“Suspicious Minds” begins in 1957, when an Akrida-possessed femme fatale poses as a damsel in distress in order to get the drop on a handy lady named Dorothea (Kaytlin Borgen).
In the present, John and Mary are on research duty but get interrupted when the newly installed alarm system is triggered. Cut to Carlos and Lata on the road again, they’ve had no luck with their location hunt, but Carlos’ intimacy issues give Lata an idea. Back at the Clubhouse, Men of Letter alum, and mad scientist of sorts, Porter J. Hobbs (The Nanny’s Charles Shaughnessy) has arrived. Meanwhile, Carlos and Lata have gone to a hotel room where they promise a down-and-out Roxy (Bridget Regan) help for her nightmares.
Speaking of…
Porter claims he can make a potion to kill the Akrida but he needs stingers, so John and Mary attack possessed Officer Jones (Jeronimo Spinx). Randomly, we get a scene explaining why the Akrida haven’t killed our gang – blame their queen. Back on point, Porter is working on the policeman but John and Mary think he’s hiding something. Lata employs djinn magic Tony taught her to dream walk Roxy through her memories. John and Mary’s suspicions prove valid, but Porter gets the upper hand before they can take him down. Carlos and Lata’s story has a better ending with them finding the queen’s location!
Unfortunately, Mary wakes up tied to a chair in prep for surgery while John battles a golem (Jeff Chase). Things don’t end well for Porter/Jack Wilcox though – he’s crushed Mr. Burns style under the weight of his monstrosity and has to settle for being buried alongside his beloved. John goes home only to find Kyle waiting for him with a deadly surprise.
I really enjoyed this episode, especially compared to last week’s. First off, the story is already better, granted the random aside explaining why the Akrida haven’t murdered our gang of hunters was genuinely jarring but other than that everything else in the episode flows quite nicely.
After last week’s dumpster fire of a tale, “Suspicious Minds” was a streamlined affair and a welcome return to form. KISS everyone: Keep it Simple Stupid. All elements are connected in a way that is easy to understand while still managing two twists!
The second twist is led in a little ham-handed with that earlier Akrida scene, but the first twist is expertly hinted at in an off-handed comment by Mary. Not to mention this is a Valentine’s Day episode, I believe there’s no episode next week, and the love stories have a fine Supernatural bend. Jack and his beloved Dorothea’s tragic conclusion, Carlos and Anton’s more realistic intimacy issues, and even Lata and Tony’s dream dating all get love next to the main squeeze of John and Mary. I love it when a plot comes together.
Secondly, the guest stars are 100% here for it. Shaughnessy takes pleasure in playing the two-faced friend turned foe Porter J. Hobbs/Jack Wilcox – who doesn’t love his native British accent being dropped for that delicious southern lilt? Regan had been a confident badass when first she appeared as an Akrida lacky, but here we find her unpossessed Roxy fully drained and ready to give up post ordeal. Hell, even McCartan’s Kyle gets to have a little fun channeling his inner Tyler Durden for the “Fight Club” level finale that assures John Winchester run afoul of the law.
And that’s not to say our regulars didn’t hit it out of the park either. Roger and Donnelly carry this episode well on their shoulders, getting noticeably more comfortable in their characters’ skins each time they need to take a chunk of the story (which is most times). I have said that both of these actors did a great job in starting the series as their respective characters and I will say they continue to build on that fantastic beginning. My favorite parts in this episode are actually the scenes with Carlos and Lata – which isn’t entirely surprising because Fleites steals any scene he is in, but the way he plays off of Khurshid this time around is wonderful comic relief. They’ve put these two together a lot of times on this show, but this one, for me, really clicks. Though to be fair, they were probably one of the best parts of the Loki episode too.
There’s also their character development. Fleites’ Carlos is adorable as a boy in love who is afraid of being in love, while Khurshid’s Lata presents a solid support system in helping him realize facing his fears is a good thing. Though I am noticing a pattern they’ve decided to go with for these characters – Carlos plays the confident rogue with a wounded heart of gold while Lata is his loyal emotional spirit animal. At some point, these people will have to actually grow otherwise this is dangerously close to sitcom territory. Lata is at least proving capable of maintaining progress. She adopts more than just a research position this time around, getting her hands dirty (well, painted) in her contribution to the team’s efforts.
All in all, this is a fantastic episode. It uses the existing lore to build on the new lore, furthers the overall story, and manages to provide a few surprises along the way. I’m certainly curious to see if John can wiggle his way out of Kyle’s bloody trap.
