Supernatural gives its viewers something wonderful with “Don’t You Forget About Me.” Written by Nancy Won and directed by Stefan Pleszczynski, the episode revolves around Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes), Claire Novak (Kathryn Newton), and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen). It invokes Supernatural’s classic themes of family, redemption, and sacrifice and develops characters that already have so much potential (and should now be given their own show).
“Don’t You Forget About Me” opens in Sioux Falls, where Claire and Alex now live with Jody (9×19, 10×20). A teenaged couple are in a truck making out when something – someone? – approaches and yanks the young man out and onto the grass, holding blade to his throat. His attacker is Claire, and she demands to know, “What are you?”
Post title card, we see Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) researching online. His older brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) comes in carrying a bag of food. Sam reports that there’s no news of Amara, and Dean confirms that he hasn’t heard from Castiel (Misha Collins) since he was last in the bunker.
Dean’s telling Sam about “the Elvis,” a burger made with glazed donut buns, when his phone rings. He tells the caller, “Your Caddyshack review is way overdue.” But the conversation quickly becomes him agreeing to come “there” – and there is Sioux Falls.
Jody picks Alex up from high school; she smiles as she watches Alex and her boyfriend walking across the school lawn. The two are talking about the possibility of being prom king and queen; Alex has definitely settled in and adjusted to life here. Alex gets into Jody’s truck, and her bag slips, showing a pack of birth control pills. Jody sees but doesn’t say anything. When they pull into the drive, though, the Impala is parked there. Alex looks nervous, but Jody doesn’t know why Dean and Sam are there. “I didn’t put up the bat signal,” she says.
Inside, Dean and Sam are talking with Claire. She’s the one who called the brothers. Jody says that the “monsters” Claire’s concerned about don’t exist, but Dean says, “We figured we owed you the visit…” Jody says that they can be her backup.
We then get one of the best family dinner scenes ever. That none of the attendees die by episode’s end alone make this memorable; the happy pizza dinner scene with Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Charlie in “The Book of the Damned” (10×18) is forever marred by our beloved gamer’s subsequent murder at the hands of a clumsy narrative (10×21).
Dean and Sam are so excited about having a home-cooked dinner that it’s both adorable and heartbreaking. Their reaction reminds me of just how long it’s been since Dean’s nesting days in the bunker, pre-Mark of Cain and all (S8). The Winchesters are enthusiastic eaters, and Dean’s amazed that “you guys eat like this everyday?”
Claire’s more interested in talking about the case, though. The conversation quickly reveals that her hunts haven’t been successful, and Jody says the teen’s racked up a string of assaults and would be in big trouble if Jody weren’t the sheriff. Claire insists that she does have a case now, but Alex is tired of talking about monsters. “What about real life?,” she asks.
Claire runs with that, asking when Alex and Henry plan to head up to Jody’s cabin for a romantic rendezvous. Jody’s shocked. Dean’s watching the fall out with the same expression he has when watching his telenovelas (7×3), but Sam tries to excuse them from the table, citing, “This seems like a family business,” but Jody slams her hand on the table, ordering the Winchesters to “sit, stay.”
Jody takes the conversation further, admitting that she’s seen birth control pills in Alex’s backpack. She delivers a sex ed talk, but amusingly every time she looks at the Winchesters, they’re looking away or chewing or drinking wine. Dean repeatedly responds with a blank look and “what?” when she looks to him. After Jody delivers her talk, she excuses herself to the kitchen. Dean looks around the table and says, “This is fun.” Claire laughs at him. This entire scene is just plain awesome. I want more of this like Dean wants more mashed potatoes.
After dinner, Jody’s cleaning the kitchen, and Dean joins her, immediately pitching in to help with the dishes. Jody’s says she “loves those girls but I’m hanging on by her fingertips.” Dean says, “Sammy and I could’ve benefited from a little [motherly advice].” Jody points out that she’s not Claire or Alex’s mom, and it makes a difference to how they interact. Dean offers that they can talk to Claire. Jody has more information, though: Claire’s not just hunting seemingly innocent civilians, but she’s not attending classes and has no friends. Essentially, Jody’s describing what Dean’s teenage years were like: “It sounds kind of creepy when you put it like that,” he says.
Jody’s worried. “You know, I’ve got nothing against hunting, but if she’s hiding in it because she doesn’t have anything else – I’m just worried about her being so alone.” Dean says that he’ll ask Sam to talk to Claire because he’s better at the whole “talky thing.” I think there’s more to Dean side-stepping talking to Claire here, simply because he still focuses on hunting because he believes that he has nothing else. As the last episode reminded us, though, he wants more; he just doesn’t know how to get it.
When Sam checks on Claire, she’s in her room, snuggling the Grumpy Cat that Castiel gave her for her birthday (10×20), and working on her computer. She and Sam talk, and it’s not an entirely comfortable conversation. Sam suggests that she’s trying to escape something. Sam (like a good uncle) assures her he’s just trying to understand and asks her about the situation there. Claire admits that she sometimes feels like she’s a “little late to the Jody and Alex show.” Claire kind of wants to strike out on her own, and Sam says he understands her desire to hunt: “The monsters are always going to be there… but a chance at a family, home, school? That won’t be.” Claire’s expression suggests that she understands what he means.
Meanwhile, at Alex’s high school, the math teacher is walking to his car when someone attacks him from behind. The next morning, when Alex and her boyfriend arrive on campus, they see the teacher strung upside on the flagpole; he has clearly endured a violent death.
The Winchesters, in their FBI disguise, join Jody on the case. They’re sharing information when Claire shows up, in jeans and flannel, and behaving very un-official-like. When she taunts about the fake FBI, risking outing the brothers and Jody, Dean takes her aside and lectures her about respecting Jody more, going to school, and displaying good judgment when on a case. I like seeing Dean in dad-like mode – especially since Claire parallels Dean so much. In this scene, she’s even dressed like teen him, in layers of plaid and wearing a distinctive necklace.
Alex and Henry come over to them because school’s canceled. Alex says that they’re planning to hang out. Dean gives Henry the eye, and Alex and her boyfriend leave after an awkward, weighted moment. Claire rolls her eyes at Dean’s dad-like interfering and walks off. Dean does not appreciate people walking away from him. As they leave, Henry asks Alex in surprise, “You know the FBI?” Alex doesn’t claim to know the Winchesters, even as agents, answering, “Jody does.”
Jody and Sam talk to the school’s staff while Dean walks the halls with an EMF detector. The custodian, Mr. Wheeler, is oddly undisturbed by the crime scene and behaves “squirrely” during their discussion. They’re not finding anything, though.
Alex and Henry are walking in the woods. She’s upset over her favorite teacher’s violent death. “There are awful things out there,” Alex says. Henry asks what she means, and she tries to tell him about her past in vague terms. “I’ve done some really bad things,” she says. “Hurt people.” Flashbacks from her time with the vampire nest are shown. Henry assures her, “I don’t care. Whatever it is you did – I don’t.” They kiss, and it seems that Alex may have found something true after all.
Claire and Sam are researching when Dean and Jody return to the house. The material discovered at the school crime scene is asbestos. Sam shares that while Wheeler’s alibi checks out, his social security doesn’t. Dean and Sam are going to investigate Wheeler further, and Claire wants to go with as their agent-in-training. Jody puts the brakes on that because they have a meeting with the registrar; Claire tries to argue until Dean gives her a very loaded, dad-like look, and she relents.
Jody and Claire enter the garage. Claire’s complaining about her outfit: “I feel like a total asshat. Who dresses like this?” As they’re getting into the car, Wheeler sneaks up and knocks Jody out before attacking Claire. He shows his teeth, revealing that he’s a vampire. He beats on Claire, and when Jody tries to fight back, he snaps her leg and hits her. As Jody loses consciousness, she fumbles for her cell and calls Dean. The Winchesters are leaving the fake address that Wheeler had listed.
By the time the Winchesters return, Jody and Claire have been taken. Dean finds Claire’s knife and Jody’s phone, which rings. Using his FBI alias, Dean takes the message: Wheeler has been identified as a trucker from O’Neill, NE, who’s been missing for three years after his family was found exsanguinated. Sam makes the connection: That’s the same town where Alex’s nest was located. The brothers split up; Dean goes after Alex, and Sam takes Jody’s truck to check Wheeler’s office.
Dean calls Alex, instructing her to stay put until he gets there. Panicked, she tells Henry to leave her alone, but he won’t – plot twist: Henry is a vampire. When Dean arrives at the diner, Alex isn’t there, but her phone is on the ground near the dumpster. Sam’s searching uncovers an old school map that shows an indoor pool shut down because it had asbestos. The brothers head there. (I do have a question, here: Isn’t it assumed that they both attended school and/or lived in Sioux Falls at different points during their teen years? So wouldn’t they have remembered the pool on their own?)
In the building that houses the now-empty pool, exsanguinated victims line the floor in one corner. These are the missing people Claire had been investigating. She and Jody are restrained, and now that the monsters Claire has suspected are confirmed, Jody acknowledges, “You were right.”
Henry drags Alex into the building. “How’s this for a family reunion?,” Wheeler asks. “You figured out who I am?” Alex doesn’t remember him. Via flashback, we learn that three years ago, after he defended her against a jerk at a bar, he drove her home. When she got out of the car, the rest of the nest attacked him. She remembers now. While Wheeler taunts Alex, Jody and Claire spot a potential weapon and share a significant look.
“Leave her alone. She had no choice,” Jody yells. Wheeler’s story gets worse, though. He went home to tell his wife what had happened to him, and he was starving – he lost control and gutted his wife and son. Alex apologizes and says, “They made me.”
Wheeler says, “I tried to help you. I was a good man, and you know the only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that I would find you one day, and I would make you pay.” Henry shares that Alex has been tracked for months. Wheeler has waited to attack because he wanted her to be happy first, to have something to lose. He turned Henry and sent him after her. Henry says that otherwise he would’ve never had anything to do with Alex: “You were a complete freak.” Henry also reveals that he killed the math teacher who was Alex’s favorite.
Claire scoffs Henry, and Alex spits in his face. Wheeler hits her, and Henry goes after her, too. Wheeler stops him, though he grabs Claire. Jody and Alex protest that the FBI agents are really hunters, and they’re coming. Sam is entering the building as they talk. Wheeler has Claire, and Alex tries to bargain: She’ll work for them if they’ll let Claire and Jody go. Wheeler says he’ll consider it, but then he bites Claire’s neck. Sam hears her screams and makes his way up the stairs. Wheeler hits him from behind, and then Henry attacks.
While Henry and Wheeler are distracted with Sam, Jody points Claire to the tool she spotted earlier. Wheeler’s approaching Alex now, his knife in hand, while Henry and Sam fight. Claire sneaks up from behind and stabs him. Just as Jody frees herself, Dean chops off Wheeler’s head. He makes sure that Claire didn’t drink the vampires’ blood and cuts Alex free before helping Jody to her feet.
Sam stops beating Henry and hands him over to Alex with, “He’s all yours now.” Alex punches him, and Claire beheads him in a single stroke. The teens exchange a loaded look as his body crumples to the floor between them.
The next morning, Claire and Alex make breakfast for Jody. “We wanted to do something for you,” Claire says. Alex apologizes, “I’m sorry he hurt you – both of you…He almost killed you for what I did…” Jody puts a stop to Alex’s self-flagellation. “You were ready to give up your life for us,” she says. “That’s goodness. And that’s what’s scary about family. It gives you so much to lose.”
The Impala can be heard pulling into the driveway. I’m assuming the Winchesters joined them for breakfast. Dean and Claire talk. Claire says that she realizes now how much Jody cares and promises, “I solemnly swear not to hunt like a dumbass.” Jody’s going to help teach Claire some investigating trick.
Sam and Jody come out, and Sam has an armload of Tupperware holding leftovers, which makes Dean very happy. Sam goes to talk with Alex, and Claire joins them, while Dean and Jody speak separately. Sam cautions her that other vampires may be coming, and Alex says that she’ll be ready, but when she gets her life together, she may leave. Alex says, “I can’t be around what you all are doing…”
Dean asks Jody if she’ll be okay now that she’s outnumbered again, and Jody quips: “As long as everyone wears a condom, we’ll be fine.” Dean laughs. “I want that bumper sticker.”
Jody, Claire, and Alex stand in the driveway as the Winchesters drive away. As far as I’m concerned, this episode gives us the perfect set up for a spin-off if the CW will seize the day. (Add in Brianna Buckmaster’s Donna Hanscum, and resurrect Felicia Day’s Charlie Bradbury, too, please.)
“Don’t You Forget About Me” is one of my favorite episodes of the season. It’s heartwarming and funny, and by using Jody, Claire, and Alex so well, the narrative lets us see Dean and Sam in different lights – as men who still wish they had a mother to give them advice; as people who live hard and don’t get to enjoy the small joys in life like roasted chicken; and as mentors to Claire and Alex and as a friend to Jody. It’s way too easy to get caught in the pattern of the usual Dean and Sam dynamic, and I love learning new things about them by seeing them through other characters’ perspectives. It helps when the characters interacting with Dean and Sam are vivid, too: Rhodes lends her vivacious personality to Jody Mills, and Newton’s Claire is a snarky, feisty treasure. Though we haven’t seen Ramdeen’s Alex as often, she imbues her character with thoughtful sincerity, and the interactions between these three women are simply delightful.
The episode includes numerous flashbacks, and while some audience members likely needed them, especially for Alex’s season nine backstory, they seem a bit much for me at times. And while I don’t think that Castiel could have been in this episode without Casifer derailing the narrative’s focus, it’s odd that he’s never mentioned when the Winchesters are talking to Claire, not even as a passing reference. There is a silent nod to him with the Grumpy Cat inclusion, but still – it seems odd. Perhaps the Winchesters will see Castiel’s lack of involvement as a red flag that something is seriously wrong? If nothing else, with Claire’s hyperawareness of potential cases, I can’t imagine that she’ll overlook unusual behavior from him.
Seeing Jody, Claire, and Alex on my screen again only leaves me wanting more – preferably showcased on their own show! In the meantime, “Love Hurts” is next on Supernatural’s season 11 roster. The show airs Wednesdays at 9 pm ET on the CW Network.