Jack’s MIA, there might be another Biblical Apocalypse coming, and it’s really a terrible time to run into another old, not-as-dead-as-they’re-supposed-to-be enemy. It’s just another Thursday for the Winchesters.
Supernatural – “War of the Worlds”, Season 13, Episode 7
Airdate: November 23, 2017
Director: Richard Speight, Jr.
Writers: Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming
What You Should Know:
After the debacle in Dodge City, Jack panicked and fled both Castiel and the Winchester brothers. Risking exposing himself to the dangers of the rest of the world, including Asmodeus, the Fourth Prince of Hell.
In the moments before Jack’s birth, the energy released by the unborn infant through his mother ripped open a portal to another reality – an alternate Earth. Mary Winchester managed to tackle Lucifer, Jack’s biological father, through the portal moments before it was permanently shut thanks to the sacrifice of the reigning King of Hell, Crowley. Mary and Lucifer were trapped in this other world, a world where the angels had overrun Earth and turned it into a wasteland, slaughtering demons and humans alike. A world where Archangel Michael had long since vanquished his elder brother, Lucifer. Their Michael tracked down Lucifer and Mary, instigating a fight while Mary watched.
Before Mary was able to join the fight to protect then-unborn Jack from his father, she’d been entangled with the British division of the Men of Letters. Their Men of Letters chapter was not only still functioning, but thriving, and had come to America seemingly to eliminate the American hunters. Mary was being ‘controlled’ by the British Men of Letters muscle man known as Arthur Ketch, whom she eventually succeeded in killing after he brainwashed her into murdering several of her hunter contacts.
What You’ll Find Out:
Lucifer lost his fist fight with the alternate reality’s Michael and wound up in a single-body styled cage of iron, with spikes pointing in on all sides. Too restricted to move, he could do nothing while Michael plundered his memories of the world he came from, even prompting Lucifer to speak aloud his feelings about it and his God. Lucifer sums up that God had a ‘few good moments’ when he created the universe, visions of beautiful vistas flashing across his mind. Giving God credit for the good things he did for mankind before saying that ultimately God got bored, packed up his ‘toys’ and disappeared.
Michael pulls away at that point, jarring Lucifer free and back into his proper mind, where he demands an explanation for what Michael had just done to him. Michael announces that he’s intrigued by this paradise of a world Lucifer comes from and that he intends to travel there, to give it his leading touch. Michael further reveals that he plucked out Lucifer’s greatest fear while he was in Lucifer’s mind, claiming Lucifer is most afraid of being locked back in a cage, alone and forgotten for the rest of eternity. So Michael promises to give him exactly that before he departs for the paradise world.
While Lucifer aggravates his captor, Dean, Sam, and Castiel continue their search for the newly-missing Jack. Sam declares that as of yet his searches have yielded no results, but assures them that he’s reached out to every hunter he knows, with the implication that they’ll contact him if or when they learn anything useful. Dean expresses confidence that they’ll find Jack sooner rather than later, arguing that Jack was pretty freaked out when he ran off, and there are bound to be signs that would get their attention in the form of unusual natural phenomena. Such occurrences have allowed them to find powerful beings in the past. Castiel enters the room, presenting a counter-argument that the absence of signs is the sign itself. He then announces that he’s going to meet with a fellow angel in hopes that Heaven has more news, but he needs to go alone. Though reluctant, Dean agrees, telling Cas not to do anything stupid.
After Cas leaves, the brothers lament their frustrations of being “stuck in idle.” So Dean presents an alternative: to work a case, to keep themselves busy. He’s found a string of murders, the victims all appear to be witches, but the kills don’t match hunter styles. It seems as though someone – or something – else is targeting the witches in search of something specific.
Asmodeus, meditating on finding Jack, is interrupted by one of his demons who announces that he has news of “the Jack.” By which he states that there is no news. But he further elaborates that, according to an unnamed hunter ‘on the payroll’, the Winchesters have also lost Jack. Asmodeus is baffled by this, having assumed the Winchesters were simply doing a “masterful job” of protecting the boy.
Meanwhile, Michael has removed Lucifer from his latest cage and brought him to a new room as he explains a bit more of his plan to travel to Earth. Lucifer points out that he’ll need that rift in time and space that just so happens to be missing, but Michael calmly assures him that he’s “a man with a plan” and that they’ve been considering expanding to alternate realities already, anyway. He then brings in one of the ‘they’ in reference – his world’s current Prophet of the Lord, Kevin Tran. Lucifer is genuinely surprised a familiar face for a moment, in turn startling Kevin, before commenting that his world’s Kevin is dead. But Michael interrupts, ascertaining from Kevin that everything is in place, and after some brief babbling Kevin produces a vial and says that all they need still is the Grace of an Archangel. Kevin makes a comment about how Michael has been unwilling to provide his. Michael replies that it’s no longer necessary, and proceeds to take a chunk of Lucifer’s Grace, with the promise that he ‘won’t take it all.’
Sam and Dean meet back up after checking with some local authorities and reaching out to a contact about the witch kills, still with minimal information as to who they’re really looking for. Sam has found camera footage of their latest victim taken shortly before her murder and Dean spots something suspicious, so he has Sam zoom in on a man following behind the woman in the video. The case takes a very unexpected turn when they zoom in on the familiar, though bearded, face of Arthur Ketch. A man their mother had previously shot in the head. Dean figures this solves the mystery of the case, as Ketch is known for murdering ‘monsters’ regardless of their danger potential, but Ketch’s overall return from the dead is a much bigger issue. An issue the brothers have no time to grapple with before a woman wrapped nearly head to toe approaches them, addressing them by name and introducing herself as Daniella – a witch. She states, with an uncomfortable stutter, that she knows they don’t like witches, but she also knows they help people who are in trouble, implying she is one of those people.
Back on the ravaged alternate reality, Kevin stands before a bowl full of miscellaneous ingredients and declares that it’s ready. Lucifer, standing opposite him and surrounded by Michael’s muscle men, takes a final stab at talking Kevin out of what he’s doing, so he asks him why. Why is he doing this? Kevin exclaims that he has no choice. He’s a prophet, prophets serve God, but he has no God to serve, so he’s essentially stuck serving Michael instead – because he’s a prophet. Lucifer argues that Michael is pure evil, but Kevin him off, asking, “Aren’t you Satan?” and pointing out that that makes Lucifer the evil one. Plus, Michael has promised to take Kevin with him, and Kevin is looking forward to ‘meeting hot women.’
Michael sweeps into the room, overtaking the conversation and demanding Kevin be ready. Kevin picks up the bottle of Lucifer’s Grace, the only ingredient remaining to be added, and Lucifer begs him one last time not to proceed. Kevin looks at him as if hesitant but continues to obey Michael, pouring the Grace into the bowl and chanting a spell, presumably in Enochian. The magic fills the room with a blinding light and rush of energy that knocks everyone backward before their desired rift is revealed. Across the room from Kevin and Michael. Acting quickly, Lucifer knocks back his two disoriented guards and leaps through the rift. It shuts behind him, leaving Michael, Kevin, and the other men still in their world. Kevin runs forward, excited that his spell even worked. He rambles about the ‘science being slightly off,’ and obviously, the spell was only good for one person as it was, but Michael grabs him by the collar and harshly demands that he “fix it.”
Lucifer lands hard on the concrete in a more familiar world, listening to sirens and car horns as people continue walking around him. He finds his feet with the realization that he’s landed in Cincinnati. In an attempt to verify this he quickly discovers that the people walking by are assuming he’s some kind of homeless, druggie beggar. He stops two women, in particular, one of whom hands him cash and tells him not to spend it on drugs. He tosses the money aside and goes to disintegrate her, only to discover that he can’t. He puts in more than a casual effort, but still nothing. He can’t even extend his wings, thereby blinding and obliterating any human who happens to see him.
At the same time, Asmodeus has increased his search with the knowledge that Jack is running solo. His demons have captured one of the clerks from the motel where Dean, Sam, Cas, and Jack stayed in Dodge City. But despite the torture the demons inflict, the clerk maintains that he knows nothing. Least of all where the FBI agents he recalls were headed to after they left. Asmodeus lets his minions kill the clerk, but before he could walk away a sudden and powerful sensation washes over him. He declares that he is sensing something but shortly adds that it isn’t Jack, it’s something … else. And then a devilish grin breaks across his face.
Daniella leads Dean and Sam to an especially remote cabin, explaining it’s a safe-house witches use for hiding, like from hunters. She then proceeds to tell them that she’s come to them regarding because she’s the only one who’s survived the rash of witch attacks. The brothers are skeptical of this claim at first, so she removes her oversized scarf, revealing horrible scarring around her collarbone. Scarring that matches the wounds the killer had inflicted on his other victims. She describes his methods and explains that he’s torturing them because he’s looking for information – he wants to find the infamous witch, Rowena McCloud. Except Rowena’s dead, and no matter how many times he’s told this he won’t accept that answer, so instead, he moves on to another target.
Dean asks Daniella if her attacker had a British accent. She says he did. Sam shows her a still of the image captured from the video earlier, zoomed in, and asks if that’s him. She says yes, in a startled tone. She pleading insists that no one can know she’s contacted them, or where she is until he’s stopped. She’s sure he’s looking for her because she escaped and can ID him. But Dean informs her that he has a different idea.
That night, Daniella is sitting alone at a small dining table, as though divining cards. The cabin is lit and appears empty. A canister crashes through the window, immediately releasing a cloud of smoke or gas, and Daniella gets up and drops to the floor, coughing. Moments later the front door is kicked open, revealing a man dressed all in black and wearing a protective gas mask. He’s also carrying a machine gun, which he proceeds to sweep in a wide arc across the entire cabin, being sure to get whoever might have been hiding in another room or behind the kitchen. Once he’s done shooting he steps forward, Daniella having gasped and seemingly passed out, but a dart is shot into his unprotected neck from outside. He collapses before he can turn his head. Dean and Sam enter the room, with Sam rushing to lift Daniella from the floor and helping get her to fresh air, where she is able to gather her feet. Dean crouches down and tears off the gas mask, revealing the slightly-bearded face of Ketch.
Dean and Sam take him back to their bunker for interrogation. But chained to a chair and several hard punches from an angry Dean later, Ketch didn’t seem inclined to be giving out answers. They would ask why he wasn’t dead and Ketch’s response was “why should I be?” So Dean finally got in his face, gave him a brief bullet-point list of the things he’d done to piss them off, concluding with how they’re already in a bad mood and how it’d be in Ketch’s best interest to start talking. But before Ketch can actually continue Dean notices something off. The back of Ketch’s hand is tattoo free, whereas before Ketch had born a very visible cross tattoo. Upon addressing this Ketch finally exclaims that he understands the problem – they’ve got him confused with his twin brother, Arthur. He is actually Alexander. He further explains that they’d both enrolled in the school for the British Men of Letters, but at the pivotal moment he’d failed miserably and become a disgrace to the family. So he’s hiding out in America and hunting on his own, disconnected from his heritage, who would surely kill him for what they’d view as a traitorous act. Despite their obvious disbelief of his unlikely story, the Winchesters opt to ask him instead about why he’s killing the witches, specifically, why he’s looking for Rowena. Alexander claims he’s doing it because that’s what hunters are supposed to do ‘kill the bad things.’
Sam turns to the hard drives he took from their raid on the American base the British Men of Letters had set up a while back in an attempt to verify – or debunk – Ketch’s story. He finds a convincing amount of paperwork on both an Arthur and an Alexander Ketch, including an incomplete student file on Alexander. Everything that would perfectly align with the story they were told. Dean simply refuses to buy it. So Sam argues that, okay, they know their mother shot Arthur in the head and they know the two of them dumped his body in a waste canal, so him coming back would be weird. However, they “eat weird every day,” and he doesn’t see the difference between believing one over the other. Dean explains that there’s their kind of weird and there’s bullshit. On this, he’s calling bullshit.
Alexander seems surprised to learn that the Winchesters aren’t convinced of Arthur’s demise, despite having seen him shot through the head. Sam pulls up a chair to have a chat with him, stating that he thinks it wise to suspect anything involving Arthur Ketch. The two talk a bit about Arthur, with Sam telling Alexander his opinion carefully. Claiming Arthur was sadistic, and a murderer, and loyal to no one, among several other unflattering things. But at the loyalty comment, Alexander interrupts, saying Arthur was actually loyal to a fault. That what Sam and Dean witnessed was a ‘company man’ doing what was expected and that living that kind of life must have been very hard. In the end, Alexander adds that he believes that, if Arthur were there in that moment, he would express regret to Sam and Dean for some of the things he was forced to do to their family.
In the meantime, Castiel meets up with his angel contact at the sandbox gate. He asks the angel, Duma, if she has any information on the location of Jack. She confirms, as if correcting an error in his speech, that he means the Nephilim before saying that no, Heaven does not have him. Castiel pushes, seeking assurance that he isn’t sitting in an old cell. Duma explains that if they had him he would not be imprisoned, he would be put to work. Ever since the Fall, when the majority of the angels were cast out of heaven, lost their Grace, and perished on Earth, the Angels’ numbers have been at all-time lows. Duma reminds Castiel that no new angels have come into existence since the Beginning. That it takes a being of immense power to make more of them. A being like Jack.
Cas argues that Jack may not cooperate and Duma states that he likely would have no choice. At this point, the gate behind them opens again and two more angels step out, revealing Duma’s deception. The ringleader of the trio congratulates her on her work of getting Castiel alone before greeting Cas and saying she’s heard he has great influence on ‘the Nephilim.’ Cas puts his foot down and declares that he will not help them. Duma reaches for his arm, trying the gentle approach, but Castiel pushes her back in anger and a fight breaks out. The three quickly overwhelm Cas, but just as Duma gets her angel blade to Castiel’s throat Lucifer calls for her back off. Everyone turns around in shock at his arrival and when she doesn’t immediately heed the threat of his presence he postures as though about to simply obliterate them all. Duma and her two accomplices flee back to Heaven.
With the other angels gone, Castiel turns to Lucifer to demand how he’s even back in their world. Lucifer returns the question with one of his own, as he last saw Castiel the moment he stabbed an angel blade through Castiel’s heart. But they agree their mutual situations are ‘complicated’ and Cas makes it equally obvious he’s not going to help, or even stand down if Lucifer is there to fight over Jack. Instead, Lucifer throws him a curve ball, saying they need to talk, because ‘everything alive’ is about to die.
Reconvening at a two-seater table at a bar, Lucifer catches Castiel up on the much more impressive and deadly version of Michael from the other reality and Michael’s intentions with Earth. However, Castiel seems more interested in escaping Lucifer’s company than listening to his story. When Lucifer calls him out on this Cas sarcastically apologizes, pointing out that the last time they were together Lucifer stabbed him in the back so he can hardly be blamed for being on edge. Lucifer dismisses their past battles as not wanting to live in the past, further attempting to press the issue of Michael’s and “meth-head Kevin’s” looming threat. He tries to pull Cas in by claiming he needs the heroic Castiel, no the ‘butt of Heaven’s joke’ Castiel. When Cas has no real grounds to argue that insult, Lucifer presses on, saying the three of them – himself, Cas, and his son – need to band together if they want to have a hope of stopping Michael. With their combined powers they could pull it off. Cas again voices his doubts, this time as a ‘hypothetical’ scenario where Lucifer betrays him as soon as Cas leads him to his son. Which, of course, Lucifer denies with the argument that they need each other.
Lucifer references his son again, again in the generic, and Castiel finally interrupts him to say “Jack. Your son’s name is Jack.” Lucifer actually takes several seconds to absorb this information, his facial expressions changing as it processes in his mind. But instead of voicing his opinion on the name he asks about Jack’s power and if he’s ‘a chip off the ol’ block’, to which Castiel reports that, no, ‘fortunately,’ he takes more after his mother. But this brings up the subject of how well they must be hiding him, or how powerful he must be because try as he might, Lucifer can’t get a ping on the boy. So he attempts to pry information from Castiel as to Jack’s location. He gets ‘not nearby.’ Then he asks if Jack is farther away and Cas replies, “Yes, more that.” Realization dawns as Lucifer concludes that Castiel has managed to lose track of Jack.
At about this time it’s revealed that Dean and Sam have picked up Bobby’s old habit of using multiple, labeled phones for different associations. Their FBI line rings and Dean learns about the missing front desk clerk from the Stampede Motel in Dodge City. The motel manager further explains that the man who came asking about them was specifically asking about Jack, and he looked like “evil Colonel Sanders.” Giving Sam and Dean confirmation that Asmodeus is hot on their trail and the clock is ticking.
Alexander walks into the room, hands still chained, eating a sandwich. He voices his agreement that they need to hurry to find Jack. Dean looks between Alexander and Sam, who has a guilty expression on his face, and Sam admits to having let him up with the defense that he’s still chained and Alexander hadn’t eaten in like two days. Alexander pipes back up, speaking to Dean, saying it’s clear his brother had done a number on their family. He asks about their mother, having picked up that she was the one who shot Arthur, and how she is. Dean pauses, looks him straight in the eyes, and lies. He tells Alexander that she’s fine. He then demands Sam lock him back up and turns away to call Cas and see if the angel has any news on Jack.
Cas is still in the bar with Lucifer, though he’s stepped away to take the call. He admits to having no news on Jack but adds that something interesting has come up. Before he can say more he turns again to verify that Lucifer remains at the table, only to find Lucifer directly beside him. Cas puts on a horribly fake smile, lightens his tone, and exclaims that he’d like to see ‘you, too’, as soon as possible. Lucifer takes the phone from him and disconnects the call.
Sam, still in the room, picks up that something was off with the call and offers to track Castiel’s phone. Dean agrees and Alexander also agrees they should get going. Dean and Sam look over at him and Dean reassures Alexander that he is not a part of their team. Despite an odd look from Sam, they tie Alexander securely back up in the armory before departing on what they presume to be a rescue mission for Castiel. While Sam keeps an eye on Cas’ phone tracker he reminds Dean not to worry, as Dean had told Cas not to do anything stupid. Dean laughs and reminds Sam that that advice has never stuck.
Now sitting at the seemingly empty bar, Lucifer is on a rant. Angry that his son was being ‘babysat’ by the Winchesters, baffled that they somehow managed to lose him, and utterly perplexed at what, exactly, they could possibly have hoped to teach a one-of-a-kind being like Jack. Coming to Sam and Dean’s defense, Castiel explains that based on what they’ve witnessed first-hand they know Jack’s power needs to be carefully channeled. Lucifer settles a little at this, intrigued by the possibilities of things Jack may have already done. He gets his hopes up that perhaps Jack has hurt one of the Winchesters, even just a little bit, and Castiel’s exasperation shows through.
The moment is interrupted, however, by the arrival of Asmodeus and a small crew of demons. Castiel immediately gets to his feet, driven on instinct to fight his enemy. Lucifer clearly recognizes a potential problem but chooses instead to play it cool and remains seated, even keeping his back to his former subordinate. Lucifer greets him mockingly, referring to him with several jeers to his status as the ‘runt of the litter’, thanks him for essentially keeping his seat warm, and informs him casually that he can step down now. But Asmodeus declares that he’s quite comfortable in his seat, though he’d like it if Lucifer and Castiel could come for a visit.
Lucifer stands at this but still refrains from a straight confrontation until Asmodeus leaves him no other option. If he’s to continue playing the role of his usual self he needs to make a show of power, so he steps into Asmodeus’ personal space and his eyes begin to glow their satanic red. He offers Asmodeus one final warning, adding that Asmodeus knows “better than to screw with [him].” Asmodeus arrogantly replies that he knows better than to mess with the old Lucifer, but this new version appears much more … “Screwable.” To prove his point he throws both Lucifer and Castiel backward, crashing them into and over the bar.
Sam and Dean arrive at the bar, finding it empty. There are some signs of a struggle around the bar itself, but no bodies – alive or otherwise. At least, not at first. After a minute or so of searching the space several demons leap out of the dark corners and attack the brothers. They quickly get overwhelmed, having been caught with their backs turned. One or two demons get dropped, but their weapons are knocked from their hands and the demons are pressing hard, using the advantage of their numbers. Until another player gets the drop on one of them, just before they kill Sam. All of a sudden the tides have turned and Dean, Sam, and Alexander make short work of the remaining demons.
A shocked Sam finds his feet as Dean watches silently from a few feet away. Sam asks Alexander how he got out, to which Alexander replies “lockpick.” He explains that if they’d done a cavity search they’d have found it, that once he was free he borrowed some weapons and a motorcycle and followed them. Then he turns to Dean, begins to ask what happened to the angel, but Dean levels a gun on him with a dangerous sort of calm that even catches Sam by surprise. Dean admits that he’s not sure what happened to Cas, but he is sure about “you … Arthur.”
Sam quickly snatches Ketch’s angel blade and dashes behind Dean while Dean explains his certainty. Dean gives Ketch credit for the paper trail but says it was his gut that convinced him otherwise. That and the look Ketch got in his eyes when he asked about their mom. So Ketch finally comes clean, admitting that only the twin brother part was the lie and technically the rest was true. To explain his regained life he explains that he’d once captured the witch Rowena and, upon discovering her spell to revive herself, he’d talked her into bestowing the spell on him in exchange for her freedom. And he’s tracking her now because it’s a one-off and needs a recharge. Dean reiterates that Rowena’s dead, that Lucifer burned her to a crisp, but Ketch doesn’t seem convinced. Ketch tries appealing to Dean in a different way, getting Dean to see that they might both be the good guys, but Dean doesn’t hesitate to assure him that he’s not. Seeing that he’s out of options, Ketch releases a distraction smoke bomb in an attempt to escape on the stolen motorcycle. Dean gets off a shot, managing to clip Ketch in the shoulder, but Ketch does get away.
Back in the Impala, Dean tries calling Cas once again. Unbeknownst to him, the phone is answered by Asmodeus, who is imitating Castiel’s voice. Dean asks if Cas is okay, explaining they’d gone to the bar and been jumped by demons. Asmodeus assures Dean that he is, says he’d tried calling but couldn’t get a signal, and that he’d call back when he had more information. After disconnecting he turns around, revealing Lucifer and Castiel locked in side-by-side cells as he explains their potential relevance in the future, as well as a solid reason for why he needs the Nephilim. The man he’s telling all of this to, of course, is a once again clean-shaven and sharply dressed Arthur Ketch.
What Does This Mean for the Future?
Ketch is obviously going to be a problem. That’s essentially the definition of his character. With a little luck, Asmodeus or Lucifer will blow him up before the end of the season.
Lucifer’s depowered state is an interesting new twist. After everything that happened in season 12, bringing Lucifer back as a simple villain character would have been redundant. But the creative team obviously knew that. Potentially pairing Lucifer up, even briefly, with Castiel was, and would continue to be, wonderfully hilarious. While Lucifer certainly can’t be trusted, he can be cautiously relied on to help in specific ways – namely taking down Asmodeus. Technically also in locating Jack, but it would be wiser to leave him out of that quest. It’s doubtful that Lucifer will remain fully depowered for the entire season, but it will be interesting to see if he drains other angels’ grace, or if he manages to take the grace of the other world’s Michael when Michael inevitably finds his way to the main Earth.
The sentiment of bringing in a new, and very similar, version of Kevin Tran was nice. It would be even nicer to see Michael bring his Kevin Tran with him when he crosses into the main Earth, to give Sam and Dean an opportunity to come face to face with their lost friend. The creative team does love to torture the Winchesters, so that feels like a real possibility. And it’d be great to see them talk the younger, new Kevin into staying and fighting against Michael. When that all inexorably comes to a head.
One thing is absolutely certain: Lucifer is going to seek a very painful, and very final revenge on Asmodeus for this betrayal. Once he gets his power back.
Rating: 7.5/10
Final Thought: I really enjoyed the Lucifer-centric parts of this episode. The new angles they’re taking his storyline made him interesting again, where he had begun to get stale for me near the latter end of season twelve. And every moment he shared with Cas on screen was amazing. Two angels (technically), both searching for the same missing boy, neither of whom really like the other, let alone trust the other. One who feels obligated not to let the other out of his sight. One who wants to use the other to get what he needs. Add to that the switch around of Lucifer being the depowered angel for once, when often in the past Castiel’s been the one in that position, and the dynamic was great. Not to mention the one-liners! “Oh my Dad…” was the best! Even once Asmodeus showed up, and Castiel’s instinct was to step up to fight, but you could see his hesitation on his face, as if he were thinking, ‘wait, am I really going to fight in defense of Lucifer?’
What I wasn’t so crazy about was the return of Ketch. Arthur, Alexander, whatever he wants to name himself these days. I didn’t particularly care for him before and now he’s back. Less likable and less necessary than ever. I’m sure they could have found some other guy, maybe some new creep, to throw into Dean and Sam’s lives to spy on them for Asmodeus. To glaringly remind the audience that, yes, Rowena is still (at least supposedly) dead. But no, they brought back Ketch. Who’s claiming he’s on the run from the British Men of Letters now. Please don’t let this be them re-opening the door for more British Men of Letters, I had way more than enough of them last season!