A Nice SUPERNATURAL Mash-Up
Episode 808 “Hunteri Heroici”
[photos: Jack Rowand/CW]
This is why I love Supernatural. A brilliant blend of humor, drama, mystery and, well, supernatural events.
I was really surprised that this wasn’t a Ben Edlund episode, but one by Andrew Dabb, although Eric Kripke is credited on IMDb as a co-writer. Dabb tends to run a little bit hot and cold. I wasn’t impressed with his “Tiger Mommy” episode, but most of his other efforts are very memorable, especially for their twisted sense of humor, such as “Plucky Pennywhistle’s” of last season. A bit formulaic, but really enjoyable.
This Casitel-heavy episode completely satisfies the fan itch. More is revealed about his reasons for punishing himself and why he’d really rather have nothing to do with heaven. There are loads of perfect Cas moments, such as his “bad cop” moment, (“You were bad everything,” says Dean), learning what cartoons are, and his attempts at interrogating a cat.
Interestingly, it also made clear to me why I don’t actually want The Castiel Show like I thought I did. Cas is the perfect frosting on the cake, and sure, I enjoy eating frosting out of the can with a spoon like the next person. But I can’t do it forever, and it tastes much better on top of the delicious cake that is the Winchester brothers.
Ahem. Interpret that however you like.
So the jist of tonight’s show (with extra-awesome MAS*H alum Mike Farrell as the key player of the episode) was that, somehow, extremely cartoonish events kept happening. Anvils falling on people who happen to be standing on giant X’s, people who don’t fall until they look down, and more Roger Rabbit tribute hilarity make this a real gem.
On the flip side, I actually started to care about Bitchy Veterinarian, then got the rug deliciously pulled out as a bombshell was dropped on Sam. Not that I enjoy how they torture Sam, but I didn’t see this coming, and it’s a really good resolution to their relationship.
The larger story arc moves forward just enough so that this episode doesn’t just feel like a pointless side track. Castiel does what he needs to in the end for the purposes of setting up the next episode, which is the mid-season finale. This season was off to a very rough start, but it’s leveling out well, and seems to be figuring out what it needs to be in order to keep the fans happy.
And that’s really what matters most. On any show, it’s not about what the writers think is fun or clever or edgy or fashionable, it’s about (or should be) what the fans want to see in their homes every week. Supernatural is hitting that critical stride at last.
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[Official Show Site at CW] [Previous Episode: “A Little Slice of Kevin”]
