Supernatural season 11, episode 11, “Into the Mystic,” saw the brothers go on respective journeys while working on the same case.
In this episode, Sam is still reeling from his second go-round in Hell with Lucifer. The Devil’s words about him not looking for Dean while he was in Purgatory being terrible haunt him to the point of insomnia. Undoubtedly other memories from his time in the Cage between seasons 5 and 6 also came up, and he honestly tells Dean that he’s not okay when his brother asks. The fact that Sam is honest about how he’s doing is a huge step forward for him and shows how much he’s taken his experiences to heart.
He eventually apologizes to Dean for not looking for him, saying he’s never forgiven himself, but Dean says he’s forgiven his brother; it’s all in the past. This allows Sam to sleep that night.
Sam has actually had a pretty good track record of honesty so far this season. It took a bit of time, but he did tell Dean about being infected with the virus unleashed by The Darkness, and he kept Dean in the loop about the visions he was having and what he thought they meant.
Meanwhile, Dean is still haunted by the bond he shares with Amara and his inability to harm her. He still can’t bring himself to tell Sam about it. He does confess that he had a couple of chances to kill Amara but didn’t to Castiel — or who he thinks is Castiel, as it’s actually Lucifer in Castiel’s body (from here on out known as Casifer). And the fact that Dean is stewing over this in secret keeps him from sleeping at the end, in contrast to Sam.
The Winchesters are no strangers to keeping secrets from each other, but Dean’s hesitance to talk to Sam about what’s going on between him and Amara is getting a bit tiresome. Of all people, Sam would be most likely to understand what Dean is going through. With Castiel being possessed by Lucifer, Sam is actually the only one of the core group without a big secret of his own at the moment.
Shifting gears, the case of the week features a banshee. Yes, Supernatural has gone 10+ seasons without a banshee, which is a bit surprising. The banshee is terrorizing a swanky retirement home; its victims, who are vulnerable in some way, are the only ones who can hear its screams. They bash their heads until they die, and the banshee feeds on their heads. The Winchesters head there and think they’re dealing with a vengeful spirit. They salt and burn the bones, but obviously that doesn’t save the next victim.
Dean bonds with one of the retirement home residents, Mildred, who knows a little something about the supernatural, as she saw a ghost years before. The Winchesters think she might be the next victim, so they bring her into the fold. She takes the whole thing like a champ and is hilariously flirty with Dean, who doesn’t mind.
Meanwhile, Sam finds a deaf woman pretending to be a member of the staff, Eileen. It turns out she is also a hunter; the banshee killed her parents when she was a baby and caused her to go deaf. She was rescued and raised by a hunter. She and Sam have a lot in common, such as a desire to go into the law and get revenge for dead parents, and Sam imparts advice on her about the futility of revenge. Eileen is the one to eventually kill the banshee, and when she says she’s going to continue hunting, Sam tells her to keep in touch.
It turns out the one to be attacked by the banshee is Dean, who is vulnerable due to his connection to Amara. He plays it off when Sam asks about it later, and the secrets continue.
This episode is overall quite charming. It’s unusually gender balanced with the additions of Eileen and Mildred, and the two women bring a wonderful dynamic — and miraculously both survive. Mildred is saucy and Eileen is brave, and their interactions with the brothers are touching. Mildred gets Dean to watch a sunset for the sake of a sunset, and Eileen gets Sam to do some deep thinking about his situation and what is going on.
Oh, and there are a few excellent musical cues in the episode as well.
Watch a promo for the next episode
