A SUPERNATURAL Meeting of Angels and Demons
Episode 803: “What’s Up Tiger Mommy?”
[photos: Liane Hentscher/The CW]
This week was a mixed bag. Some of it was awesome, some stupid, some poignant, and a few things made me yell “What are you doing?” at the television.
First, the good stuff. We finally get to see what, exactly, happened with Castiel. At the end of last season, when he and Dean get sent to Purgatory, Cas takes off. I figured he probably went to find help or draw off the demons surrounding Dean, because it was unlikely that he would just totally abandon the man after everything they’d been through together, and all the sacrifices Cas had already made.
I wasn’t far off the mark. At first it sounds like Castiel did abandon him. “I ran,” he says, as if he’d been a coward bolting for his own safety. But it’s more complicated than that overly-simplistic phrase. As an angel in that godless place, Cas has a big target over his head, and he did get away from Dean in order to draw off the demons the best that he could. Their exchange in the forest was a solid one that felt right.
The winning moment of the night was more flashy: Sam wielding Thor’s hammer. This was geekawesome, and anybody who didn’t yell something at that moment has no business watching Supernatural. He should be Thor. I don’t care if Sam gets turned into Thor, or channels him, or Jared Padalecki gets tapped to play Thor in something… for one brilliant minute I was suddenly watching Thor, and I didn’t want it to end.
Side note, who leaves THE HAMMER OF THOR JUST SITTING THERE ON THE GROUND? I almost never capslock, but if Mjolnir is not in their car when they drive off, I just don’t even know what to think about anything any more.
Which brings me to the less than pleasing moments:
- Leaving Kevin ALONE after everything that has just happened. I don’t care what excuse he gave. No. It was stupid.
- Leaving Mjolnir and every other amazing treasure behind. I mean, let’s see if that’s actually what happened, but if they didn’t grab everything possible after everybody there got killed off, they’ve suddenly become drooling idiots.
- Dean’s flashback interrogation moment that was particularly horrific and twisted. Okay, he’s damaged, he’s got PTSD from his time in Purgatory, we get it. But this ruthless and brutal “new Dean” has got to go.
- Bad acting on the part of two cast members in particular. Leaving it at that.
- Tigermom was strangely dispassionate about someone being stabbed to death in her house, then actually sort of likable in an irritating way at the pawn shop, then creepy with the whole tattoo business, then kind of likable again at the auction. Sort of. Mostly not.
Speaking of Kevin, and swinging back over to the good stuff, he’s quickly becoming a crowd favorite. Sam’s Thor moment and Kevin’s screen time were the top two comments I saw on GetGlue and elsewhere. (Please note, SPN writers, these are both positive and different things. People like positive and different things on their TV shows. Just saying.)
And speaking of likable and positive, the new angel on the scene, Samandiriel, is awesome. I know it’s the same actor as bug kid from season one, and they really should have made him the same person/vessel for continuity and humor’s sake, but I don’t really care that much. The show in general is short on likable characters at the moment, and short on anything positive at all other than a few one-liners here and there. Samandiriel is almost literally a ray of sunshine. Please, writers, give him a lot more screen time, or at least get some more angels up in there to counterbalance the constant barrage of demons yanking the Winchesters’ chains every week. I’m even starting to get tired of Crowley.
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