metatron: “I couldn’t stop myself.” Sam assures his brother that they’ll figure it out and says that he’s been thinking about Cas’s statement that it would take a “powerful force” to remove the Mark. He reminds Dean that Cain, despite still having the Mark, has lived with it for years, and he suggests that maybe there’s a part of Dean that wants to give into it. He says, “Maybe you have to fight that. Maybe part of that ‘powerful force’ has to be you.” Dean considers what Sam says, but before he can answer, his phone rings. It’s Claire, and she agrees to meet with him. “Maybe it’s only fair to hear your side of it. Castiel seemed to trust you – a lot.” Dean agrees, “Yeah, okay, when do you want to meet?
The next scene is another that, while it serves the episode’s narrative purpose, just doesn’t entirely make sense to me. Dean drives to the trailer where Claire is apparently staying with her newfound friends, and he’s alone. I simply can’t believe that either Winchester thinks it’s a good idea for Dean to go on any solo missions right now, particularly after Dean just went “nuclear” on the Scribe of God. Still, alone Dean is, and when he doesn’t see Claire, he sits at a park bench overlooking the lake. Claire watches from inside the trailer as the man and woman approach Dean from opposite sides, respectively armed with an axe and a baseball bat. (I’m also not clear as to how Dean didn’t sense their approaching considering his juiced-up instincts.) When the would-be assailants get close, Claire runs out of the trailer screaming, “No,” and Dean immediately kicks into action.
In seconds, he takes their weapons and has them both on the ground. He raises the axe in the air, and Claire lets out another blood-curdling scream – she obviously thought he was about to hack them to death. He still takes the axe in hand, and she screams again, though he drives the blade into the park bench rather than into the people. The man and woman run away, and Claire stands there trembling, staring at Dean. Tearfully, she walks away, and – apparently? – Dean just leaves. Perhaps he had to fight with himself more than it appeared to resist killing the two adults, and he didn’t trust himself to go after Claire, or perhaps he simply felt like he’d make it worse?
In the episode’s final scene, Claire is walking down the road when she hears a car and turns, expecting to see a potential ride. Instead, it’s Castiel, driving the Casmobile. “How the hell did you find me?,” she asks. Castiel explains, “Angels are able to find those who pray to them.” Though Claire scoffs at that, saying she “gave up on praying a long time ago,” Cas clarifies that a formal prayer isn’t needed. “I can pick up on a longing…” This revelation, I think, explains how Castiel has been able to find Dean and Sam at times, despite their ribs being warded, and it also makes Purgatory and his subsequent separation from Dean all the more poignant. I also wonder if this tidbit won’t be important in episodes to come, particularly if Dean goes darker and rejects Sam and Cas’s support superficially yet longs for help. I also wonder when Castiel regained the ability to hear prayers – was it when he consumed Theo’s grace? (9×9).
Outside of canon questions, this scene reinforces that Castiel has irrevocably changed Claire’s life. She grew up in a prayer-oriented home, with devout parents, yet now she doesn’t pray. Despite the obvious and expected tensions with Castiel, though, they still have a connection, and he suggests that he may have heard her because “perhaps you wanted to tell me something?” Claire denies it at first but then says, “Maybe? I guess I just wanted to tell you I thought about what you said. I’m going to try doing things a little bit different, let go of a little bit of monster in me.” Castiel offers to help her with that, but she insists that she’s “got to go it alone. But I could maybe call sometime?”
A compromise reached, Claire then tells him to leave, saying lightheartedly, “Now, get out of here, would you? No one’s going to pick me up with that butt ugly car sitting there.” Castiel agrees, parting with, “I’ll see you, Claire.” But before he can get in the car, she stops him, “Oh, hey – not that you care, but I like you better in a tie.” Collins conveys clearly how pleased Castiel is with Claire’s sincere comment, and he smiles sweetly before getting into the car. Claire watches Castiel drive away, even as he watches her in the rearview mirror. The last thing he sees is her crossing the road behind him, and the angel contemplatively looks ahead as he drives away.
There are many parts of “The Hunter Games” that I like, though as a whole, it’s not a favorite. Although the episode comes across as overloaded at times, I really enjoy the character explorations, and we learn much about Sam, Dean, Castiel, Claire, Crowley, and Rowena. Personally, though, I’d prefer more development for narrative details that appear integral to the season’s thematic direction rather than lumping so much in a single installment. It’s also jarring to know that after such a detail-heavy episode, next week’s returns to the Monster of the Week format. I am hoping that “No Place Like Home” will meaningfully bridge – at least in some small way – to what happened with our characters this week. For me, that will go a long way towards fostering cohesion within the season’s arcs.
What did you think of “The Hunter Games”? Share your thoughts and speculations in the comments below. And for spoilery goodness, watch the promo and the sneak peek for next week’s “There’s No Place Like Home.” Supernatural airs Tuesdays at 9 pm ET on the CW network.