Supernatural - S13E9 - The Bad Place

Previously on Supernatural, “The Scorpion and the Frog”

No one can ever state that the Winchesters never bring it during a midseason finale! In the last episode of 2017, the growing threat from angelkind finally came to a head as they desperately want Jack to replenish their ranks. The danger is very much real, enough for Patience Turner (Clark Backo) to ditch her normal life and seek out her friends, whose lives are in peril once more. Between Jack’s reunion with the boys, his revelation about Mary’s whereabouts and the introduction of a new, powerful ally, “The Bad Place” was a stimulating episode that will surely keep the buzz going during Supernatural’s winter break.

It turns out when Jack left the gang back in “Tombstone”, he had compassionate plans in mind. While Sam, Dean and Cas feared the worst, Jack purposely shut his powers off to throw everyone off their game and give the nephilim enough time to discover the location of the alternate dimension. In his time away, Jack researched things the old fashioned way via the internet and discovered a dreamwalker that had the juice to get him a view of “apocalypse world” but not enough to get him there.

Enter Kaia Nieves (Yadira Guevara-Prip), a potential dreamwalker who was hyped up in “The Bad Place” with a far higher ceiling than her mentor, and most likely be a crucial figure for the remainder of season thirteen. Additionally, Nieves is being groomed for her eventual stint in the long awaited spin-off, Wayward Sisters. Unlike the poorly received backdoor pilot for Bloodlines in season nine, the sisters are a homegrown faction of hunters and supernaturally endowed that have developed favorable standing among the fans. It’s apparent from the extended appearances of Jody Mills and Patience Turner the women will be driving the season arc for a moment, which is always Yes, it’s the Sam and Dean show but it’s fun to occasionally shake things up, a design that has worked successfully this season so far.

The same can be said about Kaia: although she is the newest kid on the block, Nieve’s few scenes with Jack and the Winchesters have already proven she has the right balance of grit and snark to hang with the big dogs. Unfortunately, in the midst of Kaia and the trio’s getting-to-know-you phase, them dogs were getting whupped.

The Winchesters traveled to Bismarck, North Dakota after a dreamwalker was murdered angel-style; Sam and Dean wouldn’t have assumed Jack was the culprit, but according to Jody a witness described him at the scene. All the evidence put Jack in a bad spot as an powerful force with sociopathic tendencies… essentially a chip off the old block. It didn’t take long for the brothers to realize what Jack was hoping to accomplish - save Mary Winchester from apocalypse world - in order to make things right between him and his adopted family.

All the good vibes and fuzziness of their reunion was completely wrecked when Dean went full Jack Bauer after rescuing Kaia. Realizing her powers are essential for Jack to access the correct dimension, Dean forced his new friend (the term is used loosely at this point) by gunpoint to ride in the backseat of Baby so the gang could attempt to open a portal within a nexus. Talk about a sudden change in attitude. How is anyone supposed to stay calm and not think about “the bad place” when literally under the gun? Tack on the advancing siege of angels that surrounded their warded location and everything was going wrong all over again for Team Free Will. Kaia, with a frenzy of emotions barraging her, voiced her fears and frustrations. In a series of flashes, the host were thoroughly annihilated, and Jack and the Winchesters were rushed away in one of two dimensions: the apocalypse world where Mary resides, and Kaia’s bad place which may or may not be Jurassic World. In either case, things aren’t faring well for the good guys. Not well at all.