Supernatural’s mid-season finale packed an emotional punch, as showrunner Jeremy Carver promised. Sam and Dean both made decisions based on their own perceptions of the other’s emotional state which ended up biting them in the rear, leaving the brothers angry and estranged. The episode was designed to keep fans talking over Hellatus and will succeed at that. What it doesn’t do as well is address the issues that have plagued the season, from the way Sam’s flashbacks drag down the show to the poor characterization at the heart of the fraying of the boys’ bond.
I’ll start with the episode itself, as there is undeniably a lot of good stuff there. The story layered betrayal upon betrayal as Sam and Dean reveal how little they trust each other and how angry they are with each other over hurts years old. Jared and Jensen are fantastic in selling the boys’ anger and pain. Sam throws the first emotional punch as he tells Dean he set an emotionally unstable hunter (Martin) to trail Benny because “no hunter worth his salt” would let a vampire run around unobserved.
It’s an odd perspective for Sam to take, as he was the one who argued Lenore and her nest should be trusted and allowed to live their life without hassle and, much more recently, was completely fine with letting Kate the werewolf wander off with no supervision at all, despite there being little reason to believe she will be able to resist her werewolf nature when she turns. Sam was fine last season with trusting Amy to continue on her way after she clearly showed she was willing to kill when her son needed the right kind of food.
Sam’s decision to have Benny trailed is so poorly supported by his past characterization, I can only read it as a further play on his part to show Dean how angry he is Dean cares so much about Benny. Sam ended his fight with Dean in “Southern Comfort” by stating he just may be the hunter who kills Benny and clearly, Sam had no intention of dropping this line of thought.
As a way to communicate that he’s hurt Dean seems to have found another and maybe better brother, however, it has a lot of drawbacks. So far neither Dean nor the audience has had a real glimpse of Sam’s emotional state when he decided not to look for Dean nor has Sam shown a glimmer of gratitude that Benny helped his brother survive Purgatory. The scene has not been well set to feel torn when Sam sets his sights on Benny. I like the character very much and am not prepared to see him as cannon fodder in a Winchester War of the Roses.
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Article comments
1 - Big T.
This is one of my favorite television shows. But I can't always help thinking that if the two idjuts would sit down and talk to one another about their emotions and feelings their lives would be much improved. They are brothers for cryin' out loud.
2 - lil
Great review. I agree with most of it.
The myth arc isn't getting enough attention.. and you're right that there's more focus on the Benny situation than the Crowley one.
I have one major problem with this season though.. and you share my views.. as you have brought this up several times in your reviews.. We absolutely NEED to know what happened to Sam in the time period between Dean disappearing and Sam hitting the dog. If the season ends with us never knowing that, I will be hugely unimpressed. To be honest, I'm already annoyed that it hasn't been clarified by this stage.
3 - Gerry
Hi Big T, nice to see you here! I agree it would solve a lot of Sam and Dean's problems to just talk, but then again, most of us have trouble with that at one time or another. (-: Hopefully, we'll get some bro talks soon.
Lil, I too think it's a big mistake to either skip over that flashback or leave it until the second half of the season. By the time we get to Hellatus, we've formed a lot of our opinions on the season, especially on anything we've been wondering about since the premiere. Too long a suspension in time is a problem. Maybe the writers will surprise me and really tie everything together when the show comes back in January. My fingers are crossed!
4 - Tiffster
I agree so much. Great review. Supernatural hooked me with the the family bond between Sam, Dean and John. Then it got dramatic and moving when strong tensions were set up between them. Now I feel like the family bond is missing and the tensions are forced. Like both brothers are just angry at each other for reasons that don't fit the scenario.
5 - redsky
I have to say Gerry, I pretty much agree with all your points here. Personally I'm willing to believe Benny when he claims he doesn't kill humans, and I don't dislike him per se, but I can't help but wonder whether Dean is taking into account the motivations behind Benny's helping him in Purgatory. He seems to talk about Benny helping him as though this were something that cost Benny or endangered him, when in fact the opposite is true.
And the point you make about Sam treating Benny differently and trusting him less than other vampires and monsters we've seen on the show is very valid. I wonder if part of Sam's exceptional disdain for Benny comes from him feeling that Dean is giving Benny a little too much credit, and worrying that Benny could take advantage of that. Or possibly I am straying too far into wank territory there.
And yes, Big T you are right; not only in this show, but in countless other works, the lack of communication between characters is too often used as a way of driving a plot. At least the Winchesters' tendency to fail at communication is pretty much par for the course and doesn't feel too OOC.
As for the Sam/Amelia storyline, at the moment I'm having mixed feelings about it. I'm not really all that pleased at having had Casablanca repackaged, particularly since I can forgive a 1942 movie a lot more than I can a 2012 television show. It's one thing for Rick to make decisions for Ilsa in a more chauvinistic time, when there's a war on and who she stays with could ostensibly have an effect on the war effort, but it's quite another for Sam to decide for Amelia who "gets" her without even giving her a chance to make her own mind up. Sam tells Amelia he wants to stay with her, but after Don talks to him he seems to change his mind - not about wanting her, but about whether he deserves to try to keep her. I can't help feeling as though she's being treated like some kind of prize or resource that Sam has unwittingly stolen from Don. This is not to say that I think Sam and Amelia should have stayed together long-term, and Don's talk with Sam is coming on the heels of Amelia's father raising the idea of Sam running away from something and hiding in an unreal dream world with her, so Sam has been considering this question, but he still seems to give up a little too easily.
From what we've seen of Amelia's character though, I'm hopeful she'll challenge Sam on that point. Well, cautiously hopeful might be more accurate, since other male characters have been equally cavalier in similar situations - Dean wiping Lisa and Ben's memories of "the best year of her life," for example, or Jimmy Novak deciding to become Castiel's vessel. (Not to mention the odious Wes in "Wishful Thinking").
And on a completely shallow note, I have to confess to feeling a bit cheated - if you insist on having a romantic subplot, at least show us some class of a sex scene. I can't help believing that if the show were about two sisters who hunted monsters, there'd be a sex scene every other episode :)
6 - lil
You got that right Red! But, much as I love seeing the boys wearing less, I'm glad they don't use sex scenes gratuitously, like they would if the leads were two sexy females.
I'm not feeling any connection whatsoever with Sam/Amelia. There doesn't seem to be any chemistry there, and I can't quite put my finger on the reason why. Usually Sam wears his heart on his sleeve, but there's something missing when he's in the scenes with Amelia.
7 - Lia
All we need is an evil twin. *snort* Seriously, Sam's story line really is beginning to feel like a soap opera, and I don't know anyone who's enjoying it.
As for the vitriol that Dean spewed under the influence of the specter, I think it was just that. The specter was taking Dean's anger and hurt from Sam not looking for him as well as the remembered anger and hurt. It doesn't mean that Dean is still upset with Sam about Ruby or that he ever was about Sam being soulless. Sam, however, still feels guilt about all those things, so he believes Dean meant what he said. That's my take on it. Otherwise, it doesn't make any sense.
As for Sam leaving Amelia after that talk with Don in which Don said that they should respect her choice, it was triggered by Martin talking about a brother choosing a vampire over his brother. I think we were supposed to understand that Sam doesn't believe that he -- a freak who fails everyone -- would be chosen over a guy like Don, so he took off before she had a chance. Dean choosing Benny over him, as he sees it, confirms that even Dean no longer chooses him first even over a monster.
Great review. I with practically every word.
8 - JFP
Great Review!