Supernatural 9.05 Review: Dean Winchester, Animal Whisperer

All those that have yet to watch Tuesday night’s episode of Supernatural, entitled ‘Dog Dean Afternoon’, now would be a good time to do so before reading ahead. As this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

For the first, I don’t know, half of the episode, I thought to myself, ‘Yay, two monster-related episodes in a row. This series is finally getting back to its roots where angels and demons were few and far between.’ So, I was a lot happier with this episode than I have been with this series – other than last week – in a long time. Still, it didn’t cap off nearly as exciting as it began. It was only a human with a shaman spell. Which makes two witch-like villains in a row. Please give me some actual monsters.

My one big issue with this episode was the ludicrous aspect of Dean communicating with animals. It was kind of stupid, made it too easy, and just wasn’t written well enough to be depicted in a realistic – for this show – kind of way. Sure, it brought a lot of humourous moments to this episode, but that’s with my currently low expectations of this series that should have ended three years ago. Seriously, they are running this series, that I have loved for five years, into the ground. End it soon, every series has a shelf life, this one has passed its.

There were some funny moments to this episode that I did enjoy. Dean pulling out a gun on the bird that was mocking him was simply hilarious. Also, Sam having to rub that dog’s belly for it to give them answers. But still there were some bad points too. The villain’s ridiculously fake looking “wolf” teeth comes to mind, as well as how easy it is for them to get answers with the Men of Letters bunker library. It makes me miss the point to this series, two brothers going on the road to hunt things. Not angels specifically, not demons, all evil. I miss Kripke. Also, the guy ate the kitty, what the hell?

Overall, better than a lot of the episodes this series has been putting out. The current show runner is much better equipped than Sera Gamble was, whose only big achievement was the episode where Sam and Dean end up on the Supernatural set. Otherwise, this series is still growing stupendously disappointing. I really am done after this season if they don’t give me what made this show great in the first place. There is evolving a series, but not forgetting its roots altogether.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“I don’t like the way that owl’s looking at me.” – Dean grumbles about the dead and stuffed owl.

“I always knew I’d find the source of all evil at a vegan bakery!” – Dean announces to Sam.

“You know who wears sunglasses inside? Blind people, and douchebags.” Dean tells Sam.

“That’s monkeys.” – Sam says to Dean, about the animal that knows sign language.

“Oh shut it, you winged rat.” – Dean shouts at the bird.

Okay, all caught up now. Just have to watch Revolution and American Horror Story: Coven, of which both I am excited for, so it’s a toss up to which I’ll watch first and review. Stay tuned. Or not.

Supernatural 9.04 Review: There's No Place Like Home

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Supernatural, entitled ‘Slumber Party, I suggest you go do so now. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

I’m going to keep this brief because I am beyond exhausted (no really, above I first wrote hast instead of has yet, I combine words when I’m tired). This is a long week for me, so I apologize now for the brief reviews forthcoming.

Anyways, I’ve got to say I liked this episode. A nice nod to the old episodes of this series, although not quite fully there. It was nice to not have a demon or angel being the villain of the episode, something this series has grown too accustomed to depending upon. Fairytales, legends, that’s what used to make the monsters in this series so great, and it was nice to see that on tonight’s episode.

Still, I don’t know what it is, but I’m not a fan of the bunker. Maybe it’s that it makes it too easy for them to have a place where they’re safe and have all the material they need. I just think that when you’re fighting evil, it shouldn’t be that easy to research, research is supposed to be grueling work. Yes, I like that the boys kind of have a home, but it makes me feel like the world has ended, being stuck strictly in the bunker. After all, it is a bunker.

One thing I was happy to see in this episode was the reappearance of Charlie. The girl definitely needs to stop by a little more often – although not too often – she’s just geekily hilarious. Not only that, but she brings out this protective older brother side to Dean that we don’t get to see as often as we used to, and in a refreshing sort of way. So boy was I glad that Dean asked Zeke to save her over stopping the Wicked Witch. I was about to bash my TV in for killing off a character so unnecessarily (okay, no, I wouldn’t really do that, but you get my sentiment).

This week’s episode also brought the character of Dorothy to fruition. I have to save that I enjoyed her character, and would also like to see her pop up once or twice more. She’s a strong, rebellious woman type that dresses the way I expect Amelia Earhart did. She had this attitude to her that said she wouldn’t let a man tell her she couldn’t do something, and I admire the writing for giving her that.

A few other things to point in this episode were also how fascinatingly awesome Dean’s facial expressions are at times. I mean, really, the man barely has to talk; he just has to move his face around a bit. One particular moment was the face he made after Charlie said she wished hunting was more magical. The other thing to note would be how ridiculous Sam looked going from running Sam to strutting Zeke. I’d been on board the last couple episodes, everyone except the scene where he’s first possessed, but that was just plain ridiculous. Plus the terrible hair… Please Mr. Padalecki, cut your freaking hair, it’s too long.

All in all, I’ll repeat myself about how this series truly needs to end soon. Sure it has a little gem of an episode every now and again, and it has gotten better than two seasons ago, but it’s just not like it was in the old days. There’s almost too much mythology circulating, that sometimes it becomes overstuffed with information. It makes it difficult to keep track. This is why I’m happy that Buffy the Vampire Slayer knew when it was time to end, before it ran the series into the ground. I still think if the creator leaves, it’s time to end the series, but we’re already four seasons passed that, so please stop soon. I can’t watch much longer, it’s hurting my heart to watch such greatly established characters be written to burn out.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Hello, Moose.” – Crowley greets Sam.

“A top secret place I call Amazon.” – Charlie sarcastically remarks about where she’s bought the Supernatural books.

“None. Nobodies. No, uh, there are no bells.” – Sam stumbles with a response, after learning who’s published the short stories of the books.

“Damnit, I just cleaned in here.” – Dean grumbles, about how the Wicked Witch has trashed the kitchen.

“Am I a zombie now? Do I need to eat brains?” – Charlie questions Dean about her resurrection.

Okay, I’m off to sleep now, hopefully get seven and a half hours, if I’m lucky. Check back in tomorrow for reviews of Nashville, Revolution, and American Horror Story: Coven.

Supernatural 9.02 Review: It's All About Family

For anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Supernatural, titled ‘Devil May Care’, I suggest you do so now. This is not, and will likely never be, a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Maybe it’s because I went into this episode not wanting to watch it all that much, but it actually wasn’t all that bad. Sure, it’s no early season Supernatural, but I am glad that the Winchester brothers are finally back to a place where it’s about family first – and that includes the people they’ve brought in as family. Which is why I absolutely adored the speech Dean made near the end of the episode to Kevin. They’re family, and that’s all they’ve got. Sure, they’re in a field of work that’s dangerous, they’re sacrificing a bit of themselves daily, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be there for each other as much as possible. They have each other’s backs, that’s really what the message of the show has become.

That’s not to say that I don’t miss the old days of the series, where the boys would travel to a town to solve a monster problem, meeting new folks that would reflect their own lives. These episodes they travel too much in one episode, only really meet new people every so often, and have it a little too easy with the Men of Letters bunker. Sure I like that they have access to all this knowledge, but it used to be their dad’s book, and Sam’s laptop, and then researching in the town’s library or something, now it’s too easy. But I suppose it’s too much to ask to go back to the days of the series that were better.

Another thing, Abbadon is so much better than Crowley as a big evil. While I prefer monsters over the focus of angels and demons, I’m curious to know the whole situation with the Knights of Hell. Where did all the other ones go? Obviously there’s some way to kill them. Still, the Mother of All was a better foe; it was stupid of the writers to kill her off after only a few episodes, in preference of Crowley.

As always, there were some funny moments to episode. Any time Dean speaks sarcastically to a villain when he’s in peril, it’s hilarious. Kevin can also be pretty damn funny at times, like with the military lady in this one. And then there was that moment in the beginning of the episode, after Crowley says hello, and Dean just hits him. The face he gave was spectacular.

Basically, this series is no where near as good as it was in its first few seasons, even as far as the fifth season when Kripke made his farewell as showrunner, but it still has its moments. I will always love Dean, and the brotherly relationship between Sam and him. But they don’t have as much humour between each other anymore, and they don’t do the ‘Bitch’ ‘Jerk’ thing anymore. So, I’ll keep saying it, this series needs to come to an end soon, please don’t run it further into the ground.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Then we all go out for ice cream and strippers.” – Dean says.

“Cause I’m Kevin fricken Solo.” – Kevin tells the military woman.

“We gonna fight, or make out? Cause I’m getting some real mixed signals here.” – Dean remarks to Abbadon.

“Hey, look, Zeke – I’m gonna call you Zeke.” – Dean tells the angel Ezekiel.

“Oh, and uh, I’m awesome, so there’s that.” – Dean informs Sam.

Okay, folks, I’m off to go shower, but check back in about an hour and a half for my review of The Originals. Stay tuned.