“The Foundry” ended with Mary Winchester making a big and dramatic choice. Mary “broke up” with her sons and is taking a much needed, and honestly much deserved, break from the hunting lifestyle and the many changes that have hit her life. As a fan of Mary and the dynamic she had with Sam and Dean, it is a disappointing choice. But in some ways, Mary’s departure might be a good thing for Supernatural.
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No More Dean Smothering
It’s understandable, because the last time he saw her she was burning alive, but Dean was a little bit too protective of Mary in the early days of season 12. No one really blames Dean for smothering his mother with love and safety, but it was getting a bit exhausting. In only three episodes of season 12, Supernatural managed to make Dean fretting over his mom into a repetitive pattern. Dean would worry, dismiss or tell Mary to stay put. Mary, being a grown woman, would disobey her son, usually end up being right about whatever and probably save the day if not Dean’s life directly.
Dean might have come clean at the end of “The Foundry” and told Mary that she was right and he was wrong to doubt her about the terrifying ghost children. So there is a chance that Dean might have gotten a little less protective and little bit more trusting of his mother’s instincts. There probably would have been a lot more frustrating moments of Dean being too cautious and halting the action before we got to that point. With Mary off on her own for now, hopefully when she reunites with her sons Dean will be a little bit less extreme in how much he wants to protect her.
Focus Back on Lucifer
The crime-solving, Lucifer-hunting trio of Castiel, Rowena and Crowley is worthy a spin-off series, let alone a season sub-plot. Supernatural probably wouldn’t have suffered too much if season 12 remained as fractured as it was in the first three episodes, with the Winchesters adjusting to Mary’s return and pretty much everyone else focused on Lucifer. With Mary gone though, Sam and Dean can give back to what really matters — the former Lord of Hell being back to his old evil tricks. It would have been cool to see Mary react to the news that her sons personally know the Devil but this way Supernatural can just dive right into the action and not pause to explain things to Mary.
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Mary Wasn’t Right
As fun as it would be for the Winchesters to start hunting with their mom after her resurrection, it would not make a lot of sense. Since the moment she came back on Supernatural, Mary has been struggling with the fact that she not only died but the world (and family) as she knew them no longer exist. This is not even to mention the unspoken fact of her resurrection that even though she was dead Mary actually aged 12 years in her absence, which seems supremely unfair.
Mary, like any normal-ish person, did not handle her resurrection well. It wouldn’t have made sense for Supernatural to brush Mary’s trauma under the carpet. To properly deal with her resurrection Mary wouldn’t just have to be a main character on Supernatural, she would have to be the main character. This would come at the expense of Sam, Dean and even supporting characters like Castiel and Crowley.
It really remains to be seen how being off on her own will help Mary deal with all her issues. It is believable, though, that she will be able to cope with them and that she can return to the show, somewhere down the line, as a much more stable character. As long as Mary was on Supernatural full-time, she would be the primary focus of the show. If season 12 was any other season that probably wouldn’t be an issue but with Lucifer on the loose, there are much bigger difficulties in the world than Mary’s psychological trauma.
So what do you think? Did Mary make the right choice leaving the boys? How do you think it will affect the rest of the season? How do you hope it plays out?
Supernatural season 12 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW. Want more news? Like our Supernatural Facebook page for the latest updates!
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
