S06.E19: Mommy Dearest

[Guest]

Sam, Dean, Bobby and Castiel track Eve to a small town in Oregon. The guys discover the townspeople have been converted to demons, but surprisingly, they all appear to be dying. When they finally do meet Eve, she decides to torture the brothers by bringing back their mother.

 

 

[DittyDotDot]

Another S6 episode that comes in even for me.

 

I like having the band together and everyone plays their parts well, but find the whole wrap up of the Eve storyline to be rather lackluster in the end. Dean's really the best part of this episode, IMO, and his genius plan to down the phoenix ash was marvelous.

 

And, Dean was totally right about Jefferson Starships--they are horrible and hard to kill. Hee!

[Dobian]

I didn't care at all for Eve as a villain.  She didn't have very much context, didn't have a dynamic personality, and there wasn't any personal connection between her and Sam and Dean, so I felt pretty ambivalent when Dean killed her even though the way he did it was awesome.  That's a far cry from season 5 and Lucifer.  Eve kind of reminds me of Glory from BTVS.  They're nothing alike as characters, but they are both contrived god villains that were made up to give their show's protagonists something to fight.  At least Crowley is back.  I love Crowley.

[GirlyGeek]

I have a weird affinity for this episode.  I actually liked Eve as a villain, but even more so loved seeing Samantha Smith again.  Loved how Dean could barely look at his 'mom'.  Sam and Dean both had that physical, disgusted reaction (reminds me of Jus en Bello when Hendrickson is badmouthing their Dad and they both sit up on the jail cot and are pissed off, lol)

However badly it turned out, I do love that they took the time to 'save' the two kids.  They needed that win, though, and having it turn so sour was hard to watch.

Dean's plan to ingest the phoenix ash was brilliant!  Love some smartDean!  And the Jefferson Starships will never not be funny  :)

[FlickChick]

On 10/9/2016 at 3:35 PM, GirlyGeek said:

Dean's plan to ingest the phoenix ash was brilliant!  Love some smartDean!  And the Jefferson Starships will never not be funny  :)

That idea was typical Dean who (almost always) plans ahead. Love it. I also loved the way he told Cas "don't say it" when they were teleported to the kids that were turned by Eve and found the dead uncle. So, so realistic Dean. :)

[Hanahope]

Agreed that Eve seemed pretty 'meh' at the end, though I did like that she turned into their mother to better explain her reasoning.  It was a good plan by Dean with the ash. 

And good for Dean to reject any and all demon deals.  Too bad Castiel didn't follow the same.  

[bettername2come]

I love the shot of Castiel appearing behind Dean and Dean's reaction. Amber Benson! And now she's dead. Buffy alumni don't fare well on this show. "No, a computer has buttons!" I relate to Bobby a little too much in that moment. "I think you hurt his feelings." I know that scene was improvised when Misha forgot his line and that makes me like it more. It's nice to see all four of my favorites out on a case together. That shot of all the dead Eds is super creepy. "You discovered it, you get to name it." "Jefferson Starships." And this is why your naming privileges got revoked, Dean. Sam headbutting and kicking in handcuffs gives me life. I love when they save kids. Even if Castiel doesn't. "They might find more wayward orphans to rescue along the way." "Is there anyone in this diner who is not a flesh-eating monster?" "Me and you." I love Dean being just offended by Eve looking like Mary. It's nice to see Samantha Smith get to do something new and she plays evil monster well. Dammit, Cas was right. But Dean's a genius. Did they all ingest the phoenix ash or just Dean? I'm sure the Crowley reveal was shocking 6 years ago, but I honestly had no memory of him being fake dead as long as he was. Nice touch playing Jefferson Starship at the end. 

[bethy]

16 minutes ago, bettername2come said:

"You discovered it, you get to name it." "Jefferson Starships." And this is why your naming privileges got revoked, Dean.

What I loved about that was Sam just went along with it and started calling them Starships in all seriousness. You could tell he thought it was dumb, but since that was the rule and Dean had named it....

[FlickChick]

I'm fairly sure that just Dean ingested the Phoenix ash - that fifth shell to be exact - that he had the empty one in his pocket and pulled it out when he said: "One shell, one ounce of whiskey - down the hatch. A little musty on the after-burn". I love smart!Dean!

[RulerofallIsurvey]

I kinda love this ep just for the "Jefferson Starships" bit alone.  And Sam fighting while handcuffed behind his back.  

I recognize the boy Joe from some Nickelodeon show (don't ask), but I can't remember the name of it now.  

Something I never caught before: it seems Crowley gets the power of the souls in Hell, the angels get the power of the souls in Heaven, (yeah, that's old news) but this....Eve got the power of the souls in Purgatory.   I'm guessing that meant she kept Purgatory running something like heaven and hell were run.  But I wonder who took over after Eve died.  

[DeeDee79]

5 hours ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

But I wonder who took over after Eve died.  

Interesting question! It makes you wonder if when we're shown the Purgatory flashbacks during season 8 if the monsters were running amok and attacking each other because Mother of All wasn't there to keep them in check.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

12 hours ago, DeeDee79 said:

Interesting question! It makes you wonder if when we're shown the Purgatory flashbacks during season 8 if the monsters were running amok and attacking each other because Mother of All wasn't there to keep them in check.

That's kind of what I was thinking.   Taken to the All Eps thread for more.

[Iju]

aw, cass' slump in the chair when dean pushes his feelings aside. don't worry i will hug you cass! ....somehow.

the staff sure chose a great looking neighborhood. as soon as they were teleported there i wanted to get a house inside it immediately.

this is what, the first time bobby has tagged with the boys? i was shocked to see him asking questions with sam and dean in the jail. i was like "who is that guy-WTF?!?" haha

"JEFFERSON STARSHIPS!" it wasn't dean but sam's saying of the new name that made me crack up. he said it with such seriousness. it reminded me of "VATICAN CAMEOS" in sherlock even though it was an entirely different situation.

i hated every inch of eve. how she thought she could control the boys by mere intimidation. she may know their names but not much else.

who else cannot love dean's genuis idea of drinking the ashes, which also shows his total non-underestimating of eve. he was taking everything with him.

man oh man the show doesn't take long to corrupt their characters does it? what is cass planning exactly??? D: i still have faith in him, though, the most the show has given the audience right of is suspicion.

Edited April 28, 2018 by Iju

[The Companion]

Jefferson Starships was hilarious. Eve was a bit of a let down. She is the mother of all monsters, so she should know a ton about Dean and Sam. Yet she underestimates them. 

I didn't understand why she bit Dean to begin with. She has turned everyone else by touch. And why was she working every monster into a frenzy if her plan was to create a new monster? 

[Katy M]

14 hours ago, The Companion said:

I didn't understand why she bit Dean to begin with. She has turned everyone else by touch. And why was she working every monster into a frenzy if her plan was to create a new monster? 

Because he told her to?  And, to be fair, the only ones we saw her turning didn't work out so well.  Maybe when she perfected it, she bit.

Why wouldn't/couldn't she want to do both?  If she wants monsters to take over the earth (IIRC that was her plan, right?) then you'd use the existing and create a more efficient one.  And, you'd especially use the existing ones before you had the new monster ready to go.

[The Companion]

41 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Because he told her to?  And, to be fair, the only ones we saw her turning didn't work out so well.  Maybe when she perfected it, she bit.

Why wouldn't/couldn't she want to do both?  If she wants monsters to take over the earth (IIRC that was her plan, right?) then you'd use the existing and create a more efficient one.  And, you'd especially use the existing ones before you had the new monster ready to go.

I guess i wish they had fleshed it all out more. Those are both great explanations but they could easily have been worked into the show. Eve could have bragged about her monster army. 

[Katy M]

Random stupid thought.  So, The guys discover a bunch of dead monsters.  Bobby tells Dean he can name them.  Dean names them Jefferson Starships because they're horrible and hard to kill.  Which I find odd, since they're all dead.  Why would you come upon a bunch of dead anythings and immediately give them the attribute of "hard-to-killness."  

Too much time on my hands?

[DeeDee79]

56 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Random stupid thought.  So, The guys discover a bunch of dead monsters.  Bobby tells Dean he can name them.  Dean names them Jefferson Starships because they're horrible and hard to kill.  Which I find odd, since they're all dead.  Why would you come upon a bunch of dead anythings and immediately give them the attribute of "hard-to-killness."  

Too much time on my hands?

David Freiberg is still alive and he was one of the original members. That’s about it. 😕

[Katy M]

16 minutes ago, DeeDee79 said:

David Freiberg is still alive and he was one of the original members. That’s about it. 😕

I didn't mean Jefferson Starship was all dead (or not). I meant the monsters were all dead.

[DeeDee79]

13 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I didn't mean Jefferson Starship was all dead (or not). I meant the monsters were all dead.

Ohhh. Ok then.

[MagnusHex]

Well, they finally gave Eve a relatable motive. Alas, too little too late, and she's dead anyway. Yet another pretty female villain that got slaughtered quickly without getting any decent substance for her character (plus Anora...). Those who called this show misogynic must've had a field day with this episode.

But you have to admit... that was an epic (and clever) way to kill off whom we had assumed to be the Big Bad. Dean's method of execution of Eve almost makes up for the episode.

Plus, it's just a generally fun episode with some nice jokes (Cas' butt burn joke). I also like how the strength of Dean and Sam's relationship as brothers was subtly (very subtly) put on display here as they brought the kid brothers home. Dean and Sam didn't need to say a word to each other, just an exchange of smiles as they're reminded of their own sibling and how far they've both come.

Speaking of the little monsters... damn. I knew they were gonna meet with some awful fate, but seeing children come into harm just always feels uncomfortable.

Cas becoming more brutal and possibly turning to the dark side. There's been foreshadowing of this, so I was expecting it. And obviously, Crowley couldn't die since he appears in later seasons (I think?). None of this is surprising, but you have to admit, it's been a hodgepodge of ideas thrown in this season, lacking a strong consistent theme or arc. From Samless to Skinner Campbell, then Eve and now Cas and Crowley again. A season with multiple plot/character elements could work, but only if they gel together. Let's hope later episodes would gel them somehow.

3.5/5

[FlickChick]

One of my favorite Dean scenes in this one: "Bite me!". "Phoenix ash. One shell, one ounce of whiskey down the hatch; a little musty on the afterburn." Absolutely classic scene. Love me some smart Dean.

There was a lot of conversation around about the many "mini arcs" in this season. Apparently, Soulless Sam was supposed to last longer, so I think it was back to the think tank flesh out the season.

[DeeDee79]

On 10/30/2023 at 1:55 PM, MagnusHex said:

Well, they finally gave Eve a relatable motive. Alas, too little too late, and she's dead anyway. Yet another pretty female villain that got slaughtered quickly without getting any decent substance for her character (plus Anora...). Those who called this show misogynic must've had a field day with this episode.

At this point, we had gotten as many male human and supernatural villains as there were females. I don't think that killing Eve had anything to do with misogyny but everyone has a different interpretation. 

I've always enjoyed this episode. I liked seeing them having to work around not having Cas's powers and I loved Dean outsmarting Eve and getting the kill. I also enjoyed the humor sprinkled throughout, particularly Dean's glee at coming up with Jefferson Starships for Eve's monsters. 

Spoiler

The Crowley reveal and the ending was also a great way to set up the next episode when we find out what Castiel has been up to while the boys were dealing with Eve and Sam's soullessness.