S09.E02: Devil May Care

[DittyDotDot]

Quote

Sam and Dean are investigating recent deaths when they hurry to rescue an old friend and come face to face with Abaddon.

 

This episode has totally escaped my memory. I mean, I remember them locking Crowley in the dungeon and that Abaddon came back and I mostly remember Dean telling Kevin he was family, but 90 percent of the rest of it...totally forgotten. Right now, I think that was for the best.

 

I do enjoy Abaddon being alive and find her long-live-the-queen speech rather entertaining--especially the old lady demon--she was snarky fun. However, I also find it absolutely hilarious--and not in a good way--that she goes on and on about how the angels will bow down to her, but when one little weakened angel shows up she just bolts. And, I'm rather surprised holy water has any ill effects on her considering that it didn't even singe Yellow Eyes one bit back in S1. Isn't she supposed to be a Knight of Hell--whatever.

 

I also absolutely love Crowley chained to a table. For most of S8, I was wishing someone would stab him in his face, but I'm cool with him when he's chained in the dungeon. I don't know why it cracks me the hell up, but it does.

 In fact, I kinda wish he was still chained up there.

 

Kevin feakin' Solo was priceless and Kevin and Crowley's scenes together are just pure gold, IMO. But, if Dean calling Kevin family isn't the biggest and most obvious sign of doom, I don't know what is. Run, Kevin, as fast and as far as you can. Sigh. I sometimes forget these silly people on the TV can't actually hear me.

 

As to the rest, eh, whatever. I find Tracy their totally typical go-to female character--hot and sexy in her Daisy Duke's and said to be kickass--a total waste of screen time, IMO. Another boring and clichéd hunter, whose is such an old "friend" that we've heard nary a word of in 8 years didn't really do much for me either. And Dean clutching his downstairs pearls...yeah, the less said about this the better.

 

Off to start forgetting it once again. ;)

[catrox14]

Upon re-watch I really like this episode a lot and it's one of my favorites of s9. IMO it flew under the radar and was overlooked because of the annoying new hunter in her Daisy Dukes. But you take her out of the episode and it's a corker IMO.

 

Everything between Dean and Abaddon was terrifying. She assaults him, threatens in a highly sexualized way how she was going to use his meatsuit to torment other people and she was going to make him watch.  Spoilers for the rest of s9 IM

HOLY MOTHER OF FORESHADOWING or serendipity but Dean saying if you see black eyes, they gotta go...OOF MY HEART. And IMO Abbadon threatening Dean they way she did is why Dean wanted to kill her so badly. IMO Abaddon made it personal for Dean and was threatening him in the way Alistair did. That's my head!canon and I don't think it's that far fetched. I wish the show had talked about what Abaddon said and did to Dean here at some other point in the season 

 

I also really liked the opening shot of Dean laying on the picnic table and being shot in the wonderful natural light. It reminded me of early seasons of SPN. I never really minded the shift in s3 to the natural lighting because the episodes still had a dark tone over all even without the desaturated filming style. That said, I disliked the further shift to brighter colors in s8. 

Edited January 18, 2015 by catrox14

[Demented Daisy]

I'll never like this episode because they screwed up the military so badly.  FBI agents would never be allowed on a military installation without the express consent of the installation commander and they definitely would not have jurisdiction to investigate.  Ever.  I'll spare the rest of the rant about uniforms and ranks and an Army cop investigating the disappearance of sailors.

 

And Kevin's ruse would not work.  20 years ago, post-Tailhook, it would have.  But today?  Not a chance in Hell.  I said it back then and I'll say it again.  The whole scene was written just so Kevin could take down a "cold, hard bitch", IMO.  Hate, hate, hate.

[catrox14]

I thought the episode was a big table setter for the rest of s9. It put  Dean and Abaddon in the same place to establish that she was a legitimate threat; it put Crowley in chains and near Kevin and established that Kevin has some hacking skills.

 

I really didn't think Kevin's taking down of the military officer was just because she was a woman. IMO that character could have been a man or woman and Kevin would have accessed blackmail info to get the desired result.

[Demented Daisy]

It's not that he blackmailed her, it's what he found:

 

My favorite is you in a sombrero doing a body shot off some naked guy in a Luchador mask. Super classy.

 

 

Would they have used that kind of blackmail on a man?  

 

ETA  Besides, what she did was a) presumably legal; and b) not exactly morally reprehensible.  But the implication is that it was and if anyone found out about it, she would be in some sort of trouble with her commanding officer.  Which she wouldn't.

 

By the way, she was a sergeant, not an officer.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Demented Daisy

[DittyDotDot]

I agree Daisy, the whole conceit is just stupid. I still find it amusing that Kevin calls himself Kevin feakin' Solo, though. Kevin's completely out of his element, so it really shouldn't have worked. I would've loved it if it hadn't worked and Sam and Dean had actually gotten kicked out, but Kevin was able to hack in and get the surveillance footage of Abaddon anyway--which was what they needed to move the case forward.

 

That's kinda the problem with this episode, and really the show in general in S9, they make everything so complicated and contrived mostly to set up a bad joke. To me, so much of it is completely unnecessary and gets in the way of the storytelling. I think it would've kept it more grounded and organic if they just scaled some of it back. But, I'm kinda weird.

[catrox14]

My favorite is you in a sombrero doing a body shot off some naked guy in a Luchador mask. Super classy.

 

My point was they could have written this for a man especially if it was a married male soldier. The dialogue of "super classy" could have applied as well. He could have been doing a shot off a female in a luchador mask.  I just didn't think that was a blatant example of going after the female for the sake of her being a female to take her down for being a  female in a position of power. It was just kind of a stupid way to get the soldier to back down and to set up the showdown between Dean and Abaddon.  MV I know.

Edited January 18, 2015 by catrox14

[rue721]

That's kinda the problem with this episode, and really the show in general in S9, they make everything so complicated and contrived mostly to set up a bad joke. To me, so much of it is completely unnecessary and gets in the way of the storytelling. I think it would've kept it more grounded and organic if they just scaled some of it back.

 

I agree...but completely hypocritically, I was also fine with Tracy, if only because of that joke of cutting to the van bouncing up and down and then blood splattering all over the back windows. Cracks me up every time.

 

I actually liked Tracy fine in general, I thought the actress was good and liked that she was carrying a justified grudge against the guys. It's nice when they get a little bit of deserved friction imo. She just wasn't given much of anything to do. The other hunter was given even less. What a waste.

 

I also hated that set where they had the "showdown" with Abbadon. It looked like it had been built to film a live-action Scooby Doo episode, and I couldn't take it seriously. However, props for the shadow of Gadreel's torn up wings when he took over Sam's body to save him in the fight. That's one of my favorite images of recent years.

 

ETA  Besides, what she did was a) presumably legal; and b) not exactly morally reprehensible.  But the implication is that it was and if anyone found out about it, she would be in some sort of trouble with her commanding officer.  Which she wouldn't.

 

I don't know anything about the military, but this was just straight up confusing to me. What's wrong with wearing a sombrero and getting drunk at a bar? That's not even especially embarrassing.

 

Though, I did like how Kevin recovered from the terrible start to the call. I wish the rest of that scene weren't so mind-bendingly stupid that it kind of ruined the joke. DittyDotDot's right, it would have been better if Kevin's recovery still wasn't enough, the guys still failed to get into the base (?) -- but Kevin got what they needed for them anyway. Meh but like I said, I like when the guys get some friction.

[Demented Daisy]

My point was they could have written this for a man especially if it was a married male soldier. 

 

Had they mentioned her being married, you wouldn't have heard a peep from me.  Or if the guy she took a shot off of was her subordinate.  That could have gotten her in trouble.  But they didn't, so I have to take the scene as it was written:

 

"Bad woman!  You did something sexually ambiguous!  Good girls don't do that!  I'm going to make sure everyone knows if you don't do what I want!"

 

But as you said, mileage varies.

[supposebly]

I wouldn't have minded the Daisy Dukes so much if she had changed after the shorts did their job luring the monster. But every sensible person would have changed into  long pants afterwards considering what came after.

[DittyDotDot]

I don't even care about the Daisy Dukes--I'm not sure when she would've had a chance to change, the demons captured her right as she exited the van after the vamp kill--I just think she was a total waste of a character that could've been interesting, IMO. Her entire purpose seemed to be to stand around and look hot until she gets one little line of Sam-shaming that had no bearing on anything what so ever in the end and then ushered off screen like a good little lady when things get cooking only to return when the danger had passed. The male hunter guy is just as much of a waste in my mind too--one scene of him and Dean talking about Bobby doesn't really get me feeling much of anything when he confesses he sold them out . I just think they were trying so hard to make the characters personal to Sam and Dean, but forgetting they already had so much going on in the episode that they didn't have the time to properly introduce, not only one, but two new characters too boot.

 

I also hated that set where they had the "showdown" with Abbadon. It looked like it had been built to film a live-action Scooby Doo episode, and I couldn't take it seriously.

 

I know what you mean. For some reason, I seem to remember there being some issues with the original location they wanted to film at and if I recall correctly they filmed it on a Falling Skies set in the end and added the lines about the toxic spill to explain it. Probably why it comes off as odd. In fact, if I recall this was the first episode shot of the season in order to accommodate Mark Sheppard's schedule. Not that it has much to do about anything, just remembered when I was trying to jog my memory about this set. Sorry, my brain is a mess sometimes.

[Goldmoon]

The frayed Shadow Wings were a thing of beauty.  That is all.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

Is it time for some sometimes snarky observations?  I think so!

• One bonus to being resurrected from charcoal - you rise complete with awesome smoky eye make up, ain't that right, Abaddon?  Death Becomes Her.
• Wait - I thought they gave Kevin the key to the bunker.  So how then did Dean open the door from the outside?   I didn't realize the alarms blaring meant that it went into lockdown mode and Kevin couldn't leave.  Hm.
• Crowley in the dungeon in solitary - best. torture. ever.
• I always like when they have good interactions with other hunters - being on friendly terms and passing on info, etc.  It just never makes sense to me that it seems like it's not something that happens more often.  
• I don't understand why the bus thing was a military case to begin with.  Unless it happened on a military base, which I don't think it did. (Since there were "civilians" on board.)   It looked like a city bus, so just because there were military personnel involved, it wouldn't automatically make it the jurisdiction of the military.    
• Kevin makes a terrible "Bobby", but Kevin Freakin' Solo was awesome!  He hacked that a little too quick though, tbh.  Sam was trying hard to suppress his grin when Sarge called them pretty boy agents.  The only explanation I can think why forwarding some compromising pics to her commanding officer might be a problem is if she were supposed to be on duty when they were taken.  
• Why oh why do people let other people goad them into doing something they know they shouldn't?  Vanity?  Ego?  (Are those the same thing?)  Haven't any of them seen "Back to the Future?"  Geez, Kevin.  Don't drag race Crowley.
• Local chemical plant sprung a leak and they only evacuated 3 square blocks?  It'd be more like 3 sq. miles, irl.
• Awful careless of Abaddon and her minions to leave the two bound hunters unattended.
• Geez, Irv, could you get any more misogynistic?  The whole 'she's got a mouth on her' in front of the guys was disgusting.  Really.  I can't believe the show even had that line.  I didn't just cringe, I think I threw up in my mouth a little.  Would he have said that about a new male hunter?  Bet not.
• I am really sad that the military guys had to die.  Not the demons, but the soldiers (Sailors?  They were wearing blue camo...) they inhabited.  
• I'm trying very hard to see Sam putting his hand on Tracy's back when they were splitting up as chivalrous - and I really don't think Sam meant anything bad by it.  Maybe it was unconscious?  But in light of that asshole remark a few minutes ago by Irv, it comes off very chauvinist.  Again, it wouldn't have happened if it had been a male.  The thing is, the guys have never come across as chauvinist before, so it bothers me that this does.  
• Was this part of the episode taken straight out of some teenage girl's fanfic?  Cause that's how it seems to me.  'A demon slaughtered my family and I'm a hot chick who became a hunter because of it and now I get to share some UST with Sam Winchester.'  Okay.  I didn't need this.  I also didn't need the 'reminder' that Sam let Lucifer out and started the Apocolypse - because weren't there 65 other seals that had to be broken first in order for that last one to have any gusto?  What about whoever was responsible for those other 65 that came first?  Nope, not their fault at all.  Not one teeny tiny 1/66th their fault whatsoever...(yes, I'm being very sarcastic, in case it didn't come across.)  Now I get that maybe Tracy didn't know about the whole 66 seals deal.  But the show writers sure as hell know.
• Crowley actually had some good points about the way Kevin's been (and will be) treated.  After all, that's pretty much how they treated him last Season when he was on Garth's mother ship.  So the 'you're family' speech fell a little flat for me.  They sure as hell haven't treated him like family.  Oh, I don't know.  Maybe Dean really does believe it.  But Sam didn't look for him, did he?  And even Dean had some seriously inconsiderate/asshole moments last season - like when Kevin was worried about Crowley being in his head.  So the 'we would die for you' line means absolutely zippo to me.  And it should to Kevin too.  It means they are going to get him killed.  Poor kid. 
• It was a thing of beauty when Zeke took over and blasted the demons. 
• Tracy is one slow ass runner and/or driver.  3 blocks and it took her that long to get there?  I guess she couldn't figure out how to engage Baby's warp drive.
• I actually thought that was a little hypocritical of Dean to talk Kevin out of looking for his mom.  Imagine that had been Dean given a smidgen of hope that Sam was still alive.  He'd have run with it.  
• Very interesting line from Sam that he looks around and sees friends and family and is happy with his life for the first time in...forever.  So in spite of all his declarations to the contrary, he wasn't really happy with his life with Angry Lady.  Nor was he really happy with his life at Stanford.  Sam wants friends and family around.  He wants community.

[Demented Daisy]

11 hours ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

I don't understand why the bus thing was a military case to begin with.  Unless it happened on a military base, which I don't think it did. (Since there were "civilians" on board.)   It looked like a city bus, so just because there were military personnel involved, it wouldn't automatically make it the jurisdiction of the military.

Hi, military spouse here.  City buses are allowed on military installations.  Likewise, lots of civilians work on bases.  So it's possible it happened on base.

The military will always run their own investigation, jurisdiction or not.

11 hours ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

I am really sad that the military guys had to die.  Not the demons, but the soldiers (Sailors?  They were wearing blue camo...) they inhabited.

Yes, they were Navy personnel.  The woman investigating was an Army sergeant -- which is a whole other set of problems, but that can be explained with joint bases.  Not sure the writers knew that, though.  Also, I remember something being off about her uniform, but I haven't watched the episode since it aired live.  I think she had the wrong stripes.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

8 hours ago, Demented Daisy said:

Hi, military spouse here.  City buses are allowed on military installations.  Likewise, lots of civilians work on bases.  So it's possible it happened on base.

The military will always run their own investigation, jurisdiction or not.

Hi Military Spouse!  You have my deepest admiration and best wishes!  I did not know that city buses were allowed on military installations, so thank you for sharing that.  

Anyhoo - I couldn't tell if the bus picked up the sailors on base or not.  It almost looked like they were coming out of a train station, but it doesn't really matter in light of your last sentence there.  I also didn't know the military would run their own investigation, jurisdiction or not.  But tell me, if it were not on base, would the military investigative element have the power to restrict access to the FBI or even local law enforcement?  I mean, just because they also conduct their own investigation doesn't mean that they control the crime scene, does it?

[Demented Daisy]

17 minutes ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

But tell me, if it were not on base, would the military investigative element have the power to restrict access to the FBI or even local law enforcement?  I mean, just because they also conduct their own investigation doesn't mean that they control the crime scene, does it?

Okay, things get complicated here.  The local PD and the military will either run their investigations concurrently, consecutively, or (under certain circumstances) the local PD and the military will negotiate over who gets jurisdiction.  It appeared as though the military was conducting the investigation so, yes, they would have control of the crime scene.

Basically, things could have happened the way it was presented (if I am remembering correctly), but only if it happened off base.  Sam and Dean never would have been able to get on base, FBI badges or not.  

[bettername2come]

"You're alive?!" "Yeah, cause you're a crappy shot." Ah, Kevin. Almost kills a Winchester and he's still my favorite thing about my least favorite seasons. Kevin Freakin Solo! He and Crowley play off each other so well. Dean gives a girl he just met the keys to Baby? That's trust. I'm already sick of Abaddon, but threatening to possess Dean is a solid villain threat. The practically skeletal shadow wings are a cool image. Jared is so great at playing characters who aren't Sam. I love the scene between Kevin and Dean, but him calling Kevin family seems more forced on binge watch than it did in weekly viewings. I do believe he cares about Kevin. I do believe he's protective. I do believe in his own twisted, won't admit it way, he loves Kevin, but the fact is, they just haven't been that nice to Kevin. And Kevin is this messed up kid who's lost everything and gotten handed this crap destiny and the Winchesters are the only ones who care about him and you know, they kind of suck at it. He deserves to be loved!

I think I need to find start a Kevin thread. 

Edited August 14, 2017 by bettername2come

[Hanahope]

So not using devils trap bullets?  Why not?  Seems like a great solution.  

Lov d seeing Crowley in the dungeon.  Glad Kevin wasn't completely taken in by Crowley, and showed skills, but the boys do need to consider Kevin more than just a resource.

[Wayward Son]

This is one of the few S9 episodes that I actually like and consider as holding up well in a rewatch. It had an interesting case of the week and helped to further establish Abbadon as a legitimate threat to both the Winchesters and Crowley’s position. I didn’t mind the shows use of Traci. She’s not a character I love, but her behaviour made sense to me. I liked that while she made her understandable dislike of Sam here she didn’t let it get in the way of the job or cause risks to their lives. Alaina Huffman is definitely the star of this episode and the AbbaDean scene was the best of the episode IMO.

[Iju]

i don't like abbadon at all, i want crowley to get his well deserved throne back. i want her to burn :(

i wonder is traci just a one time character or will we see her more.

also angel-sam is A W E S O M E holy cow! that was an epic scene.

[The Companion]

On 1/18/2015 at 8:18 PM, Demented Daisy said:

 

Had they mentioned her being married, you wouldn't have heard a peep from me.  Or if the guy she took a shot off of was her subordinate.  That could have gotten her in trouble.  But they didn't, so I have to take the scene as it was written:

 

"Bad woman!  You did something sexually ambiguous!  Good girls don't do that!  I'm going to make sure everyone knows if you don't do what I want!"

 

But as you said, mileage varies.

I think they could have also said she was in uniform or on duty. Agree that drinking in a bar isn't exactly blackmail material.

On 3/15/2015 at 10:09 PM, Goldmoon said:

The frayed Shadow Wings were a thing of beauty.  That is all.

Those alone knock my enjoyment of this episode up a notch

On 7/22/2016 at 6:50 PM, RulerofallIsurvey said:

Is it time for some sometimes snarky observations?  I think so!

• One bonus to being resurrected from charcoal - you rise complete with awesome smoky eye make up, ain't that right, Abaddon?  Death Becomes Her.
• Wait - I thought they gave Kevin the key to the bunker.  So how then did Dean open the door from the outside?   I didn't realize the alarms blaring meant that it went into lockdown mode and Kevin couldn't leave.  Hm.
• Crowley in the dungeon in solitary - best. torture. ever.
• I always like when they have good interactions with other hunters - being on friendly terms and passing on info, etc.  It just never makes sense to me that it seems like it's not something that happens more often.  
• I don't understand why the bus thing was a military case to begin with.  Unless it happened on a military base, which I don't think it did. (Since there were "civilians" on board.)   It looked like a city bus, so just because there were military personnel involved, it wouldn't automatically make it the jurisdiction of the military.    
• Kevin makes a terrible "Bobby", but Kevin Freakin' Solo was awesome!  He hacked that a little too quick though, tbh.  Sam was trying hard to suppress his grin when Sarge called them pretty boy agents.  The only explanation I can think why forwarding some compromising pics to her commanding officer might be a problem is if she were supposed to be on duty when they were taken.  
• Why oh why do people let other people goad them into doing something they know they shouldn't?  Vanity?  Ego?  (Are those the same thing?)  Haven't any of them seen "Back to the Future?"  Geez, Kevin.  Don't drag race Crowley.
• Local chemical plant sprung a leak and they only evacuated 3 square blocks?  It'd be more like 3 sq. miles, irl.
• Awful careless of Abaddon and her minions to leave the two bound hunters unattended.
• Geez, Irv, could you get any more misogynistic?  The whole 'she's got a mouth on her' in front of the guys was disgusting.  Really.  I can't believe the show even had that line.  I didn't just cringe, I think I threw up in my mouth a little.  Would he have said that about a new male hunter?  Bet not.
• I am really sad that the military guys had to die.  Not the demons, but the soldiers (Sailors?  They were wearing blue camo...) they inhabited.  
• I'm trying very hard to see Sam putting his hand on Tracy's back when they were splitting up as chivalrous - and I really don't think Sam meant anything bad by it.  Maybe it was unconscious?  But in light of that asshole remark a few minutes ago by Irv, it comes off very chauvinist.  Again, it wouldn't have happened if it had been a male.  The thing is, the guys have never come across as chauvinist before, so it bothers me that this does.  
• Was this part of the episode taken straight out of some teenage girl's fanfic?  Cause that's how it seems to me.  'A demon slaughtered my family and I'm a hot chick who became a hunter because of it and now I get to share some UST with Sam Winchester.'  Okay.  I didn't need this.  I also didn't need the 'reminder' that Sam let Lucifer out and started the Apocolypse - because weren't there 65 other seals that had to be broken first in order for that last one to have any gusto?  What about whoever was responsible for those other 65 that came first?  Nope, not their fault at all.  Not one teeny tiny 1/66th their fault whatsoever...(yes, I'm being very sarcastic, in case it didn't come across.)  Now I get that maybe Tracy didn't know about the whole 66 seals deal.  But the show writers sure as hell know.
• Crowley actually had some good points about the way Kevin's been (and will be) treated.  After all, that's pretty much how they treated him last Season when he was on Garth's mother ship.  So the 'you're family' speech fell a little flat for me.  They sure as hell haven't treated him like family.  Oh, I don't know.  Maybe Dean really does believe it.  But Sam didn't look for him, did he?  And even Dean had some seriously inconsiderate/asshole moments last season - like when Kevin was worried about Crowley being in his head.  So the 'we would die for you' line means absolutely zippo to me.  And it should to Kevin too.  It means they are going to get him killed.  Poor kid. 
• It was a thing of beauty when Zeke took over and blasted the demons. 
• Tracy is one slow ass runner and/or driver.  3 blocks and it took her that long to get there?  I guess she couldn't figure out how to engage Baby's warp drive.
• I actually thought that was a little hypocritical of Dean to talk Kevin out of looking for his mom.  Imagine that had been Dean given a smidgen of hope that Sam was still alive.  He'd have run with it.  
• Very interesting line from Sam that he looks around and sees friends and family and is happy with his life for the first time in...forever.  So in spite of all his declarations to the contrary, he wasn't really happy with his life with Angry Lady.  Nor was he really happy with his life at Stanford.  Sam wants friends and family around.  He wants community.

Yes to so much of this.

Crowley alone truly is the worst punishment for him. He is as bad as Negan in TWD. Shut up, Crowley. PS, way to soundproof that dungeon, Men of Letters.

Agree about Irv's grossness and the touching afterwards. I am not a touchy person anyway. 

I did like Tracy, more on that below, but it did seem to take an inordinate amount of time for her to find the car and get it back to them because plot reasons.

The friends and family thing stuck out to me too. One of the glaring things that stuck out last season was how Sam's "normal life" was still exceptionally isolated. Unlike Dean and Lisa, where Dean knew the neighbors and had a drinking buddy, Sam was holed up with one person. 

And.then there is Kevin. I want to make a joke about how they do treat him like family by keeping him in the dark and lying to him, but the writers have really missed the mark with him and it is hard to watch. We needed something. More bonding. Less talk of Kevin's utility. Something more to give that speech impact.

Meanwhile, although the situations are very different and Dean is correct that Kevin would be squished like a bug, it is really annoying that we spent an entire season talking about how Sam should have looked for Dean, and now Dean is telling Kevin to give up on his mom because she is dead or may as well be. What? At least promise to look for her or include it in the interrogation. 

On 10/26/2017 at 4:54 AM, Wayward Son said:

This is one of the few S9 episodes that I actually like and consider as holding up well in a rewatch. It had an interesting case of the week and helped to further establish Abbadon as a legitimate threat to both the Winchesters and Crowley’s position. I didn’t mind the shows use of Traci. She’s not a character I love, but her behaviour made sense to me. I liked that while she made her understandable dislike of Sam here she didn’t let it get in the way of the job or cause risks to their lives. Alaina Huffman is definitely the star of this episode and the AbbaDean scene was the best of the episode IMO.

Agree. Alaina Huffman is great in this role and I love Abbadon as a bad guy for this show for so many reasons. I think one of the best parts is that she evaluates the demons, proposes a change and we immediately see the effect (the armor, tougher fights, coordinated attacks, etc.). For a long time, it feels like there has been a shift to demons as potential dealmakers. Can we trust the demon? (Nooooo). But demons as scary and unequivocally evil has fallen by the wayside. She was outright strong and evil.

I know a lot of people didn't like Tracy and I get the criticism. I do. But I don't necessarily write her off for the Daisy Dukes, which did have a plot purpose at least. Supernatural has a few types, right? And she definitely falls in the young attractive hunter who is "tough" category. But, her back story made her feel more nuanced than a broadly sketched generic hunter (unlike, honestly, the other hunter). Something about the pragmatic way the actress played her made me really like her. Admittedly, I have seen her before on a couple of terrible kids movies that my son loved, so it could also be Stockholm syndrome. 😆 Anyway, as far as one off characters go, I liked her. 

I will also say that as far as the lying liars who lie plots between the brothers, this one is actually not killing me. They gave Dean a strong motive for keeping the secret and it lets the writers do something that I think they have wanted to do with Castiel but can't quite make work, which is to explore how an angel would work as a hunter. Angels, according to their PR, should strike down evil but they don't really do that. The problem is that they are too powerful to make the show interesting. So, typically, they have nerfed Castiel if he is with the guys for some extended period of time. Here, they have an angel with a vested interest in hiding. So, we get an awesome scene like the demon destruction but not too frequently. It was cool. Do I hate the lie and the creepy consent issues? Sure. But the strong character motivation largely makes up for it, as a viewer

[Katy M]

7 hours ago, The Companion said:

I think they could have also said she was in uniform or on duty. Agree that drinking in a bar isn't exactly blackmail material.

And, he said he got it because all military computers were hooked up to the same network.  Which to me means that the military is already aware of this.  Whatever this is.

 

7 hours ago, The Companion said:

Meanwhile, although the situations are very different and Dean is correct that Kevin would be squished like a bug, it is really annoying that we spent an entire season talking about how Sam should have looked for Dean, and now Dean is telling Kevin to give up on his mom because she is dead or may as well be. What? At least promise to look for her or include it in the interrogation. 

Are you expecting consistency?  Don't forget that Dean also told Charlie to pullt he plug on her mom.  Yes, in the real world that would be good advice.  Her mom had been brain dead for at least a couple of decades. But, if that had been John or Mary, Dean would be doing something to get them unbrain dead.

[The Companion]

3 minutes ago, Katy M said:

 

Are you expecting consistency?  Don't forget that Dean also told Charlie to pullt he plug on her mom.  Yes, in the real world that would be good advice.  Her mom had been brain dead for at least a couple of decades. But, if that had been John or Mary, Dean would be doing something to get them unbrain dead.

And, well, perhaps that is the most realistic thing of all. That we always see more clearly when it isn't our own problem.