This week, we were treated to a fun, gross and informative episode of Supernatural. Former Buffy stars Charisma Carpenter and James Marsters reunited as guest stars and played Maggie and Don Stark.
War of the Roses
We opened with the death of a woman at a hair salon (her head was ‘roasted’by a big hair dryer). Sam and Dean quickly caught on to the freaky deaths in Indiana and arrived in town to investigate. When another death occurred (with a nail gun – gross!), they realized that the only thing connecting the victims was a shopping mall development deal, so they went to speak to the last person involved in the deal who was still alive: Don Stark.
Don was, unfortunately, going through a bit of a rough patch with his wife and the couple was currently separated. According to Don, he had a bit of a ‘thing’with one of the victims – ‘thing’meaning ‘affair’. Well, Sam and Dean didn’t think that was much of a coincidence and an investigation of the Starks’house revealed that Maggie was casting spells and killing everyone she thought was involved in her husband’s betrayal.
The brothers called up Bobby for help and he came up with a spell that should help stop Maggie. But Don was getting tired of Maggie taking out her revenge and ruined her charity gala. The couple reconvened at their house to fight it out, but the Winchesters crashed the party. Due to some bad chicken feet, their spell didn’t exactly go as planned and Sam came up with the idea to counsel the couple. They managed to talk some things out (and we learned that they’re over 800 years old) and the Winchesters considered it a job well done.
Running parallel to the Starks’story was the problems with the Winchesters. Sure, they’re getting along just fine, but Dean’s depression is getting worse, as are his drinking habits. From the first scene where he woke up after a nightmare about Cas, Sam going crazy, and him killing Amy, Dean spent the episode dulling his pain with booze. Sam, meanwhile, spent the episode worrying about Dean, pointing out that something was clearly wrong with him, and trying to get his brother to open up.
To top it all off, one of the leviathans finally caught up with the brothers. Fortunately, Don swooped in at the last minute and managed to neutralize the leviathan and now the brothers are off to take him to Bobby in hopes they can keep him trapped for a while.
Understanding the Current Problems
I’m going to do the review portion a bit differently tonight. A few days ago, when I posted a preview of this episode, I mentioned that it reminded me of season 4 and some fans were freaking out about that comment, as if suggesting that Dean had a secret meant that the brothers relationship was acrimonious. It’s clear that isn’t true after watching this episode, obviously. I’d like to address this, because I think it speaks to the brothers’characterization this season and explains a lot of behavior that arose in this episode. I would also like to address some other concerns fans had because I think a lot of it relates to this episode in particular.
On a side note, I want to mention that I loved having Carpenter and Marsters as guest stars. My inner Buffy fan was squealing and I thought the two of them were fun in their roles. Considering how easily Don was able to at least neutralize the leviathan, I think we need to bring these people back very soon. (Note: in honor of Carpenter’s appearance on tonight’s episode, we put together a slide-show about memorable female Supernatural characters. View it here).
This review is going to be longer than my usual recaps, because I have a lot of history to go through. But I’ve got a lot to say, so bear with me.
Continued on next page….
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Thanks for your review. It proved to be insightful and revealing. I love that you notice all the fine points. I rewatching the episode now and loving all the references you made topast shows. Thanks again and keep up the great work.
What a perfect review. I actually have a crick in my neck from nodding while reading every page. Thank you for such great insights!
I totally agree especially your point about some of the infighting that I've noticed on some sites. Gosh, this is a show about two brothers and I believe both have great story lines this year.
As for tonight's episode, it was great! Bloody where needed and funny at other times. Wonderful job by the writers and the pace of the episode was terrific. I loved it! I also liked that Sam and Dean didn't kill the Starks. I liked how Don saved the boys at the end. Good allies to have in the future. I mean, they're both over 800 years old and maybe they can help the boys figure out something to stop the Leviathans.
"Frankly, I believe that both brothers have their good and bad qualities, but each of them are equally as important to the show. For the life of me, I don’t understand the in-fighting among certain factions of the Supernatural fandom. Can’t we all just get along?"
Thank you! I've been saying that ever since I noticed all this Sam vs. Dean garbage a few seasons ago. It's about the Winchester BROTHERS guys! Not just Sam OR Dean. Geez. Re tonight's episode, the takeaway is: under NO circumstances should you ever tick off an 800 year-old witch. That's how you end up with beating hearts in your cupcakes. Which, btw, I don't think I'll be eating cupcakes anytime soon. I liked this episode. I thought it did a great job of advancing the overall arc but giving us one that was still kind of MOTW. I agree with your characterization of Dean and how he deals with loss/grief. He was devastated about losing John, and Sam knew that, but Dean didn't talk about it for a very long time. And even when he did, it was on his terms. Not Sam's.
This was great write up. I was reading through the comments in the last article and it just left such a negative impression that I was a little Supernaturaled out. Sam vs Dean is never fun, except to the few who seem to love making everyone miserable. But then this episode was a hoot and it sort of reminded me that I really do love this show and everyone involved. And seeing Cordelia and Spike together like that…it was just plain entertaining.
Great review, agreed with every word! I love the way the Show is dealing with the boys' psychology, delving into their emotional problems while respecting their "no chick flick moments" personality. Some people want them to emote like chicks because that's what they want to hear, even though it's not what Sam and Dean would say. As you have so eloquently pointed out, it is not in character for Dean to openly grieve for Cas. He's going to do with his grief what he always does with hurtful emotions, as he said himself "Bury them deep and let them come out in bouts of violence and alcoholism." He's not going to sit around weeping into Cas' trenchcoat. It has been made very clear he was deeply hurt by Cas' betrayal, and then by his loss, even though we don't see him having chick flick moments about it. I have always hated the Samgirls vs Deangirls, and now sadly we have Casgirls lashing out (to the point where they are deliberately voting down the ratings of each episode without Cas on sites like tv.com.) I love all of them, but I can certainly understand people loving one character more than others–I just wish they didn't take it out on the rest of us.
I agree with all the comments that have been posted so far. Great review. I have always disliked the infighting among the fans. I have never understood it. Loved the episode.