‘Supernatural’ 14x03: ‘The Scar’ welcomes Dean back, Sam’s beard, Jack’s dads

“Supernatural” season 14 episode 3 brought back the real Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) and someone else from the other world. “The Scar” saw tender moments between Jack (Alexander Calvert) and “one of his fathers,” Castiel (Misha Collins), and with special — hopefully permanent ­— appearance from Sam’s (Jared Padalecki) beard.

The following recaps and reviews “Supernatural” 14x03 “The Scar.” It was aired in the US on The CW on Thursday and will air Tuesday in Australia on Ten.

The lingering question from last week’s episode, “Gods and Monsters,” has been answered: It was really Dean occupying his body, not Michael. As Dean returned to the bunker, which, in his surprise, was full of other hunters working to locate Michael, he told Sam that he did not remember anything from the time Michael took control of his body until the archangel left it. And in true Winchester style, Dean insisted he’s okay whenever Sam asked.

He noticed that he had a scar on his right arm, where Castiel’s handprint was used to be located (season 2, episode 1, “Lazarus Rising”). The scar didn’t look like a handprint, though. It just looked like he was stabbed “with a giant meat fork.” When he asked Cas to “get in my head” to find out what happened to him while Michael was using him as a vessel, they found out that a mysterious hooded figure stabbed Michael with a spear. That mysterious figure was Kaia Nieves’ (Yadira Guevara-Prip) killer in last season’s “The Bad Place.”

They then asked help from Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes), who had also been investigating a series of murders where the victims had the same scars that Dean had on his arm. The victims all turned out to be Michael’s enhanced monsters, not humans.

Jody and the boys plus Kaia’s doppelganger

As the ending in “The Bad Place” had revealed, the hooded figure who killed Kaia was her other-world doppelganger, and she had escaped to Earth through a rift as well. Jody and Sam and Dean found this out when the hooded figure attacked them. They eventually caught her, thanks to Dean’s brutal approach.

They found that the spear Bad Place Kaia had been carrying could hurt Michael. That’s why the archangel pursued her and subsequently had his super monsters attack her.

Dean was acting rough, abrupt and aggressive. As usual, he masked his true feelings by being the aggressor. He wanted to “break” Bad Place Kaia to make her talk, which, according to her, was always his way. Bad Place Kaia turned out to be a dreamwalker like the real Kaia. She was able to see whatever Kaia saw, and that included Dean pointing a gun at her when she wouldn’t budge.

Dean was aggressive with Kaia at that time because they were running out of time to save their mother. And he was aggressive with Bad Place Kaia because he was coming from a traumatic experience akin to what abuse survivors go through. He wasn’t lying when he said that he didn’t remember what happened when Michael was occupying him, but he could remember if he wanted to. He just didn’t want to because he felt responsible for the carnage Michael caused because he said yes to him. His aggressiveness then was his way of coping. But Bad Place Kaia didn’t know that. She just knew that Dean had always been that way.

There were vampire attacks that followed, with Sam, Dean and Jody being outpowered by the enhanced vampires (Michael’s creations). Bad Place Kaia saved them, though, and she left with the spear even though she knew that that was what’s keeping her unsafe from Michael’s attacks.

Killing a bond

Bad Place Kaia admitted that she did not intend to kill the real Kaia; she was just trying to “kill a bond.” There was no elaboration that followed, but Jody earlier said that Kaia was Claire’s (Kathryn Newton) first love. So that probably meant that Bad Place Kaia was severing the bond of love between Kaia and Claire. Or she could also mean the bond between her and the main universe Kaia.

Jack and one of his dads

Jack, who was hurt because Dean wouldn’t let him come with them on a hunt, was about to run away from home when he overheard Cas helping another hunter and a witch victim. The victim was inexplicably ageing fast, and the angel couldn’t heal her as the spell was too knotted to be undone. Jack, who had already written a goodbye letter to his dads, decided to stay and talk to the girl, who told him she also ran away from home because her mother was too strict.

When Cas and the other hunter’s reversal spell didn’t work and the girl died of premature ageing, Jack figured out that the witch, even though already dead, was still stealing her youth. By destroying the witch’s necklace, he was able to save the girl’s life.

Cas told Jack he was so proud of him for saving the girl without using powers. He hadn’t asked Sam and Dean if it was okay yet (because all co-parents have to check on each other about their child’s welfare), but Cas said he would like to hunt with Jack sometimes. If this were another show, hunting would be a totally normal father-and-son activity. As it happened in this case, it’s a totally normal father-and-son activity.

One of the best scenes of the episode was when Jack was asked if Cas was his father, and he answered, “One of them, yes.” It’s already a fact that Cas is a father figure to Jack, and the teen baby has called him that since literally day one for him. But Jack not only continuing to call Cas his father, but also acknowledging that Sam and Dean were also his parents, that’s one of the many reasons the show continues to captivate fans’ hearts even after 14 seasons.

And Cas even made him soup. It remains unknown if Cas was any good in the kitchen.

Jack’s mortality

Is Jack dying? The Nephilim, without his powers, is now temporarily a full human. And humans die easily, just as his fathers always do. But the youngest hunter ever appeared to have been harbouring a secret from others. At the end of the episodes, he was seen coughing out blood, which could be a sign that he was getting weaker rather than getting stronger.

An update on the ‘Wayward Sisters’

Even though the planned spin-off didn’t materialise, the Wayward Sisters were still very much alive. According to Jody’s quick update on the girls, Alex is still at the hospital, Patience is in school, while “Claire is still Claire.” The spin-off may not be possible this time, but the girls, including Bad Place Kaia, can still appear in the show from time to time.