“Tears of a Clown”

The Winchesters stops off at a carnival to deal with a creepy predatory clown as John and Mary clash over both of them hiding from reality in their own way.

With the season finale only one week away, viewers could be forgiven for questioning why a story completely unconnected to the Akrida plot would be placed here. It’s a valid question but not uncommon in shows like this. It’s almost the calm before the storm while also being an opportunity for the characters to process what has happened to them before the intensity ramps up. Mileage will vary on whether the standalone plot is entertaining by itself but it isn’t as disposable as it appears.

The plot involves a creepy clown luring unsuspecting victims with the promise of unconditional happiness. The happiness is both false and fragile but the euphoria experienced by those who fall into the trap is genuine enough. It feeds into the theme of the episode outlined by Dean’s narration; that of the lies people tell themselves. John and Mary are both in hiding from reality in their own way which makes the lure of unconditional happiness a strong one for both of them. They have the opportunity to be trapped in a bubble where they don’t have to worry about their problems or consider the difficult questions about the future.

John and Mary are shown to be in conflict early on. Mary confronts John about ignoring the fact that they are wanted by the law and on the run. He compliments the sandwiches they can get when on the road and seems to be treating this as a couple’s vacation of sorts. This puts a strain on their relationship because they’re not communicating and Mary thinks that John is ignoring reality. She later accuses him of using their relationship to distract from the issues he doesn’t want to deal with. Being used as a crutch causes her a lot of distress and she is immensely frustrated that John refuses to acknowledge her point of view.

Instead, he goes on the offensive and accuses her of doing the same thing. He points out that she’s refusing to make any concrete plans for her future. She has been accepted to college but hasn’t sent a response and no conversations have been had about how their relationship will survive if she turns her back on Hunting and he doesn’t. Mary gives the same excuse about delaying making plans until the current crisis is over which prompts John to suggest that she’s hiding behind her self-imposed endpoint which suggests she may not be as committed to changing her life as she thinks she is.

John may be raising these points as a defence mechanism to prevent him from considering his feelings about his own problems but he also happens to be right. Both are in denial about things they may have to face up to very soon and it’s not healthy for them to drift like this. This is a very relatable emotional problem that transcends the supernatural details attached to it as most viewers will be able to understand problems being created by denial and a failure to acknowledge the reality of a future that is rapidly approaching. They won’t be able to progress as a couple until they deal with both their individual problems and the problems that affect their relationship.

Limbo the Clown (Eric Mendenhall) offers a reprieve from the harsh reality of life. He preys on people who are sad, dealing with grief or generally looking to forget their problems. The offer is happiness and safety but it’s false because there is no challenge to overcome in order to achieve it. Being happy involves nothing more than submitting to Limbo and the happiness is only experienced on his terms which is far less than ideal. His ticket is presented to Mary following the argument she has with John where he challenges her on her own grasp of reality. This indicates that she is at her most vulnerable at that moment after being presented with her own denial. There’s an unaddressed arrogance to Mary going into Limbo’s tent as she knows what to accept but assumes the knowledge will protect her from falling into the same trap. Of course, it doesn’t and she needs to be rescued. It’s a simple yet effective way of saying that awareness of something isn’t all that’s required to overcome it. Since Mary didn’t address her own vulnerabilites she ended up falling under Limbo’s spell.

The same happens to John but in a different way. He enters the tent with Carlos and Lata under less than genuine circumstances which Limboo recognises but it doesn’t make him immune to falling prey to Limbo’s trap. He wears John down by using Mary to convince him to surrender to an easy and unflinchingly happy life. He’s already some of the way there due to the previously established denial of reality so it doesn’t take much to convince him to relent and become part of Limbo’s bubble of false happiness.

Breaking the spell involves one of his victims embracing reality. Victim may be the wrong term as Limbo talks about being motivated only by making people happy so there seems to be an air of altruism to him. He wants to be happy himself and achieving that by bringing the same to others could be seen as performing a service. The lack of reality and being forced to live for eternity as a clown is almost certainly a compromise too far but his intent isn’t malicious. Unfortunately, the episode doesn’t attempt to flesh Limbo out as a character beyond the surface-level threat he represents. There are hints of a perspective that could be explored but it never comes to anything.

The victim that embraces reality isn’t Mary or John which is a bit of a misstep as the story should be centred on them with the solution being tied to their growth as characters. There is an attempt to add weight by going into the backstory of the victim that does accept that happiness is temporary, fleeting and only works when in opposition to hardship and misery. On its own its an empty feeling as the contrast is what makes it work looking for. If it had been either Mary, John or both internalising that lesson and breaking the spell the point would have been made more powerfully but what the episode delivers is functional. It’s followed up by a clunky conversation where both John and Mary admit that the other was right about them which presumably puts them on stronger footing.

Their conversation is followed by Millie showing up to tell them that John’s name has been cleared already because of a witness coming forward. This is another example of rushed storytelling that can be found across the entirety of the season. Plot developments such as John and Mary being wanted by the authorities exist as temporary injections of drama that are never explored to their full potential. Everything so far has been established and quickly resolved with no time to actually marinate in a particular status quo. A number of stories could have been told while John and Mary were on the run but the show only has it occupy a single episode before resolving it off-screen. It’s likely that the witness will turn out to be Dean which offers some connection to the ongoing plot but the wasted potential is frustratingly evident.

Ada makes her return after being absent for several episodes to look for resources to fight the Akrida. She has been poorly served by the show as she isn’t around enough to make a strong impression. Ada is mostly deployed when a solution to a particular problem is needed. Her appearances usually come with an attempt to flesh her out in some meaningful way but being around so intermittently loses any momentum to her characterisation. Another issue is that she is often given her own plot to work through which lessens her connection to the other characters and leaves her separated from the overall dynamic. This makes it difficult to accept that she is close to any of them despite what a given scene tries to convey.

In this case, Ada is fleshed out in terms of how she ranks when compared to other Witches. She is ostracised by them for having weak magic and initially fails to get any support because of how removed she is from them. Her lack of relative power likely has something to do with her good nature preventing her from fully tapping into dark magic. There’s a clear attitude difference between Ada and the other witches she interacts with which supports the idea that she isn’t one of them because of her values. It’s an interesting prospect that has a lot of potential and it’s introduced well enough here with clear scope to expand.

The appearance of Supernatural alum, Rowena (Ruth Connell) was a nice surprise for fans of the show but her appearance was far from meaningful on a character level. She mentions looking for her son and provides Ada with information as well as resources that progress the Akrida plot but her contribution could have been delivered by any character. Bringing Rowena into The Winchesters should be for a reason that makes the appearance of such an important character worthwhile otherwise there’s no point in using her specifically. It does accomplish the task of not alienating viewers who only watch this show but it was an opportunity that was squandered by putting her in such a generic role.

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Verdict

A good episode that uses a standalone story to examine John and Mary’s denial of reality. John and Mary are shown to be in conflict early on. This puts a strain on their relationship because they’re not communicating and Mary thinks that John is ignoring reality. She later accuses him of using their relationship to distract from the issues he doesn’t want to deal with. John goes on the offensive and accuses her of doing the same thing and pointing out that she’s refusing to make any concrete plans for her future. Both are in denial about things they may have to face up to very soon and it’s not healthy for them to drift like this. Limbo the Clown offers a reprieve from the harsh reality of life. He preys on people who are sad, dealing with grief or generally looking to forget their problems. The offer is happiness and safety but it’s fails because there is no challenge to overcome in order to achieve it. Mary ends up falling under Limbo’s spell when she is at her most vulnerable and falls into his trap because she arrogantly assumes that awareness is enough to overcome it. The same happens to John but in a different way. Limbo wears John down by using Mary to convince him to surrender to an easy and unflinchingly happy life. He’s already some of the way there due to the previously established denial of reality so it doesn’t take much to convince him to relent and become part of Limbo’s bubble of false happiness. Breaking the spell involves one of his victims embracing reality but the victim isn’t John or Mary. There is an attempt to add weight by going into the backstory of the victim but the point would have been made more powerfully had John or Mary come to the realisation. What the episode delivers is functional. It’s followed up by a clunky conversation where both John and Mary admit that the other was right about them which presumably puts them on stronger footing. Their conversation is followed by Millie showing up to tell them that John’s name has been cleared already because of a witness coming forward. This is another example of rushed storytelling that can be found across the entirety of the season. Everything so far has been established and quickly resolved with no time to actually marinate in a particular status quo.

Ada makes her return after being absent for several episodes to look for resources to fight the Akrida. She has been poorly served by the show as she isn’t around enough to make a strong impression. Ada is mostly deployed when a solution to a particular problem is needed. Her appearances usually come with an attempt to flesh her out in some meaningful way but being around so intermittently loses any momentum to her characterisation. Another issue is that she is often given her own plot to work through which lessens her connection to the other characters and leaves her separated from the overall dynamic. In this case, Ada is fleshed out in terms of how she ranks when compared to other Witches. She is ostracised by them for having weak magic and initially fails to get any support because of how removed she is from them. Her lack of relative power likely has something to do with her good nature preventing her from fully tapping into dark magic. The appearance of Supernatural alum, Rowena was a nice surprise for fans of the show but her appearance was far from meaningful on a character level. Her contribution could have been delivered by any character. Bringing Rowena into The Winchesters should be for a reason that makes the appearance of such an important character worthwhile otherwise there’s no point in using her specifically. It does accomplish the task of not alienating viewers who only watch this show but it was an opportunity that was squandered by putting her in such a generic role.

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