Supernatural: The One You’ve Been Waiting For

November 11, 2016 2:36 AM - Season 12, Episode 5

Sam and Dean follow a case involving spontaneous combustion. When they realize there's a Nazi connection, it becomes clear they are facing an old foe.
posted by cfoxhi (13 comments total)

I thought this episode was fairly mediocre, but couldn't help but feel like it was timely. I'm sure I was imgagining connections that weren't really there, but I couldn't help myself. The Thule Society feels way too Hydra-esque to work on Supernatural, but there it is. A couple funny moments, but nothing that would make we want to rewatch the episode.
posted by cfoxhi at 2:41 AM on November 11, 2016

Also, they couldn't let Ellie kill Hilter? Really? Now that would have been a real strike against fascism.
posted by cfoxhi at 2:42 AM on November 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

"I sold 10 million copies of Mein Kampf - imagine what I can do with Twitter."

This is the worst episode to watch this week.
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 8:31 AM on November 11, 2016 [7 favorites]

We've already determined I'm a monster, but I found it hilarious.

I love when a show doesn't take itself too seriously. Supernatural has been one of the best shows for that and this episode was so much silly fun.

They should have given us more Hitler time though.
posted by 2ht at 10:59 AM on November 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

I thought this one was OK, but the Hitler thing could have gone a lot further. The show went right up to the edge of total pulpy bizarro awesomeness, but stopped short. He wasn't scary and seemed a little goofy, but not goofy enough to be actually funny. The way the other nazis seemed a little weirded out by his behavior made me think there was going to be a twist and we'd find out it was really some flunky who'd been in the watch, that this would be Schultz the nazi janitor or something. But no, he was just an improbably friendly, not-scary Hitler. I also wasn't crazy about the actor who played the Hitler host (forgot the character's name). His accent seemed cartoony, although he spoke pretty believable German so for all I know maybe his accent's real. They needed a Dieter Laser or somebody else who can really bring the scary nazi.

I liked Ellie and she didn't seem like somebody who deserved to suffer, but I was almost hoping the nazis would go ahead and put Hitler's soul in her so we'd have another Girl Hitler on our hands. If they'd had a scary, female Hitler as an ongoing threat, how freaking crazy would that have been? Maybe they toyed with the idea but decided it would play too goofy. Too bad, if so.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:08 PM on November 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

Girl Hitler could have been fun. Especially if Hitler ended up taking down the British MoL. Because someone needs to, and it may as well be Hitler, right?
posted by 2ht at 2:44 PM on November 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

I thought this episode was just so great. Admittedly the timing probably helps, with that Twitter comment. I read that scene as Ellie realizing she's too dizzy to make a good shot and didn't wanna hit Dean so she swerved the other way and luckily getting a headshot. The goofy Hitler actually goes along with some reports I've read that he was actually bipolar, enough to kill himself but also to get crazy when he realizes he was resurrected.

"I killed Hitler. I think that entitles me for free drinks for the rest of my life. I'm gonna get t-shirts made."

Ellie seems like a good character, I hope they fit her back in down the line.

"Now your want pie?"
"I killed Hitler, I think I deserve some pie."

Yeah I think this was a damn good episode.
posted by numaner at 9:00 PM on November 11, 2016 [3 favorites]

I liked this one, could maybe be my favorite Season 12 episode actually (although that's not saying toooo much, this season hasn't had any real standout eps for me yet). The whole thing was basically one big set up for crazypants Hitler but it was kind of worth it. Hitler wanted dogs! Dean working through his mommy issues with food and Nazi-killing. Yes.

This episode needed more Aaron/golem though...I was kinda disappointed when I realized it was pretty much the end of the episode and we weren't going to see them again. I wonder if, assuming Supernatural gets renewed again for next season, they revisit the Thule storyline and maybe throw in the ex-Thule kid from Buffalo into the mix.
posted by eeek at 9:17 PM on November 11, 2016

Yeah, something about the Thule kid made me think we'll see him again. This season has been solid so far, but I keep waiting for a big standout episode.

The more I think about it, the more I think they missed an opportunity by not resurrecting Hitler as a pretty young woman. That's the kind of shit that gets a show talked about! The way they went just felt underwhelming. Like I said, he wasn't really funny or really scary, and if you're gonna bring back Hitler you gotta go BIG. Maybe it was just a problem with the actor. Maybe those lines really crackled on the page, I dunno.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 10:19 PM on November 11, 2016

I thought the episode was fun, but Hitler was... underwhelming. Maybe because it took them so long to get to the actual resurrecting? It felt rushed, so Hitler wasn't actually scary at all, just goofy and cuckoo-pants. Like, I didn't feel like he was really a threat, you know? He was too silly for that.

I agree that putting Hitler into the pretty young woman would have been excellent, especially if Hitler was canny enough to keep himself hidden, so Sam and Dean didn't know. THAT would have been cool.
posted by sarcasticah at 10:47 AM on November 12, 2016

I don't think Hitler would have dealt well with being a woman. To put it mildly.

I agree that this one and the previous episode about creepy fundies have not been well timed for a shitty election season. (Though if Donald's possessed, that could explain a lot....)

I did enjoy Dean's "I killed Hitler" and I was happy to see Gigi Darcy from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries getting a gig.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:37 PM on November 19, 2016

Quotes

Dean: Heil this! [shoots Hitler in the forehead]
Sam: Dude... you killed Hitler!
Dean. Yeah. Awesome!

Dean: I killed Hitler. I killed Hitler. I killed Hitler. I think that entitles me to free drinks for the rest of my life. I'm gonna get t-shirts made.

Dean: I killed Hitler; I think I deserve some pie. Did I mention I killed Hitler?
Sam: I'm never gonna hear the end of this, am I?
Dean: Probably not.

Trivia

Dean's line: "Nazis. I hate these guys," is an echo of the same line from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when Indy discovers Nazis in an Austrian castle. It's also similar to lines said by Jake in The Blues Brothers: "Illinois Nazis. I hate Illinois Nazis."

Fritz is told over the walkie-talkie that the Winchester's Impala is parked on Sawmill Road. Sawmill Road is an actual road in Columbus, Ohio. However, the part of the episode that mentions it was set in Toledo, Ohio where there is a Saw Mill Run Road, but no Sawmill Road.

The final scene between Ellie and Sam is shot on Hamilton Street between Pender Street and Dunsmuir Street in Vancouver, Canada. The Dominion Building is seen at the end of the block, which has been used in many movies and television shows such as Battlestar Galactica.

When Christoph says the pocket watch is like a Horcrux, Sam then tells Dean that it's a "Harry Potter thing". Sam is referring to Voldemort, who had split his soul in seven Horcruxes.
posted by orange swan at 10:21 AM on January 11, 2022

Hitler didn't speak English (or any language other than German), but I suppose the idea is he has access to his meatsuit's knowledge/memories, and that's how he knows about Twitter.

I see that people have referred to Hitler possibly being bipolar. Any psychological diagnosis of Hitler is very much up for debate and inconclusive by definition, as Hitler was never diagnosed with any mental health issues during his lifetime and no mental health professional can diagnose someone they've never met. Of course that doesn't stop anyone from theorizing.

Those Nazis would never have seen a woman as an appropriate vessel for Hitler, but yes, Girl Interrupted By Hitler would have been a fun concept.

It was nice to see Aaron again, and find out he's become a hunter with a specialization in Nazi necromancers. I wish we'd seen the Gollum too, as the two of them made for such a great unlikely buddy comedy, but the Gollum only appeared once, and this is Aaron's second and last appearance in the series.

In answer to some of the speculation above, Ellie Grant the motormouth great-great-grandniece of Hitler and Christoph the disaffected millennial Nazi spawn only appear in this one episode of the series.

It was funny seeing the reaction of the Nazis to getting their dear leader back, only to realize he acts like a demented chimpanzee and that maybe he's not such a good bet for rebuilding the Third Reich after all, and oh scheisse, what are we in for? Careful what you wish for, boys Nazi necromancer scum!
posted by orange swan at 10:44 AM on January 11, 2022