Arthur Ketch

You're a killer, Dean Winchester, and so am I. And if we go too long without something to track or trap or punch or gut, well, things get a bit ugly. Don't they? The Men of Letters keep me busy. They point me in a direction and bang. Off to the races. It's not a bad life. – Mr. Ketch, 12.14 The Raid

History

Mr. Arthur Ketch is the top agent of the British Men of Letters. Ketch undertakes wet work for the London Chapterhouse and is an expert in weapons, both traditional and magical. He is described by Lady Antonia Bevell as a psychopath. As they once had a relationship this may have colored her assessment, although he does kill monsters and humans alike without compunction.

He wears finely tailored suits, and has a distinctive cross tattoo. He usually rides a Norton Commando Motorbike, but he is later seen driving a Continental Flying Spur which holds his weapons arsenal while in the United States.

Episodes

12.01 Keep Calm and Carry On

As Lady Antonia Bevell tells Sam about how the British Men of Letters deal with monsters in the UK, we see Mr. Ketch being brought a recently captured vampire for disposal. As the vampire is laid out and restrained on a table, Mr. Ketch calmly walks to the table and decapitates the vampire. Later when Lady Bevell and Ms. Watt have hit a brick wall with torturing Sam, Ms. Watt suggests they bring Mr. Ketch. However, Lady Bevell is vehemently against bringing him in by stating that she doesn't want "that psychopath anywhere near [her]."

12.02 Mamma Mia

After Mick Davies collects Lady Bevell, the two argue about her failed mission. Lady Bevell feels that the Winchesters need to be eliminated. Davies assures her that if it comes down to it, he is prepared for that. He reveals he has sent for Mr. Ketch, who is shown packing cases with various weapons as he prepares to leave the UK.

12.03 The Foundry

While he is not seen, Mr. Ketch's British Norton Commando motorcycle is noticed and appreciated by Dean Winchester.

12.04 American Nightmare

While tracking the Winchesters, Mr. Ketch stops to inspect the Impala while the Winchesters are talking with the Peterson family, before driving off on his motorcycle.

When Magda Peterson's bus to California makes a pit stop, Magda steps off to use the restroom and is followed in by Mr. Ketch, who attaches a silencer to his pistol. When he enters the restroom, Magda notices the gun in his hand, but before she can scream or do anything, she is shot dead. As Mr. Ketch is leaving the rest area, he receives a phone call from the London Chapterhouse and reports that he "cleaned the Winchesters' mess" and that "as suspected, they couldn't finish the job."

12.08 LOTUS

After Sam, Dean, and Castiel are stopped and held at gun point by the Secret Service. Mr. Ketch drives up to the scene. Casually exiting his car with a grenade launcher, he fires it at the Secret Service's SUV, blowing it up and knocking the agents unconscious. Telling Castiel to wipe their memories, he asks the Winchesters who is after them, noting the government plates on the cars. When Dean demands to know who the hell he is, Mr. Ketch introduces himself as "Arthur Ketch, British Men of Letters."

That night, Mr. Ketch explains that his job is to "strongly encourage" the Winchesters' cooperation with the British Men of Letters. He was sent by Mick Davies after Sam called him and hung up, leading Davies to believe that the Winchesters were in trouble. When the boys are leery after dealing with Lady Bevell, Mr. Ketch has Castiel confirm that he's not lying. He shows them his arsenal of weapons, including a hyperbolic pulse generator, a device capable of exorcising a demon from its vessel. Recognizing its potential, Sam asks if it will work on an angel. Intrigued, Mr. Ketch asks what they have gotten themselves into, only to be told by Dean that if the British Men of Letters want to be trusted, they need to trust the Winchesters with the pulse generator, which Mr. Ketch freely gives up.

12.09 First Blood

Needing help tracking Sam and Dean down, Castiel has Mary take them to meet with Mr. Ketch and Mick Davies, who gladly offer up their services. After Sam and Dean are reunited with Mary and Castiel, they are surprised to learn of Mr. Ketch and Mick's aid in their escape. When Sam mentions that they left survivors, Mr. Ketch is baffled and finds it very unprofessional. While Dean and Sam defend their actions, Mick and Ketch share a nod and depart.

The next morning Mr. Ketch makes his way to Site 94, where he proceeds to kill everyone involved in Sam and Dean's incarceration, ensuring that there is no longer any government threat.

12.12 Stuck in the Middle (With You)

Ketch sits in a diner, mixing sugar in his tea, asking to be told a story. Mary Winchester proceeds to recount her encounter with the Prince of Hell, Ramiel. Mr. Ketch claims ignorance, telling Mary that when the British Men of Letters sent Mary on the mission, they didn't know what Ramiel was, just that he had what they wanted. Mr. Ketch attempts to apologize, but gets chewed out by Mary who promises to burn the British Men of Letters down if anything like that happens again. Apologizing once more, Mr. Ketch asks to see the item Mary procured. Mary pulls out the cloth-wrapped item and sets it on the table in front of Ketch who unwraps it, revealing the Colt. He tells Mary that he knows all about it.

12.13 Family Feud

Mary and Mr. Ketch are hunting together. As Mr. Ketch drops Mary off at her motel he asks her about getting a drink, but she declines. Mr. Ketch then brings up Sam and Dean, and suggests Mary "disengage" from them for a bit. He says that working for the British Men of Letters is demanding work and must come first above everything else. He calls the Men of Letters his family. Mary refuses the notion, telling him nothing comes before her family. Ketch asks her if she really believes that, noting she is "softer, weaker" around them.

12.14 The Raid

Ketch turns up at the Bunker with a bottle of expensive scotch, which convinces Dean to let him in. Ketch persuades Dean to join him on a vampire hunt, but when they arrive at the nest it is deserted except for one vampire. She tells him the others have gone to "hunt the hunters." Dean and Ketch head to the British Men of Letters base, although by the time they get there the fight is over -- Sam and Mary saved the day.

12.17 The British Invasion

After a hunt, Mary and Ketch have drinks and sex. Mary makes a point of telling Ketch that the encounter didn't mean anything, as it seems to have had some emotional impact on him. He makes the point that she seems to be separating herself from her family and concentrating on hunting, but she denies this, and thinks she can have both.

At the British Men of Letters base, Dr. Hess arrives to shut down the U.S. operation. Mick Davies refuses her orders and while he argues with her, Ketch executes him with a bullet to the back of the head.

12.18 The Memory Remains

After receiving Sam's email, Ketch announces to his men it's time to go. Ketch again receives another of Sam's texts as he and his men break into the Bunker. Once they they enter, Ketch orders his men to learn everything they can about the Winchesters, as well as locating the Colt. As the team is photographing everything, they plant listening devices in various locations. Ketch searches Dean's room himself, finding interest in an old photograph of Dean with Mary. As Ketch and his team finish their inventory of the Bunker, Ketch asks if they have located the Colt, but his man tells him the Winchesters must have it. Before leaving, Ketch plants a bug under the war room map table.

When Sam and Dean return to the Bunker after their case, Sam places a call to Mick, only to find Ketch answering. Ketch tells them that Mick has gone back to London and that he will be their liaison henceforth and ends the call. After they hang up, Sam and Dean complain about Ketch, saying that he creeps them out, while Ketch listens to them on the surveillance monitor and stares at the picture of Mary and Dean that he stole from Dean’s room.

12.20 Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes

A shapeshifter in Mary's form is passed out, strapped to a chair in the British Men of Letter's facility. Ketch throws a bucket of water on her as a cell phone goes off, prompting Ketch to turn to the real Mary and tell her to ignore it as Ketch continues torturing it for information. Ketch starts pushing screws into the shifter, which screams. Mary tells Ketch it won't talk; Ketch replies that he is just giving the murdering shifter what it deserves. As the shifter mocks Ketch, Ketch punches it suddenly, causing the shifter immediately takes Ketch's form. Exiting the interrogation room, Mary questions Ketch about his tactics. Ketch brushes her off, telling her the British Men of Letters don't need a conscience.

While listening to Dean's voice mail, she overhears Ketch speaking on the phone about a package in the armory. As Mary's phone vibrates, Ketch is alerted to Mary's presence, who enters the office asking to use Mick's computer to check her email, which Ketch gladly allows.

Ketch and Mary come to blows.

Finding Mary has seen the BMOL room tracking American hunters, Ketch confronts her and when she questions him about Mick's body in the armory, Ketch seems unconcerned and tells her he was killed in a werewolf mishap. Mary, not believing Ketch, attempts to leave, but he grabs a hold of her and pushes her back. When she asks if Ketch killed Mick, he admits to it, telling her Mick was weak. Mary punches him in the face. Ketch turns and grabs her and throws her into the wall, where she falls to the floor. He stops and unbuttons his blazer. He slowly advances on Mary. He grabs her and lifts her off the floor and slams her into the wall again, holding her by her neck. Mary breaks free and pull his arm back behind him, injuring it, and punches him in the face again, causing Ketch to fall to the floor. Mary tries again to leave, but Ketch grabs her leg as she walks by, tripping her and throwing her across the table and onto the floor. Mary slowly gets up off the floor from behind the table. Ketch moves closer to her as he talks. He tells her that American hunters are done, but he can protect her, if she plays nice. Mary just stares at him and head-butts Ketch in the face. He punches her again, with his injured arm, sending him reeling back in pain for a moment. Ketch looks up and laughs weakly as he sees Mary pull brass knuckles from her coat pocket, telling her the Enochian brass knuckles won't do much, since he is not an angel. Mary kicks him in the groin, dropping him to his knees before Mary punches him with the brass knuckles. Mary again walks around him on the floor and opens the door to leave, but Ketch comes to and shoots her in the back with a taser, knocking her out.

Mary comes to restrained in a chair, with Ketch standing in front of her, smugly telling her he gave her a chance. As Mary's phone buzzes, Ketch walks over and declines the call, just as Lady Antonia Bevell enters the room.

12.21 There's Something About Mary

Eileen Leahy runs for her life from a hellhound. Despite her attempts to defend herself she is quickly mauled and killed. The hellhound only stops after Ketch blows a dog whistle, calling it off of Eileen before congratulating it and giving it a treat.

At the British Men of Letters facility, Ketch watches on monitors as Mary is dragged back to her room after a session with Lady Bevell. As Lady Bevell debriefs with Dr. Hess, Ketch mocks her and the two snipe at each other. Dr. Hess tells Ketch that Lady Bevell may be reporting to him soon, but Ketch tells her he is not an administrator. Hess tells him that he'll do fine, revealing to his surprise that she knows Ketch and Mary were in a sexual relationship.

Ketch and Mary make their escape from the Bunker.

Ketch asks the hellhound to sit for Lady Bevell, and feeds it some meat. Ketch and Lady Bevell talk about who will be taking over Mick's post when Ketch is called away to see Mary. In Mary's room, Ketch asks what she wants from him; he says he will not interfere, because as she stated, they have no relationship. As Mary pleads to Ketch to help her, she is able to get Ketch's gun and attempt to commit suicide, but is stopped by Ketch before she can. She begs Ketch to kill her, only prompting a response that it will be over for her soon.

After Sam and Dean capture Lady Bevell and bring her back to the Bunker, they are surprised to find Ketch and some BMOL guards waiting for them. As Lady Bevell starts to disarm Sam, he grabs her arm and begins shooting with deadly accuracy. Dean pulls his gun and also begins shooting. Sam backs away using Lady Bevell as a shield. Mr. Ketch points one of his cronies in another direction to move behind the brothers. Dean motions Sam to get behind Mr. Ketch, while he kills the member of the BMOL who tried to circle around to get behind him. Dean is able to slide up behind Mr. Ketch and grab his gun and hold him at gun point. As Mary enters, she tells Dean to let Ketch go, firing a warning shot at him. Freed from Dean, Ketch tells Sam, Dean, and Lady Bevell that the Bunker will now be their tomb, as they will be sealed inside to suffocate.

Driving back to the British Men of Letters facility, Ketch assures Mary that things will get easier, that soon it will be easier for her to not remember the people she loves.

12.22 Who We Are

At the British Men of Letters facility, Ketch pulls a woman to the side and has her track down Mary's location, telling her to keep it between themselves.

Ketch kneels in defeat.

Tracking Mary to the Men of Letters Bunker, he kills Lady Bevell by slicing her throat before pulling Dean out of his and Mary's sub-conscious. Dean’s head snaps back at the electrodes being pulled off his head, and looks up to see Ketch facing him. Dean lunges towards Ketch and they begin to fight. Ketch throws Dean against a bookcase and Dean slides across the floor. Dean gets up and Ketch kicks him in the back of his knee. As Dean threatens to kill Ketch, he tells him he would like to see him try. Ketch begins mocking Dean, telling him Mary never spoke about him while hunting. He grabs Dean by the collar and punches him in the face. Ketch picks up the bloodied Dean from the floor and punches him again. Dean growls and throws Ketch across the room, breaking a table. Ketch attacks Dean with a table leg. He gets in a few blows and then pushes Dean up against the wall, the table leg pushing across his chest and neck. After several seconds, Dean lunges forward, grabbing the table leg from Ketch and hitting him. Ketch remains with his back to Dean, trying to recover. While Dean tells Ketch he was stupid for leaving them to die in the Bunker, Ketch turns towards Dean, pointing a gun at him and saying he is a lot of things, but not stupid. Ketch raises the gun towards Dean's head when there is a gunshot. Ketch cries out in pain, lowers the gun and grabs his shoulder. As Dean looks past him, Ketch turns and sees Mary standing there, gun pointed at him. Shocked that Mary has shot him, Ketch drops his gun and falls to his knees. Dean limps past, kicks the gun away and goes to stand next to Mary. Ketch gives his final words, telling Mary and Dean that he always knew they were killers, before Mary gives Ketch a fatal shot.

Trivia

• There was an executioner in the 1680s named Jack Ketch, appointed by King Charles II, who was renowned for botching his kills.
• Mr. Ketch sports a Celtic cross tattoo on right hand.

See also

• Mr. Ketch's Car
• Mr. Ketch's Motorcycle

Links

• Interview with David Haydn-Jones who plays Mr Ketch by Inquisitr