Supernatural 9.10 Review: Power Struggles

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Supernatural entitled ‘Road Trip’, please kindly step away from the screen and go and do that. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

While I was very much hoping the entire time that Kevin would magically come back to life, this was still a pretty decent episode. We happily got to see Tahmoh Penikett grace our screens again, and it seems like he may be sticking around for a bit as Gadreel. Abbadon made her rounds this week once again, and it seems that her and Crowley may be vying for constituents now that the latter is free from the Winchester’s cletches. And an angel free Sam – who better get that tattoo back on his chest now that Castiel burned it off him – is finally back after all these weeks. All in all, it was a very packed episode this week.

The way this episode opened up, with the hunter funeral for Kevin and Dean trashing the bunker research area, was very well done, although I would liked to have at least heard the crashing of the lamps and books as Dean tossed them around them, it would’ve been more visceral. Also, watching Dean pat his baby (the Impala for all you not Supernatural-ly inclined) was characterally brilliant and on key. I was a bit surprised, though, that they couldn’t just use one of the vehicles from the bunker, rather than the pimp mobile Cas was driving. There were a lot of great little details that added up to this episode.

Although I do still feel like this season is headed more in the direction of what used to make this show great, I am still a little worried by how heavily angels and demons this episode was involved. Don’t get me wrong, they have their uses, and I always enjoy seeing Cas, but sometimes there are just too many of them. I really wish that this show wouldn’t try to be too mythologically heavy. It was nice to have the little ghouls and cheerleaders shout out in Sam’s dream, though.

Basically, this wasn’t too bad of an episode. I try to think of myself as a more glass is half full kind of girl, so this episode was pretty good. I still don’t like having to see Metatron so damned much, but I understand he has his uses. And while I’m not the biggest war between the demons fan, at least when we see Crowley we know what we’re getting, whereas Abbadon is a loose canon. The way they end this episode was heartbreaking in the way that Sam told Dean to go. I know he’d basically gotten him possessed, but they’re brothers, family is supposed to stick by each other. Why didn’t Sam stop him?

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“You were stupid for the right reasons.” – Cas tells Dean.

“I see you again-“ – Dean starts. “I’m dead. Yes, I know; love you too.” – Crowley responds.

Okay, folks, that’ll be all for catch up tonight. Go back to your own business and check back in tomorrow night for reviews of Revolution, American Horror Story: Coven, and Nashville, and maybe a couple other catch up reviews.

Supernatural 9.09 Review: Angel Bloodshed

For all those that have yet to watch tonight’s episode of Supernatural, entitled ‘Holy Terror’, this is where I suggest you go do that before proceeding ahead. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Well colour me angry. There were absolutely NO good reasons for killing Kevin Tran in this week’s episode. Does it honestly always just have to be about the brothers? And Cas, of course, but that’s besides the point.

I’m really angry with the writers. Just when I think this season is going spectacularly well – particularly the last three episodes – they go and kill off Kevin and make me hate them for it. What possibly good reasons could there have been for killing off Kevin at this point? Honestly, they’ve just lost me again because that was just plain stupid. This was senseless; Kevin had so many more interesting possible plot developments, and the fact that I didn’t even feel like they were leading up to this when he said he always ended up screwed. This didn’t feel like his last episode at all. Not like every single one of Bobby’s did, or their dad’s, or Jo and Ellen’s. So I’m really disappointed in them for the way this was written. I’m adamant that Kevin will be back at some point merely because of the crappy way he was apparently “sent off”.

Now that that’s out of the way, I have to say I did not like how Dean and Sam completely left Cas to go figure things out for himself, despite the reasons behind it. Also, Gadriel – who is not actually Zeke (which was a much better name) – was such a major whiner this episode, and a lot of the times in the previous episodes as well. I’m definitely disappointed in the direction they’ve chosen to go with him, particularly how strong the rest of this season (not counting tonight’s episode) has been. And also, who the hell is Gadriel? For one such as myself that is not so celestially inclined, I’m kind of sick of how much angel garbage they’ve managed to thrown in this season. So he let the snake into the Garden, so what? Should he have been blamed for that? No. That’s not the kind of God of this series that I’d like to see written in. And one more thing, I really don’t want to see Metatron’s face ever again. I kind of hate him.

So apparently angels that have lost their Grace can take another angel’s? That seems a little too easy for Cas, I was kind of hoping he’d stay human for this one season, but I suppose it is nice to have him back as an angel. It would definitely be interesting if this Grace would not sustain his angel powers forever and he would revert back to human until he could get his own Grace back, but I doubt they’ll go that way. I do have one question regarding the angels though. Where do they go when they die? Also, I’m glad that female angel that worked for Bartholomew got killed because she was a terrible actress, but I kind of wish Theo could have stuck around for a bit because he was surprisingly good.

All in all, this was a bad episode. This episode just reverted this season back to episode two or three, when it wasn’t so great. They just lost all their great progress in forty-five minutes of television. Do they not realize what they’ve just done? Ruined this season. Kevin is dead, and Sam’s body is off doing whatever. Also, there’s that whole plot hole where Gadriel said he over heard them and switched the tablet for a fake, when they’d already read the tablet by that scene they were depicting. Honestly, such sloppy writing to this episode, and absolutely no heart.

My rating: 5.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Hey! Cas is back in town.” – Cas exclaims. “Seriously did you- did he just say that?” – Dean questions.

“She was hot.” – Dean recalls. “So hot.” – Cas agrees.

“And no more stupid angels! (Pause) Maybe some funny ones.” – Metatron contemplates his new Heaven.

“I don’t know how humans do it.” – Gadriel ponders.

“Everyone always needs a spell, and it’s always a.s.a.p.” – Kevin mutters begrudgingly to himself.

“Now?” – Kevin asks. “Yesterday, Cinderella.” – Dean retorts.

“And I always end up screwed.” – Kevin complains numbly. “Oh, come on, always? Not always.” – Dean remarks.

“Kevin? Kevin.” – Dean exasperates as he pains for his fallen friend.

All right, folks, that’s all for tonight. I’m off to watch Christmas With the Kranks and wrap some Christmas presents. Check in tomorrow for my reviews of Nashville and American Horror Story: Coven. I’m off to drink some delicious eggnog now.