Supernatural 7x04 Spoilers
Oct. 15th, 2011 11:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stSo that was a little bit the same and a lot of different.
When the episode first opened, I couldn't help noticing the familiar elements in it. There are scenes that seem lifted from Yellow Fever and Crossroad Blues and that raising of the Witnesses episode. And I kept wanting to hate the episode for those obvious SPN cliches and because it was essentially a clip show with a cardboard villain. And who makes Osiris a cardboard villain? I mean, non-Western gods are cool, yet, this episode looked cheap and cobbled together on every front.
But with all of that, we see what is essential an approach and an attitude that is what sets Supernatural the Series apart. This show works with what it has got and makes gold. I was reminded a little of Old School Doctor Who, where the story held enough weight to offset the obvious costumes made from stuff the prop master fished out of his bin at home. Does that alien/monster have an egg-carton on his head? And are those antenna really just wire clothes hangers? But even when it calls for you to continually chide your inner critic, you find yourself mesmerized by the story.
Let me draw your attention to the final shot, so you can see what I mean. The Impala pulls away along an old access road by a lake or pond and we go all Twin Peaks with the grass, taking a low shot through it and there is a slight idea there of the crocodile and the river bank and so Egypt and part of the resurrection story of Osiris. It is an overtly pretentious shot. And not something I recall seeing much of in Supernatural. Yet, it works.
Which brings me to the other thing you don't see much of in Supernatural, week to week, introspective chatting. Even when the guys confronted their mother or father back from the dead or in the past, they were generally in the middle of some breathless fight for their lives. Emotions were reactionary and raw. Here, Dean isn't really fighting any of this experience. He isn't his usual reactionary self. He's accepting, rather than defeated. But he is not ready to forgive. It allows us an unusual perspective. There is the urgency of Sam finding the Ram's horn and then Orsiris. But the audience attention is taken up with those intimate, slow moments between Dean and Jo. And I do so love Jo. I know many fans hated her as she was presented as a love interest and seen as coming between the boys. But I thought she had the best chemistry with Dean of any of the female actors they've had on the show. She was unique. And here we see that in spades.
The lack of recrimination in this episode is so anti-Supernatural that it feels as if this is an episode of another show entirely. Supernatural in the style of.... And, yet, I didn't feel cheated, they way I would usually feel. I think that the intimate moments in this episode were what made it interesting. They were not trite or boring or expected or maudlin. I kept expecting that to happen, but when Jo touched Dean's face...I found myself all sniffling. I wanted to hate such a radical change to the format of the show, but it was so even handed that I couldn't hate it. Nobody had an OTT reaction in this episode, with the exception of the second victim, I suppose. Though, really, big dogs are scary. I felt for the man they found, though I feel he could have communicated a bit more. And I liked the judge not least ye be judged subtext that surfaces there with Dean. Dean is basically assuming that he deserves this harshest of all punishments, while those he has hurt have much more forgiveness. And I think this fits in directly with what Dean did last week. Not just in his guilt over it, but in his failure to understand shades of grey. Dean lives in a world where bad guys and monsters deserve what's coming to them and he has no room for forgiveness. This is why in the past he alienated his brother to the point that Sam was forced to make very bad choices that could well have been avoided had Dean been more flexible.
All in all a very insightful episode and another reason why Supernatural is back in true form this season. The show has changed, I think, but judging by these first four episodes, the writers and actors have settled their issues and found a way to work together to create something seamless and interesting. The only thing I am still cautious about is the commitment Sera Gamble has to a long arc story. I do hope she doesn't rush through things like she did last year. But there was no evidence of that in this episode. It was very confidently told. And if it over reached here and there, it still kept an even pace and established a deeper look into the emotional life to the characters than we usually are allowed.
When the episode first opened, I couldn't help noticing the familiar elements in it. There are scenes that seem lifted from Yellow Fever and Crossroad Blues and that raising of the Witnesses episode. And I kept wanting to hate the episode for those obvious SPN cliches and because it was essentially a clip show with a cardboard villain. And who makes Osiris a cardboard villain? I mean, non-Western gods are cool, yet, this episode looked cheap and cobbled together on every front.
But with all of that, we see what is essential an approach and an attitude that is what sets Supernatural the Series apart. This show works with what it has got and makes gold. I was reminded a little of Old School Doctor Who, where the story held enough weight to offset the obvious costumes made from stuff the prop master fished out of his bin at home. Does that alien/monster have an egg-carton on his head? And are those antenna really just wire clothes hangers? But even when it calls for you to continually chide your inner critic, you find yourself mesmerized by the story.
Let me draw your attention to the final shot, so you can see what I mean. The Impala pulls away along an old access road by a lake or pond and we go all Twin Peaks with the grass, taking a low shot through it and there is a slight idea there of the crocodile and the river bank and so Egypt and part of the resurrection story of Osiris. It is an overtly pretentious shot. And not something I recall seeing much of in Supernatural. Yet, it works.
Which brings me to the other thing you don't see much of in Supernatural, week to week, introspective chatting. Even when the guys confronted their mother or father back from the dead or in the past, they were generally in the middle of some breathless fight for their lives. Emotions were reactionary and raw. Here, Dean isn't really fighting any of this experience. He isn't his usual reactionary self. He's accepting, rather than defeated. But he is not ready to forgive. It allows us an unusual perspective. There is the urgency of Sam finding the Ram's horn and then Orsiris. But the audience attention is taken up with those intimate, slow moments between Dean and Jo. And I do so love Jo. I know many fans hated her as she was presented as a love interest and seen as coming between the boys. But I thought she had the best chemistry with Dean of any of the female actors they've had on the show. She was unique. And here we see that in spades.
The lack of recrimination in this episode is so anti-Supernatural that it feels as if this is an episode of another show entirely. Supernatural in the style of.... And, yet, I didn't feel cheated, they way I would usually feel. I think that the intimate moments in this episode were what made it interesting. They were not trite or boring or expected or maudlin. I kept expecting that to happen, but when Jo touched Dean's face...I found myself all sniffling. I wanted to hate such a radical change to the format of the show, but it was so even handed that I couldn't hate it. Nobody had an OTT reaction in this episode, with the exception of the second victim, I suppose. Though, really, big dogs are scary. I felt for the man they found, though I feel he could have communicated a bit more. And I liked the judge not least ye be judged subtext that surfaces there with Dean. Dean is basically assuming that he deserves this harshest of all punishments, while those he has hurt have much more forgiveness. And I think this fits in directly with what Dean did last week. Not just in his guilt over it, but in his failure to understand shades of grey. Dean lives in a world where bad guys and monsters deserve what's coming to them and he has no room for forgiveness. This is why in the past he alienated his brother to the point that Sam was forced to make very bad choices that could well have been avoided had Dean been more flexible.
All in all a very insightful episode and another reason why Supernatural is back in true form this season. The show has changed, I think, but judging by these first four episodes, the writers and actors have settled their issues and found a way to work together to create something seamless and interesting. The only thing I am still cautious about is the commitment Sera Gamble has to a long arc story. I do hope she doesn't rush through things like she did last year. But there was no evidence of that in this episode. It was very confidently told. And if it over reached here and there, it still kept an even pace and established a deeper look into the emotional life to the characters than we usually are allowed.