Last week’s episode was quite the shocker for fans, you could say the roof is on fire in the Supernatural fandom and theories are flying around. After Sam smirked his little smirk of evil instead of helping Dean, everybody only wants to know one truth: What is wrong with Sam? ‘The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth’.

Something is rotten in the state of Supernatural. Although the writers were telling us that Sam was going to be different this season, you were still able to excuse his behavior with the experience of hunting alone for a year. Sam was hardened, more focused on the hunt, very John-like but still the same Sam who loves his brother, at least it seemed this way. But after ‘Live Free or Twihard’ that possibility is, like rotten cheese, past his expiration date. I don’t think there is a better time for answers and the episode title ‘You can’t handle the truth’ promises to spill a few.  I’m certain that we will not get to know at this point of time why Sam is back or what the plan of the world’s alpha monsters is but I’m sure we will learn more about Darth Sam.

The CW Trailer

The CW webclip

The official CW description of episode 6.06 ‘You Can’t Handle the truth’:

How I missed Supernatural’s vampires. Fangs, blood and decapitations. ‘Blood lust’ (season 2) and ‘Fresh blood’ (season 3) were amazing but ‘Live Free or Twihard’ is definitely my new favorite vampire episode. A great ‘Twilight’ spoof, vampire Dean and drama between the Winchester brothers, what can a female Supernatural fan desire more? OK, maybe Castiel, Classic Rock and shirtless Sam but in a perfect world ‘Supernatural’ would be an hour long, have an unlimited budget and be on HBO with even more gore and blood. A little tip for the people of Mystic Falls (The Vampire diaries) if vampires give you trouble, you should call Dean Winchester – the new vampire slayer on TV, just saying. And be careful, if you’re young, beautiful and look like somebody from the ‘Twilight’ movies, they’re vampires out to get you!

If this episode would have been part of the previous seasons, I would have been worried. The writers would have raised interesting questions about monsters but drop them the following week in favor of the apocalypse storyline. But thanks to Sera Gamble and season six that’s no longer the case.  This episode reveals that vampires are recruiting with the help of ‘pretty Twilight vampires’, creating an army and are no longer afraid of hunters, what a devious plan. These fictional creatures being a pop culture phenomenon fits into the world of ‘Supernatural’ as long as real vampires take advantage of their fake counterparts popularity.

Never open THIS book! It’s evil!

This season ‘Supernatural’ introduced us to the concept of the alpha as the origin of monsters. The same as every story is supposed to have a grain of truth, every species has a legend about the first. Honestly, I found the shapeshifter and his breeding project underwhelming but the alpha vampire interests me. The psychic connection between him and his children was unexpected but interesting.  His ability to send visions suggests that he must be very powerful. Using devotion to ensure the little vampires followed the master plan was clever. It worked for the demons and the angels, so it is definitely good enough for your everyday bloodsuckers. Both, shapeshifter and vampire alpha, obviously want to increase their numbers, which made me think. Maybe all the alpha monsters have a common game plan this season – taking control again. Demons and angels left monsters literally in the same box as humans regarding the apocalypse. Normally monsters have control. They are stronger than humans and except for hunters; they don’t need to fear anything. When the end of the world was on their door step, they became powerless. Humans would have gotten to survive in a world of paradise/hell or die and go to hell/heaven but what would have happened with the monsters of the world? Their world evolves around humans – victims, food source, entertainment etc. – without them monsters don’t have a purpose. I think the alphas of the world are planning to become so powerful – while demons and angels have their little civil wars – that both parties can’t threaten their existence again. I suspect the guy in Dean’s vision was the alpha vampire. He looked African and I hope we find out that the first vampire wasn’t European but much older which would be refreshing from all the Dracula origin stories.

Mr. Alpha vampire

Sam is like the boy who can’t feel anymore. He sometimes does a great job at acting like he still feels something – smiles and jokes – but in the next moment his behavior makes you wonder if there are any real feelings in him. Sam obviously knows what he is supposed to feel and acts accordingly but that’s all it is, an act without real emotions. I previously thought the vampires were going to be the creepy monsters this week but I was wrong. Sam’s little smile, when he let Dean get turned, was scary as hell. Everybody loves Sam, even Dean Fans since Dean wouldn’t be himself without his little brother. Of course, fans also still remember good-old season one Sammy in the back of their head which makes his behavior such a shock. Although we were repeatedly being told that he’s different – sorry, Sam with a hooker only means he’s a guy and has needs – nothing drove the point more home than this episode and Sam risking Dean’s life. No demon blood to blame. No Ruby who made him do it. Just Sam. I can honestly say I didn’t expect the change to be so profound in his character that Sam even lost his emotional connection to his brother. After he said that the wanted to hunt with Dean again, I assumed that Sam still had a few feelings left, that he felt more alive in Dean’s presence. I was so wrong. Samuel hinted that Sam must have known about the cure and still to achieve his goal – the infiltration of the nest – Sam didn’t tell his brother a single word about it on top of letting him get turned. That was cold. The writers’ are playing with us this season like the devil with his fiddle and I like their tune.

This week’s talk show topic: Is my brother an alien?

So my ‘Sam theories of the week’ are:

Sam – the alien: Not the real Sam. It’s not only an act but Sam is not Sam at all. His body is used by an alien lizard of the planet V.

Sam – the cylon: Not the real Sam.It’s even worse than we thought. The cylons have found earth and now they plan on destroying humanity. Sam is the first cylon.

Sam – Lucifer: Not the real Sam.Maybe Sam is possessed by Lufcifer again but I trust the writers when they said that the whole apocalypse Lucifer-Michael storyline was over. So I hope Lucy is still in his cage.

Sam – Michael: Not the real Sam. Sam is possessed by Michael this time, although I think that the writers promising the whole apocalypse Lucifer-Michael thing to be over includes Michael being on lock down.

Sam – heartless: The real Sam. It will depend on the definition of the writers. If they see a human heart as the center of emotions than Sam is definitely without one. Maybe he does know why he is out of the cage. He could have sold his heart/emotions to a higher power (angel, demon, alpha) to break free. It would fit with Sam’s refusal to talk about his time downstairs and his comment about being a better hunter than he ever was that it was his choice rather than a ritual without Sam’s consent.

Sam – soulless: The real Sam. It will depend on the definition of the writers. If they see a soul as the part which gives humans emotions than Sam is definitely soulless. If they see it as what keeps you alive than my best guess would be that a part of his soul is missing. It would fit with Balthazar’s comment that souls are a commodity. If the little boy’s soul was a good investment for the angel, I have no doubt that Sam’s soul or part of it, is worth something. Maybe somebody made Sam the offer of freeing him in exchange for his soul. If you think about living without emotions compared to eternity in prison that’s a good deal. So far my favorite theory.

Grandpa didn’t have a lot to do in the episode but he brought the vampire cure and through Sam’s behavior, he actually became more humane. In the previous episodes, he was always acted shady but not this time. There is at least one redeeming quality about Samuel, he cares about his grandsons. He immediately confronted Sam about lying and using his brother. Grandpa was clearly concerned about Dean being a vampire. That’s more than we can say about Sam who doesn’t seem to be capable of caring about anybody at the moment. It will be interesting why Sam actually chose to hunt. He is not doing it to save people: Maybe to keep himself busy or because the prize for being free is to deliver monsters to somebody. Their conversation also revealed that Sam knows about Samuel hunting alphas.

Even grandpa wonders about Sam

Dean would have made Buffy proud in this episode. He sliced and killed until no vamp was left except him. I naively assumed that Sam and Samuel would get to help taking out the nest but no. They only killed two lousy vampires. Super-charged vampire Dean did the rest and on top the poor guy even got a major headache when the alpha slammed him with a vision. Dean’s changed perception as a vampire was a nice continuation of what we saw when Gordon got turned in ‘Fresh Blood’. Gordon didn’t turn evil; he only got more determined to use all his skills to kill Sam, even if that meant killing other people. The same thing was true for Dean, his character didn’t change but become more determined and he had to fight the bloodlust. Dean’s flashback when he got the cure was amazing. I was glad that it didn’t involve killing the alpha vampire or the vampire that created Dean. In ‘Supernatural’ vampires spread via blood exchange like a virus, so it’s fitting that the cure would be like an anti-poison which only works before you ingest human blood and make the effect irreversible. It looked like the vampire blood got bound in the blood stream and ejected. I assume the flashback was caused by the body nearly dying when turning itself back human. I was unexpected that Dean find out immediately about Sam’s betrayal. The next episode is going to be very interesting.

Dean – the vampire slayer. Buffy’s legacy lives on.

The phone call between Dean and Lisa was cuteness pure. Dean testing if Lisa hasn’t changed her mind about him and Lisa telling him to get his butt home was absolutely adorable.

Cute, cuter, Lisa and Dean

Their second talk was more dramatic but also funny since Lisa and Dean reenacted the book cover of ‘My Summer of Blood’ – the Supernatural version of Twilight. I hope we get to see her again but it will take a while since I doubt that Lisa is going to take it lightly that Dean attacked Ben.

Vampires and sleeping women. It’s like the moth and the flame.

New addition, Brett Mathews, writer of ‘Life Free or Twihard’, is either a Dean girl at heart or he hasn’t come across a prettier – I mean handsome – actor than Jensen Ackles. Sorry, but I have no other explanation for Dean being called ‘pretty’ so many times in his episode. Him and Adam Glass have been a pleasant surprise with the quality of their writing. It makes me look forward to Nicole Snynder and Eric Charmelo’s Supernatural’s debut as writers.

Don’t roll your eyes Dean! You’re pretty.

Was it my imagination or was the curly-haired vampire hitting on Dean? What else could the guy have meant by giving Dean ‘the private tour’ than having the sex with him? I understand, Dean is gorgeous, but it was like watching your cute little niece getting hit on by a gross old man. By the way I’m so disappointed. Vampires seem to be as terrible as humans.  It’s discriminating that they only turn pretty people now. I’m gonna write your alpha, this is against the law. Don’t you know that ugly people have tasty blood too!

Run Dean!! The freaky vampire wants to molest you!

Director Rod Hardy did a great job with his first ‘Supernatural’ episode. The only problem was that a few shots were a bit too dark – you couldn’t see anything. I preferred Kim Manner’s approach of playing with darkness but still showing parts of Gordon’s face in the shadow in ‘Fresh Blood’. E.g. He talked in complete darkness but we could still see his mouth. The decapitations of the Efron vamp and Robby looked awesome. It didn’t trump Gordon’s death scene but it was a good effect.

Don’t loose your head…

Unfortunately, the vampire teeth in ‘Bloodlust’ and ‘Fresh Blood’ looked much more threatening and realistic but since all the teeth shots were short, you could ignore it. Teeth what teeth? I didn’t see anything.

Don’t forget to brush your teeth kids!

‘Bela Lugosi is dead’ by Bauhaus is a popular gothic rock song from the vampire movie ‘The Hunger’ and was used in the first bar scene where Kristen and Robert aka Twilight’s Bella and Edward meet. What a pity that ‘Secret of Oz’ by G Tom Mac from the second bar scene from the web preview didn’t make it into the episode. You might remember G Tom Mac for ‘Cry Little Sister’ from the ‘Lost Boys’ soundtrack.

Minus points:

-The ‘Heroes’ fight scene. ‘Supernatural’, you don’t need to create tension by not showing a fight. We know Dean is a hunter, so he is obviously going to win when he’s a super-charged vampire like Gordon. It was absolutely unnecessary to cut the fight and make a big fuzz about Dean winning. It also looked ood and somehow out of character for Dean to have his foot on the vampire’s head.

Just one look!

-Not enough Meta. This episode was probably the one and only chance of ‘Supernatural’ making vampire jokes. Sadly, the episode only focused on ‘Twilight’. Don’t get me wrong, the episode was a great mix of drama and humor but I wanted a bit more variety in the mocking.

Shock! Supernatural’s Edward and Bella are cute

-Dark is not always good.  I like it dark but I want to see something as well, staring at a nearly black TV screen is not entertaining. There were several occassions throughout the episode were you only saw black. E.g. The scene where Dean is in the bathroom was weird. A flash to Dean’s eyes for a second suggesting his change of mind would have been better. Also the use of shadows while Sam, Samuel and Dean talked was a bit too extreme.

Grade: A-

That’s it. The first A of season 6. I didn’t really have any complaints about the episode besides some dark shots and the one fight scene. I expected more comedy, but it was definitely more fitting for ‘Supernatural’ to be dark with a hint of humor instead of trying to surpass ‘Changing Channels’ in hilarity. All in all, a great episode that was a nice mix of comedy and drama, showing how you can do a spoof but don’t get lost in it.

‘Supernatural’ airs Friday, 9/8c pm on the CW. 

After last week’s disappointing angel episode, ‘Weekend at Bobby’s’ was back on track with season six’s theme of a different Supernatural. The episode played with expectations. In previous years, the writers usually chose the more direct and non-subtle approach in storytelling.  They would have spoiled Bobby’s plan very early on by not bothering to hide what he was burning when he had his little talk with the female crossroads demon. Fortunately, it’s all about twists and turns this season. I was quite surprised that Bobby would only talk with Crowley’s ghost son since he chose torture to get information previously in the episode. After it was revealed that Crowley was the new boss down stairs, I honestly expected him to be more Mr. Demon Sunshine instead of Mr. I-hate-my-new-job. It’s a nice twist that neither heaven nor hell got their fairy tale happy end after the Winchester pulled the plug on the apocalypse.

If your skin looks like this, you should see a doctor

‘Demons are just ghosts with egos’.  If you think about it that’s a very acurate describition. The same as ghosts, demons are incorporeal; they have no longer a body of their own to wander the earth. The show established that some ghosts can be destroyed by torching the human remains and that demons have been human souls once, so the reveal of so-called ‘demon remains’ makes sense. Although going back to season one’s ‘Devil’s Trap’, Bobby himself also hinted that not all demons need to possess humans, ‘Can’t you tell? That’s a demon possessing a human’, acknowledging the fact that they’re must be demons with their own corporeal form. I wonder if the writers will ever bother to explain this contradiction.

This crossroads obviously loves ‘Basic Instinct’

To my surprise the comedic horror duo, Dabb and Loflin, – I’m afraid when I see their names in an episode description – were able to focus on the drama aspect. If they can control their desire to write one ridiculous scene after another, the episode ends up surprisingly entertaining. See ‘Dark side of the moon’. Unfortunately, they sometimes can’t help it and it’s ‘Yellow Fever’ which has  funny scenes but the story is one giant plot hole. First time director Jensen Ackles also did a wonderful job of finding interesting angles and the right pacing for the episode. The fight scene between Bobby and the okami looks great.  By the look of the scene, you would never guess that the director has completely no experience. I also loved the shot of the monster attack from the ceiling; this could have gone easily wrong. There a similar ceiling shot in the movie ‘Legion’ with the archangel Michael and it looks awful. It’s even more impressive considering that this is a scene of a first time director on a TV budget. Cudos to Jensen Ackles! By the way if you want to see a great angel movie watch ‘Prophecy’ or ‘Gabriel’ and don’t bother with the Gladiator-looking angels of ‘Legion’.

Okamis apparently love ceilings

There are two new monsters in this episode. A lamia which Sam and Dean hunt and an okami running around on Bobby’s salvage yard. The Greek monster – lamia meaning ‘gullet’ or ‘large shark’ – is supposed to be either a child-eating queen or something similar to vampires and succubus living from the blood of young men. There are multiple interpretations and a few mention a serpent-like appearance. Since there is no general idea of what a lamia looks like compared to other monster, it’s frustrating that Supernatural didn’t bother to mention anything about the appearance or show a glimpse of the creature.

It’s either a lamia or a giant tulip!Okami is a Japanese word for ‘wolf’. I’m only familiar with the legend of the Goddess Amaterasu who turns into a big white wolf. You might know the Sony Play station game with the same name. I appreciate that they tied in the origin of the monster by mentioning a Shinto priest but I think more physical characteristics of a wolf would have been better. Although I was disappointed with the look of the okami, the growling sound effects were great. I don’t really understand why they bothered introducing a new monster in the first place if a vampire or werewolf, no description necessary, would have fulfilled the same purpose. More information about the new creatures would have been also helpful. If there is no distinctive monster effect that differentiates the newcomers from other supernatural creatures due to show’s limited budget, a shot where the audience sees pictures in a lore book would have helped to fuel the imagination. The shadow of the lamia and the fancy fangs of the okami alone are harldy impressive, not to mention scary.  E.g. The pictures of hell hounds in ‘Crossroads’ or ‘No Rest for the wicked’ made the invisible creatures a more realistic threat.

Be careful, THIS sleeping beauty has sharp teeth!

This episode was all about Bobby. I wish the Castiel episode of season four ‘The rapture’, they made the mistake of showing us not Castiel’s but his vessel’s back story, was only half as good as ‘Weekend at Bobby’s, . Another great season six episode, another great musical montage, luckily this time it’s not about Sam and Dean but about the daily struggles in the life of Bobby Singer set to Kenny Rogers ‘ The Gambler’. The word of the episode is definitely ‘balls’, it’s perfect for a drinking game.

Bobby – the star of the episode!Usually everybody – Rufus, Sam and Dean, sheriff Jody Mills – needs Bobby’s help but this time the situation is reversed, he needs them and he clearly isn’t used or comfortable asking for it. Of course, after Bobby’s track record of helping them, every character follows through and plays their role in Bobby’s plan to successfully outwit Crowley.

The banter between Crowley and Bobby was a definite highlight of the episode. It was like watching a play of chess between two great Con men. The mimicking of their opponent’s accent – first by Bobby, later by Crowley – was hilarious. In addition, the man who must feel naked without his caps had some great scenes with Rufus. Rufus and Bobby – two grumpy old men who would never admit publicly that they’re friends. It reminded me of old Dean and Bobby in ‘The curious case of Dean Winchester’. The neighbor Marcy was adorable, what a pity that Okami fricassee immediately destroyed any chance for a later romantic outcome. Poor Bobby! I really like sheriff Jody Mills, seems like she became friends with the hunter after the zombie town fest in season five. She is a great female character, let’s hope she doesn’t bite the dust too soon, I would love to see more of her and the other townspeople.

Rufus, Marcy and sheriff Jody Mills

‘I am Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. I was born in 1518 in the village of Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel. And I am immortal…’ Sorry, wrong MacLeod. The name is Fergus MacLeod, King of the Crossroads and the new boss of hell or for his friends, Crowley the founder of ‘Lovers in League in against Satan’. So after a few appearances, my favorite demon besides Alastair has finally a background story. He’s a Scottish tailor who sold his soul for ‘better equipment’ and who had a lousy relationship with his son. Does everybody on this show have daddy issues? It seems logical that Crowley dropped his Scottish accent to not give away his origin but it’s strange compared to Alastair whose accent stays the same even after he switches meat suits. So what’s the rule for  demon accents on Supernatural? If your human remains haven’t decomposed yet and you know your human name, go to demon school to learn a different accent?

Crowley aka Fergus McLeod

Bobby’s contract appearing and disappearing on his arms was a great special effect, so was the skeleton of the burning crossroad demon. I also liked Sam and Dean’s corpse which looked the right amount of bloody and torn.

‘Supernatural’ meets ‘Ghost rider’

Unfortunately, I got no new Sam theory due to Winchester brother’s lack of appearance. It was fitting for the episode but hopefully next week’s episode will have more material for speculation about Sam, the boy with a ‘cold heart’ who doesn’t seem to know that a giant swapped it for a stone. ‘The cold heart’ is a story by Wilhelm Hauff. Seems like I can’t stop finding new nicknames for ‘new Sam’.

In case you forgot – the main characters of the show

Minus points:

-Floating rings. It was a bit anti-climactic seeing a floating ring and the ghost doesn’t even bother to appear inside the circle. Why waste a special effect on something so unimportant?

- White nightie of terror. Please Supernatural can we stop with the ridiculous looking white night gowns for female characters. It’s getting old! It ruins the surprise factor. You immediately know that the character will either end up on the ceiling or something equally awful will happen to her. I understand that blood looks good on white but seriously how many more women with these old-fashioned things are going to appear on the show?

-Every demon deal should have a thirty day soul-back guarantee. I was disappointed that Bobby got his soul back so quickly; especially since this could mean the end of the awesome banter between Crowley and Bobby. Let’s hope Crowley is busy plotting revenge and we’ll see him soon.

-The look of the Okami. The only difference between an Okami aka wolf and a werewolf in Supernatural seem to be their teeth and their frequency of growling which is honestly a bit lame.

-A deal is a deal. I love Crowley’s character but why Sam chose to save Crowley and prevents Dean from torching his bones, is a mystery to me. Sam is supposed to be tough hunter without emotions why would he care to honor a deal with a demon? Could this be a hint that maybe Crowley has something to do with Sam’s resurrection and that Sam very well knows who brought him back?

All in all a very strong episode, let’s hope Supernatural continues to deliver episodes like ‘Weekend at Bobby’s’ in the following weeks and it’s going to be a very strong season.

Grade: B +

‘Supernatural’ airs Friday, 9/8c pm on the CW.

Compared to last year’s ‘Fallen Idols’, episode five of season six has an easy job of surpassing it’s predecessor. Over the years, Supernatural has done a lot of monster episodes - vampires, werewolves, tricksters, wendigos, shape shifters, ghosts and demons. In season four and five, demons and angels were dominant to the apocalypse storyline. Since one season six themes is the return of monsters and friend, it’s time for the comeback of another old monster friend.

The vampires are back and it looks like a killer return. Dean gets turned into vampire and he looks fierce but that’s not even the best part. Supernatural is doing another one of it’s great meta episodes – e.g. ’The monster at the end of the book’, ‘Changing Channels’ -, this time the topic is not TV shows or Supernatural and its fans but it’s all about vampire shows and movies. The most obvious candidate is of course, ‘Twilight’. The title ‘Live Long or Twi-hard’ alone promises some hilarious jokes from Dean. Let’s hope the writers were able to throw in a couple of Buffy, True Blood and Vampire Diaries references as well.

Webclip 1

Webclip 2

The official CW description of episode 6.05 Live Free or Twihard

After a group of young girls go missing, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) realize that a group of vampires have taken up residence in the small town. After a fight with two of the blood-suckers, Dean is bitten and turns into a vampire. Samuel (guest star Mitch Pileggi) tells Dean he can change him back but he’d have to get the blood of the vampire who turned him. Dean infiltrates the nest and runs into the Alpha. Jan Eliasburg directed the episode written by Brett Matthews.

And as a special bonus – My favorite Supernatural/Twilight crossover:

The CW trailer

The Webclip

The official describition of 6.04 ‘Weekend’s at Bobby’s':

After Bobby (Jim Beaver) discovers Crowley (Mark Sheppard) has no intentions of returning Bobby’s soul, the hunter takes matters into his own hands. He calls on Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) for help after he unearths one of Crowley’s deepest secrets. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean learn what Bobby does all day when they are not around. Jensen Ackles directed the episode written by Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin.

The last two episodes showed a different side of Supernatural, Sam with the Campbells and Dean with Lisa. They didn’t go into this direction before so I was intrigued by it. The addition of a little mystery about the monsters and grandpa Campbell was interesting as well but ‘The Third Man’ simply wasn’t. In season 6, every episode comes with the baggage of the previous seasons. They have to stay true to their core idea but also do something new, otherwise why bother watching the show and not just re-watch the DVDs? I understand that it gets more and more difficult to tell the story without getting repetitive but that’s why some shows stop at a certain time. I hope this episode is not typical for the rest of the season. I love Supernatural when it dares to be crazy, new or controversial, not when they only do more of the same.

It’s disappointing that the writers went for the easy way out, not bothering to lay the groundwork for a more complex storyline in this episode. I learned my lesson last year to not expect more story being added later. The writers claimed Castiel would be integrated into the storyline, have his own exciting mission. Unfortunately, it turned out to be nothing more than an excuse to use him as comedic relief. Be funny angel and say one line about your mission then you’re done. That’s not really interesting. So I’m wary of this whole Castiel as the leader of the angelic opposition storyline. Until Castiel appears, the episode moved at a normal pace, afterwards everything seems very rushed like they wasted too much time on the brothers and the case. It isn’t clear why Castiel could find Sam and Dean in the first place since they both have angel protection sigils. ‘Supernatural’ doesn’t bother to mention the removal so I must assume they’re still intact and see another disturbing plot hole of this episode.

Sam and Dean with clothes

There were some fan complaints about Sam’s tattoo being gone in his shirtless scenes of the season six promo. I don’t know if they added it in post but luckily we could see it on the younger Winchester brother in the finished episode. It’s pretty unlikely that a driven hunter like Sam would be without this kind of protection. I do wonder why they didn’t do the same thing for Dean. Remember Castiel’s hand print? Dean’s little dream make-out session with Lisa failed to show it. I don’t know every little detail, so I don’t remember if it’s supposed to be on his right or left shoulder but I could swear it was missing in the scene. Did Dean have it removed by laser surgery? I hate vanishing things aka where-is-Dean’s-ring-again. At least they bothered to show Dean throwing away the amulet before it was removed from the show. It was interesting to see that Sam doesn’t even bother nowadays to invest in small talk to satisfy his needs. It fits with his new MO. Avoid all emotional complications. The hooker nearly forgetting the money because Sam was so amazing was a bit much. No hooker is such a saint.

This is why you shouldn’t eat while watching Supernatural

There are some nice gory scenes in this episode. The beginning is Supernatural at its best. Skin peeling and then a pile of blood and body tissue, that’s what I call disturbingly awesome. Unfortunately it goes downhill from here. I admit it was nice to see Sam and Dean’s workout but can we please stop with the montages. I get it show, you love them but if you use them in every episode, it’s getting old very soon.

Raphael is back and he didn’t forget about Castiel

The fact that Raphael wants to seize control of heaven is not a surprise. It was obvious that as the only archangel left, he was gonna try to step into Michael’s shoes. Why Castiel didn’t think of this, when he told Dean he was returning to heaven in ‘Swan Song’, is beyond me.

My magic stick is better than Harry Potter’s

What causes blood liquidation, boils and locusts? The answer is the staff of Moses or another magical trinket. What show am I watching again? Charmed, it seems. Oh, wait! We need a way to let the brothers catch angels, so we give them the very “rare” and very powerful holy oil. Of course, the “rare” oil seems to be later available for sale in every supermarket as much as Sam and Dean have in their possession. How convenient and how boring. I guess this year’s angel storyline will be like this: a trinket pops up and it causes chaos. Then the comedy angel joins the brothers to find it and whine to Balthazar that his behavior is wrong. Bring back the Campbells, I’m getting bored just thinking about it.

Dead cop Number Three

Another inconsistency is why the third cop suspected they were being killed as revenge for Christopher Birch. It seems far-fetched that he would automatically awesome it was a punishment from God for killing an innocent men. It also bothered me that he started to scratch out all the faces while his brain got eaten by locusts. I can’t really see a connection between the two.

I’m Balthazar, the new angel in town

The back-story between Balthazar, the new angel, and Castiel was to my disappointment reduced to ‘we fought together’. Sorry, but that’s not good enough. We already got the exact same line with Uriel and Anna before. A little bit more exposition would have been a major improvement for this episode. Balthazar ‘s ‘I did it because I could’ wasn’t any better. What an explanation! Let me rephrase it: writers are too lazy or think it’s unnecessary to come up with a reason which would allow for more character depth. Every character has motivations, just saying. On second thought, Balti doesn’t seem to be an archangel but a normal soldier angel like Castiel so how could he have obtained these weapons in the first place? Did they lie around in heaven and Raphael didn’t think anybody would steal them? It was also weird that the Winchester didn’t bother to ask Balthazar if he traded more holy sticks against souls, they couldn’t be sure that the kid was the only one but nobody brought it up. If heaven is at war as Castiel said then why did he show up on his own? Doesn’t he have any allies? Raphael is an archangel that wiped the floor with Castiel on previous ocassions, so I doubt that Castiel on his own could have hidden in heaven for a whole year. In ‘Swan Song’, Cas molotoved Michael but the archangel returned in his original vessel later. Raphael gets turned into a pillar of salt and his vessel is kaput. Is that because of their different power level or because of lazy writing?

Last year Chuck aka prophet or God himself explained that ‘Everything was part of a test for Sam and Dean’ so why exactly would God choose to stay away from heaven after the test is over? It doesn’t really make sense if you ask me. If he wanted to prove a point to the angels, he should have returned. Did he retire and plays golf on Mars now? After all, the main difference between the angel and human brothers was that Michael didn’t choose to go free will but stayed on the destiny train. If I remember correctly the no-free-will-for-angels rule came from God so technically he messed up and should show responsibility.

A little SPN quiz: Could this be Robert Singer, director of this episode?

Since there are more negatives then positives this week, I’m going to list the few things I appreciate about the episode.

Positive points:
-Sam and Dean’s talk. Usually Supernatural drags secrets like Sam’s change out until episode nine or ten. It was a nice change to keep the storyline of ‘different Sam’ going by Dean finally confronting him. Let’s hope the revelation is worth the wait and not a pile of disappointment.

-The death of evil, I mean the Charger. Sam’s car is dead and the Impala is the only black car on this show, the world is right again. Although I wonder why Sam doesn’t simply rent/buy/steal a new car?

-Castiel’s return. He’s back and the writers should give him a real story purpose and don’t waste the character on silly one-liners like last year. Don’t be afraid of complexity, it doesn’t bit, I promise.

-Sam and Dean shirtless. Although many claim that one reason for watching Supernatural is the eye candy factor, Sam and Dean in fact, don’t drop their clothes very often. So I guess seeing them shirtless in this episode is something positive.

It’s not a bad episode per se but nothing we haven’t seen before. It’s your nice average angel episode with story flaws. The whole thing felt like something from a previous season and therein lays the problem. It didn’t add anything new. They writers played it safe. Normally an Ben Edlund episode always offers something wonderfully weird. Not this time. If you’re satisfied with shirtless Sam and Dean and happy to have Castiel back than the episode is rather entertaining but if you expected an intriguing story like the previous two episodes than ‘The Third Man’ is a huge disappointment.

Grade: C

‘Supernatural’ airs Friday, 9/8c pm on the CW.

After last week’s episode brought back the comedy to Supernatural and most importantly – The Impala. It’s time for another return. It’s not Bobby, we already saw him in episode one, or another Campbell cousin, I got enough of that family. Let’s pray and hope somebody in a trenchcoat shows up.

The CW trailer

The Webclip

The CW’s official description for Supernatural 6.03 The Third Men

Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) call Castiel (Misha Collins) for help when they investigate a case about several dead police officers who seem to have been killed by the plagues of Egypt. Castiel confirms the staff of Moses was used to kill the cops and tells Sam and Dean that Heaven is in a state of chaos and God’s weapons have been stolen. The three head off to find the thief and come face to face with an old enemy. Bob Singer directed the episode written by Ben Edlund.

Episode II: Sam continues to act like an ice block and Dean is still part soccer mum but the good news is that the Impala is back. Fanboys and their “hell yes’” join fangirls and their “squees,” it’s a great day for all Supernatural fans! The tarp is finally gone and the metallicar is free once again to kick some ass!

Give two (CBS comedy) or three (1987 movie) men a kid and hilarity follows on its tiny footsteps. Honestly, I was expecting the worst. Supernatural has a track record with comedy going bad. It mostly depends on the writer of the episode if it will be comedy gold like “Bad Day At Black Rock” or American-Pie-idiocy see “Swap Meat.” The number one comedy writer is still Ben Edlund. Julie Siege, Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin’s ill attempts at comedy in season five still horrify me. They are great at drama but their jokes are sometimes so obvious it hurts. A writer on “Two and a Half Men,” Adam Glass, also a Supernatural newbie, did a great job of balancing the comedy and the drama in the story. Not bad for his first episode; this guy is definitely a keeper. The scenes with Sam and Dean shopping for baby Bobby John and Samuel fighting with a computer were hilarious. One might wonder about Dean’s baby techniques – humming “Smoke on the Water” and using a few drops of alcohol to get him to sleep.

Isn’t the resemblance striking? Dean and Bobby John

Last week I was disappointed by the weak characterization of Lisa. Seems like a djinn was listening and I got my wish. (Do I have two more or was this a one-time deal?) The number of great scenes with Lisa downright exploded. Now we know that she works and isn’t pure plot decoration. I wonder what kind of job Lisa does for a living. Therapist? Nurse? Office? I hope this trend continues and we learn more about her character. Seeing Lisa handling a gun was impressive and reminded me of another great female hunter, Mary. Her confrontation with Dean was long overdue. As understanding as she was, at some time she needed to voice her opinion about the recent events and Dean’s behavior. You have to admire her that she wasn’t mad at Dean once, she only confronted him with the reality of having to start living their life again. Later it’s a real surprise to learn about Lisa’s decision. Sh sends Dean back to his hunter life but also tells him to come whenever he can. The only problem I got with these scenes is that part of her monologue felt fake, primarily created by the writers to ensure Lisa’s survival and Dean’s return to the road. A more lively discussion between the two would have been better. My favorite line of this episode was Lisa’s “No offense but if you don’t walk out that door I’m gonna shoot you.”

The final scene keeps my hope alive that she will be around a little while longer but at the same time I’m terrified. This is Supernatural after all and they love to kill characters. So far, Bobby and Castiel are the only ones with a permanent return ticket. The rest usually dies or vanishes into thin air. Remember Jo and Ellen? Bringing back characters on Supernatural is always a double-edged sword. Their return makes you happy and sad because you already know they will die soon. Do you think Ash has found Ellen and Jo in heaven by now?

One of the best parts about season 6 – Lisa

New episode, new Sam theory of the week: When Sam got out of the cage and Lucifer was ripped from his body and mind, part of Sam’s emotions stayed with the devil because they were too closely connected. Maybe living the life on the road together with Dean could slowly activate his emotion center again. The ice around Sam heart hasn’t melted yet. Even Samuel wonders about Sam’s cold behavior, proving that the shift in character must have something to do with his resurrection. At the end of the episode you even start to question how much you can trust Sam and start wondering if it was part of the plan to use the baby shape shifter as bait all along. But why did Sam insist on dragging Dean into this hunt in the first place? Did he fear the baby would die before the monster showed up? After all, he didn’t show much concern for the stolen babies in the beginning. If this is true, this doesn’t sound good for Sam and Dean’s relationship. Could the bromance be gone forever? (Just kidding.) There is a tiny ray of hope as well, Sam smiled and this time it was actually less creepy. So not everything can be lost.

Sam, the iceblock is slowly melting

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There was more of the old Dean in this episode, especially since his typical funny one-liners made an appearance again:

-”A car should drive and not be a little bitch”
-”I’m betting you’re missing your ex right about now: the boring one”
-”We can’t actually drop it off at an orphanage, they might get upset when it turns Asian”

Ben and Dean seem to have a strong relationship otherwise I can’t explain why the kid chose to apologize instead of telling him that he isn’t his real father. Seeing the oldest Winchester brother acting like John – yelling and keeping his family in the house - I couldn’t imagine a worse nightmare for Dean. Luckily, he has Lisa who shows him that hunting doesn’t necessarily have to exclude having a family.  They can make their own choices. It’s interesting that Dean somehow follows in Sam’s footsteps by having a home base of his own now.

Dean is back

In the previous months, I started to get annoyed by Sera Gamble and the other Supernatural staff mentioning “mystery” and “twists” in every second sentence of their season six interviews. But now I have to admit “Mystery and Twists” fits as the theme of the season. Sorry, Sera!

This episode gives more clues about Samuel’s shady move of capturing the djinn. He obviously works for somebody and delivers monsters to him or her. At this moment, Crowley or a rogue angel are among my prime suspects, presumably because they could have something to do with Samuel’s resurrection. I believe that Grandpa Campbell knows all about it but you have to wonder if Sam is in on all this. It’s very unlikely since Samuel said “Before the boys come back,” plural, including Sam when he gave Christian the order to hide the djinn. But who knows, maybe Sam knows and is playing along. Dean’s “There’s just a little bit too much mystery in this family for me to get comfy” nails it perfectly. Something is up with this family and it’s nothing good.

Who is the mysterious caller?

The mystery about the episode’s monster – the shape shifter – was not bad. The little baby shifter was adorable, turning babies into cute innocent monsters was surprising for Supernatural. It’s usually the kids who are the creepiest villains on this show, (e.g. changelings, Lilith, ghost kids etc.)

What a cute little monster!

The alpha male is the leader of his pack or in this case he is on the run to spread his genes. I like the idea of monsters having an origin story and the “alpha” concept seems logical but I didn’t appreciate the “alpha shapeshifter” changing without any goo. His literal shifting of forms was visually far less impressive than the transformation of his weaker counterparts. Was there a specific reason why the he shifted every time he attacked someone? It was getting ridiculous. A clever shapeshifter would have used Sam’s form to attack Dean. I hope the typical monster background story will be worth more than a simple “it was the first of its kind” and done. One of Supernatural’s weaknesses is that they rely sometimes too heavy on simplicity. A more complicated approach would do wonders for a story or a character. Yes, I’m still bitter that the writers expected me to believe Ruby only because “she remembered to be human.” It didn’t exactly help that she repeated it over and over again like a broken record player. She didn’t bother to rephrase it. What kind of argument is that anyway? Serial killers know about their humanity too and they still kill people.

What’s for dinner? Shapeshifter goo.

As a bonus the most epic scene in Supernatural history; words cannot do it justice, you must watch it yourself:

Still think season 6 is a bad idea or could this scene swerve you to join the ‘optimistic’ side of the Force?
Responsible for the look of this scene is John F. Showalter, the director of season five’s “Dead men don’t wear plaid.” He did something similar in that episode – the camera moving towards Dean and the Impala. It’s one my favorite Impala shots. It seems that Showalter understands the love for the Impala or how do you otherwise explain the beauty of this scene? Be still, my beating heart. To move this scene from great to heart-pounding epic, the reintroduction of the most important character in Supernatural was set to Deep Purple’s ”Smoke on the Water.” I know Eric Kripke is a big Zeppelin fan and must have dreamed of using a song in the show but not me. I always wished for ”Smoke on the Water” or ”Black Betty.” One down, one to go.

Freedom at last

Minus points:

-The recap. It’s definitely the end of an era. For five seasons the first two episodes had a Classic Rock recap but this time, nothing. No AC/DC, no Billy Squire. Instead we get annoying on-the-nose exposition. I’ve seen every episode of this show. I don’t need to be reminded that a shape-shifter sheds its skin. Duh! Seriously, it’s enough to mention the name; people have brains and the ability to use them.

-The Campbells.First, the only Campbell who didn’t annoy me dies. I will miss you Mark. It’s a cruel, cruel Supernatural world. I should stop bothering to notice anybody besides Sam, Dean, Bobby and Castiel. Second, what’s up with all the Dean hate in this family? The one who was tortured in hell and didn’t turn into a torturer himself may throw the first stone but the rest please shut up. Supernatural established that hell strips away your humanity. So tell me why is it surprising or condemning that hell can turn a hunter like Dean into a torturer? I never bought the whole ”John didn’t break in hell” crap in the first place. Either hell is a place where souls get torn to shreds (aka torture doesn’t end with death) or it is a ”boys club” for demons drinking tea and eating Club sandwiches. Dear writers, decide what it’s going to be and stop annoying me with this guilt trip stuff about hell.

-Sam’s car. I hate it. No, I really do. It’s like watching ”Knight Rider” all over again. K.A.R.R. was cool but it was also evil and the show wasn’t big enough for two black cars. There is only one K.I.T.T. and only one Impala and that ”thing” Sam is driving needs to go. Pronto.

All in all it was a solid episode. They added some humor after last week’s premiere but not too much to make it a full blown comedy episode. It wasn’t as intriguing or surprising as ”Exile on Main St.” but it was a nice mix. The highlight is the end scene and I can’t wait to see the Impala back on the road. I still haven’t given up on AC/DC, maybe ”Back in Black” in the next episode? I know it’s unlikely but shouldn’t Supernatural get a discount for using it more than once? I hope so, one AC/DC song per season isn’t too much to ask for, right?

Grade: B

‘Supernatural’ airs Friday, 9/8c pm on the CW.

After all the drama of last week’s season six premiere, ‘Beautiful Loser’ is still stuck into my head, episode 2 is up. If we trust the title ’Two and a Half Men’ it’s obviously comedy time. But because this is Supernatural and not some show on CBS I’m sure there will be plenty of gore and blood as always.

The CW trailer

The Webclip

The CW’s official description for Supernatural 6.02 Two and a Half Men

Sam (Jared Padalecki) investigates a case about missing babies whose parents are being murdered. At one of the crime scenes, he discovers a baby that was left behind and calls Dean (Jensen Ackles) for help. Reluctant to leave Lisa (guest star Cindy Sampson) and Ben (guest star Nicholas Elia), Dean finally agrees to meet Sam and surprises his brother with how parental he has become. The brothers take the baby to Samuel (Mitch Pileggi), who decides to raise it as a hunter, which infuriates Dean. However, before they can decide the baby’s future, a shape-shifter breaks in and attempts to kidnap the baby. John Showalter directed the episode written by Adam Glass.

   

It felt like a typical episode of Supernatural but at the same time it didn’t. The most obvious change? No AC/DC at the beginning.  I know I was shocked too! Is it time for the apocalypse again? I thought we were done with that storyline. Just kidding. On the other hand, Supernatural’s writers were not joking when they said season six would be a new beginning for the show. The defining word for this episode is definitely ‘change’.  Sam and Dean, the monsters, everything and everybody are different than before. 

Waking Up in Season 6

The opening of  ’Exile on Main St.’ is shorter and darker than its predecessors. Supernatural’s usual AC/DC recap, a tradition started in season 3, is history. It was replaced with ‘Beautiful Loser’ by Bob Seger. The intro is heartbreaking, especially the parts of Sam and Dean smiling. My favorite part is Dean working on his car with Sam, the past, and Ben, the present, swapping places. 3 minutes into the episode and I’m already grabbing for tissues that’s not nice Supernatural! Stop playing with my feelings! The song choice is pure perfection. The lyrics fit like a tee with the scenes. E.g. Beautiful loser, where you gonna fall? When you realize, you just can’t have it all. I don’t think there is a better way to describe Dean Winchester. The great song choice made up for AC/DC’s abscene but I still hope that they will reappear in episode two. Sera Gamble, the new show runner, seems to havea thing for montages of Dean not being his usual self.  In a ‘Terrible life’ it was office-Dean with ‘A well respected man’ by the Kinks and this time it is suburban-soccer-mum Dean. The theme of the episode for Dean is ‘going through emotions’.  In the beginning he grieves and lives a life without his brother. Then he gets thrown into a whirlwind of emotions learning Sam is alive but didn’t tell him. Later he’s caught between his feelings of staying with his new life and returning to his old hunter life. Not surprisingly, he changes his mind throughout the episode. First, he decides that’s it best to leave his new family and go back to hunting with Sam. Then he realizes that both him and Sam have changed too much and he can’t simply undo the last year and leave Ben and Lisa unprotected. So Dean watches his brother drive away.

Past and Present

The new title card –  broken glass piece –  looks stunning. It gets more and more difficult having a favorite. It also awakened my inner anime geek. Sailor Moon, the first anime I’veever watched, had a similar storyline.. Congratulations Supernatural, you just earned yourself a Sailor Moon reference. One of the show’s villains used broken pieces of a mirror to change people. Interestingly, that’s the first thing I thought about Sam. He doesn’t behave anything like his old self.  I’m a complete spoiler junkie, so I knew from interviews of differences in his character but I definitely didn’t expect this cold and unattached Sam.  I’m curious what exactly will have caused this change in him. The title card has also an ice-like color. Maybe it’s a hint for Sam’s return, him breaking out of cage of ice or Lucifer freezing something in Sam. The whole thing of mirrors and ice reminds me of when you see your reflection in the mirror and wondering if that person is really you.  Sam looks like himself but he doesn’t act like it, it’s almost like he lost something of himself. Or who knows maybe Sam got involved with the Snow Queen.

Broken Pieces

The first meeting between the brothers couldn’t be weirder. Remember the hug in 4.01 Lazarus rising. You could see in Sam’s eyes how happy he was to have his older brother back. The same thing was true for Dean. This time Dean’s emotions are clearly written in his face but when the camera cuts to Sam, there is nothing in his face. Even his smile looks empty and a bit creepy. Also when Dean wakes up, Sam expects to be hugged and be tested with holy water within a few seconds.  Very weird. To make matters even worse, Sam refuses to take the Impala at the end of the episode. That’s the biggest neon sign of him being so not OK. If he’s evil or just traumatized, time will tell but I’m intrigued to say the least.  With Sam acting like a zombie version of himself, I even thought the could be the new bad guy but then grandpa Samuel  followed him on the train of acting strange. He captured a djinn and chose to hide this little fact before ‘his boys’. So another suspicious acting character, maybe they will start a club this season. Dear grandpa Campbell either has his own agenda or he knows more about their resurrections than he tells. 

Is That Really You Sam?

I liked how Sam’s and Samuel’s resurrection were connected. It gives the writers time to keep the mystery alivefor a while. But whoever was responsible wanted to achieve something with their return. I doubt that God or Castiel are involved.  I think it’s more likely that somebody performed a spell. I don’t know who it could be or for what reasons but the spell could have needed some kind of balance, one Sam from hell and one from heaven. And we all know how much Supernatural loves its symmetry. Two brothers being the vessels of two angel brothers. In case you chose to forget about that part of the mythology.

Samuel and his Grandsons

Coming to our dear old friend Yellow Eyes,  I knew he couldn’t be real. He had to be part of a dream, a nightmare of Dean to be specific but I sure didn’t expect him to be a hallucination caused by djinn poison. Nice twist. A really nice surprise was the complexity of the storyline.  E.g. The reveal of the djinns’ role in the episode was clever. Season six seems to be full of twists and turns. I hope it continues like this. 

It looks like Supernatural means ‘noir’ literally. ‘Exile on Main St.’ was one of the darkest and shadowy episodes I can remember.  It was also a nice touch of director Phil Sgriccia to use the same camera technique as in 3.16 ‘No rest for the wicked’ to create a disturbing dream effect for Dean’s second nightmare. The tattoo effect of the djinns looked impressive and once again proved that the special effects department is top notch.  It was a real surprise seeing that the bird from the pilot is still alive and scaring people. This time Dean was the victim. Also Supernatural’s obsession of trying to kill yorkies was back. Poor dog, I wonder if it was the same one from ‘Yellow Fever’. Did anybody see a pink ribbon? I know this is Supernatural where you shouldn’t get attached to minor characters aka cannon fodder but still Dean’s friend Sid was adorable. Progress seems to mean in Supernatural, that they move from burning women in boring white nightgowns to nightdresses with flowers. And last but not least, isn’t it nice that all the fans that hate Lisa got to see her burn and for those that like her could be relieved since she did not die at the end of the episode? Win-win situation if you ask me. 

The Burning Woman – a common phenomena in Supernatural

Minus points: 

-No Impala. I admit that Sam’s ride looks sweet. I like black cars in general but that don’t make it right to put the Impala into the garage. I understand the writers’ reasons but it still breaks my heart. 

-The Campbells. It’s too early to tell if this new family plot part works but Gwen Campbell is annoying. Her jokes about Dean and his ‘feminine side’ felt forced and out-of-place. The other family members didn’t have enough scenes but Gwen sure did her best to make me wish she gets killed sooner than later. Samuel seems like an interesting addition but we’ll see how his character develops. 

-Lisa. I love her character and the way she treats Dean, like a war veteran who deserves love and patience.  I was very disappointed that the writers didn’t give her character more background. I still know next to nothing about her.  I have no clue what she thinks about hunting or something simple like her job. I don’t have any false illusion of her becoming a permanent character. The show is about Sam and Dean hunting on the road but diving a bit deeper into her character before they remove her from the story is not too much to ask. 

For a new beginning, this episode was amazing. Sure it wasn’t perfect. The Supernatural writers still have to deal with that little open secret of finding a way to get Sam and Dean back hunting together in the Impala. Everybody knows they will return to that life, it’s just a question of how and how fast it will happen. In this regard, there wasn’t a lot of progress but the questions raised in episode about Sam, Dean and grandpa Campbell are intriguing enough for now. The ongoing season will tell if the answers are worth the wait. That’s why I’m in Team ‘Change is good’. People, characters, TV shows change all the time. At the moment I’m onboard with their decisions. If the Supernatural writers choose the right direction for season six will show the following weeks.

Grade: B+ 

‘Supernatural’ airs Friday, 9/8c pm on the CW.