WiC Watches: Supernatural season 15

Episode 1511: “The Gamblers”

Sam and Dean play a risky game of pool as a means to a lucky end in “The Gamblers.” When you compete against the Roman goddess of luck, Fortuna herself, the odds aren’t really stacked in your favor, but by Chuck, the Winchesters are going to try. The episode felt like the warm hug of reassurance Sam and Dean needed to remind them that they are still the heroes of this story.

Jack’s return could also spell s-w-e-e-t d-o-o-m for Chuck as the Winchesters and Castiel discover the purpose behind his return. The seed of new hope is sown, although we’ll only see it blossoming after Supernatural returns from its six-week hiatus on March 16.

At a pool hall, all worried eyes are on an intense game. A man in a suit, Leonard, sweats profusely — seriously, guy, that looks medical — as he’s beaten by a man named Joey (Brent Strait). Two coins suspended above the pool table light up, first the one, then the other. It’s a transference of luck. And Leonard’s luck is up. He pleads to play another game, claiming he’s good for it, but he’s unceremoniously thrown out of the bar. A few minutes later, he’s hit by a truck. It looks like a promising scenario.

Meanwhile, beaten down by car trouble, the inability to perform credit card fraud (“We’re on a budget”) and heartburn, the Winchesters have had enough of “this normal crap.” Out of desperation, they continue their search through Alaska for the location Garth told them about. Upon discovering it’s a magic pool hall, Dean perks right up, despite the ominous warning that no one ever seems to keep their luck. Sam takes the more cautious approach, suspecting demons or witches are involved, but it falls on deaf ears. Dean is confident he can win and increase their luck, fondly recalling all the games they’d hustled in the past.

It was at this point I felt it necessary to interject and remind Dean of his “downgraded to normal” status but it’s as though this fictional character couldn’t hear my exasperated voice through the screen.

At the pool hall, Sam wonders how they’re going to afford the buy-in when they don’t even have money for beers. The bartender Evie (Hanneke Talbot) doesn’t seem too pleased they want to play, but directs them to a man named Pax (Stephen Huszar). He explains how the game works: you don’t bet with money, you transfer your luck to a coin, and then play as many games as you want. If you win, you get the luck. If you lose, you can play again, but if your luck runs out, you have to leave. Disregarding Sam’s protests, Dean starts flexing his pool cue, figuratively speaking.

No one challenges him, so the hustle begins. He states loudly enough for everyone to hear that he’s off his game. A lady named Moira (Lynda Boyd) takes the bait and he beats her quite effortlessly, taking her luck.

Supernatural — “The Gamblers” — Image Number: SN1511B_0231bc.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Hanneke Talbot as Evie, Jensen Ackles as Dean and Jared Padalecki as Sam — Photo: Colin Bentley/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Sam chats to Evie, who gives him a thinly veiled warning: everyone has their reason for wanting to play, and no one knows when to quit while they’re ahead. It’s her way of  telling him to leave, something everyone there is no longer able to do.

Sam warns Dean, who’s feeling rather victorious, who agrees to play one more game because they don’t have enough luck yet. He plays Joey, who presents more of a challenge, and when Joey bets him double or nothing on a seemingly impossible shot, Dean accepts. Fortunately, Dean sinks the last ball and gets all of Joey’s luck.

Sadly, however, Joey staggers outside and starts coughing furiously. He confesses to Sam and Dean that he has lung cancer and playing for luck bought him an extra year. He lights the cigarette he’d been saving and asks to be left alone to die in peace.

Dean tests his newly-won luck but discovers it’s not nearly enough, which doesn’t add up. It’s as though someone is skimming off the surface after every win. Sam soon realizes who’s responsible: Fortuna. After learning Pax is Fortuna’s son, they threaten to kill him and Lady Luck reveals herself: it’s Moira. It wasn’t all that surprising ,as gods and goddesses have always had a habit of lurking in plain sight. They demand their luck back or her son dies, but her maternal instincts are sorely lacking, and she gives them the green light to make with the killing.

Dean then asks to play her again, but she refuses, saying he’s too easy to read. She will, however, play Sam. He accepts but he won’t play her for luck, he’ll play her for the lives of everyone in the bar. Sam, do you need a towel for all that dripping heroism? Fortuna, however, will only play him for his luck.

During the game, Fortuna learns the Winchesters are playing because they were cursed by God, and we gain an understanding of how the gods were created. “God created the world, but you know who created us gods? You did, you humans. Sort of,” she tells them, explaining how furious God was when humans worshipped everything besides him, so he created the gods, essentially to take the blame for everything that went wrong. But epic stories were told about the gods, and God — being the egotistical, petty being he is — couldn’t tolerate it. “Now he’s happy to hide behind whatever religion has the best syndication deal. While we survive on scraps in the wilderness.”

This was a satisfying explanation for how the gods came to be but, truthfully, it wasn’t a question I’d ever agonized over before. “Oh well, what are you gonna do?” Fortuna asks. “We’re gonna fight him,” Dean responds without missing a beat. “Are you now. And when you lose?” she counters. “We lose swinging!” says Sam, who goes on to win the game while the hero bell began chiming in my head.

Impressed that Sam distracted her by getting her to talk, she challenges him to one final game, and because they’ll need the luck of heroes to go up against God, that’s what she’ll give them. The catch: double or nothing. Sam makes the deal but not for the luck. If he wins, Fortuna has to give back the luck she stole and close up shop.

She’s utterly astounded that Sam wants to play for “losers” who don’t matter. “They matter to me,” says Sam. “They matter to us,” echoes Dean. How does one see clearly through tears swimming in one’s eyes? Asking for a friend. The Winchesters will fight to the death for any human being, and that’s what makes them who they are.

Fortuna, however, completely dominates the game before winning, but something about her demeanor towards them changes. Outside, Sam and Dean come to terms with their loss. They’re in the process of brainstorming how to save the unlucky players, when out they come strolling, dazed and confused. Evie tells them Fortuna shut everything down and that Sam and Dean reminded her of the heroes of old. She leaves them with a message from Fortuna: “Don’t play his game. Make him play yours,” and hands them a coin, which returns their luck to them.

Supernatural — “The Gamblers” — Image Number: SN1511A_0152bc.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jensen Ackles as Dean and Alexander Calvert as Jack — Photo: Cate Cameron/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Meanwhile, Castiel’s looking for Sam and Dean at the bunker when he answers a call intended for Dean, or “FBI Agent Watts”. It’s from the Sheriff’s department in Cushing, Oklahoma. There’s been a murder and the suspect is someone Dean started a file on: Jack.

Posing as Agent Lizzo  — when did Cas become this clued up on pop culture?  — he follows the lead on Jack. He watches security footage of Jack murdering a “good man” and doctor in cold blood. A few minutes later, he’s seen casually devouring the doc’s heart. So many possible scenarios flashed through my mind but the underlying thought was, “well, that was disgusting.” Castiel investigates and discovers the doctor is neither good nor a man. He’s a Grigori, a fallen angel that feeds on human souls. In my mind, this excused the murder, but I was still marginally concerned about Jack’s heart-guzzling fetish.

Jack hunts another Grigori, but this one is ready for him. Unable to kill Jack, he tortures him in an attempt to find out why Jack is killing his kind before Castiel enters and kills him. The sorrowful look on Castiel’s face, the long embrace, the dramatic reunion music — it was… nice. But it didn’t hit the emotional high I would’ve expected given Castiel’s fatherly relationship with Jack or the grief he experienced when Jack died. When Sam and Dean return to the bunker and see Jack, again, it wasn’t as emotionally charged as I would have liked. The reactions were authentic, though. Sam wraps him in a massive hug — he’s never one to hold a grudge. Dean simply holds his face in his hands while a flurry of emotions dances across his face.

Supernatural — “The Gamblers” — Image Number: SN1511A_0209bc.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jensen Ackles as Dean, Alexander Calvert as Jack, Misha Collins as Castiel and Jared Padalecki as Sam — Photo: Cate Cameron/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Lukewarm reunions out of the way, Jack explains that he didn’t come to them sooner because he had to stay hidden from Chuck. Granddaddy was afraid of Jack, and if he were to discover that he’s alive, he’d try to kill him. He goes on, saying Billie kept him hidden in The Empty for his own protection, but now that God is off-world, it’s safe. Consuming the Grigori’s hearts was part of Billie’s plan to make him strong, but he’s not at his full power yet. If he follows her instructions, he’ll regain all his strength and he’ll be able to kill God.

Sam and Dean have their lucky mojo back, and if they take Fortuna’s advice and make Chuck dance to their tune, they take back the power. Having Jack back could play a major role in their new strategy. However, I don’t trust Billie. She’s been gunning for the Winchesters for many seasons now and has made it clear that when they die, there’s no Heaven or Hell for them, they’ll enter The Empty. Has she set her vendetta aside for the moment?

Also, if you cast your mind back to how Sam defeated Lilith, he drank demon blood as a way to strengthen his abilities. We all know how that ultimately ended. Jack’s doing much the same thing, so it would be remiss of me not to question Billie’s plan.

Super highlights

• Sam and Eileen are still very much in comms, so much so that Dean has to remind him of his phone’s silent mode option after he’s subjected to an influx of text messages alerts.
• I like to play a game called “spot the recurring face.” Over the years, Supernatural has brought back many actors and actresses to play different, completely unrelated characters. The actor who plays Joey (Brent Strait) also played the role of Scotty in one of my favorite episodes from season 1, “Scarecrow,” and the actress who plays Moira/Fortuna (Lynda Boyd) played the Djinn/Dr Jennifer O’Brien in season 8’s “Pac-Man Fever”.