The fourth episode of this season takes a giant stylistic detour from what we know of Supernatural, but perhaps gets a little too zealous with its ambition to be relevant. Sam and Dean are minor characters in this episode, which will undoubtedly upset many fans, and the hand held filming will absolutely push away the rest.
The episode centers around three college kids – Michael, Brian, and Kate. Brian and Kate are film nuts, while Michael is the easy going friend. Kate, unfortunately, is in love with Michael and Brian’s love of her remains unrequited. Werewolvian hijinks ensue in an easily decipherable plot, and the characters play out in a contrived “Lord of the Flies” analogy. At one point, Brian tells his good looking friend that he’s tired of being the “Piggy,” and had the statement not been repeated, or perhaps if the analogy hadn’t actually been introduced as part of the plot, the scene would have been touching. These actors were far above par when it comes to Supernatural guest stars, however, and they made enough “secret lover” jokes at Sam and Dean’s expense to indicate that the episode wasn’t taking itself too seriously.
The final act was a great redeemer, in that the theme of duality that has been rampant in the Winchesters’ relationship seems to be resolving. Dean, always the brother who sees a monster in black and white, agrees with a typical Sam view; the Big Bad didn’t choose to be that way, and didn’t hurt a human. The hunt will cease this time.
The camera work on the show was a deal breaker. It felt heavily contrived to bandwagon on the current “Paranormal Activity” trend of reality filmmaking. Supernatural doesn’t have to do that. Stand-alone episodes are fine, but this one felt that it was written for a trend more than a story. There was of course a pseudonym in-joke (Agents “Rose and Hudson” are perhaps my favorite of the show, if only because it makes it OK that I might be the only Supernatural fan old enough to get the joke), but the brothers’ feature scenes in acts two and three only focused on fan pandering. The fan in me liked that, but the writer in me knows that is lazy creativity.
I’m a little bit sad that the first review I do for this site is for the episode I will without a doubt skip when I buy the season eight blu ray. I am a huge fan of the show, but this episode was a proportional disappointment.