The mystery of “where’s Garth?” is finally solved.  And no, he’s not in heaven, he’s in Wisconsin.

 

 

The question of what happened to Garth has been hanging in the air for several episodes.  There was even some thought that he may be dead.  This episode not only ties up that loose end, but also serves to reunite the brothers Winchester on a case.

 

 

 

 

 

The story of how Garth takes an unfortunate situation (being bitten by a werewolf) and manages to come out on top (he finds true love and a supportive– um, with some exceptions– family) is typical of what we’ve come to expect from our favorite offbeat, Marmaduke-loving hunter.  And it’s another example for the brothers that all monsters don’t have to be bad (Garth, Bess, Reverend Jim, etc.), even though it is sort of their nature (Joy, Russ, Joba, Sheriff Pat).  On a side note, I do have to say that for werewolves lycanthropes who thought they were so superior and tough, the “ragnarok” followers were piss-poor planners, crappy fighters and folded like a house of cards – I mean, one stab and flop.  Seriously?

Anyway, I was glad to see Garth happy, even with fangs.  And it was good to see the Winchesters working together again.  I really liked Garth’s introduction of the boys to his beloved, Bess.  Hearing Dean described as a “big ol’ teddy bear” and Sam as “insecure, but for good reason” was hilarious and pure Garth.  I also liked the suggestion, from Garth to Dean, that the wolf instincts could be used for hunting.  Some foreshadowing for the spin-off show, perhaps?  We’ll see.  Oh, and Dean giving out hugs?!  Priceless.

As always with these brothers, for every silver lining there is a cloud.  They are back together again, but their exchange at the end was pretty painful — Dean, searching for a way to apologize; Sam struggling to explain his feelings.  Sam says he believes there is something broken in their relationship– they are not on the same page anymore.  He feels he can’t trust Dean.  We all know they have been at this place before, except the positions were switched– it was Dean who couldn’t trust Sam after Ruby.  Dean feels that the brotherly bond will fix itself, given the chance– it always has before.  But is that what should happen?  It would have been nice to see a bit more of their lives during the two separate years they lived without each other — Sam’s life while Dean was in hell or, better yet, the year that Dean was in purgatory; and Dean’s life the year he thought Sammy was in hell.  We only got glimpses in flashback of each brother living without the other.  I wish we could have seen more.  The impact of those times could explain a lot about the changes that are causing the brothers’ conflict now.

Perhaps the brothers’ biggest problem is not trust, but understanding.  They can trust that they have each other’s back and will always fight to save people and each other.  But as they have changed over the years, they each need to understand those changes — not only as brothers but as individuals.  Each brother seems to refuse to see ways in which the other has changed or grown.  Each brother also seems to be blind to some major aspects of their own individual personalities.  They are still too locked into their roles of big brother and little brother.  Dean can’t stop doing anything to save Sam (tricking Sam into accepting Gadreel/Ezekiel in order to save him) and Sam can’t stop doing everything to prove himself to Dean (Sam would deny it, but his willingness to let himself die at the end of the trials had a lot to do with his relationship with Dean).  Sam is more introspective than Dean but, as Castiel pointed out in the previous episode, he can still be pretty pig-headed when it comes to change (like letting go of guilt, for instance).  Dean acknowledges his own dysfunction but goes no further.  What will become of these boys?

Supernatural airs on The CW on Tuesdays at 9/8c.  Full episodes are also available at http://www.cwtv.com/shows/supernatural/ and On Demand (check your cable listings) as well as on iTunes, Amazon, Hulu and Google Play.

Supernatural Fun Quotes

I always like to include some of my favorite quotes and exchanges from the episode.  If you have some quotes or moments you liked, please share in the comments section.

#1

Dean:  “Anything on Gadreel?”

Sam:  “Actually, uh, yeah.  Turns out he, uh, left some grace in me before he bolted.”

Dean:  “You know how wrong that sounds, right?”

 

#2

Sam:  “What happened to your arm?
Dean:  “Oh.  It’s a… gift from Cain.”

Sam:  “Like… the wrestler?”

Dean:  “[chuckles]  I wish.  That would be awesome.  Uh, no.  The, uh… the old testament dude.  He got all biblical on me and gave me his mark.”

 

#3

Garth:  “Boys, this is Bess… my beloved.  And, Bess, that’s Dean.  Now, he could start a fight in an empty house, but deep down inside, he’s just a big ol’ teddy bear.  And Sam here – Sam can be a bit insecure at times, but for good reason… bless his heart.”

Dean:  “That’s sweet.  Werewolf?!”

 

#4

Dean to Garth:  “What the hell.”

Garth:  “Look, I know you guys want to shoot first and ask questions later, but I checked everything out.  This pack is clean.  Everything’s kosher.”

Sam:  “Right.  Uh… minus the part where your wife attacked me.”

Garth:  “Yeah, because you two came busting in here like a house on fire.  Guns waving, the jawlines and the hair —  it’s very intimidating.  What’d you expect?”

 

#5

Russ (from Garth’s pack):  “The sooner you realize that all is good here, the sooner you can go.”

Dean:  “Don’t you two have a chew toy or something to go play with?”

 

#6

Reverend Jim:  “It’s no use, Dean.  I can hear your heartbeat.  You must have done this countless times, and yet you still get nervous.”

Dean:  “Nothing wrong with a little fear.  It’s what makes us human.”

Reverend Jim:  “Fear is not a purely human instinct.  Even monsters know fear…”

 

#7

Joy:  “Wearing Russ’ coat to hide your scent – smart.”

Dean:  “Oh, I’m full of surprises.”

 

 

#8

Garth:  “Dean… uh… I know this may sound a little crazy, but… maybe I could come back and hunt with you. I mean, with my werewolf mojo, we’d have an advantage.”

 

#9

Dean:  “Hey.  Uh… Listen, that night that, uh… you know, we went our – our separate ways –“

Sam:  “You mean the night you split?”

Dean:  [beat, nods]  “Fair enough.  I was messed up man.  Kevin was dead, and I…  I don’t know what I was.”

Sam:  “Okay.”

Dean:  “Hell, maybe I still don’t.  But, uh, I know I took a piece of you in the process… and for that…  Somebody changed the playbook, man, you know?  It’s like what’s right is wrong and what’s wrong is more wrong, and…  I just know that when… when we rode together…”

Sam:  “We split the crappiness.”

Dean:  “Yeah.  So…”

Sam:  “Okay.”

Dean:  “Okay.”

Sam:  “But something’s broken here, Dean.”

 

And the final wise quote/exchange of the episode is the very end and sums up where things stand with the brothers Winchester:

Sam:  “We don’t… see things the same way anymore – our roles in this whole thing.  Back in that church, talking me out of boarding up hell?    Or … or tricking me into letting Gadreel possess me?  I can’t trust you – not the way I thought I could, not the way I should be able to.”

Dean:  “Okay, look… whatever happened… we are family, okay?”

Sam:  “You say that like it’s some sort of cure-all, like it can change the fact that everything that has ever gone wrong between us has been because we’re family.”

Dean:  “So, what – we’re not family now?”

Sam:  “I’m saying, you want to work?  Let’s work.  If you want to be brothers…  [long pause, intense looks and Sam looks away]  Those are my terms.”

Dean:    [considers, then nods]