With the airing of episode eight, we’ve officially put one third of Supernatural’s ninth behind us. I just this very second realized I could start making baseball metaphors, but I don’t know how to sport so I won’t even try. I’m not really sure what happens after one third of an inning. But on the same note, I’m not really sure what’s going on after one third of this season, either.
I’m certainly having fun and enjoying all the usual Supernatural trappings, but we had yet another Monster of the Week episode with only one sentence (literally) that furthers any kind of seasonal theme, and one more sentence that yet again points out that there’s Something Wrong With Sam.
The Brothers travelled back to South Dakota after a phone call from Sherriff Jody Mills tipped them off to happenings that were of the Winchester variety. Folks from a church chastity group had gone missing, and all signs pointed to an abnormal perp. Witnesses saw blue flames at the scene of each disappearance, so couple that with the virginal victims and “dragon” is just written all over the place. Except, plot twist, all these victims were really terrible at being virgins, so dragon is out and Pagan is in. Roman goddess Vesta had returned to claim her servants, but once she realized that virgin handmaidens were harder and harder to come by the punishments via live burial commenced. Sherriff Mills broke a virgin’s nose and almost got mortally wounded, but she and Sam saved the day and rescued Dean, a porn star, and various and sundry defiled townsfolk.
I think I had a minor epiphany regarding my frustrations with season nine. It could partially stem from the incredible quality of season eight – that is indeed a tough act to follow, but I truly think the problem mostly lies in the way the episodes seem to be tippy-toeing around what could be a bold and epic seasonal arc. Heaven is the Big Bad this year. Angels are dirtbags, God is MIA, and The Metatron has turned into a spoiled sociopath who sits in Heaven screaming “MINE.” It almost seems as though the creative team is too timid to touch on any of these set ups. It is risky, certainly. There is risk of offending an awful lot of people when you’ve chosen these players as your enemies, but that’s how it’s been set up. The show may have bitten off more than it can hunt. Even this episode, as a stand-alone, could have touched on some heavy topics like Jody’s new faith. The brothers only mention that angels are kind of butts, and it’s never spoken of again. There could have been some opportunities for great dialogue and performances… Jody discovers that her faith has been a ruse, the Winchesters discuss just letting her have this one as she’s been through so much, but none of that happened.
We have three big problems set in motion; the angel in Sam, the king out of his castle, and the usurper in Heaven. The latter of these two have been rarely mentioned in eight episodes, and the former is mentioned so frequently it’s starting to feel as though it’s just a contrived thread to tie the episodes together and remind viewers that there is indeed a Big Picture. This was penultimate episode before the Hellatus, so I expected much more from the show. I could be proven wrong by a giant reveal that brings episodes one through eight together, but for the most part that’s not how TV should roll.
Lest I get too heavy handed, let’s at least do this much…
The “OK Well This Part Was Awesome”
- You didn’t really think I’d let an entire review slip by without mentioning Dean’s church group concession, did you? Not only were the difference in reactions between the ladies and Sam hilarious, I’m sure we all got a wicked case of pearl clutching. I wonder how many DVR’s played that speech over and over last night. And this morning. What? No. Not mine. Nope.
- “You’re all duct tape and safety pins inside.” Ouch. OUCH. Of course Sam would look to be in disrepair from the standpoint of a millenia old goddess. He’s being rebuilt from the frame up by an angel. But man that hurts on a much broader spectrum. Because from our point of view, both of them are made of safety pins and duct tape – holding it together so it looks good but on the inside everything’s hanging by a thread. Ouch.
So there’s only one more before the winter hellatus, and I hope we get a nice juicy cliffhanger. And I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starting to think that ol’ Zeke is up to nine kinds of no good while he’s shacked up in Sam’s vessel.