Baby’s Rear View Recap: 12.08 “LOTUS”

This post is about Supernatural season 12 episode 8 “LOTUS,” written by Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner and directed by Philip Sgriccia.

*****Spoilers below*****

“Lucifer's not content with slutting it from one random vessel to the next. He's moving on to blue chips—celebrities, captains of industry. He just got a lot more dangerous.”

Sam, Dean, Crowley, and Cas are chasing Lucifer from vessel to vessel. He seems to be choosing powerful people, and they wonder where he’s going next.

“If it is Lucifer we’ll call the rest of the Scooby gang”

After some research on the contacts of the latest burnt-out vessel, Sam and Dean find a suspicious Archbishop—and decide to investigate. When they show up at the church it is to find inverted crosses and bloody carnage—but no Lucifer.

“I humbly accept your guidance.”

That’s because Lucifer has moved on to bigger and better vessels. As in: The President of the United States. President Jefferson Rooney says yes to Lucifer under the understanding that they would be partners and bring true spirituality to America. I don’t think Jeff was planning on murder, though, which is what happens next. Lucifer kills an agent who walks in on him talking to “himself” in the mirror.

“I just love to think that someday we could be a real couple. Maybe do the wedding thing. Maybe the baby thing. I just know you'd make an amazing father.”

As it turns out, Jeff is seeing one of his aides—a woman named Kelly. Lucifer-as-Jeff takes Kelly to bed. (I don’t think Jeff bargained on this, either).

“Crowley, can we just get the damn news without the drama?”

“Can I get you without the flannel? No. Still, I endure.”

Meanwhile back at the bunker, Dean powers down the bunker’s warding so that Crowley can come over. Crowley brings news—he’s figured out the President’s secret. Sam calls Mick from the BMoL, but hangs up when it goes to voicemail. While he does that, Cas and Dean try to figure out a plan. They’ve got to get Lucifer out of his vessel before Rowena can send him back to the cage.

“That is the sweetest thing you've ever done for me.”

Crowley goes to collect Rowena, where she in the middle of a domestic with her latest fiancé. It turns out he isn’t rich after all, plus he’s seeing another woman. Crowley takes care of him for her, in true gory fashion.

“Lucifer? I didn't know he was dating.”

Cas gets a message from angel radio that says a Nephilim has come into being. It seems Lucifer has been even busier than we thought.

“You, Halo. Do you sense I'm lying?”

“My name is Castiel. And no. But the truth can be situational.”

TFW is on its way to capture the president when the secret service shows up. Just in time, Mr. Ketch saves them with a grenade launcher. He claims he’s only there to help, and gives them a golden egg that can expel an angel from a vessel.

“He said he was thrilled. He said it was the only time he ever created anything.”

Now that the gang has everything they need, they send in Crowley to retrieve Kelly from the mansion. They bring her back to the motel for introductions, where they tell her she’s pregnant with an abomination. She’s having trouble swallowing the story, so they put her hand on a Bible and watch it burn. She finally gives in, and gives Lucifer a call.

“This isn't over, Sam!”

“Go to Hell!”

Lucifer shows up at the motel. Though the secret service agents search the room, Cas manages to control their minds with his angel powers. Once they have Lucifer alone, they set the plan in action. Sam activates the magin in the egg, and Rowena completes the spell to send the devil to the cage. It seems to succeed, and Lucifer’s grace makes its way down an air vent.

“You're under arrest for the attempted assassination of the President of the United States.”

Cas gets Kelly out, but the Winchesters get cornered by the secret service. They are led out in handcuffs with no one to come to their rescue.

“I can feel it inside me. I'm its mother.”

Cas takes Kelly to a diner where she gives him the slip. So much for having a handle on things.

Questions:

Why didn’t they call this episode “President Evil”??? I mean, I’m really disappointed in them for missing this perfectly good Resident Evil reference.

Whyyy Buckleming. Whyyyyyyy.

So not being able to touch crosses and Bibles is a thing now? I actually thought it worked great for this episode, but it is a bit of a retcon. Does this mean that TFW gets to carry Bibles around so they can throw them at Lucifer? Cuz I think that would be just as good of a use of screen-time as this Nephilim plot.

Has Lucifer had sex before? I know this is the question you’ve been wondering about. Lucifer has that line, “it’s almost like I’ve never done that before.” It could be in reference to the act in general, or it could be in reference to the fact that he himself has never had sex with Kelly before, though she thinks she’s talking to someone who has. That line just felt a little off to me, personally. I find it hard to believe Lucifer is a virgin based on Mark Pellegrino’s performance, although technically Lucifer has been alone for millennia. Plus, angels rarely have sex. But then again, the show just seems to have been operating on the assumption that he is a sexual being. Like, last episode there was all that women’s underwear? And so much of Lucifer’s lines have been sexualized. This is particularly true with Hallucifer and Casifer’s characterizations; in those cases, his personality and villainy are practically based on sexual predation.

Can angels create Nephilim on command? Because narratively it looks like they didn’t create a nephilim the first time they had sex. But that would mean they did the second time they had sex, immediately after. So there probably wasn’t a change in any other factors besides Lucifer’s desire to create.

WHY ARE BUCKLEMING STILL WRITING RAPE PLOT LINES K N O C K  I T  O F F.

Why would the BMoL assume that TFW was in danger just because Sam didn’t leave a message? I feel like that’s a normal thing? My guess is they were listening in—and knew this was their chance for an in with the Winchesters. Although, Cas did say Mr. Ketch wasn’t lying when he told them he wasn’t following them, that they only come when they’re called, and that Mick thought they were in danger when Sam hung up. But as Cas also said: the truth can be situational.

WTF was that line about Lady Toni being “excitable”?? Y’all just bein’ nasty now. And not in a good way.

And the one everyone’s talking about: Why didn’t the Winchesters just leave? If they had just gone with Cas they would have been fine! What possible reason was there for hanging around with the President lying on the floor? They couldn’t have had Cas go power down the agents in the car and then all walk out together? Why didn’t Crowley come back for them? It’s not like bullets can hurt him. (Is this evidence for the feds have magic theory?) Why didn’t Cas come back? Ambush the transport vehicle or something. He left right when the agents were distracted with Dean and Sam, so he knew they were busted? How did he think they were gonna get out of that one?

And finally. WHY is she keeping the “baby”??? That is Satan’s Spawn??? I don’t understand???

Oh wait, one more thing. Are other angels gonna go after her? Cuz they don’t like Nephilim. And they don’t like Lucifer. I’m just saying, I hope she lives to regret leaving Cas (not as in I hope she regrets it. As in I hope she lives long enough to. It’s a valid concern. I mean, she shouldn’t have to regret all this crap that happened to her, cuz it wasn’t her fault and she’s entitled to assert the only choice she can the only way she knows how. But I’m guessing she will have lots of regrets. These writers. SMH).

And also: Is Lucifer really gone? Usually after an exorcism, we get a sort of pit-to-hell situation where the creature sinks through the floor. But in this case, it went through a vent. Vents are usually a symbol of escape. This makes me nervous and/or confused. Especially when you consider that we’ve been told that this is not the end of the Satan story. Is Lucifer in the cage at all? Will Lucifer somehow find a way back through the baby? Will Kelly summon him somehow? What’s the significance of an egg, the symbol of life, banishing him? Will an egg/baby/woman-carrying-fertilized-egg resurrect him?

Conclusions:

Well, I’m not sure this episode was more fulfilling than the previous one. But it was more… ridiculous. Seriously, my favorite thing to do the week after this episode aired was to go around telling people what happened to see if this time, I could do it with a straight face. I’m not kidding, try to go explain it to someone. You just can’t do it without laughing. 

Real talk, some of this episode was real boring on re-watch. I think I have more patience for this type of thing in episodes I like, but also I don’t think boredom should have a place in a mid-season finale. I readily admit I’m probably biased when it comes to buckleming eps, but so is almost everyone in fandom who even knows what buckleming is. So IMO they should try extra hard to give those eps a leg-up with editing, or music, or cinematography, or ideas, or something. 

There were a couple weird canon discrepancies, like the crosses inverting and the Bible fire. And then that glowing red eyes thing they’ve been doing lately. I’m not a fan of the glowing red eyes thing. I get it’s a way to quickly and easily establish who Lucifer is possessing but it just looks cheap to me and decreases the creep factor.

But, I was pleasantly surprised once or twice. I really liked Cas in this episode. He was a little clueless and literally kept in the backseat, but there were things I really loved too. He was so soft, bringing coffee to the boys. And so strong, standing up for his personhood in front of Mr. Ketch. And then there’s the jedi mind powers (standing in a closet?) which was just plain great if you ask me. If a little convenient.

And then there were things I just couldn’t get over. You know what I’m talking about. I’m so tired of the writers glossing over issues of consent. I’m just gonna say this once. Jeff did not consent to having sex with Kelly. Kelly did not consent to having sex with Lucifer. This is rape. Rape is bad. Stop writing rape like this.

Look, I hate this episode on principle, but I’m always there for our boys. I sincerely hope this plot is going somewhere that serves them, and the show.