11.1 Out Of The Darkness, Into The Fire Heading back into town, the brothers find a dead road crew and the deputy, Jenna, who managed to fend them off. It appears that a zombie-like infection is spreading through the local civilian population. As Sam and Dean try to figure out what’s going on, they take refuge in a hospital with Jenna and the baby Amara, whom they promise to keep safe. Meanwhile, Castiel and Crowley are still recovering from their confrontation in their own unique ways; Cas surrenders himself to the angels while Crowley takes steps to recover his own meatsuit. There is a lot to like about this episode and there’s a great retro-Supernatural feel to the scenes in the hospital with the two brothers and their civilian charges, trying to figure a way out of their situation. The use of the ‘rabids’ too feels like something of a departure and one which allowed the episode to capitalise on the tension created by the possibility of infection and their dogged determination to spread it. The apocalyptic nature of the episode, localised to one town, has echoes of second season episode, Croatoan, with the idea of the rage-inducing virus. That virus was a key part of Lucifer’s plan in the fifth season and, given the namecheck later in the episode, it could be that we’re heading back into heavy Biblical territory with the Darkness’ arrival. The Castiel scenes didn’t work quite so well here, often distracting from the tension built up in the deserted hospital with the brothers. It wasn’t the best use of Misha Collins either as he was given little to do but look pained. Hopefully, his ongoing conflict with Heaven will prove to be a more fruitful plotline in later episodes. The Crowley stuff, whilst also not great, was suitably hilarious enough to warrant a pass; of course he took part in the orgy in his housewife meatsuit before killing everyone. His final scene in the episode, restored to Mark A. Sheppard form, also allowed us to see the scale of the matter as far as the Darkness goes, including that mention of Lucifer and Michael in the Cage, one of whom isn’t so happy about what is going on. If an Archangel or the Devil are getting the jitters, it’s probably time to start worrying. Which brings us to the final moment of the episode, in which Amara, saved by the Winchesters and in the care of Jenna, appears to have a mark on her chest. Could this be the Darkness’ form on Earth? It’s surely the safest place to hide as even the most hardy of hunters would balk at attacking a baby. It’s certainly a fun one to theorise about. The only slightly unfortunate thing about the new Big Bad is every time the Darkness is mentioned, I’m not thinking of a supreme evil, I’m thinking of the glam metal band declaring that they believe in a thing called love. Let’s hope that wears off as the season progresses. Read Becky’s review of the previous episode, Brother’s Keeper, here. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
