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.

Sons of Anarchy, S05 E04 “Stolen Huffy”

(Um, spoilers. Duh.)

It’s kind of weird to be starting an SOA commentary on the episode following such a massive, show-altering event. Yes. I’m talking about the tragic, violent death of Opie Winston. RIP.

Now at episode four, we find that SAMCRO is grieving, Gemma is clueless about Opie’s fate, Tara is becoming increasingly bitter, and a prostitute on the run for being falsely accused of calling the cops on Nero’s escort operation.

At first watch, the episode was serviceable.  The ending montage of Opie’s funeral, especially with that song overlayed, was powerful and heartbreaking.

Looking back, though, the episode feels a little….off. All of the components were…fine. The prostitute-on-the-run storyline was ho-hum. Gemma’s line of, “What’s happening to us?” felt real and true for her character—she’s spinning out of control, and now the violence her generation perpetuated is taking a devastating toll on her son’s. I think Gemma thought that by now either SAMCRO would be kings of Charming, or at least have some sort of stability. Now they’re thick in the quicksand of machinations they might not be able to control. The song, Lonely Boy by Greg Holden, played over a haunting memorial for Opie.

But putting those elements together—adding in a dispute between Tara and Wendy, as well as Tara, Gemma and Carla—came off as clunky. As a fan, I would have liked a whole episode to process Opie’s death and see the effect on the club and Jax.

Oh, Tara…

This season I’m most concerned about Tara. I don’t want Tara to become a little Gemma-Frankenstein. She’s smarter than that, and she’s not Gemma. Tara is sad, bitter, angry and giving in to hysterics (like dealing with Wendy) that are similar to how worked up Gemma would get in previous seasons. In this season’s opening monologue, as Jax talks about what doesn’t kill us makes us angry but what holds us together is family and work, we see Tara sitting in a tub, smoking a joint, with a gun. At the end of the episode we see Tara, once again smoking a joint, turning off the baby monitor as Thomas starts to cry. We see her dissatisfaction with work. When Jax is contemplating anger, it’s obvious that we should look to Tara. I can understand why she latches on to the only model she has of a woman in the club life. Probably the most powerful woman ever in motorcycle club life. But I hope that she can find a way to transcend Gemma, and pray-to-the-Lord she doesn’t have an affair and tamper with Jax’s motorcycle. (Hah. Just kidding…right?!)

Conclusion

So far, this season is going well.  Stolen Huffy (did Jax and Opie steal a Huffy bike as kids?) felt like treading water, where I wish it had pushed the emotional arc of the season forward. Opie’s loss, as a character and the loss of Ryan Hurst, is immense. However,  you can’t fully judge an episode’s content without tying it to the subsequent ones, and you can’t judge a season without it one, being over, and two, in relation to the series arc as a whole. There are most likely reverberations we just haven’t seen yet.

Also, I want to note (as I’m sure I will throughout the season) that the cast is phenomenal. A special note to Ryan Hurst, who made Opie the character I always looked to as the canary in the coalmine, so to speak. He played Opie with an amazing half-concealed brokenness. Charlie Hunnam and Maggie Siff…I mean. The way Hunnam imbues Jax with barely-contained rage, it’s a breathtaking portrayal of a man on edge, a man desperately trying to be good, to be honorable, to do right. Siff’s fragile-but-steely Tara, always on the brink, always bringing herself back—sometimes barely—and maybe not even able to anymore—always commands my attention.

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.