Supernatural S08 E02 “What’s Up, Tiger Mommy”

Recap

Our brave duo and the tag-along are looking for the Word of God. The Prophet Kevin (TPK) insists on checking in on his Mom (Mrs. Tran, also Tiger Mom, because she’s a badass—and yes, I do understand the pop-culture reference); Dean balks but does so anyway. Demons are casing the house, and the Duo summarily dispatch of them. It turns out that a friend visiting Tiger Mommy is a demon as well, and as it tries to leave the body Sam performs the exorcising spell—in Latin—backwards—at a mind-boggling speed (out of hunting, my ass—what is going on here?!).

Heart-to-heart and two demon-warding tattoos later, TM and The Prophet Kevin join Sam and Dean in tracking down The Tablet. Lots of proper nouns this season. During an interrogation of a thief, Dean begins to have some seriously disturbing flashbacks of an interrogation scene in Purgatory. Those close-up shots were…sinister. Dean looked like a psychopath.

Anyway, we finally meet the right hand of Plutus, Beau. The show entitled Plutus as the God of Greed (really, it’s more mundane than that: try the god of wealth.) (I can also guarantee you that this page is seeing a huge uptick in hits tonight).  He informs them that there is an auction being held of legendary/magic/etc objects and Kevin, and by extension the other three, are invited. He promises no hijinks of the magical, duplicitous, or magically duplicitous.

Suffice to say, Beau lied. After a humorous bidding scene (the look on Crowley’s face after the 5/8ths of a virgin quip had me in hysterics), in which the Boys go through Plans A through D, Tiger Mommy ends up selling her soul to protect Kevin.

Oh, I mentioned that Beau lied? Right. Well, he chained Kevin’s fate to the Tablet’s, and since D/S didn’t have Vatican City, three billion dollars, or two tons of dwarf gold to exchange, they had to improvise. So, TM gave up her soul.

Interspersed in the bidding scene is a flashback where we find out that Dean finds Hot Wings (Castiel) and Hot Wings explains that he ran to save Dean from being hunted by Leviathan.

(Supernatural recaps are, alas, never short.)

Well… Crowley ends up getting away with the tablet. Beau burned off the demon-ward tattoo from TM’s arm, Crowley possessed her, stole the tablet, and Kevin prevented Dean from knifing his mom. Crowley ex-possesses himself, takes the tablet and leaves. TM is left catatonic. Dean regrets not knifing TM/C, saying that he could live with hating himself but he shouldn’t have let Crowley live, no matter who the meat-suit.

At the end of the episode, TPK and TM bolt, leaving Dean and Sam with nothing.

Reaction

I chuckled a lot through this episode. Dean tearing into that double cheeseburger, that dumbass at the pawn shop, the auction bidding, and, as always, Crowley and Dean have great one liners.

Again, Sam saying that incantation, in Latin, super-fast, and backwards was pretty thrilling! Go Sam! Also, not hunting, hmmm? Seems ‘spicious.

Crowley and Angel Alfie’s  bidding exchange…priceless.

The scene where Dean and Sam school TM on losing her soul was tragic, all around. Lot of pain in that room.

Sam + Mjölnir = bad-assery! (“Where’d you get that five-eighths of a virgin?”)

Report Card:

“I know we’re not mates, Kevin, but one word of advice: run. Run far, and run fast. ‘Cause the Winchesters, well, they have a habit of using people up and watching them die bloody.”—Crowley

A: The humor, both situational and dialogue. “Palin and a bridge to nowhere? No thanks.” “You think a man named Buzz goes to the moon without making a deal?”

The characterization and filling in of Dean’s Purgatory story. The Purgatory scenes in this episode are so. well. shot. The desaturated colors, the heightened sound and light. Dean, Benny and Castiel make for an uneasy, excellently acted trio.

Sam’s badassery is always refreshing, both that incredible backwards incantation and throwing Mjölnir.

The scene between TM, Sam and Dean talking about losing souls is so fucking tragic. There’s so much pain, sadness and confusion in that room.

Crowley. Always.

I really like Alfie the Angel, too. I hope we see him again

B: The pacing in the first half is disjointed. The latter half takes place in one geographic area, so that makes it naturally easier, but there is a lot of action crammed in the first half: Quest! (find the tablet), Obstacle! (visit Mom, dispatch demons), heart to heart with TM, getting demon-ward tattoos, deal with Euro-Trash Ferrari Dude…and we’re not even to the meat of the episode. I’m not sure how you could  make the exposition smoother, but I noticed it, so, well…

C: The background and transitional music. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE. It’s so damn distracting, especially whatever is over the ‘comic’ moments.

Overall…

This episode has great re-watch potential. I’ve already watched it twice over and enjoyed it each time. I think it’ll stand the test of time well.

I love the humor in Supernatural because without it, the show would crush me under the weight of all the tragic shit that piles up around Dean and Sam. I mean, when you really stop and think about some individual parts of the episode, like Cas’s heartbreak and guilt and TM’s willingness to give up her soul for her son and Dean’s maladjustment to topside life (“What’s one more nightmare, right?”)….well, it’s the stuff this show is made up of, and it’s just really…sad.

I would also be remiss without noting the Purgatory flashbacks. I love them. Really. Benny is shifty and opaque.The monsters are gruesome. Dean is gruesome, terrifying, especially in those first-person shots. Christ, then shoving his blade to the hilt under that guy’s jaw? Amazing, in the most appalling way possible.

Total: B+

Retrospective: Supernatural S01 E12, “Faith”

Faith sets into motion many of the central emotional questions of Supernatural. What it means to die, what happens to those around us facing mortality, why fate chooses some and not others. More central to the show, Dean and Sam are asked for the first time: why you? Why have you two guys been chosen? And conversely Dean and Sam (especially Dean, in this episode) ask why us, why me?

Also, as a flip-side, we see that Sam never questions that Dean should be alive. As much as each brother asks himself why me, why us, they never waver in trying to save or redeem the other.

I like Faith because I connect with it on a personal level: I have been to many a faith-healer meeting. I was raised Baptist and did a short stint in a charismatic church. I’ll say—Jensen got the ‘healed by God’ fall pretty much perfect. Though I’ve never seen a preacher with glasses as cool as Roy’s.

When you’re in the auditorium and some are (seemingly) getting healed but others are walking away with a cross of humiliation and disappointment, crushed that they’re still sick, still dying, one does have to wonder…is it fake? And if it’s real, why them, not me? It’s a situation that’s charged with lots of drama, lots of heartbreak, and as much joy as sorrow. Though the audience is happy enough in Roy’s tent, there is confusion and angst happening outside, mostly shown to us by Layla (Julie Benz) and her mother.

Faith is also the first time that Dean has to deal with his mortality. He’s brought back at the expense of someone else, and that makes him feel immensely guilty.  Moreover, he has to stop the healing of Layla, someone who might be more deserving than he is. It’s the first time that he has to struggle with being the one alive—major foreshadowing, and groundwork that I appreciate more now that I’ve seen the whole series.

Other Thoughts

Loved the scene with the woman running and the Reaper chasing her, spliced with the old man with an oxygen tank being healed.

The politics of Supernatural have always been pretty clear, and it’s something that makes me laugh. I think this is the first time they overtly show that, what with the pastor’s wife killing a gay-rights activist and an abortion-rights activist.

Mythology

Reapers, thought they change a bit throughout the series.

Retrospective: Supernatural, S01 E05, E07

E05: Bloody Mary

Sam and Dean fight a vengeful spirit that moves through mirrors to kill people who have secretly killed others.

E07: Hookman

Sam and Dean fight a ‘hookman’, an old-timey pastor’s angry spirit who kills the immoral using hooks and feeding off the anger of the righteous.

Thoughts

So, these are the standalone episodes. In Bloody Mary the spirit is creepy, and the method of traveling through mirrors is creative. I like Hookman as well, mostly because the cold open is so much like the urban legends that used to keep me awake at  night. The first urban legend I ever heard was a hook-man story.

Which brings me to some beta-thoughts about the first season as a whole.

Upon first watching Supernatural, I was compelled to keep watching because of its treatment of American mythos. I love stories that are rooted solidly in the awesome fucked-upness (believe me, this is a compliment) that can be American life. I started watching Supernatural while reading American Gods. I love Stephen King, who routinely delves into the dark side of American life. My favorite entertainment is rooted solidly in the American Gothic, the gritty realities of living life in this complicated place.

So even though some of these episodes aren’t the best in television, or even of this series, they are worth watching for the ways that they offer a new twist on some old goodies. Who hasn’t played Bloody Mary at a sleepover? Heard the hook-man stories on a camping trip? Who hasn’t wished that two cool dudes in a classic muscle car could roll up and save them from their worst nightmares?

Retrospective: Supernatural, S01 E03 “Dead in the Water”

Thoughts

Dead in the Water is one of the only Supernatural episodes that I can remember being truly cinematic. Of course, there are many episodes with a tight story, amazing acting, emotional resonance and slick editing. But this episode is like a movie you’d see in a theater. The story is completely contained in the series arc. It also features many familiar horror-genre devices: pasty kid with psychic powers and trauma; beautiful, vulnerable young woman; shady father figure(s). Most importantly a spectacularly sinister poltergeist.

The direction and acting help transcend the ordinary horror script into something much more macabre. First, the direction is top-notch. The story is tight. The shots are unique and heighten the creepy factor, most notably the scene where Andrea (Amy Acker) is in the tub. One shot that sticks out in my mind is the perspective of Andrea’s feet adjusting the faucet knobs. The knack for ordinariness (who doesn’t do that in the tub?!) brings a truly menacing element to what happens next.

The atmosphere and tone the director (Kim Manners) sets is grim and dank. There is hardly any sunlight, only a layer of gray clouds. Everything from the town’s buildings to the trees to the actor’s skin tone takes on a watery hue. A sense of dread and claustorphobia permeate the episode. Also, the trademark humor between Sam and Dean is mostly absent, replaced by an urgency to solve the mystery.

Amy Ackers is, as always, lovely. Andrea, her character, is the generic nice, sweet, single suburban mom. I’ve read other sites calling Andrea the proto-Lisa, and I’d have to agree. Lucas is played with an ordinariness that helps surpass the usual brooding-weird psychic kid cliché. Ackles and Padalecki further establish Dean and Sam. Dean puts on an empathetic child-psychologist role that he surprises himself by being good at. This episode demonstrates that both Dean and Sam care about the people they save, and their mission is more than just killing baddies.

Mythology

Vengeful spirit, trauma-induced child psychic abilities

Supernatural, S08 E01, “We Need to Talk about Kevin”

For background on Season 7, click here.

Recap

The episode begins in the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine. A couple is camping when a bright light flashes in the sky. A few moments later there’s a rustle, the guy goes to check and lo and behold—Dean! Back in…well, lots of dirt, grime and blood.

Dean travels to Louisiana and revives a companion, Benny, from Purgatory by slicing open his arm and bleeding glowing-blood onto the bones. They hug, promise to keep in touch, are glad to be back from the big-P.

Sam, meanwhile, lives in Kermit, Texas (there is such a place in West Texas). He quietly leaves a woman and dog during the night and drives the Impala to Whitefish, Montana. It should be noted that one, the woman watches him leave while pretending she’s asleep, and two, someone is watching the house as Sam leaves. He’s greeted by a suspicious Dean who doused him with salt, borax and bleeds him.

As they talk it’s revealed that Dean’s been in Purgatory, the fate of Cas is maybe-dead, Sam has given up saving-people/hunting-things and, actually, never looked for Dean after Dean disappeared by killing Dick Roman. The tension between the two of them is palpable. Later that night Dean finds messages on old phones from Kevin the Prophet, and confronts Sam on ditching Kevin in his time of need.

They start an investigation to find Kevin, subsequently find him in Iowa, where Kevin reveals that he has a tablet from God that reveals how to close the gates of hell, forever. Dean is excited about this, Sam seems a bit reserved—mostly, it seems, because he’s concerned about how this will affect Kevin. Dean pretty much says that there’s no use in crying over spilled milk—Kevin, like the two of them, is in this until it’s over.

Two demons show up and are subsequently vanquished. Interesting to note: Sam missed a swing at the demon, while Dean kicked major ass and Kevin also had some survival techniques (holy water in a squirt bottle). Obvious contrast between how Kevin and Dean’s life has been about survival, while Sam’s has not.

Crowley appears and makes moves to try to take Kevin, and Kevin outwits him (again). The price he pays is that his girlfriend, Channing (who has a demon riding her), gets her neck snapped.

The show ends with Dean making a phone call to Benny, the vampire/friend from big-P.

Thoughts…

…On Dean

Damn, I felt bad for the guy. Coming back from Purgatory and finding out that Sam didn’t look for him or try to find a way to release him. The hurt and surprise are easy to read on his face. Also doubly awful because of all that Dean has put on the line for Sam, multiple times.

Dean has obviously come back a warrior with some PTSD issues. His eyes have a tight look, his manner is wary and shaky. He doesn’t sleep. He’s a bit confused by the cush modern life as opposed to the primal survival of Purgatory. Add to this the layer of brooding brother tension—story and character goldmine!

Still, Dean the Hunter is sharper than ever. He whips major ass on those two demons, more competently in hand-to-hand than ever.

…On Sam

Oh, Sam. As much as the idealist in me prefers Dean’s character, I have to admit, as far as complex, complicated characters go—Sam takes the cake. The consistent cake, thank you writers.

Sam never wanted the hunting life. He quit it as soon as he could, leaving for Stanford, pre-law and a beautiful blond bombshell of a girlfriend. He began hunting as a quest to find his father and vengeance for Jess. Even though at times he could be relentless, obsessed, and arrogant, it was never the ideal of saving-people/hunting-things that motivated him. It was personal. Helping people was a happy byproduct of the end goal.

When he confronts Dean in the motel—the world did spin without us, thank you, it wasn’t all up to us to save everything anymore—I could have given a standing ovation. THANK YOU. The show needs at least one of the characters to have that epiphany, and because Dean pursues hunting out of idealism (it is his life, hunting is who Dean is) he doesn’t understand that it isn’t the same for Sam. Maybe he doesn’t want to understand that. Dean has always preferred the black and white (he loves the ‘purity’ of Purgatory, right?), and Sam has always existed in the gray. Not to say that Dean never grew to accept the gray, he did, but he always seemed to prefer the clear kill.

As for not searching for Dean—well, we don’t know that for sure, yet. But that does seem to me a bit weird, buut definitely explainable. Sam had no one. Everyone in his life (brother, mother, father, fiancée, Bobby, Cas, Jo, Ellen, etc.) was dead or gone. I’d need some peace, too.

Random Thoughts

The figure watching Sam and Amelia’s house had a popped collar. Crowley or Dean?

That femur bone/obsidian blade weapon is awesome.

How did Dean get in touch with Sam?  Or does Sam just take off to Montana?  This whole scene is shrouded either in mystery or faulty execution. Time will tell.

I can’t wait to see how Dean survived Purgatory. What did he eat? How did he sleep? Were there other humans?

So far, I do not like Amelia. Bit aggressive about the dog, no? “Maybe if you were such an upstanding guy you wouldn’t have hit him in the first place.” Um…okay.

Closing

Dean, as played by Jensen Ackles, is always a pleasure to watch. I like the turn to grizzled warrior, and it makes me believe that, in the end, Dean is either going to become a living legend or become a legend by dying. Sam has a need to connect, to have a family and a life, and I think he’ll get that. Dean seems to be getting further from being able to relate with people other than hunters and monsters, and further from a traditional happy ending. Re-watching the first season reminds me that, in the beginning (before Jo, Ellen, Lisa, etc.) Dean promoted the anti-social hunter life. He repeatedly told Sam they were on their own, no one could understand. Of course, they find people to bond with, become family with, but those people are all dead now. What does that do to a man?

The flashbacks are an interesting contrast. One, desaturated and grim, the other bright and dreamy. I’m not sure how well they played embedded in the storyline, especially the Amelia-flashbacks. They seemed a bit shoehorned in.

Honestly, I can’t wait for next week, and I’m excited about this season. Even though they’re beginning with a familiar trope for Supernatural (the disappearing for a year and coming back)—this time it’s different. Sam and Dean have each fundamentally changed. Sam actually moved on. Dean spent a year in Purgatory, and kind of liked it.

It’s going to be exciting to watch.

Retrospective: Supernatural, S01 E02, “Wendigo”

Notes While Watching

Playstations on camping trips. Nice.

Is that Finn from Glee? Hahah, not for long.

Sam looks so young! And again…the lighting in these episodes is so dark.

Oh, Dean, breaker of a million hearts. “This is the most honest I’ve ever been with a woman. [Pause.] Ever.” Also: “Must you cheapen the moment?”//”Of course.”

Establishes that Dean sees things, as of now, very black and white.  “Kill as many evil sons of bitches as I can.”

Establishes Sam’s anger.

There’s background music…For some reason I don’t associate that with Supernatural.

Thoughts

“Wendigo” is your standard, standalone Supernatural episode. The Wendigo (some good info here) is an urban legend/mythical monster that primarily lives in the northern woods. People who become cannibals can transform into Wendigos, an insatiable monster with a taste for human flesh and with the abilities to hunt, imitate voices and hibernate.

The main theme is the importance of family, especially when they’re all you have left.  Dean lets the brother and sister on the hunt with them, Dean counsels Sam about his anger, and Sam and Dean’s desire to find their father—all threads of future story lines. Really, beyond Sam and Dean (and John, Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Lisa and Ben), most every episode/story arc has to do with families and the complicated relationships with have with them.

Mythology

Sam’s nightmares/visions. Monsters. Spirits/demons can move through walls. Mentions “skin-walker” and “black dog”. Symbols can be protective.

Retrospective: Supernatural, S01, E01 (Pilot)

Notes While Watching:

I remember watching that first scene the first time–it was scary as hell. Still majorly creepy.

The lighting is very dark, very noir compared with later seasons. Establishes how they pay for their life (credit card fraud), the metal rock, the lying-with-ease.

Hahah, no laptops yet. No gruff Dean voice, either.  Begins Jerk/Bitch.

Poor Jess…

Mythology:

angry/vengeful/violent spirit (Woman in White), salt circles, John’s journal, the nursery fires

Thoughts:

What can be difficult about writing a retrospective is that…well, one, it’s been a long time since I’ve watched the first season and two, I already know where this boat is heading.

Still, the Pilot lays a good foundation for the next few episodes, which are by and large standalone. I think the showrunners/network planned to make Supernatural more episodic than what it became. Still, the epic story lines are definitely begun here.

The characters are what compelled me to continue watching. Most Supernatural fans would say the same. Though Dean and Sam are not fully realized in the pilot, they already have a dynamic that transcends the usual Older/Younger brother tropes.  Older brother Dean is cool, canny, foul-mouthed, but also touchy about certain things (his parents, for one). Sam is responsible, intelligent, a bit snotty and arrogant (I love that his Achille’s Heel is established so early), and at this point, desires normalcy above all else.

In Comparison to Another Pilot:

I can’t help but compare the Pilot of Supernatural with the most recent pilot I’ve watched, Revolution (which also happens to be by the same showrunner, Eric Kripke.) I have a lot of complaints about Revolution, enough for a series of posts I’m sure, but the distinct difference between the two is, as corny as this sounds, heart.

Supernatural pumps with blood from the get go. Are there a number of problematic episodes scattered throughout? Yes. Eight seasons of twenty-two episodes–that’s a hell of a lot of story to generate. But the pilot’s beginning and closing scenes are visceral, tragic. The relationship between Dean and Sam is complicated and layered. What they do, how they interact, how they converse, feels real, nailed to solid earth, even as they hunt ghosts, monsters and demons .  The supernatural/mystical lore is tacked to historical and mythological sources. Even though we, as viewers, accept that this premise is fantasy, it feels like Hogwarts did—that this world exists, just right out of our eyesight.

Revolution, on the other hand, has no heart. None. I could forgive (maybe) all (some) of the dumb plot holes if the characters responded to each other and to their situation in a reasonable way. But they don’t. All of the characters are flimsy card-stock—wounded, precocious, earnest young woman; drunk, disreputable, smart-ass uncle; charming, handsome, conflicted love interest—I mean, really? It feels like they’re jacked into a story instead of originating within the story.

Revolution feels too much like an obvious play to The Hunger Games/Walking Dead/Lost/Fringe/Supernatural/Buffy/Comic-Con set. And in being an imitation of the authentic, the show gets absolutely everything–from setting, to premise, to dialogue, to character, to costume, hell, even hair—wrong. Where the show could have been compelling—(Why in the world would Charlie set off on a quest looking like a beautiful woman? Dumb! Show her cut off her hair and bind her boobs–now that’s interesting)—it just fell apart.

Rant 0ver.

In Conclusion:

The pilot episode of Supernatural sets the tone for the entire series. The Impala, the lore, and the relationships for the entire show are accounted for. The premise and motivation for the first five seasons under Eric Kripke begin. It’s more than serviceable, and introduces us to two of the best characters ever on TV.