Various & Sundry Villains

The main plot was good, some basic annoying points like how the brothers can be killed easily. Rowena is back again and its lazily explained byt i do like seeing her back. The other part with Lucifer is whatever, its too dragged out for me to care.

There is some funny witch stuff in this episode and I rather liked what they did with Rowena here. I think the scene where she and Sam bond over feeling powerless is a touching moment in the season. Unfortunately, the prior material around Rowena treats her as such a plot device that I don't think the pathos is fully earned.

A great episode that brought back an old favourite, Rowena and was a showdown against two new witches. Things got more interesting when Dean came under their spell and was in love. Rowena also proved she could not be trusted by triple crossing the Winchesters and having plans of her own with the book.

Meanwhile Castiel and Lucifer manage to escape from hell but shockingly Castiel strikes Lucifer with an angel blade that looked to kill him. I'm pretty sure most fans are not convinced we've seen the end of Lucifer or the beloved vessel. Also note how Rowena was able to come back from the dead twice, including this very episode. So if a witch can do it then the Devil will manage to come back and fully recharged. Lets hope he packs a big punch with a good story. His story lines have been lackluster in the last year, he seemed like a naughty kid who escaped and was causing mischief rather than a plot.

It will be interesting to see how powerful Rowena has become and how Jack will later fit in to the story.

"Various & Sundry Villains," the twelfth episode of Supernatural's thirteenth season, directed by Amanda Tapping, is a lively, darkly comic, and surprisingly introspective entry that blends classic monster-of-the-week chaos with meaningful character development. The episode's central plot revolves around Jamie and Jennie Plum, a pair of mischievous witch sisters who use love spells and brute force to steal the Black Grimoire from the Winchesters, setting off a chain of betrayals, magical mayhem, and a zombie mother who refuses to stay dead. While the surface narrative is filled with playful genre tropes and supernatural hijinks, the episode's real strength lies in its exploration of vulnerability, trauma, and the uneasy alliances that define the series' later seasons.

The episode opens with Dean falling under the sisters' love spell, resulting in a comedic yet unsettling sequence where he becomes infatuated with Jamie and, under her influence, steals the Black Grimoire from the bunker. Jensen Ackles delivers a pitch-perfect performance, capturing both the absurdity of Dean's enchanted state and the underlying discomfort of losing agency. Sam's attempts to intervene are equally entertaining, culminating in Dean knocking him out cold before running off to deliver the book to his "soulmate." The early scenes are a showcase for Tapping's deft direction, balancing slapstick humor with a creeping sense of danger as the sisters' true intentions are revealed.

Once the Grimoire is in the Plum sisters' hands, the narrative pivots to their real goal: resurrecting their dead mother. Their ritual goes awry, bringing back a "magic-proof" zombie who quickly spirals out of control. The sisters' dynamic-alternately bickering and united in purpose-adds a layer of depth to what could have been one-dimensional villains. Jordan Claire Robbins and Elise Gatien imbue Jamie and Jennie with a blend of menace and pathos, making them memorable antagonists in the show's rogues' gallery.

Enter Rowena, newly resurrected and as cunning as ever. Ruth Connell's return is a highlight, her performance oscillating between vulnerability and calculated manipulation. Rowena's motivations are clear: she wants the Grimoire to protect herself from Lucifer, whose torment in her death has left her deeply traumatized. Her alliance with the Winchesters is fraught with mistrust-she binds their feet with a hex to buy time with the sisters, then triple-crosses the witches when the zombie mother threatens to kill her. The kitchen confrontation, with Rowena fending off the zombie with a chair before finally shooting her in the head, is both tense and darkly funny, encapsulating the episode's tonal tightrope.

The climactic fight is a chaotic blend of supernatural action and emotional stakes. The sisters, magically enhanced, prove formidable opponents, but Rowena ultimately turns the tables by casting a spell that forces them to attack each other, ending in their mutual destruction. The Winchesters recover the Grimoire, but not before Rowena pleads with Sam for the spell she needs to feel safe. Sam's decision to let her take a page from the book is a moment of empathy, rooted in his own sense of helplessness and trauma-a parallel that the episode draws out in its closing scenes.

Back at the bunker, the emotional core of the episode comes into focus. Dean, embarrassed by his enchanted antics, and Sam, troubled by his complicity with Rowena, share a rare moment of vulnerability. Sam admits that he understands Rowena's fear and sense of powerlessness, confessing that his own plan-finding Jack, saving Mary-has fallen apart, leaving him adrift. Dean's attempt to reassure Sam is heartfelt, but the conversation ends on a note of uncertainty, reflecting the brothers' ongoing struggle to find hope in the face of relentless loss.

Amanda Tapping's direction is sharp and energetic, making the most of the episode's shifting tones. The photography is crisp, with the Plum sisters' house rendered as both a site of domestic normalcy and supernatural menace. The editing keeps the action moving without sacrificing character beats, and the practical effects-particularly the zombie mother-are effective without being gratuitous. The episode's rhythm is brisk, balancing humor, horror, and introspection in a way that feels quintessentially Supernatural.

The performances are uniformly strong. Ackles and Padalecki excel at both comedy and drama, while Connell's Rowena is as magnetic as ever. The guest stars playing the Plum sisters bring a fresh energy, and the episode's willingness to let its villains be both ridiculous and dangerous is a testament to the show's confidence in its formula. The script is peppered with witty dialogue and clever callbacks, but it never loses sight of the emotional stakes driving the main characters.

If the episode has a weakness, it is perhaps in its reliance on familiar tropes-the love spell, the double-crossing witches, the magical MacGuffin. However, these elements are executed with enough style and self-awareness to feel more like homage than repetition. The decision to let Rowena walk away with a dangerous spell is a risky one, but it sets up intriguing possibilities for future episodes and deepens the show's exploration of moral ambiguity and trust.

In conclusion, "Various & Sundry Villains" is a spirited, well-crafted episode that balances supernatural hijinks with genuine emotional resonance. By foregrounding the characters' vulnerabilities and the complexities of their alliances, the episode elevates what could have been a simple monster romp into a thoughtful meditation on fear, agency, and the bonds that persist even in the darkest times. It is a testament to Supernatural's enduring appeal that, even in its thirteenth season, it can still surprise, amuse, and move its audience-often all at once.

The sister witches at the very beginning kill a guy after he steals money and vodka for them. They tell him they were taught by their mother to always make the death look non-magical. Well, they could have just killed the cashier and stolen the money from the register and the vodka from the shelves themselves instead of having the guy Dale do it. The same kind of murder they committed against Dale could have been done to the cashier. They clearly don't mind people seeing them kill someone as they killed Dale out in the parking lot in the wide open. It's never explained why they spelled Dale into doing that stuff for them instead of doing it themselves, so it makes no sense at all.