This episode clearly goes in the “midseason filler” category. It goes up against other mediocre episodes like “Sam, Interrupted,” “Criss Angel is a Douchebag,” “Malleus Maleficarum”, and “#Thinman.” Compared to all those, it stood up well. Heck, I liked it just as much as those episodes. What gives this episode leeway though is behind the scenes factors. This was the writing debut of SPN writing assistant John Bring. He shared credit with Andrew Dabb, but first timers usually get paired with a senior writer. Remember Jeremy Carver’s debut with the slow and uneven “Sin City," co-written with Robert Singer? Jenny Klein’s debut episode (when she was a writing assistant) “Out with the Old,” also co-written with Robert Singer? To see Andrew Dabb get this chance to foster a new writer is pretty exciting.
I liked the A plot, but it was the B plot that most impressed me. No, not Crowley licking the floor (really, you made Mark Sheppard do that?) but after that. All I can say is it’s about freaking time. Crowley is free from the lair thanks to his own wits and hopefully this means that him in a lame hideout with stupid minions is done. Please, more demons like we got this week in the A plot. That’s the Hell I know and love.
So this is what it feels like to be God. Not bad. Tingly.
Ha! That's where an episode succeeds, by giving Crowley those damn good lines. He's been too saddled with crap lately. I paused the TV when Lucifer arrived at the artifacts room, telling the hubby, “If Crowley didn’t realize this was a trap, then I’m officially breaking up with this show.” Luckily, he did. Whew! It is so like Crowley to have a secret stash of toys, heck he’s eluded to it a few times (remember when he had Death’s Scythe in “Two Minutes to Midnight”?). How else in the past was he able to find needed objects so quickly? The fact that he had a God artifact didn’t surprise me at all. I'm more stunned he didn’t know its power. He definitely didn’t know that once you absorb that power, it’s a one and done. A big shout-out the awesome VFX in that scene. Mark Sheppard actually looks great when he glows!
But this all was a great answer to my Red Headed Monster rant last week. A fresh, renewed, and removed from the throne Crowley is an awesome thing. Finally, his character is getting a moment of definition. This is the Crowley that I remember from season five and six. His declaration of “I’m Crowley” spoke volumes for those of us dying for movement with his character. Overall the story line was a great follow up on last week’s events and gives us some “good to know” info as we go into the rest of the season.
I just hope we’re spared of Lucifer trying to deal with the minions in Hell and he’s out on his own trying to get some sort of plan in order. I’m still enjoying Misha Collins as Lucifer, but bottom line, even if Mark Pellegrino was delivering those lines, it still would have been painful. He’s not menacing. He’s impatient, sloppy, and underestimating his foes, aka Crowley. He’s looking like an incompetent, not the chilling and diabolical archangel we’ve seen prior. It reminds us that Lucifer should be take in small doses. At this point all someone needs to do is bitch slap him back in to the box. Bring Michael up, I’m sure he can easily do that. Wouldn’t that be worth the price of admission?
Speaking of which, and I’m just throwing this out there, how much could this plot change if Michael was a part of it? It would probably resolve things too easily but wouldn’t that be cool? I don’t want Jake Abel (Adam) back as Michael though. I loved Michael far better when Matt Cohen had that role. But hey, that’s just my mind wandering, as it tends to do during filler episodes.
Dean: You know they're having a memorial show tonight. I know you're itching to get back-
Sam: We should go to it.
Dean: Really?
Sam: Why not? The world is still gonna be screwed tomorrow, right?
That leads us to the A plot, aka Sam and Dean in wrestling land. It was cute. I LOVED seeing the guys take a break from the end of the world and enjoy themselves for once. For a pair of guys with few fond childhood memories, to see the re-live one of those good ones got my inner fan girl flailing in joy. Dean rolling into the ring and pretending to be part of the action was pure gold. Best part of the episode in my opinion (aside from Crowley absorbing the God power). Next best was Sam meeting the female wrestler that now runs it all, Rio. There was a female wrestler in the WWF like that back in the Hulk Hogan days (bonus points to whoever remembers her name). Sam may have played cool in front of her about confessing his crush and not saying yes when she asked if he had her poster over his bed, but naturally Dean would be the one to out him. That’s what he does. Good thing for Sam it wasn't in front of Rio. I only wish that there had been a scene where she and Sam went into a back room together and he got to experience those childhood fantasies. Ah well, we’ll leave that up to the fan fiction.
Dean: Town after town putting your ass on the line for next to nothing. No money, no glory. Wow.
Sam: You realize you just literally described our jobs.
There were a lot of parallels between the hunter life and the wrestling life. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I have a hard time believing that following the script for entertainment works the same as fighting horrible monsters, but no doubt it's a rough life that’s physically punishing with many hours spent on the road either way. One could take the perspective that warriors aren't always meant to be saving the world, sometimes making people feel better or offering a little inspiration works too. Another parallel that should have hit a little more close to home but didn’t was the kid behind them whose father was killed by something evil. He was there with his Dad, despite the fact the man wasn’t a great parent, enjoying the wrestling match, which is exactly what Sam and Dean experienced with John years earlier. I wish we could have heard what Sam said to the kid. Meet your future hunter of America folks.
I've been beat up, spit on, stabbed, roughed up. But I will be damned if I didn't always get back up. One thing I learned, you gotta keep on grinding no matter what's thrown your way.
The plot was clearly meant to address Dean’s latest funk, and it did an effective job. He meets a childhood hero, wrestler Gunner Lawless, and turns out these two are kindred spirits. Warriors with stories of woe and the battle scars to prove it. I really enjoyed the spark between them, even when Dean found out the truth. He didn’t judge or take the truth badly, he understood. Probably because he’s been there. Dean has made the same bad decisions out of desperation and had to pay a terrible price. He also could see that Gunner was a good guy underneath it all and was only following through with the terms of the bad deal he made.
Its Dean’s ability to read people that has gotten him and Sam out of multiple messes, and he did it again here by persuading Gunner to redeem himself before paying the price. Yeah, it’s a story we’ve seen many times on this show before and it was paint by numbers in execution, but what made it work was the connection between Dean and Gunner. It played out well on the screen. I thought it was a nice gesture of Dean to offer his gun to Gunner to avoid the Hellhounds from ripping him apart. I like that he didn’t accept it and chose to face him punishment because plain and simple, he deserved it. That’s a guy with real character.
The important thing was the whole experience was kick in the pants that Dean needed. Heck, we’ve all been dying to see Dean like this for a while. Not only is Dean determined to beat Lucifer and The Darkness, but he won’t give up on Castiel. He still believes he can save him, even if he might not want saving. I'm just wondering how that can even be possible. Dean certainly doesn't know, and as we know casting out an angel that is possessing you isn't so easy. Ah well, I still want to know how he plans on defeating the Darkness. At this point, Lucifer seems like a cake walk. The vital take away though is that the brothers are united and on the same page, so we all will take this four week breather and come back ready for action.
The Red Headed Monster
The monster really doesn't want to pick apart or read too much into an episode that was mostly meant for harmless fun, but this episode did bring something to light that has been on my mind for a while. Sam and Dean both noticed that Top Notch Wrestling shows were once grander more…"Top Notch.” That's a definitely a statement for people like myself, who often dwell on earlier days of "Supernatural." Heck, I had a rare chance the other morning to watch "Supernatural" on TNT. I got to see "In The Beginning," "Metamorphosis," and "Monster Movie." My reaction? "Wow, I forgot how good this show was." Point is, "Supernatural" may not be as enjoyable, but it still has some life and entertainment value left, just like the Top Notch shows. It may not be the same thrill, but we’re still cheering. We still want more.
Stray Thoughts
John Bring is a writer after my own heart. He made a Simpson’s reference! That instantly makes him a favorite of mine. Not sure what it was? It came from Lucifer himself, who was channeling Nelson Muntz. “You made me bleed my own blood.” Of course Andrew Dabb has made many Simpsons references in the past, so perhaps it was him? I caught Lucifer’s line from The Fugitive too, but I was less impressed with that context.
Dean using holy water in the tequila to see if anyone was a demon? Fantastic! He kept up with all those wrestlers, meaning he still can drink people under the table. Okay, maybe not all the wrestlers ultimately, but wasn’t it fun to see the end result?
I loved how Harley picked Heaven over Hell when given the choice (great appearance from The Miz). His anger against everyone was that he was actually moral! It rarely happens on this show, but once in a while someone professes their faith in the most crucial hour. Harley knew that the choice would get him killed, but he chose Heaven anyway. "I'm not giving up my shot at a belt I can win on my own." So bad yet so good! Those angels better give him the deluxe suite up there in Heaven. Fine hotels and championship wins galore! The ultimate winner in the test of faith.
Overall Grade, a B-. Not a spectacular way to go into a midseason break, but hey, at least Dean is charged up again. If anything, maybe this will result in more Sam and Dean wrestling matches in the bunker (crap, my fan fiction voice is speaking again). See you back on March 23rd!
Comments
It was a meh episode. I would watch it again. I just wish that going into a month long break they would have come up with a better cliffhanger than..well basically no cliffhanger.
And yes please can we get out of Hell. I am so glad that Crowley was playing Simmons and Lucifer. He was biding his time until he could get a shot at eliminating Lucifer.
I just can't get behind Misha's Lucifer. It was better last week. This week he was back to over the top camp again.
Yes to Dean being Dean. I could have done without the gag reel ring scenes and gone for Sam and Rio instead but it was funny.
Overall ok episode and hopefully JB continues to improve as a new writer (although not new to the show) for the future.
So I feel the next 8 episodes are going to stretch their trust & faith & strength to the limit and the final is going to be epic, but different to what we all think
Plus even in Season 5 we started to see this shift in demons, back then Lucifer hated his demons and even now he is merely using them.
I am still waiting for Lucifer to back to the strength and power he used to have. But lets face it to defeat the Darkness before he had an army and God! He needs an army!!!! In my personal opinion, he needs Abaddon lol
Lucifer has always hated demons. I would expect he'd use them and then get rid of them when he's done. That's why Crowley has always feared Lucifer. I'm just tired of the Hell scenes no matter who is ruling, Lucifer or Crowley. They're time wasters. Move on and give these guys a real plot! Hell (or Hell on Earth since it's an above ground lair) should have only been done for one or two episodes. If you think about it, Abaddon was a ruthless character and they wasted her potential too. Yes, she'd be great here. She could have been a real terror like demons are supposed to be.
They haven't even explained why Crowley shows Red Eyes. How can they show some random demon flashing Red Eyes?
When I saw it I thought at first this must be Crowley himself, he transfered himself in this demon's body and the one we are seeing in Hell is actually some random demon acting as Crowley. Or maybe some other explanation. But no! Nothing! It was mistake in my opinion, a big one at that, on writers' part.
Quote:I think Dean is a much better man than Gunnar, and I actually thought the sympathy and understanding he expressed for Gunnar was OOC. He has never been sympathetic towards people who have used supernatural means for purely personal gain, whether it is witches or those who use demon deals. The only exception that I can think of off-hand is Ellie in Trial and Error, who made a deal to save her mom's life. Any deals Dean has made have been for life and death reasons, unlike Gunnar's deal to obtain the championship. And Dean never would have blithely (and without much remorse) murdered innocent people for the demon. It was unclear in the ep whether Gunnar was compelled to commit the murders. If so, then how was he able to defy the demon at the end and not only refrain from killing Dean, but actually kill the demon instead? Any sympathy I felt for Gunnar vanished when he killed Harley. In fact, at that point I thought Harley was the one who seemed the most Winchesterish by telling the demon to stuff it. So I did not understand Dean's overly sympathetic attitude towards Gunnar and thought it flew in the face of his attitude in previous episodes.
The Dean getting drunk trying to test people to see if they were demons was cute. Too bad there isn't a word that can make demons reveal themselves. It's a real shame that, oh I don't know, using the name of God in Latin doesn't make their eyes go black.
Quote:Aww... but I want Jake back. I'd settle for Adam but Michael is in his vessel atm.
Quote:You.. actually liked the episode? With the negativity I've seen so far I thought Alice is going to butcher it in her review. I gave it a 5/10
I agree with everyone who didn't find Gunnar that sympathetic; he made a crossroads deal for selfish reasons and then starts killing at the behest of a crossroads demon to avoid paying the price for the deal he made? Doesn't sound terribly sympathetic too me. But, ultimately, he did the right thing. And I was surprised; Miz was pretty good in his role. It was also good to see Dean get his head back in the game, too.
Misha's performance is probably the difference between your grade and mine. I don't mind it. However, I'm really missing Castiel. I'm hoping they stop with this nonsense soon, but I know they won't. They'll run with it until the end of the season because they don't know what else to do with Misha.
Crowley works better as a sometimes ally and enemy but even with his character they are only 50/50 successful.
Maybe if they had been willing to bite the bullet and have Jimmy return something could have worked. Have Jimmy have his angelic knowledge, but not the power. Kill off Claire and her mother and have Jimmy commit to becoming a hunter, searching for things that the angel wars affected and removing them from earth. That became impossible after last season with the confirmation that Jimmy officially dead.
I'm not thrilled with Misha's portrayal of Lucifer, but a lot of that is the fact that the writers did to Luci what they previously did to Cas. With Cas they depowered him and made him comedic. Wit Luci they took a powerful, terrifying driven character and made him petty and, again, in the comedic vein. And it's not the Crowley being witty kind of comedy. It just doesn't fit for me. I don't know what they do with Misha or Cas. I hope they can find something worth while.
I completely agree percys. That was the last time Cas seemed truly angelic in his powers and his attitudes towards earthly matters. And I also agree that incorporating some of Misha's geekiness was a terrible mistake. He really has become mostly comic relief, alternating with scenes of him being hapless, helpless and weak. Every so often there is an episode that reminds me why he was originally such a great character. In most of his dealings with Metatron since S 9 Cas has displayed the strength of character and will that is rarely in evidence since S 6. There have been a number of other episodes as well in which I have enjoyed Cas. But his story lines have mostly been terrible lately. I agree that there is no easy solution. TPTB don't want him to be too powerful, but they also didn't want to leave him completely human, so we are left with this hybrid that often doesn't impress as either one. The writers have done an amazing job this year with the plots and characterizatio ns of the brothers, maybe they can now turn their attention to Cas and Crowley. Of the two, I actually think Crowley has had it worse. I would be very happy to see him killed off because even more so than Cas, he is completely unrecognizable as the terrific character that was originally introduced.
S6 Cas was good and if he had gone on to be the S7 big bad that might have worked as well. But to bring him back as crazy (along with ghost Bobby) just to appease his fans was a huge mistake and the character never seemed to recover.
I just can't get on board with his Lucifer. Yes the writing isn't very good for that character but Mark P did menacing snark better than anyone.
E, I just watched the video of the Js Gold panel at NashCon and Jensen actually said that most of the moves he did in the "plays in the ring" scene were only done ONCE (like the rolling up onto the mat) but the editors showed it multiple times to extend the scene. I'm assuming that this was done with the blessings of the director, but it struck me as odd that at the time of filming a shorter scene was deemed appropriate, but that in editing, when presumably they're paring things down, they actually extended the scene. I would love to know what scenes were cut from the ep to make room for the longer romp in the ring. Maybe the part where Sam was off working the case?:)