Supernatural returns from this mini-hellatus with a bizarre but awesome case, an angel making a career change, and a series of flashbacks that further fill us in on what Sam was going through during the year Dean was stuck in Purgatory.
Oh, and I think I should mention right off the bat that there's a talking cat in "Hunteri Heroici" and it calls Cas a "dumbass." It's a hilarious moment in a very funny episode, one that features Cas deciding to be a hunter. He immediately finds a case where people are dying according to cartoon rules.
Yes, I'm talking straight out of the Looney Tunes. Much like what happens in Bugs Bunny and The Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote cartoons, anvils start dropping on victims, a heart jumps out of a guy's chest when he's face to face with a pretty girl, and a Bernie Madoff-type walks off a building. But before he drops to his death, he's stuck in the air for a good 10 seconds. It's only when he looks down that he plummets to the earth and goes splat.
One of my favorite gags was the painting of the black holes on walls and being able to enter and exit through said holes. Or maybe it was Dean shooting the gun and instead of a bullet coming out, a flag that says "bang" did instead.
On a more serious note, running away from one's problems seems to be the issue of the day. The hitch is that there's only so long you can avoid them before it's time to stop and deal. We see this theme play out in three ways.
Sam
In flashback, we see Sam and Amelia have quickly moved in together. Not sure how long they've been dating but things hit a snag when Amelia's dad visits.
Mr. Thompson certainly doesn't think the couple is going to last. He thinks his daughter is running away from what happened in her life, and has concerns Sam's doing the same thing because Sam has that look on his face — the kind of look that says he's seen some pretty awful stuff go down. Basically, Sam and Amelia are two (hot) messes who have found each other. Are they hiding out together in order to forget what happened to them in the real world? Is that enough of a foundation for a relationship?
Mr. Thompson makes things awkward with his judgment and his crankiness but eventually comes around. By the end of the episode, he's telling stories about Amelia growing up, and Sam finally stops avoiding and mentions Dean, the brother he lost. It's a good moment because we get to feel his loss. Also, he must be healing a tiny bit if he's able to talk about Dean with someone other than his girlfriend. Unfortunately, a bombshell drops when Amelia gets a call and she learns Don (her husband who "died" in Afghanistan) is alive. Poor Sam.
Here's my thing with these flashbacks. The transition into them is always awkward, and I still feel that there's no chemistry between Sam and Amelia. But I kind of don't care as much anymore because maybe this is a relationship where two people who shouldn't be together have formed a bond because of their mutual pain. Maybe they're holding on to each other for the comfort and this is simply a short-term solution for what's ailing them.
Cas
Cas is another hot mess (who isn't on this show). But I love how he jumps right into the whole Winchester family business and tries to play bad cop (he's horrible at it but it's incredibly funny); he's smelling the victim on the autopsy table in order to garner clues; he's also interrogating cats and being mistaken for an old woman's third husband.
But, really, he's running. He turns off his angel radio so he no longer has a direct line to heaven. He tells Dean he won't go back there because he vaporized thousands of angels when he was Leviathan Cas. He doesn't want to see the destruction for himself. He can't face it. If he does, he says he'll kill himself.
Ultimately, he knows he has to stop running. He needs to face his issues. He wants back in heaven but Naomi won't allow it...yet. She wants him to stick to the plan. Instead he decides to go his separate way...for now anyway. I wonder what he's going to do when he's not with the Winchesters?
Fred Jones
Fred is an old friend of Big Daddy Winchester (love all the John talk in this episode, by the way). He's currently in a nursing home and he's psychokinetic. It turns out he's the one that's the cause of all these cartoon crimes ... well, not really. The real culprit is the doctor at the home. He's using Fred's powers for his gain — stealing from the children of the senior citizens he takes care of everyday.
Fred is running away and going to the dream world in his mind — which looks a lot like a cartoon. Cartoons were his safe haven back in the day, the thing he would hold onto. And when he found his mind slipping, he retreated to that animated world. He let himself lose touch with the real world and he didn't realize how out of control things were. In the end, he takes care of the guy that was using him and he decides he no longer wants his ability. It has the potential to hurt people and, as he gets older, the chances get even greater. Cas stays to watch over him after taking away his power. Fred's ability is gone but he's replaced the cartoons in his head with some beautiful music and he's happy.
Random Thoughts
-The detective calls Dean "Scully," which instantly reminds me of Season 1. Although, back then, Sam was the red headed woman.
-Love how Cas thinks he's got the hang of this hunter thing but Sam and Dean show him how many details he's missing.
-I kind of wish Sam would have slipped the words "moist" and "irregardless" into conversation with Amelia's dad.
-Speaking of Amelia's dad, you guys recognized him, right? I love this actor. Brian Markinson was in the pilot for the CW's Arrow. He's in the Canadian series Continuum (which heads to Syfy in 2013). He's been in everything from The Killing to Dark Angel to Caprica and Sanctuary (a show that starred Naomi herself, Amanda Tapping). But, in another case of the show recycling Supernatural actors, Markinson played Jerry Panowski, one of John Winchester's former clients that calls on his sons for help in the Season 1 episode "Phantom Traveler."
-Sam totally thought Mr. Thompson was referring to him (and not the dog) when he asked his daughter about the handsome fella. Don't you think?
-I loved the actress who played the detective. Supernatural, you have my permission to recycle her next season.
-It was great how when Cas yelled at Dean about the whole not wanting to go up to heaven thing, Dean didn't back down. He went over to Cas, and urged him to talk.
-Really? Nobody thinks it's weird that the three Feebs in town are Agents Crosby, Stills and Nash? Awesome. Love that they got away with that. Would Garth be Agent Young?
-Love how Sam and Cas end up in Fred's cartoon dream world that is in his mind.
-It was good seeing Mike Farrell in this episode as Fred Jones. He was B.J. Hunnicutt on the late great series, MASH.
-Poor Dean. He gets hit in the face with a frying pan so hard his face makes an imprint. The sound effect is much like when he got hit with a pan on the back of his head in Season 1's "The Benders."
Some favorite lines (courtesy of writer Andrew Dabb)
Cas: "What? I was being bad cop." Dean: "You were being bad everything."
Dean: "That's straight up Bugs Bunny." Cas: "So we're looking for some insect-rabbit-hybrid? How do we kill it?"
Detective: "Got to ask. Do you boys chase the crazy? Or does the crazy chase you?" Sam: "Depends on the day."
Mr. Thompson: "I got to say, Sam. You look like a real fixer-upper to me."
Dean: "All right. Let's gear up. It's wabbit season." Cas: "I don't think you pronounced that correctly."
Cas: "I understand. The bird represents God. The Coyote is man, endlessly chasing the divine, yet never able to catch him, it's...hilarious."
show less
Supernatural returns from this mini-hellatus with a bizarre but awesome case, an angel making a career change, and a series of flashbacks that further fill us in on what Sam was going through during the year Dean was stuck in Purgatory.
Oh, and I think I should mention right off the bat that there's a talking cat in "Hunteri Heroici" and it calls Cas a "dumbass." It's a hilarious moment in a very funny episode, one that features Cas deciding to be a hunter. He immediately finds a case where people are dying according to cartoon rules.
Yes, I'm talking straight out of the Looney Tunes.
read more