The Winchesters: Did Richard Speight Jr. just save the show?

The CW still has yet to renew The Winchesters. But it has also yet to cancel the new prequel of Supernatural.

December 6 aired the last episode we will see of The Winchesters for a while. But did it give the network enough to push them toward a renewal?

Don’t get sad yet because The Winchesters will make a return on January 24 in 2023. Starting with episode 8 at 9PM instead of the original 8PM time slot from before.

What happens in season 1 episode 6 of The Winchesters?

Season 1 does hold the record for the highest number of viewers in a season premiere for The CW this year.  In season 1 episode 6 “The Art Of Dying”, Mary had been battling her want to separate from the hunter life.

We meet Mary’s Aunt Tracy who gave her some words of wisdom. Tracy went on to lead a life outside of being a hunter.

But for women like the both of them, the hunting never dies. In some form, it always comes back.

Because of what we know about Mary from Supernatural, we know she does escape hunting for some time, but it’s ultimately how she is killed when Sam and Dean are very young. They are left to be raised by John.

The search for the Akrida seems far too slow knowing the information they already have. They know a lot and seem to be right on the cusp but episode 6 was not very flowing for me.

All season it has felt a little bit like a soap opera, drawing out storylines far longer than they should. By extending everyone’s pain, it makes it almost depressive to watch as a viewer.

I do understand we are getting into the minds of John and Mary, how they feel about hunting and how they feel about each other. Every character in the cast at one point or another has gone through trials and heartaches.

The time in which it takes to overcome could be sped up in my opinion. What falls short in The Winchesters is the audience’s ability to hold on.

Fans want to see other things explored. We know John and Mary end up together.

The season has been a push and pull of, will they or won’t they. It is seemingly irrelevant tension because we know they become a power couple.

Since we know John and Mary spend years apart, it would be good to see how good they were together before it all went bad. It became gloomy and pretty hopeless.

There’s so much tension in John. He’s stubborn, he’s angry, he’s making mistakes due to his agitation.

He knows Mary wants to leave and you can tell it eats at him along with all the other internal battles he is fighting.

What happens in season 1 episode 7 of The Winchesters?

It wasn’t until episode 7 “Reflections”, where things finally came together. Everything The Winchesters worked up to was finally coming to a head.

It made all the adventures and tribulations they went through worth it. John and Mary still make a fabulous team even with all the drama and tension that surrounds them.

They run across another clue of Mary’s father: a bloody bag. The crew of monster killers are still working hard to take down the Akrida at any costs.

The closer they get to the Akrida, the closer they get to Sam Campbell. John also gets notes from his father to decipher.

Could they possibly save mankind and get to both of their fathers in one swoop? Carlos too, carries a burden of the loss of his own parents.

He also blamed himself at first, the way Mary blames herself. It’s a lovely scene of a parallel between the two characters.

In a way, telling her that she’s got to let the guilt of it go, it’s not her fault. Revenge will come in time but along the way it’s their job to make this world a safer place by taking down all the monsters they can.

With the help of John’s mother, they decide to do a spirit session and try to summon Henry. After becoming upset Henry did not show up, John storms off in a fury.

Mary follows and tries to talk and connect with him about it. He too blames himself for his dad leaving, for not being a good enough kid.

All of a sudden Henry Winchester appears telling his son it wasn’t his fault, it was his. John needs his help to take down the Akrida.

They need the Ostium, which they have but it’s broken. They have to reenergize it to charge it.

He finishes by saying he’s proud of John. This is something John really needed to hear in his state.

John doubts himself so much and that could be the key to him moving forward.

Richard Speight Jr. films one badass fight scene of possessed people that John and Mary have to fight. Side by side they are one dynamic duo.

It makes perfect sense why they have the chemistry they do. Battling alongside each other comes naturally.

On to meet the Queen for the swap of the box. The Queen wanted it traded over in exchange for her father.

Little do they know, the plan will be changed. Who knows if she would have given her father over but saving mankind is bigger than one person for now.

It’s a hard decision for Mary but she faces it with grit. The monsters are sucked into the box until it quits working.

Roxy finally met her demise. But the true Queen looks to be somebody else.

Then they are cornered. There is no way out.

Then it happens. John romantically takes her in his arms and kisses her deeply.

Just as the Akrida is about to attack them, Mary’s father shows up just in time to save them. The mid-season finale was finally knocked out of the park by Richard Speight Jr.

Everything we’ve been wanting to happen all season finally has. The plot has solely been about finding Mary’s father.

Now that they have, maybe we can get into some more exciting stuff that binds Supernatural and The Winchesters.

Richard Speight Jr. never disappoints and even though this was a mid-season finale and you expect some greatness, he raised the bar this episode and for the rest of the season. I really hope they bring him back to direct more because it felt like an entirely different show from the six episodes prior.

If this is the level of directing and storytelling we can expect from here on out, we could have The Winchesters for years to come. It was a masterful, jam-packed experience.

Not only did Mary find her father but John got a little piece of his. He was finally able to have a little closure along with his mother.

He can move on knowing his father loves him and is proud of him. We also got the long awaited John and Mary kiss.

Anyone with eyes could see the tension between the very moments of the first episode. It was a long back and forth journey but Richard made it one rewarding kiss to remember.

When The Winchesters return, we also get the return of Loki. Richard Speight Jr. will be back, this time on screen to reprise the role.

We haven’t seen his face on screen in the Supernatural universe since his last episode in 2018. Catch all new episode of The Winchesters when the second half returns on January 24 on The CW.