Season 12, Episode 14:
The Raid
Written by: Robert Berens
Directed by: John MacCarthy
Air date: March 2, 2017
A chance to take out a nest of vampires backfires when the alpha-vamp shows up and turns the tables on Mary and the British Men of Letters, who are doing their best to recruit Sam and Dean.
Body Count
For this episode: At least 6 vampires and 4 humansFor the series so far: At least 1324 humans (of which 22 were witches), 1132 angels (2 of which were archangels), 191 demons, 78 vampires, 59 ghosts, 36 Jefferson Starships, 22 gods, 19 zombies, 17 werewolves, 10 hellhounds, 8 Bisaan, 7 shapeshifters, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 djinn, 6 reapers, 4 dogs, 4 ghouls, 4 Leviathan, 3 Khan Worms, 3 Thule, 2 Amazons, 2 arachnes, 2 kitsunes, 3 rugarus, 2 vetalas, 2 zannas, 1 banshee, 1 cat, 1 crocotta, Death, 1 deer, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 familiar, 1 lamia, The Mother of All, 1 nachzehrer, 1 okami, 1 phoenix, 1 pishtaco, 1 Purgatory creature, 1 qarin, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 shojo, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 soul eater, 1 Titan, 1 wendigo, the Whore of Babylon, 1 wicked witch, and 1 wraith
Tropes
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The Alpha Vampire leads the other vampires in attacking the British Men of Letters' base.
- Back for the Dead: The Alpha Vampire returns and leads a vampire raid on the British Men of Letters American headquarters. He is killed by Sam using the Colt.
- Badass Boast: The Alpha Vamp boasts that he is one of the five things the Colt can't kill. Sam calls his bluff, and proves him wrong.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Dean tells "peacemaker" Sam that he should just take a side for once. At the end of the episode, Sam decides they should work with the Men of Letters.
- Blood Knight: Ketch notes that he and Dean are both this.
- Brandishment Bluff: The Alpha thinks Sam is bluffing with the Colt and says it's not loaded, then realises that the Bait-and-Switch scuffle Sam did with Mick allowed him to load the Colt in time to get a clear shot.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: An angry Dean calls Mary by her first name during their argument.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: Dean and Ketch arrive back at the Men of Letters base to stop the vampire attack, only to find that Sam has killed the Alpha Vampire and the rest have fled or been mopped up.
- Didn't See That Coming: The British Men of Letters did not expect to be attacked in their own base by the remaining vampire nest in the midwest led by the Alpha Vampire himself. They're caught with their pants down with no real combat-worthy agents to defend the base. Fortunately, Sam and Mary are there. They also didn't expect one of their Hunter recruits to betray them.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The British Men of Letters' plan to wipe out the vampires is simply called "Project V", and their anti-vampire weapon is the "Anti-Vampire Device".
- Face Death with Dignity: When the Alpha realizes that Sam's pulled a Bait-and-Switch to load the Colt, all he does before being headshot is call Sam clever.
- Feud Episode: Between the brothers and Mary. Though Sam begins to see her point.
- The Mole: The hunter Pierce who joined the British Men of Letters is actually a mole for the Alpha, who pays Pierce a lot of money to keep him off of other hunters' radar.
- Neutrality Backlash: Dean expresses annoyance with Sam for not picking a side.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After learning the truth, Dean and Sam tells her it's her fault Castiel nearly died and for getting Wally killed. Mary shoots back that she's well aware; after all, she was the one who had to tell Wally's wife he was dead.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Ketch says this of himself and Dean, stating that they're both killers who need something to fight in order to have peace in their lives.
- Open Secret: When Ketch shows up at the bunker, Dean is confused as to how he knew it was there. Ketch reminds him that it is a Men of Letters bunker, and that of course he knew about it.
- Playing Nice for Now: Ketch and Dean still don't really care for each other, but Ketch has orders to recruit Dean, and so gives it an honest try — helped out by a bottle of Scotch.
- Professional Killer: Ketch describes himself as one, even though it's mostly monsters he kills. He says the Men of Letters allow him to scratch an itch by sending him out on assignments.
- The Purge: The British Men of Letters have been systematically wiping out every vampire nest in America, starting with the Midwest. By the time the episode starts, the whole region's vampire population has been cut down to a dozen (including the Alpha).
- Retired Badass: The Alpha Vamp describes himself as very old and living a quiet life. He is supremely pissed that the British Men of Letters have set up operations in America and have eliminated almost all the vampire nests in the American midwest. He invokes this word for word (i.e. Get-Off-My-Lawn) when he tells them to go back home to England.
- Rivals Team Up: After some convincing, Dean and Ketch team up to take out the last vampire nest but discover it's been vacated as the vampires have gone after the Men of Letters' base of operations, so they rush to the rescue.
- Shout-Out: Sam refers to the Men of Letters' base as a low budget Mission: Impossible.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
- Mick and Ketch don't get along very well.
- Likewise, Ketch doesn't care at all for Dean's stubborn attitude and would gladly forget about him altogether. Unfortunately Ketch has orders to bring Dean onto his side, and is trying his best to do so.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Dean and Sam call Mary out for working with the Men of Letters and lying about "wanting some peace".
- Dean expresses annoyance with Sam for always being the "peacemaker" between him and anyone they disagree with (their mom, Castiel, etc). He asks why Sam can't just pick a side for once.
