Supernatural left off on a huge cliffhanger last week. In “Absence,” the Winchesters search for Jack (Alexander Calvert) and Mary (Samantha Smith) hoping for the best. And Jack…did he kill Mary? Did he make her disappear? What happened to Mary?
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Then
Last week, Nick (Mark Pellegrino) kidnapped Donatello (Keith Szarabajka) last week to use him as a radio to contact Lucifer. Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) were able to rescue Donatello, but Nick’s true intentions had nothing to do with the Winchesters. Nick felt lost without Lucifer and wanted to resurrect the Dark Prince. With help from a group of demons, he almost succeeded. Jack was able to feel his father’s presence and stopped the resurrection by killing Nick. Mary watched it all in horror, causing Jack to fear what the Winchesters would do if they found out. Jack spiraled out of control and told Mary to be quiet. That’s all we know.
Now
Sam and Dean return to the bunker and everyone is gone. They call Mary and Jack’s cell phones to find out where they are. Mary’s phone is still in the bunker, but Jack has his. He’s still at the cabin in disbelief at what just happened.
Jack never answered his phone, so the Winchesters call of their friends to see if anyone has heard from him. Rowena (Ruth Connell) offers to create a locator spell to find Jack and Mary. Castiel (Misha Collins) calls in and hears the whole story. He gets concerned when he finds out that Jack and Mary are missing. Castiel admits that he’s had a bad feeling about Jack after he killed Michael. Dean gets a little annoyed with Castiel and hangs up on him.
Sam uses the “Find your Phone” app to track Jack’s phone. Jack is literally bouncing around the world, running away from his problems. He ends up back at the cabin where Mary disappeared. Nick appears, clearly a figment of Jack’s imagination. He tells Jack what he already knows. Jack killed Mary Winchester. There’s no going back from this. And there’s nothing he can do to change it. Jack insists killing Mary was an accident, but he doesn’t want to talk to the Winchesters.
The Cabin in the Woods
On the way to the cabin, Sam tries to defend Jack, saying that Jack probably thought he was doing the right thing. Dean isn’t so sure, he just wants to find them and figure it all out. They lose the signal to Jack’s phone but find the cabin anyway. Castiel is on his way to meet the brothers at the cabin. Sam and Dean look around the house and find Nick’s burnt body. They also find a clearing in the woods that looks like it had been burnt.
Castiel arrives at the cabin but sits in the car remembering Mary. He thinks about when she first came back. She had a lot to adapt to in the world of the living. Castiel says Sam and Dean are glad to have her back. They are happy to have her around and they don’t have to be so alone. Mary tells him, the boys were never alone.
Sam and Dean are examining Nick’s body, concerned about what really happened. Castiel comes in and is just as shocked to see Nick’s charred body. Dean tries to blame everything on Lucifer. Regardless of what happened, this is all Castiel’s fault. He knew something was wrong with Jack and he didn’t tell them. Castiel is ready to take the blame, saying he failed the family. He was scared of messing up their family if something was really wrong with Jack. So he decided to fix the problem himself. Castiel says what Jack did wasn’t bad. It was the absence of good. He saw it and wanted to fix it.
That Old Black Magic
Rowena calls confirming that Mary is no longer on the Earth. Dean gets angry and is ready to fight back. Castiel reminds them that they don’t know where Mary is, so Dean tells him to go to Heaven and find her. In the meantime, the Winchesters plan to pay a visit to Rowena so she can find a spell that would bring Mary back to life.
As Rowena waits for the Winchesters, Jack arrives. She offers to call Sam and Dean, but Jack is scared to face them. He admits that he killed Mary. It was an accident though and happened really fast. He asks Rowena to help him undo Mary’s death. Rowena tries to tell him that a spell would take a lot of preparation, but there is one spell on necromancy. She says the ingredients are so simple that he probably has everything back at the bunker.
Sam and Dean arrive. Jack gets upset that Rowena was stalling until they arrived. He takes a hold of Rowena and they disappear. Sam and Dean bust into the apartment, but Jack and Rowena are already gone.
Haunting Memories
When Jack and Rowena get to the bunker, Jack has a memory of Mary. Mary was teaching him how to throw knives. He threw one into the floor and Mary covered it up by moving the table. Sam comes in and apologizes for not being around. She says it’s nice she’s not the only one with parental guilt. Mary says parenting is a struggle. You always feel like you’re failing until you look at your kids and realize how amazing they are. Kids will always surprise you.
Sam remembers too. He thinks of her while Dean lashes out about losing Jack and now Rowena. He starts to blame Castiel, but Sam says they all knew Jack was dangerous. Dean knew it from the beginning. Sam made the call to take Jack home so he is just as responsible. Dean says Sam didn’t know what would happen, and Sam agrees. He says he was too busy dealing with his own emotions that he forgot about Jack. Deam admits that Donatello warned him about Jack, but he didn’t want to see it.
At Peace
Castiel arrives at the playground and calls out to Naomi (Amanda Tapping). Duma (Erica Cerra) appears, saying Naomi is busy. Castiel explains that they might have a way to bring Mary back to life. Duma says Mary is at peace. She died instantly and painlessly. She is in Heaven and she is complete.
Back at the bunker, Jack pushes Rowena to hurry her spell. While Rowena is talking to him, she says he wants the same thing that they all want. Jack sees Nick again. Nick is taunting Jack about trying to bring back Mary. Jack thinks Sam and Dean will forgive him if he brings Mary back. Nick says it doesn’t matter because Jack can’t feel anything. The torment is just an echo from when he could feel. The sooner he forgets it, the better he will be. Besides, his plan to bring back Mary won’t work. Rowena’s spell is complete, but they need Mary’s body.
Jack takes Rowena to where Mary stood before she died. He tells her to make the spell work, but Rowena can’t do it without Mary’s body. Jack says he will do it himself, but Rowena warns him against using magic he doesn’t understand. He tells her to help him and Rowena refuses. He pushes her away, back into her apartment so he can do the spell himself. Once Rowena is home, she calls Sam. She tells him what Jack is up to. She is more afraid about what he will bring back if he goes through with the spell.
Empty Shell
Jack takes some of the burnt sand from the clearing and uses it in the spell. While he reads the Latin words, the skies turn purple. Sam and Dean are driving to the cabin when Baby stops running. Jack continues his spell despite seeing Baby on its way. Sam and Dean run to the cabin and find Jack completing his spell. Mary’s body lays on the ground, but she is still dead.
Jack turns to face the Winchesters, telling them his spell didn’t work. Jack flies away as Dean runs to Mary’s body. Sam and Dean mourn for their mother as Dean remembers driving with his mom asleep on his shoulder.
Jack hides in an abandoned warehouse. Nick shows up again. He says there’s no going back. Sam, Cas, and Dean will never trust him again. And Jack can never trust them.
Goodby Mom
Sam goes through old photos of Mary when Cas comes back. Castiel tells him that Mary is in Heaven. Dean shows up when Cas says Mary is at peace. Duma let Cas into Heaven to see for himself. He went into Mary’s personal Heaven. She is with John Winchester and she’s happy. There is no sorrow or guilt, just joy. Sam says Rowena thinks Jack only brought back a shell of Mary’s body, incapable of holding life.
The boys take the shell and burn it, as they burn all of their fallen comrades. While they watch the fire, Castiel approaches Dean, but Sam stops him. All that’s left of Mary is her initials carved in a table next to Sam and Dean’s initials.
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Thoughts
This episode made me sad. I had hoped that Mary just disappeared to another realm. I didn’t want her to die. It makes me sad because the Winchesters were the only family that Jack ever knew and now he has lost them. We should have seen this coming. Jack is still the son of Lucifer and he has been defiant about a lot of things lately. I thought maybe it was just growing pains, but I also knew he would do something that couldn’t be forgotten. It was worse. It’s something that can’t be forgiven.
Unfortunately for Castiel, he has also violated Dean’s trust. Dean has good reasons not to trust people and angels, but Castiel was like a brother. It’s going to take a lot for Castiel to get back into Dean’s good graces. Let’s hope that when that happens, they find a way to save and forgive Jack as well.
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
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