Are the boys becoming sloppy, was my first thought? Have they let too many cases go without finishing the job. Have they been lazy in leaving trails behind them? The question remains why did the boys NOT finish her OFF? The British Men of Letters, are obviously following the boys and are on their trail, but when we look at the nitty-gritty did Magda really have to die, when it was a cry for help? Are the Men of Letters so cut throat that they have NO compassion of these life circumstances? Magda was after all contacting those people as a way out of her situation, she was trying to escape her imprisonment and using her power so she thought, effectively. She I doubt never wanted to really harm them even though she took two lives so cold and cruelly.
Regardless of her self-defence, the BMOL didn’t see it this way. They saw her as a monster that had to be put down because she’d killed two innocent people. Innocent people who had done nothing wrong to warrant their life being cruelly taken from them. An eye for an eye is the way see it.
But again in her defence you might cry, she was being cruelly treated by her mother, whom at first you thought was the one being cruel keeping her daughter down in the cellar, forcing her to whip out any evil that might lurk within her very soul.
So when do we begin to doubt Sam and Dean’s judegement? Or do you never? Do you think they are always right? And the BMOL’s are out of order? Do you feel they had the right to end Magda? The BMOL’s didn’t witness what Sam clearly did. Sam as we know always stands up for the victim when he has a hunch he’s often right. He saw first hand what pain and suffering Magda endured at the hands of her wicked mother. They both clearly had a connection with one another through their abilities and use of special power. Sam tried his damnedest to make the family see sense what they were doing, was so very, very wrong. Which lead to their father’s death. But whom pulled that trigger, the mother or daughter? Had the mother poisoned the father to take them all away to heaven. Which in turn triggered Magda’s power to really kick in. Trying to put a stop to her mother ending her brother’s life. She ended her mothers instead. So why were the BMOL’s only seeing this case so black and white? Not even a blurred vision that made them doubt the situation Ketch was finding himself in?
I get that Magda killed two people, and that Sam was pleased in the end Magda had a second chance at life to live it freely away from her captors for the reminder of her natural life. So he thought. This story reminded me of Kate in Bitten, when she had killed her friend the werewolf, and they let her go. Also Amy Pond who Sam let live and who Dean ended, because he saw it similarly to the Men of Letters. Also Max the Physic kid who ended his horrible days turning the gun on himself. So in some ways Magda did turn the gun on herself, even though someone else did pull that trigger.
So do you think Magda deserved to live, considering the cards she was dealt?
Or do you feel bad for the people’s lives she took away who no longer have a life?
Written and Published By: Bella
Photographs: Courtesy and property of ‘The CW’
A Blog devoted to J2 and Friends! 
Sam and Dean imho did the right thing. And what Debbab said :-0
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The writer needs to kill Magda at the end of this episode to highlight the difference in philosophies between the BMOL and the Winchesters. Every psychic who did bad things to others using this gift has been punished with death save the high as a kite twin(?) and Sam. The Winchesters, starting with Sam (Lenore the vampire)and then Dean(Kate the werewolf) have come to a point where not all monsters deserve to die. Clearly, Dean’s association with Benny has changed him to Sam’s side of the fence where both brothers believe in second chances. Sam’s explanation of why a hunter might have killed him( an earlier episode) for something he did not choose for himself is persuasive. Sam and Dean have shades of grey in their hunting process.
The BMOL clearly has a black and white approach to monsters and their motivations. BMOL view the Winchester second chance route as “sloppy”. Dean’s response to Amy Pond shows his black and white approach and now with Magda, he is clearly allowing for that grey area that developed in him over the past few years. His “if I didn’t know you, I’d have to kill you” attitude has morphed by his experience watching Sam become a hero and Benny’s self sacrifice.
The BMOL approach the job more like Gordon( Walker,(remember him?). No mercy for the innocent monster, human or otherwise, even if there were no choice in the monster-hood.
So Magda has to die to pull the viewer into the moral question of who has the correct approach. She does kill innocents in her attempt to get herself help as she does not understand her power and how to use it. The viewer forgives Sam his misuse of power in s4 because he renounces it and self sacrifices. The BMOl has yet to let this go, I fear. Rather than focus on the result, they focus on the elimination. Explains Toni’s torture of Sam a bit.
The thought that other American hunters might have compromised the Winchesters is still very much in the viewer’s psyche. Mr. Ketch has been tracking the Winchesters. Magda’s death is a way to set up the basic conflict of philosophies. The Winchester approach is what makes Supernatural so different from other shows in this genre. The BMOL challenge the essence of being a Winchester- hunting things, saving people. Magda has to die.
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Insightful analysis. BTW, who was Benny ? Anyway, I give this episode a 8, an improvement, getting back to the old Supernatural we all know and loved.
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ICYMI: Benny was/is the vampire that befriended Dean in purgatory so he could get the “Soul train” back to Earth. He later sacrificed himself so he could deliver the passage way out to a trapped Sam( who soul trained Bobby out) in Purgatory. He tried to stay good while on Earth and not drink any blood but from blood banks. There is controversy as to whether he fell off the wagon or not. The scene in which Dean chops his head to save Sam, there is a deleted scene which indicates that he fell back and fed on a human directly. The only indication of aired footage is his comment that it is difficult uptop and he isn’t cut out for this side of things. Dean always told Sam that if Benny fed, he would gank him but that he would cross that bridge when and if…. Ah Dean’s loyalty! In the end, Dean ganks him to save Sam and complete the second trial, retrieving Bobby from Hell via a Sam trip through Purgatory. Jerry, is it all coming back to you now?
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As yea, I recall Benny, but I thought he died fighting some of his erstwhile buds while assisting Sam’s escape from purgatory.
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That should have been “Ah, yes” missed the typo.
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Dean beheaded him, he went to Purgatory, he showed Sam and Bobby the way out, and then he fought off monsters so they could get out. So Dean actually killed him. 🙂
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In order for Benny to rescue Sam with the information about how to get out, Dean had to chop his head off while they were in an alley. Dean decides to not burn his body, but rather bury it so he can return. Benny tells Sam he is staying in Purgatory because he really doesn’t fit uptop when a group of Leviathans or such attack. Benny takes them all on so Sam and Bobby’s soul can escape. Sam thinks Benny got killed in Purgatory. But…. you know our show.
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“Sam thinks Benny got killed in Purgatory”
Whent hey die in purgatory aren’t they sent right back to purgatory?
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