This is one of those episodes where I could just post all the gifs, and that would be enough. But I shall recap anyway!
THEN!
We were interrupted by a global pandemic, while Sam and Dean try to save the world from Chuck.
NOW!
Jack is moping in his room, now that he has a soul again. Castiel is off looking for Amara. Dean is doing some cooking, as he does from time to time.
The bunker is starting to show its age, what with the pilot light going out, and the pipes rattling. Once the air goes kerflooey, the boys go to a room deep in the bunker, looking for something to help get the systems back online.
Dean smashes the reset button, makes his burger, and finds a kindly woman in his room, folding his Scooby underthings.
Mrs. Butters! A wood nymph that was brought to the bunker to take care of the Men of Letters. A very old fashioned notion, and she is all-in on playing the part.
Mrs. Butters uses her magic to super-charge the bunker, and turns on the monster radar with a snap of the finger.
Monster radar!
Sam and Dean head off to get the vampire nest the radar finds, and when they get back from their quick kill, Mrs. Butters has decorated the bunker for Christmas, with lights, a tree, cookies – the works!
Sam is dubious (of course), but all the hub-bub gets Jack out of his room. Mrs. Butters knows Jack isn’t human, but lets it lie for the moment. Then Dean, happily buying into the Mary Poppins of it all, enters in a lavender sleep hat and gown. *chef’s kiss*
The monster radar goes off, and Sam and Dean head out for a hunt, while Mrs. Butters and Jack get to know each other. She’s clearly placating him, and holds her tongue when he confesses to murdering Mary accidentally. She there-there’s him, and feeds Jack a smoothie.
Our beautiful boys easily fall into a routine of packed lunches, easy monster hunts, and happy holiday montages!
The boys go on hunts, and come home to holiday after holiday! Everyone is having a grand time! The grenade launcher and Thor’s hammer make cameos!
As we all know, nothing great can last long on this show. Jack catches Mrs. Butters snooping through some files, and when she leaves, he grabs the file which has a handy movie that gives us some more info on Mrs. Butters, via Cuthbert Sinclair.
In the film, Mrs. Butters pops off the head of a member of the Thule, and while Nazis deserve that kind of treatment, it seems as though Mrs. Butters has not been completely forthcoming! Seems the Men of Letter “recruited” her to help save the world, while really just using her to do the dishes, and kill the bad guys for them.
Jack tries to tell Sam what’s going on, but Mrs. Butters blocks his attempt! Sammy is off to a date with Eileen, and Mrs. Butters sends Dean off to check out his now fixed TV in the Dean Cave.
Now alone with the wood nymph, Jack confronts Mrs. Butters, and she takes it upon herself to lead Jack into her trap, because she is sure he is the monster. Mrs. Butters confirms all the terrible things Jack thinks about himself, and when Jack tries to fight back, we find out all those smoothies she had been feeding him were full of a magic potion that has weakened Jack’s powers, making him easy to lock up.
Later!
Dean enters the kitchen, and accepts a grilled cheese from Mrs. Butters, as she proudly tells him that she’s got Jack all locked up! She produces the arch angel blade, and is ready to go kill Jack with Dean.
Jensen Ackles gives a hilarious read of the line, “Yeah, we had a good thing going, and, of course, of course, you had to go full Nurse Ratched.”
Dean begrudgingly allows all the fun to come to an end. When Dean tries to explain the thing about the kid, Mrs. Butters tosses Dean into the clink with Jack.
Sammy comes back from his date, “past his curfew”, and asks about Jack and Dean. Mrs. Butters fills Sam in, and Sam also realizes the other shoe has dropped.
Sam makes a beeline for his room to call Dean. They try to figure out what to do next, now that Mrs. Butters has gone bad, and Dean hilariously defends his stance on not calling Sam for help, because he didn’t want to interrupt Sam “practicing sign language.”
Damn, these two are so cute. I’m gonna miss Sam and Dean.
Dean and Jack have a heart to heart, where Dean basically tells Jack that he is one of them, if you read between the lines.
Mrs. Butters thinks everyone has been infected by Jack, and when she sees Sam’s got a gun, she pins him to a chair, and tells him that her only job is to keep the world safe.
Dean tries to free Jack from the handcuffs with the arch angel blade, the kickback sends Jack shooting into a cabinet. Dean uses this little nugget to use Jack to blast through the locked door.
Dean is very pleased with himself. Heee!
Mrs. Butters and Sam argue, and she pulls a few fingernails off of Sammy, trying to get him to see reason. Ewwwwww.
Jack and Dean head down to the basement and Dean smashes the button, resetting the bunker, and seemingly eliminating the Mrs. Butters threat.
But Mrs. Butters won’t go easily, and she reforms and takes down the boys, insistent that Jack is an irredeemable monster, and that Sam and Dean have just been infected by his lies.
But the boys finally convince her that she is wrong, and that is was the Men of Letters who used her. They all make up, and send Mrs. Butters back to the woods that she loves so much. She apologizes to them that she her magic has to go with her, and Dean is resigned to the previous status quo, mentioning that he looked through the telescope, and he saw nothing. Mrs. Butters says that’s really an interdimensional geoscope, and that it’s not good that Dean saw nothing.
(Chuck seems to have finished demolishing all the other universes!)
Jack confesses to Sam that he doesn’t think he actually can kill Chuck, and Sam tells him he’s the only one who can! Dean arrives with a homemade birthday cake for Jack. The three of them enjoy a renewed bond, and the Winchesters are ready and refreshed for the fight ahead (I hope!)
QUOTES!
Dean: He’ll be fine. I mean, I’ve been through worse. Look at me. I’m the picture of health. Sam: Ignoring your trauma doesn’t make you healthy.
Dean: Sure it does.
Dean: Whoo! Well, that’s gotta be a record. I mean no investigation, no dead ends. Just — ding! Bloodsuckers. That monster radar rules.
Sam: Why didn’t you call me? Dean: Well. I mean, I, you know, figured you were… “practicing your sign language.”
Sam: And that’s more important than coming to save you? Dean?
Dean: It’s been a while for you, man, you know?
NEXT!
Terrible things are coming! Episode directed by the lovely and talented Matt Cohen!