Can the Brit Men of Letters really tame that all-American Winchester swagger on ‘Sup…

So a couple of low-key-ish things happened in “The Raid” (Mar. 2) episode of “Supernatural.” And on a bigger picture level, this British Men of Letters’ stealth seduction of Team Winchester doesn’t feel at all right.

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There’s a wee bit of aftermath following Mary’s (Samantha Smith) confession to the boys that she’d been covertly moonlighting as a Lady of Letters. While she was having a rethink about the way she went about it, she rightfully pointed out to Dean (Jensen Ackles), “I am not just a mom. And you are not a child.” Dean’s hardcore sulkfest begged to differ. He showed her the door — one Sam (Jared Padalecki) eventually snuck out through, to show her some puppy-faced compassion and those fence-straddling mediation skills that Dean just loves.

We also learn that Arthur Ketch (David Haydn-Jones) and Mick Davies (Adam Fergus) are ultimately an “Upstairs Downstairs”-accented tag-team of puppets (at least, for now) answering to some “old men” who are evidently positioned much higher up within, and mayhap even atop, the British Men of Letters hierarchy. (Depending on who the puppetmasters prove to be, we’re gonna want to see Ketch or Davies eventually rebel against them, surely?)

So now that we’re putting a little more muscle into pulling on the thread of this particular sweater (make that silk thread of a bespoke Savile Row suit, because these Brits do love their panache), we’re looking forward to seeing how it all unravels: It’s revealed that these shadowy suave someones are determined to recruit Sam and Dean, probably rightly reasoning that the rest of the American hunters will follow Team Winchester wherever they may go.

Thus, Ketch is off to woo Dean with the Most Interesting Bottle of Scotch in the World and a bit of vampire hunting sport, so Ketch can prove to Dean he’s more than a book-learned boarding school boy fresh out of his short pants. Seems the BMOLs have exterminated all but one little pocket of vamps in the Midwest, thanks to their newfangled weaponry. Turns out that when you’re book learned, you can Steve Jobs the hell out of the next wave of monster-killing technology — so let’s give credit where credit is due.

Meanwhile, Mary invites Sam to the BML Open House for purposes of showing off their “low-budget ‘Mission: Impossible’” headquarters, their arsenal of James Bond toys, and Davies’ effectiveness in conducting meetings. Alas, Davies proves less skilled in designing a bunker in which weapons are kept within easy reach, detecting double agents within his ranks, or warding off a vampire ambush.

Which is exactly how an alpha vamp (Rick Worthy) saunters leisurely into their midst, assisted by hunter Pierce (Aaron Pierce)’s bribeable self… And naturally, Sam and Mary get to show off their special brand of American ass-whuppin’.  But when the Alpha confronts the turf-invading Davies with an impressive, “I think it’s time you get off my lawn…” it kinda makes us sad to witness the Colt take him out once and for all. (Then again: what a kill shot.)

Sam concedes to Davies that combining their high-brow/old-school approaches could probably be super-effective, and he’s in — with promises to work on Dean. (Oh good, because Dean only just got over his mom drinking the sellout-flavored Kool-aid.)

Now’s it’s all hinging on the identities of the men behind the curtain. Regardless of the for-now murky motives on the British side, we long ago lost count of the number of crossroads deals and soul barters and “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” understandings the boys have signed up for. Questionable alliances are nothing new in their world.

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But. When a show has been running for so remarkably long, ruminating over which plotlines are the ones that will lead us to the End of Everything is kinda impossible to avoid. For now, we’re at least assured of a Season 13, which is good — because there’s something hugely unsatisfying about Team Winchester being so readily absorbed by a multi-national conglomerate, even if it does have the massive budget and the cool high tech toys to play with…

As we learned in the wake of online streaming driving a stake through the rock-n-roll loving heart of nearly all the cool brick-and-mortar indie record shops, no amount of money in the world can buy, never mind replicate and mass produce, authentic style or character. And it’s hard to believe Sam and Dean would so easily sell their souls to a corporate devil, after all this time…

So who wants to bet (or hope) that this alliance will go awry sooner rather than later?

“Supernatural” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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