Baby's Rear View Recap: 11.11 "Into the Mystic"

This post is about Supernatural episode 11.11 "Into the Mystic," written by Robbie Thompson and directed by John Badham.

Spoilers to follow.

“Mo chuisle”

This episode begins with a flash-back to Cork County, Ireland, 30 years ago. At this point we don’t know who the characters are, but it’s a solid opening scene featuring horror and music. We get a glimpse of the monster to be featured this episode: to me, she didn’t look too realistically frightening, although the screams were truly horrible. I’d also like to point out that the mother seems to be the primary bread-winner while the father stays home with the baby. It’s really nice to see the powers-that-be working to proactively create representation for women on the show and to combat traditional gender stereotypes. During the scene she calls him “mo chuisle,” which is a Gaelic term of endearment akin to “my dear.”

“You haven’t left the bunker in days.”

We see that Sam is having trouble sleeping; as he tosses and turns, he hears Lucifer’s voice in his head, telling him to prepare for his friends to die. So Sam spends his time cleaning his weapons instead of sleeping. When Dean comes to him with a case, he argues they should be focusing on the Darkness or on Cas. (Notably, Sam refers to her as “the Darkness” while Dean automatically refers to her as “Amara”.)

“Cas will be fine. He always is.”

We cut to Casifer in a park, reveling in the beauty that is topside. An Angel happening by recognizes him and attacks. Casifer politely tries to explain that he is there to save his brothers, but when the angel resists, Casifer explodes him with a snap of his fingers. He then proceeds to lick the Angel’s insides off of his fingers. This reminds us just how dangerous Lucifer can be.

“Looks awesome; maybe we ought to make a reservation.”

(FBI) Dean and Sam show up at the scene of the “crime” (a nursing home) to work the case. It’s a nice place, but Sam remarks that they will not likely live long enough to use it. While Dean interviews the manager (Jonathan Potts), we are briefly introduced to Mildred (played by Dee Wallace). The manager explains that he was staying late because his wife has left him, making him vulnerable. Meanwhile, Sam checks out the victim’s room.

“A real dick move, huh.”

Sam finds out that the victim was stealing other residents’ Viagra, and Dean sneaks a bottle. This was just too funny.

“How many people died in this place?”

As it turns out, a lot. Go figure. Although there are lots of possibilities for vengeful spirits at a nursing home, the boys pick a likely candidate and get to grave-digging. Dean has to take a rest while digging, and the boys have a moment. Dean broaches the subject of retirement, and Sam points out that Dean is the one who has always want to go out “Blaze of Glory” style. Dean asks Sam if he’s okay, and Sam admits that he’s not. Good for him! But then he says he doesn’t want to talk about it… okay, we’ll get there, Sam.

“Get it out of my head!”

Although the boys burned the bones, we know that this is no ghost. Meanwhile, the manager is talking to Mildred when he begins to hear a screaming that Mildred can’t hear. In a repeat of the opening sequence, the manager bashes his own head in while Mildred watches, helpless. Mildred tells the boys that it was a woman who fed on the manager’s brain. The boys figure out that it’s a banshee, and definitely not a ghost.

While Dean is comforting Mildred, Sam goes to question an employee who seems to be very interested in their conversation. Here, we are introduced to Marlene (Shoshannah Stern). Marlene happens to be hard of hearing, and a concerned Sam tries to sign to her. It’s a sweet, if understandably uncomfortable moment. Marlene thanks him for trying and gets back to work.

“Dean, tell me everything.”

Dean takes a trip back to the bunker to get gold daggers. There he finds Cas(ifer) mid-ransack, and they talk about Amara. Cas mentions his meeting with Amara, and Dean admits that he has had two chances to kill Amara and fell short both times.

“My brother and I aren’t gonna let that happen. We’re gonna protect you.”

Sam meets with Mildred, who he has discovered has a health condition that may make her the Banshee’s next victim. Mildred reveals to Sam that the woman Sam talked to earlier was not, in fact, a staff-member named “Mildred.” Sam goes in search of his mystery woman, who turns out to be the baby from the episode opener. She’s now a hunter (named Eileen), hunting the banshee who killed her parents. After a tense, brief mix-up where Eileen believes that Sam might be the banshee, the two become fast friends. Sam and Eileen bond over having lost loved ones and finding out that they are both legacies of the men of letters.

“I don’t know that I can resist it.”

Dean admits to Cas(ifer) that he is attracted to Amara. Dean asks him to keep the information private, and Cas(ifer) assures Dean that next time he faces the darkness, he won’t be alone. When Cas(ifer) touches Dean comfortingly, Dean's a little taken aback. (Do they really touch so rarely that that would throw him off?) Seems Lucifer may have misjudged the two and their relationship.

“I always did have a thing for Blanche on Golden Girls”

The boys half-heartedly agree to use Mildred as bait, in a cute phone conversation where the brothers agree not to judge each other on their love for the Golden Girls.

“All we have to do now is wait.”

Eileen admits that she is nervous to finally face the banshee that ruined her life. She talks to Sam about love for family. Sam tells her that revenge is not all it’s cracked up to be, and asks what she will do after it’s done. She mentions becoming a lawyer, and Sam shares his history studying law; the two are bonding over that as well when Dean arrives.

“Honey, it’s almost as gorgeous as you are.”

Mildred has a talk with Dean, sharing her trepidation about the plan. Dean assures her that everything will be fine, and asks her about her life. Mildred, who was in a Patsy Cline tribute Band. When Dean asks if she misses life on the road, she says she doesn’t. Mildred tells him the secret to living a long and healthy life: “follow your heart.”

It turns out that Dean is the Banshee’s target, as he begins to hear the screams. The gang goes up against the monster while Dean begins painfully banging his head against the wall. Mildred wises up after some prompting from Eileen and uses the magic trapping symbol; poetically, Eileen gets to make the kill.

“So, how do you feel?”

Sam and Eileen share a sweet goodbye while Dean does the same with Mildred. Mildred admits that she knew it would not work out between them, as she can tell that Dean is pining for another. Dean denies this, and the brothers hop in the car to head back home.

Back at the bunker, Dean and Sam have a talk. Dean reveals that Cas is acting weird and they agree to keep an eye on him; Sam admits that Dean was right to get him back in the hunting game. Sam finally talks about his latest experience with Lucifer, and apologizes to Dean for not looking for him in purgatory.

“I’ve never forgiven myself for it.”

“Well I have.”

After some hesitation, Sam asks Dean why the banshee would have gone after him. Dean says he’s overthinking it, though it obviously bothers him as well. To round out the episode, we see Sam putting the retirement brochure in his keepsake box; As a book-end to the beginning of the episode, Sam finally settles into his bed. Dean, however, can’t seem to sleep.

Questions:

Why is Dean vulnerable? I think it’s pretty obvious that he is, and that his excuses are crap. Is it some sort of health condition like the first victim? This could explain his tiring out while digging. Or is it mental/emotional like the second victim? Does it have something to do with his attachment to Amara (also a focal point of this episode)? 

What was Cas really doing in the bunker and what is his plan? It seems to me that he wasn’t there to talk to Dean—he was hoping to catch the bunker Winchester free. Was he looking for something and what could it be?

Also: Where is Amara? And what is Crowley up to? Will we see Eileen again?

Conclusion:

I liked this episode. It was a really solid monster-of-the-week episode, and had a good dose of carry-through from the last episode. I would take seeing Casifer over Amara or Crowley, so I’m not too upset that we don’t have any clue what they’re up to—gotta build suspense somehow. I love seeing the boys get to know new people. Dean was just cute as all get out dealing with Mildred. I especially appreciated seeing Sam bond with someone, because for the last few seasons, he’s fallen a bit behind Dean on this front. I always get a bit uncomfortable when the boys are being objectified or romantically targeted, and this episode toed that line a bit with Mildred. But Mildred actually did seem to really care about the boys, so it wasn’t as damaging as it often is. I liked this much better than the similar themes in the past, featuring older women flirting with Sam to his intense discomfort. As usual, everyone did a stand-up job with the material they were given. Special shout-out to the new additions, Dee Wallace and Shoshannah Stern, who were lovely and lively and had good chemistry together and with the boys.

I loved the character of Eileen. It is so wonderful to see portrayals of characters who are hard of hearing, and I am loving seeing all of the support for Shoshannah and the spike in interest in ASL and the experiences of those who use it. Beautiful! I especially appreciated that they didn’t commodify the character’s deafness, as shows like this sometimes do by featuring the trope where the deaf character saves the day with her lip-reading super power. Eileen was just a normal hunter and nobody questioned her abilities. They supported her and treated her as a human rather than as a stereotype of a deaf person, or a stereotype of a female person. Additionally, the character is in her thirties! I love seeing female characters who are allowed to represent real people and not just be the conventionally attractive young girl that is so often the only archetype featured in popular TV shows. Overall, I’m really pleased with this character and the show and I’m feeling good going into the second half of this season.