“Suspicious Minds”

The Winchesters deals with the pitfalls of loving someone as the team close in on the Akrida.

Fundamentally, the basis of this show is the John and Mary romance. It was created to deliver an in-depth look at the relationship that would one day result in the birth of Sam and Dean. As such, building stories around relationships and the challenges that come with them are to be expected because it’s indelibly attached to the DNA of the show. Love is far too broad to declare as a theme, but the idea’s broadness is an advantage as it can be covered in a wide variety of ways. In one way or another, it’s prominent for almost every character featured in this episode and is filtered through their unique experience.

Obviously, it’s a significant fixture for John and Mary who are in the early days of a romantic relationship and are figuring out how to balance that with their lives as Hunters. For the most part, they seem to have struck a reasonable balance as evidenced by their working together conducting research and being fully focused on the task at hand rather than their personal connection. They both recognise the importance of what they’re doing and keep their personal attachment out of it.

There is an exception to this when Mary’s acceptance to university is covered within this along with Mary’s insistence that it won’t be an issue for them as a couple because it’s very close by. It’s a brief conversation that serves as a reminder of Mary’s desire to turn her back on Hunting and live a normal life. John is genuinely happy for her because he understands that this marks another step towards her living the normal life that she wants. Questions over whether the sense of purpose he has found in his new role as a Hunter is compatible with what Mary wants aren’t addressed for now because it’s not an immediate problem that needs to be discussed.

Their contribution to the episode is specifically geared around what lengths they might go to if something terrible happens to one of them. Those familiar with Supernatural already know the answer to that question where John’s concerned. Mary’s death sends him down a dark path of vengeance with their two sons in tow raised as soldiers. If my theory of this show being an alternate timeline comes to pass then that future is no longer a certainty but even if it isn’t then Supernatural acts as a practical example of what John could be driven to under particular circumstances. How Mary would react if the reverse happens has never been explored but the point being made is that people losing someone they love can result in a very extreme reaction.

They are furnished with a strong example of the dark places their romantic relationship could take them under tragic circumstances in Potter J. Hobbes aka Jack (Charles Shaughnessy) -hereafter referred to as Jack since that’s who he really is-. He lets himself into the Clubhouse with a key and seems genuine in his plan to find a way to stop the Akrida. The only issue early on seems to be the mutual dislike between Hunters and Men of Letters created by both sides having a negative perception of how the other goes about accomplishing what they set out to do. Jack is unflinchingly snobbish about the superiority of Men of Letters but also recognises that Hunters are necessary as the muscle where they are the brains. John and Mary haven’t internalised the bias that other Hunters have but Jack isn’t making a strong case for that perception being wrong. What’s important to John and Mary is that it seems like he can be useful in stopping the Akrida so they’re content to go along with what he asks of them.

The reveal that Jack isn’t who he says he is doesn’t have the impact that it needs to. This comes about after Mary has a feeling that it’s more personal than it should be and John noticing the indentation on his finger where a wedding ring would have been. John then reads a file that doesn’t match up with what Jack has been telling them. The episode doesn’t build to the reveal so it lacks impact because it appears to come from nowhere.. Clues could have been deployed throughout the episode that gave them reason to be suspicious or allowed the audience to question him. It’s very much a wasted opportunity and makes the climax feel rushed as a result.

Despite that, Jack’s obsession with the continuity of his relationship works really well. His plan for him and Dorothea (Kaytlin Borgen) to take John and Mary’s bodies so that their love can live on is obviously insane but it gives John and Mary an idea of their potential future. They know that death isn’t necessarily the end for either of them and that knowledge could easily be a corrupting influence just as it was for Jack who decides to use that knowledge to cheat death for his own selfish purposes.

Ultimately, Jack’s problem is that he is unwilling to accept the inevitability of death and process his loss in a healthy way. His mind is so warped by grief that he is willing to harm others if it means getting what he wants. This forces John and Mary to address the question of whether such a thing would be possible for them and they both agree that they would be better than that. Mary’s analysis of Jack’s behaviour is that he was only thinking about what he wants which wouldn’t be the case for either of them. Dean’s narration early in the episode posits the question of how far people would be willing to go for a happy ending and Jack makes for a strong presence to encourage John and Mary to consider this.

The idea of love feeds into other characters. Carlos is having an emotional crisis because things are getting very serious between him and Anton. Lata suggests that this is a good thing but Carlos has concerns because of the dangers inherent in Hunting. Becoming emotionally invested in someone could be a weakness and is likely to end in tragedy. He concludes that he has to end things with Anton and even considers having his memory of him erased. Lata points out that doing that would be avoiding consequences rather than helping to deal with them, something that Carlos does agree with after seeing Roxy choose to keep her painful memories because it’s important to remember them. Carlos applies that logic to his relationship with Anton by concluding that the heartbreak associated with the relationship ending is worth keeping because of what came before the heartbreak.

It’s a reasonable conclusion and counts as growth for Carlos but it’s empty because we as the audience have limited reason to invest in their relationship. Anton has appeared in two episodes and wasn’t prominently featured in either of them. He also doesn’t appear in this one so what Carlos talks about is largely theoretical. The conversation is far from detailed enough to outline the entirety of the situation surrounding their relationship. At no point is it mentioned that Anton is aware of the life Carlos leads and has chosen to pursue a relationship with him with full awareness of the dangers associated with that nor is it ever suggests that it’s something Carlos should discuss with Anton. There was also room to draw a parallel to John and Mary who are dealing with similar concerns. This is an example of driving at a very particular bittersweet development for Carlos without putting the effort into earning it.

Roxy ends up being the inspiration for Carlos to live with the pain but there’s a lot more to what she brings to the episode than just that. Carlos and Lata find her freed from the Akrida’s influence and ask for help locating them. In return, she can have her memories erased so that she can get her life back without living with the trauma associated with what they used her body for.

She is very loosely tied into the idea of love through her mention of losing everything because of the Akrida. This includes her girlfriend so she is someone who has had her chances of living a normal life ruined by supernatural forces. She’s scared but highly motivated to get her own back in any way she can so agrees to allow Lata to extract her memories. The scene where Roxy relives the memories of being possessed by the Akrida is excellent. A lot of that has to do with Bridget Regan’s performance. There is no visual accompanying the influx of memories so it’s down to Bridget Regan to sell the trauma unaided and she absolutely delivers.

Her decision to live with the memories because knowing that those memories helped the team bring the Akrida down brings some satisfaction and makes the whole experience seem worth it. She’s the opposite of Jack because she is choosing to accept her loss and live with the hand that life dealt her even though what she has experienced is very difficult to live with. She wants to remember what they took from her and see them punished. It’s her way of processing the loss and starting to look to her future. Her efforts lead Carlos and Lata to where the Queen is hiding so things are progressing.

Lata is also experiencing her own love story in the form of dream encounters with Tony. She brings it up because he has taught her about retrieving memories but Carlos focuses on her clandestine meetings with Tony in her dreams. This provides an excellent showcase of the Carlos/Lata dynamic. Jojo Fleites and Nida Khurshid have undeniable chemistry that greatly enhances their scenes together. Their friendship has always been believable and moments like this are a joy to watch. The reveal that Lata has been seeing Tony in her dreams is largely meaningless because Tony doesn’t appear in this episode and has only appeared once so, as with Carlos and Anton, there’s no reason to invest in their relationship. A persistent problem with characters outside of John and Mary is that they are poorly served with the audience expected to accept a lot without it being earned. Lata and Carlos have clear potential as evidenced by any display of their friendship but trying to expand them by giving them relationships that are developing fails because the time isn’t put in to build those relationships. This means that mention of them services the plot and has no grounding.

The Akrida are revealed to be on Dean’s trail with no idea who he is. Dean’s presence remains a mystery but the reminders in this episode and the previous one add to it in brief yet interesting ways. Tracking Dean down is one of many priorities for them though the entirety of their plan remains unknown at this point. The Akrida possessing Kyle framing John for Kyle’s murder is an intelligent move to make particularly with the stated preparation making John look even more guilty. The episode ending with Kyle’s dead body lying on the floor and John in the worst place possible as the police arrive was striking and sets up an exciting situation for the next outing.

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Verdict

A good episode that impressively weaves love as a theme through its various character stories while neatly moving the Arkrida plot forward. John and Mary continuing to work on balancing their romantic relationship with Hunting is playing out well. Their focus on research rather than their relationship shows that they both recognise the importance of what they’re doing and keep their personal attachment out of it. Mary’s acceptance to university is covered within that as a reminder of her desire to turn away from Hunting and an indication that she is starting to think about her future. Their contribution to the episode is specifically geared around what lengths they might go to if something terrible happens to one of them. Potter J. Hobbes aka Jack acts as a strong example of the dark places their relationship could take them under tragic circumstances. The reveal that he isn’t who he says he is doesn’t have the impact it needs to because of the lack of buildup to it and the way it’s delivered. Jack’s obsession with the continuity of his relationship works really well. His plan gives John and Mary an idea of their potential future and lead them to analyse Jack’s behaviour before coming to the conclusion that they would be better under similar circumstances. Dean’s narration early in the episode posits the question of how far people would be willing to go for a happy ending and Jack makes for a strong presence to encourage John and Mary to consider this. Carlos experiencing an emotional crisis because his relationship with Anton is progressing works as a continuation of that theme but the episode doesn’t do enough with it. There’s no reason to invest in the Carlos/Anton relationship so it’s more theoretical in the way the episode explores it. Carlos understanding that painful memories are worth having because of the experiences associated with them is a nicely done development and follows naturally from Roxy’s contribution to the episode. Roxy being forced to relive her memories is brilliantly delivered by Bridget Regan who has to sell it without any visuals to compliment the experience she is having. It flows naturally to her deciding it’s worth keeping the memories because she knows they came to some good. Lata’s love story leads into her helping Roxy but is empty for the same reasons Carlos and Anton’s relationship is. Lata and Carlos have clear potential as evidenced by any display of their friendship but trying to expand them by giving them relationships that are developing fails because the time isn’t put in to build those relationships. This means that mention of them services the plot and has no grounding. The Akrida being on Dean’s trail is an interesting development and framing John for Kyle’s murder in such a detailed way makes for a striking ending.

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