Supernatural recap: 'Don't You Forget About Me

For a show that’s dealt with just about every supernatural creature you can think of, vampires don’t sound too exciting, especially when we’ve seen Sam and Dean hunt them before.
But what this episode demonstrated is one of the reasons this show can still be so successful in its 11th season: It finds ways to make even familiar situations feel fresh.

This week, the story wasn’t about vampires. Instead, it was about catching up with Jody Mills and her new life as a sort-of foster mother to two teenage girls. We start the hour with Claire — Jimmy Novak’s daughter — interrupting two teens’ makeout sesh by holding a sword to one of their throats. Apparently, she’s convinced he’s a monster, so much so that she calls Sam and Dean for help.

And you know it’s someone important calling when Dean agrees to walk away from The Elvis — a bacon cheeseburger with two glazed donuts holding it together. Heading to South Dakota, we discover that Alex is adjusting nicely to life in high school. She’s a good student, she plays soccer, she’s dating a cute guy, and she’s reportedly on her way to becoming prom queen. One red flag? The birth control pills Jody sees in Alex’s bag.

Arriving home with Alex, Jody sees Baby in the driveway. Claiming that she “didn’t put up the bat signal,” Jody heads inside to see what the visit is all about. And when she finds out that Claire called Sam and Dean, well, it’s evident that mother and reluctant daughter don’t agree that there are monsters in town.

However, everyone agrees that it’s time to eat, though Jody doesn’t realize what she’s doing when she asks Sam and Dean to stay for dinner. As the boys shovel in their first home-cooked meal in ages, they discover one mystery they can’t solve: How chicken can taste so good when it’s not shaped like a patty or a nugget.

And it’s a good thing the food tastes so good because things are about to get real awkward when Claire reveals Alex’s plan to take her boyfriend to Jody’s cabin and sleep with him. As Sam says when Jody brings up the birth control pills: “Oh we’re going there.”

For two guys who grew up without a mother, without sisters, and who’ve only had women in their lives for small periods of time, this conversation is even more painful than it would be for, well, any other man. And the best part is that Jody — for some reason — thinks that having Sam and Dean there will help her. She even gives them leading questions, such as, “If we can’t talk about it, we shouldn’t be doing it, right?” But poor Sam and Dean are the worst back-up in the world on this one. All Dean can muster up is a “What?”

I know Dean doesn’t mean it, but I can’t help but feel as if he’s speaking for the Supernatural fandom when he says, “This is fun.” Because you know what? This is fun. There’s nothing better than watching Sam and Dean in uncomfortable situations, and surrounding them with teenage girls will make them about as uncomfortable as they can get.

Also, is this the first time we’ve seen the boys drink wine?

After dinner, Dean checks in on Jody, who informs him that Claire hasn’t been attending college classes for weeks. She’s worried at Claire’s lack of friends. It seems all Claire does is troll for cases and read lore. (And yes, in her case, that’s a bad thing.) Dean knows just what to do: Ask Sammy to talk to her. It’s like Sam and Dean’s version of good cop/bad cop, except it’s more of a sensitive brother/no-bulls— brother combo.

Sam pays Claire — who’s wearing a flannel shirt because this show’s amazing — a visit in her bunker-like room, where she admits that she feels like she lives in the Jody-and-Alex show. Sam tries to convince her that, unlike family and school, monsters will always be around. But when she shows up at school the next day and Alex’s favorite teacher is hanging from the flag pole, she’s right back in hunter modeew