“Supernatural” Episode 10.19, “The Werther Project.” Starring Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki; Written by Robert Berens; Directed by Stefan Pleszcynski.
I know, I know. I’m even later than normal with the review this time. But I’ve had an epiphany about writing “Supernatural” reviews. It’s way easier when I have something to complain about. It’s really hard to write “MAN I love this show” and make any kind of word count. I’m not proud of that, by the way. As I’ve stated – probably ad nauseum by this point – I don’t enjoy writing critical reviews of stuff, let alone one of my favorites. But it really is true that it’s easier to find gripey synonyms than exuberant ones.
That being said, whoo this was a hell of an episode, yeah? Let’s get to the summary.
We open on a flashback to 1973 St. Louis, Missouri. An all American family is arguing over chores and who gets the clicker. A salty teen heads to the basement, grabs a sledgehammer, and hacks into the wall. Therein she finds a beautiful clockwork box, and viewers recognize the Men of Letters symbol. She tinkers with it, and of course unleashes a terror of unholy yellow smoke that causes all but the girl to commit suicide.
Back in the present, Sam is following through on his wildly level headed idea of enlisting Rowena to remove the Mark of Cain. She needs a codex to translate the completely un-burnt Book of the Damned, and said codex was appropriated long ago by the Men of Letters. Insert “dramatic groundhog” gif here.
Sam traces the codex back to Cuthbert Sinclair, the ronin MoL from episodes past. Cuthbert was a rebel prodigy, and he stored the dangerous and powerful document in his “werther box,” which – you guessed it – is guarded by some suicidey yellow smoke. He sneaks off to Missouri but Dean shows up to help, and horrible hijinks ensue.
The plot, admittedly, sounds pretty tired when I read it back to myself. But the devil was in the details this week. The music selection continues to impress, and this week we got some deep catalog Todd Rundgren. The cinematography was wild and perfect, and I feel like there was less hand held this episode than previously in the season. I am not a big fan of the hand held, so that’s a plus for me. Brenda Bakke, who played the elder Suzie, is one of the best guest actors I’ve seen on the show. The set decorating was sloppily brilliant and told us everything we needed to know about the 40 years of Suzie’s life we didn’t see. Dean’s reaction to the Werther smoke took us back to Purgatory and a revisit of one of my favorite dynamics of our ten seasons – Dean and Benny, back together, throwin’ down truths.
Benny’s truth, sadly, was the revelation that Dean likely never had any intention of allowing Sam or Cas to end things if the Mark took over. He had always known in the back of his head that he might have to take care of the situation on his own. The two gave powerful performances in a back and forth in which Dean revealed that the only thing greater than the pull of the Mark was his own fear and self-hatred.
I’ve kept it pretty general up until now, but be warned – there is a giant spoiler below.
You all know how I like to make predictions about shit. And you have probably also noticed that I am never ever right. I’m not a “getter.” I don’t see things coming (except for that one time when I totally called the end of “Breaking Bad,” hashtag “nailed it”), and I usually don’t try to figure things out while I watch. I just enjoy each minute. So what I’m about to say might not have too much weight. But anyway – I so did not see that Rowena twist coming! Well done, “Supernatural”! I mean, I should have. How the hell did she find Sam? Made no sense! Was still blown away like I was seeing the GD “Sixth Sense” for the first time. Rowena was… never there!! Insert “Scanners” gif here.
Two great episodes in a row. I do believe the season has hit its stride, but I have to admit that the preview for next week’s episode, when Cas quests to save Jimmy Novak’s daughter, looks a bit meh. There are only four episodes left, so I hope this one isn’t a toss away. Make ‘em count, right?