‘Supernatural’ season 8, episode 12 review: Meet the Men of Letters

Going into Wednesday night’s new “Supernatural” season 8 episode, we mistakenly had the impression that “As Time Goes By” was not going to be something that actually had an impact on the story long-term. We did imagine that there would be some sort of background on the Winchester family, but that was really it.

With that being said, we are extremely happy sometimes to be wrong. This episode instead ended up being one of the most intriguing episodes the show has had in years; not only did we learn about what Henry Winchester has been up to all these years, but also found out some more details about a new addition in the Men of Letters, who have extensively documented the supernatural world in a way in which Sam and Dean have never imagined.

In finding the group’s now-abandoned lair, we also now have a new interesting sort of home base for these characters to fall back on … and this is a nice change after they have spent so much time traveling around from one place to the next. From the standpoint of knowledge, this will be significant; but what Sam and Dean choose to do with this knowledge could be even more interesting at the end of the day. Let’s just hope that it does not tear them apart … especially since we are still getting over the mess with Benny and Amelia.

Overall, this episode had a little bit of everything: family mythology, great storytelling, and a cliffhanger that leaves us wanting more. We know that this has been a polarizing season for many fans, but we’re loving season 8 far more than the two years that came before it.

What did you think about this episode, and are you thrilled about all of the game-changing possibilities that it introduced? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below, and you can also find out some more about this episode by clicking the link here.

Photo: The CW