How did Supernatural manage to make undead Nazi necromancers boring?

Well, it basically recycled the plot from their first tango with the terrible Thule, "Everybody Hates Hitler," episode but without the delightful wackiness that made it so great, and missing the earliest of their surprise Men of Letters allies, Aaron Bass (Adam Rose) and his pet golem. Supernatural promised us another adventure with Aaron Bass this season, and apparently a long-distance call for some intel Sam ( Jared Padalecki) could've pooped out in an email with the same results counts. It doesn't count!

Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, Supernatural Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW

Rich white people's fetish for Nazi swag made a reappearance. Some semi-innocent bystanders got torched. "The One You've Been Waiting For" touched on Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean's (Jensen Ackles) ongoing family crisis briefly before distracting everyone with a case Dean decided to bury his feelings in — at least he got to shoot Hitler in the face this time. That should give his toilet-water self-esteem a boost for like, ten seconds.

Supernatural ripped our hearts out with a deep, moving episode

Not everything can be "The Foundry" and so far, the Season 12 offerings have been generally strong. It was only a matter of time before a dud popped up. Thems the breaks in a season that somehow needs to stretch its goodies across 20-something episodes. It's okay. This isn't a harbinger of doom or an indictment on the show's age or a lack of ideas or anything like that. It wasn't even bad by general television standards or even the standards that Supernatural has had plenty of time to create for itself in its long and impressive lifespan. It was boring though, and tedious at times, and this was the Nazi necromancer episode that promised Aaron and his golem, one of like, two allies that the Winchesters haven't had to salt and torch yet. I was looking forward to it. We all were. The prequel was so good. The hype was, well, it was hype. Cursed with high expectations, "The One You've Been Waiting For" fell prey to the predators that stalk most sequels: a watered down plot, an annoying newcomer, and a deep sense of going through the motions.

We've been clambering for more Aaron, more of the Judah Initiative, and more old-school Men of Letters villains since "Everybody Hates Hitler" aired way back in season 8. On the surface, the aptly titled "The One You've Been Waiting For" (oh Supernatural, always so meta) brought the things we were promised but also...not so much. We didn't even get to see the golem! C'MON.

Supernatural: not another creepy doll episode

I could go on about Hitler's great-great-great niece grating on my last nerve for most of the episode and the missed potential to give that wee baby Nazi a story with more bite given his decision to betray his evil undead father and the secret Nazi cult he grew up in. Given all the family drama inherent to an outing with the Winchesters, that one had a lot to offer the eternal theme of good and evil and family and hunting bad sons of bi---s. In a way, Nazi Baby and Girl Hitler mirrored Dean and Sam in their respective relationships with their "darkness." It would really suck to find out you were adopted and share blood with history's ultimate evil-doer — kinda like finding out you might be part demon and definitely got your saintly mother killed as an infant.

It would also suck to grow up in a secluded, very closed lifestyle, programmed from childhood to have very specific ideas about what right and wrong are, what family looks like and who they are — kinda like living in a car with your demonic baby brother and psychotically vengeful father, killing werewolves on your summer vacation. The parallels were there, but they weren't explored and frankly, didn't we kinda do that last week when Dean and Sam clashed over the fundie family and the psychic chained up in the basement?

Yes, yes we did.

It's time to move on. Bring back the Brits. Run into Mary on the road. Do something completely off-the-wall crazy. I don't care, but there are only so many ways we can repackage Sam and Dean's current angst and I can't help but feel like this week, it cost us something that could have been really awesome.

Supernatural airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.

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