For me, “Good God Y’All” should have been the season opener. It had drama, action, humor and fabulous brother angst, not to mention a whole cast blast from the past. I am in love with Supernatural once more.
The episode can be dived into the three parts. The opening was all about Bobby and Castiel, effectively getting both of them out of the way for the rest of the episode. Bobby’s still in the hospital and he’s never going to walk again unless Castiel lays on some healing hands. Sam starts off in furrowed brow mode and the furrows deepen when he gets a phone call from Castiel. Two things here: what was with his odd pronunciation of the name, and why didn’t Castiel call Dean’s cell?
ARE YOU THE KEY MASTER?
When he arrives on scene, Castiel explains that thanks to the carving in the ribs (of which Dean now has a lovely x-ray photograph) no angel can find them, not even him. Now, let’s take a moment to ruminate over the new and not so improved Castiel. He’s lost most of his mojo, including his ability to heal and he looks different. What is it? Hair cut? Clean shaven? Skinny tie? There’s something different about Misha and man when he lets loose on Dean it’s. . . well, it’s hot. . okay? It just is. That whole, “I did it for you” speech, was killer. And then he says he’s come for the amulet that will lead him to God and four years of mythology clicked into place. Kripke, forgive me for ever doubting you! The key to God is right around Dean’s neck.
I adore the way Dean refused to give up the necklace, then reluctantly handed it over with a “don’t lose it.” I muttered, he’s going to feel naked without it just as he uttered the line on my TV. I also laughed because weeks ago we noticed the missing amulet in the photos from the episode and thought it was a rehearsal shot. Love that it was a plot point. So Castiel flies off (appears he hasn’t lost that power) and then Rufus calls Bobby to say there’s trouble in River City.
WITH A CAPITAL D
Part two of this episode is almost monster-of-the-week, though it does tie into the mythology by the end. How cool was the broken bridge? Gotta be a CGI shot, right? But it looked fabulous. The boys are forced to hike into town and ooh, check out that cherry red Mustang — what a shame she and the Impala couldn’t hook up, they’d make beautiful babies together.
The town looks abandoned, cars have crashed, Spirit in the Sky is blaring from a stereo (oh how I missed the old rock music) there’s blood on the ground and. . . Kripke, you lose points for the baby carriage under the car’s front bumper. First nuns and now this! And then someone gets a drop on the boys and it’s Ellen. Surprise, surprise. . . for anyone who didn’t see the photos or spoilers online (I must say this is one of those times that I wish I had been surprised, would have been cool.) Ellen and Jo have been hunting together but Jo and Rufus are now missing and the town is overrun with demons. She takes them to a church basement where only a handful of survivors are barely hanging on. . .but wait. . . I recognize that one actor so that’s a clue that everything is not as it seems down here.
In general, this is a scenario that makes me very happy, Sam and Dean charged with protecting the innocents, just like in Wendigo and Croatoan, it’s a good place for them. Only trouble is Dean can’t concentrate on doing his job properly when he’s constantly worried about what Sam might do at the first sign of blood. The tension between the brothers here is excellent. You can feel Dean wanting to go into military mode but Sam’s that fly buzzing in his ear. I’m also thrilled to see that we didn’t slough off the blood addiction that easily. Sam’s tempted and that helped ratchet this episode up from good to great. When Sam shoved Dean back against that wall, wow. I didn’t see that one coming. Lots of anger simmering under the surface and Dean’s just too worn out to fight back, too many battles on too many fronts.
So the boys split up and Ellen goes with Sam in hopes of finding Jo. They find her, but something’s not right and it’s not just the black contacts. Sam gets knocked out and wakes up tied to a chair with demons pouring salt down his throat and splashing him with holy water and now it’s starting to make sense. They aren’t demons. Everyone is simply hallucinating demons thanks to one of the biblical four horsemen who rode into town in that cherry Mustang.
WAR, HUH!
What is he good for? Apparently he’s good for Supernatural because his scenes were excellent. The conversation he has with Sam about how easy it is to push humans to violence reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode “Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.” In that show, aliens turn off the electricity in a suburban block, plant a few seeds of doubt and before the night is over the neighbors are paranoid and out to kill each other. Last week I saw a glimpse of another Twilight Zone episode. Coincidence or is someone paying homage to the classics?
War returns to the church and incites that group to riot, forcing Dean and Ellen to flee for their lives. They go after Jo and Rufus, convince them that it’s all a hallucination, then free Sam who has the solution to the problem. Grab War and cut off his finger so he can’t twist his ring. Eww, but done and done.
Did anyone else notice how long the commercial breaks were in the second half? Too long! Get us all revved up then make us wait. It’s not fair.
IT AIN’T NOTHING BUT A HEART BREAKER
Part three of the episode is all about the brotherly angst. Sam and Dean are having a heart-to-heart at rest area picnic table and they couldn’t look more uncomfortable. Sam acknowledges that Dean doesn’t trust him then admits that he doesn’t trust himself. He’s dangerous and because of that, he needs to stop hunting. They have to split up. Dean agrees without a moment’s hesitation and that hurts more than earlier shove. But it’s all right there. He can’t do his job when he’s constantly worried and looking out for little brother. Given that the end of the world is nigh, it is best if they split up.
Sam says take care (what, no hug?), he grabs his backpack and hitches a ride with some guy with a camper. I felt like I was watching David Banner head out of another town, lost and alone and knowing he could hulk out at any moment.
Fade to black. Sob.
Next week, Sam’s got his shirt off. See, that’s why Castiel carved the sigil into their ribs and didn’t tattoo it or brand it, because that would have been a nightmare in the make-up chair every time one of them showed some skin
Review by www.sfuniverse.com
The episode can be dived into the three parts. The opening was all about Bobby and Castiel, effectively getting both of them out of the way for the rest of the episode. Bobby’s still in the hospital and he’s never going to walk again unless Castiel lays on some healing hands. Sam starts off in furrowed brow mode and the furrows deepen when he gets a phone call from Castiel. Two things here: what was with his odd pronunciation of the name, and why didn’t Castiel call Dean’s cell?
ARE YOU THE KEY MASTER?
When he arrives on scene, Castiel explains that thanks to the carving in the ribs (of which Dean now has a lovely x-ray photograph) no angel can find them, not even him. Now, let’s take a moment to ruminate over the new and not so improved Castiel. He’s lost most of his mojo, including his ability to heal and he looks different. What is it? Hair cut? Clean shaven? Skinny tie? There’s something different about Misha and man when he lets loose on Dean it’s. . . well, it’s hot. . okay? It just is. That whole, “I did it for you” speech, was killer. And then he says he’s come for the amulet that will lead him to God and four years of mythology clicked into place. Kripke, forgive me for ever doubting you! The key to God is right around Dean’s neck.
I adore the way Dean refused to give up the necklace, then reluctantly handed it over with a “don’t lose it.” I muttered, he’s going to feel naked without it just as he uttered the line on my TV. I also laughed because weeks ago we noticed the missing amulet in the photos from the episode and thought it was a rehearsal shot. Love that it was a plot point. So Castiel flies off (appears he hasn’t lost that power) and then Rufus calls Bobby to say there’s trouble in River City.
WITH A CAPITAL D
Part two of this episode is almost monster-of-the-week, though it does tie into the mythology by the end. How cool was the broken bridge? Gotta be a CGI shot, right? But it looked fabulous. The boys are forced to hike into town and ooh, check out that cherry red Mustang — what a shame she and the Impala couldn’t hook up, they’d make beautiful babies together.
The town looks abandoned, cars have crashed, Spirit in the Sky is blaring from a stereo (oh how I missed the old rock music) there’s blood on the ground and. . . Kripke, you lose points for the baby carriage under the car’s front bumper. First nuns and now this! And then someone gets a drop on the boys and it’s Ellen. Surprise, surprise. . . for anyone who didn’t see the photos or spoilers online (I must say this is one of those times that I wish I had been surprised, would have been cool.) Ellen and Jo have been hunting together but Jo and Rufus are now missing and the town is overrun with demons. She takes them to a church basement where only a handful of survivors are barely hanging on. . .but wait. . . I recognize that one actor so that’s a clue that everything is not as it seems down here.
In general, this is a scenario that makes me very happy, Sam and Dean charged with protecting the innocents, just like in Wendigo and Croatoan, it’s a good place for them. Only trouble is Dean can’t concentrate on doing his job properly when he’s constantly worried about what Sam might do at the first sign of blood. The tension between the brothers here is excellent. You can feel Dean wanting to go into military mode but Sam’s that fly buzzing in his ear. I’m also thrilled to see that we didn’t slough off the blood addiction that easily. Sam’s tempted and that helped ratchet this episode up from good to great. When Sam shoved Dean back against that wall, wow. I didn’t see that one coming. Lots of anger simmering under the surface and Dean’s just too worn out to fight back, too many battles on too many fronts.
So the boys split up and Ellen goes with Sam in hopes of finding Jo. They find her, but something’s not right and it’s not just the black contacts. Sam gets knocked out and wakes up tied to a chair with demons pouring salt down his throat and splashing him with holy water and now it’s starting to make sense. They aren’t demons. Everyone is simply hallucinating demons thanks to one of the biblical four horsemen who rode into town in that cherry Mustang.
WAR, HUH!
What is he good for? Apparently he’s good for Supernatural because his scenes were excellent. The conversation he has with Sam about how easy it is to push humans to violence reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode “Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.” In that show, aliens turn off the electricity in a suburban block, plant a few seeds of doubt and before the night is over the neighbors are paranoid and out to kill each other. Last week I saw a glimpse of another Twilight Zone episode. Coincidence or is someone paying homage to the classics?
War returns to the church and incites that group to riot, forcing Dean and Ellen to flee for their lives. They go after Jo and Rufus, convince them that it’s all a hallucination, then free Sam who has the solution to the problem. Grab War and cut off his finger so he can’t twist his ring. Eww, but done and done.
Did anyone else notice how long the commercial breaks were in the second half? Too long! Get us all revved up then make us wait. It’s not fair.
IT AIN’T NOTHING BUT A HEART BREAKER
Part three of the episode is all about the brotherly angst. Sam and Dean are having a heart-to-heart at rest area picnic table and they couldn’t look more uncomfortable. Sam acknowledges that Dean doesn’t trust him then admits that he doesn’t trust himself. He’s dangerous and because of that, he needs to stop hunting. They have to split up. Dean agrees without a moment’s hesitation and that hurts more than earlier shove. But it’s all right there. He can’t do his job when he’s constantly worried and looking out for little brother. Given that the end of the world is nigh, it is best if they split up.
Sam says take care (what, no hug?), he grabs his backpack and hitches a ride with some guy with a camper. I felt like I was watching David Banner head out of another town, lost and alone and knowing he could hulk out at any moment.
Fade to black. Sob.
Next week, Sam’s got his shirt off. See, that’s why Castiel carved the sigil into their ribs and didn’t tattoo it or brand it, because that would have been a nightmare in the make-up chair every time one of them showed some skin
Review by www.sfuniverse.com
