So I was watching an episode of Supernatural Season 7 this weekend and an episode of Supernatural Season 3 broke out! Then an episode of Dexter broke out! Then it ended! And all the while, I was thinking, "Hey, this is pretty good!" That is, when I wasn't thinking, "Hey, why did that just happen?"
"Repo Men" was one of King Ben Edlund's babies, so going into it, you know it's at least going to be decent with a fair chance of mind-blowingly awesome. In fact, hurricane-force winds did their best on my brain with the opening flashback to four years ago, back to the good old days when Sam and Dean were demon-hunting brothers. Sam and Dean had a demo with a knack for cutting up women in grisly ways tied to a chair, and were holy-water-boarding it to get some details on Lilith (miss her terribly). It smelled of Supernatural at its peak, and gosh darnit, it smelled good.
The meatsuit the demon was parking in belonged to Jeffrey, a good guy, according to Dean, who allowed Sam and Dean to go to town on his body when the Winchesters told him the deal: we can get some intel that we need if you let us torture the heck out of the demon that's currently inside you. Jeffrey gave them the thumbs up, the torture was a success (isn't it always?), and when they were done Dean dropped Jeffrey off at the hospital. He told Jeffrey to stay mum on the whole demon thing, and I hope gave him enough change for a vending-machine candy bar as a thank you.
Flash-forward to present day, and bodies of women murdered in the same disgusting ways began turning up again. The investigation led Sam and Dean to track down Jeffrey, because some demons like to visit their old stomping grounds. Life was not treating Jeffrey well; he lost his job, had a limp from the demon torture, started sucking on the bottle, and was undergoing treatment for mental disorders. It's not totally Sam and Dean's fault, I mean let's put the blame where it belongs: on the demon that possessed him in the first place. But in exorcising these hellspawn from healthy human beings, Sam and Dean occasionally leave some remnants on the cutting room floor and are at least partly to blame for the mess that remains.
This is the kind of thing that Supernatural glosses over too often, but is so ripe for story it's a wonder they don't tackle it more frequently. What happens to these victims of possession after the black smoke is banished back to Hell? Do Sam and Dean realize that the collateral damage in their war against demons affects real human beings in big ways? There must be a bazillion stories to tell of those left behind in the Winchesters' wake, and Jeffrey's was one of them.
Unfortunately, the twist in the story didn't delve deeper into showing Sam and Dean the wreckage their demon fighting leaves behind. Instead, in true Ben Edlund fashion, things weren't going to stay normal for long. It turned out that Jeffrey wasn't the good guy Dean pegged him for, was murdering the women on his own, and wanted to invite his old friend back for another round of demonic possession. Jeffrey was originally possessed as an audition for the sweetest spots in Hell because this demon was essentially a talent scout looking to bring out the truly bad in people who just couldn't muster up the energy to bring it out of themselves. Jeffrey had always had these murderous intentions inside him, they were just kept down by things like laws and morality. But with the demon inside him, Jeffrey felt like he was reaching his potential as a disgusting murderer of women. Way to go Jeffrey!
That theme of the devil on your shoulder continued in the B story. The duct tape on the barrier keeping the crazies out of Sam's mind was falling off, and Satan (Mark Pellegrino yay!) followed Sam around like a sarcastic puppy dog begging to be played with. Eventually, Sam's trick of digging his fingers into the old wound on his hand to make Satan flicker out wore off, and Sam had little choice but to listen to Satan bark advice about the virtues of being bad. And it worked. But here's the thing: listening to the Devil actually helped Sam crack the case. Uh oh.
Just as Jeffrey felt he was at his most powerful when working with (or being worked over by) the demon, could Sam eventually feel the same about taking advice from Mr. Beelzebub? It's a cool scenario to think about, and as far as storylines driving the remainder of the season, one I would consider looking forward to. Admittedly it's not much different from the unfortunate demon-blood addiction Sam went through before, but at least this one has more Mark Pellegrino, who is always welcome on my television screen.
But two plot holes left me scratching my head. If Jeffrey was so into the demon, why did he give the go ahead for the Winchesters to torture his body to get the info they needed and get the demon out? And how did the demon prison sigil that eventually trapped the demon get on the roof of Jeffrey's secret hideout? I'm assuming Captain Convenience put it there.
I'm pretty divided on "Repo Man." The two stories paralleled each other nicely, which is a sign of maturity in the writing. And as always, Edlund threw in cool little details that spiced up the story (the Cone of Shame on the doggy, an ear in a box). But Jeffrey's badness was a little too obvious too soon (though Supernatural being predictable is nothing new), and the episode became less about demons and all the supernatural stuff we love and more about a normal guy who is just a creep. Still, "Repo Man" showed some promise for the future of the season and featured people in the library banging their heads against desks 'til they were bloodied, so a semi-enthusiastic thumbs up from me.
Notes:
– Seriously, why does watching people bang their own foreheads into tables make me so giddy?
– I thought that the cute little puppy would play a part in the episode, but I didn't think it was as a piece of the demon-summoning spell recipe. Was that its heart? Isn't it bizarre how killing people is okay, but once you kill a rescue dog, you've crossed the line?
– Was Sam's face at the end when he was "letting the Devil in" a secret smirk of joy? Or was that Jared Padalecki's constipation face?
Supernatural Season 7 Power Rankings
"Repo Man" was a solid episode of Supernatural, and given that we're right in the middle of Season 7 and fresh ideas probably ran out a long time ago, I have to applaud the effort and throwback to the Supernatural of old. Top half of Season 7.
1. "Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie" (Episode 14)
Sam and Dean investigated mysterious deaths around a kid's pizza-and-games party house. Unicorns farting rainbows, ball pit sharks spraying blood, and octo-vamps giving fatal hickeys made this a fun episode.
2. "Shut Up, Dr. Phil" (Episode 5)
A pair of witches needed some couples counseling in a gory fun-fest that guest-starred Charisma Carpenter and James Marsters.
3. "Death's Door" (Episode 10)
Bobby fought for his life and delved into his past as he tried to deliver a message to Sam and Dean from beyond the plane of the living.
4. "The Mentalists" (Episode 7)
More standalone fun as the brothers investigated murders in a town full of psychics.
5. "Meet the New Boss" (Episode 1)
Castiel got all righteous on those who didn't respect The Good Word, and it was great.
6. "Repo Man" (Episode 15)
The brothers visit a man they saved from a murderous demon four years ago, and Lucifer blabs Sam's ear off.
7. "Adventures in Babysitting" (Episode 11)
Sam and Dean coped with Bobby's death and met a fellow hunter's young daughter.
8. "Slash Fiction" (Episode 6)
Two Leviathans disguised themselves as Sam and Dean and took off on a cross-country shootin' spree!
9. "The Slice Girls" (Episode 13)
Dean had a one-night stand with an Amazonian lady, and Sam took Dean's Daddy card away.
10. "Hello, Cruel World" (Episode 2)
The Leviathans set up a buffet at a hospital after spreading into the water supply.
11. "Time After Time" (Episode 12)
Dean traveled back to 1944 and battled the God of Time with Eliot Ness.
12. "How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters" (Episode 9)
Hyperadrenalized cannibals and stoner sandwiches! Dick Roman's plan was sort of unveiled! And Bobby got shot!
13. "The Girl Next Door" (Episode 3)
Via flashback, we saw Sam's first kiss... with a monster! Then Dean killed her.
14. "Defending Your Life" (Episode 4)
Dean went on trial before Osiris because of the guilt he carries. Jo came back to blow him up!
15. "Season 7, Time for a Wedding" (Episode 8)
Too. Much. Becky. Larson.
Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter: @TimAtTVDotCom
This episode was just 'eh' I thought. I really didn't like the actor playing Jeffrey, so the main plot line was already kind of annoying for me. However, I thoroughly enjoyed Sam&Satan back at it again. I must again with you Tim, anytime Mark Pellegrino is on my screen I am one happy camper.
Also, the killing of the dog was too much for me. You can chop off people's heads and disembowel them until the cows come home and I will love it... but once you murder a poor innocent dog I get angry. Like wanting to repeatedly smack people's heads on a library table and bludgeon them to death kind of angry.
I'm glad "Shut up, Dr. Phil" has been bumpted from the top spot, since it still pisses me off in connection with the other episodes this season.
Dean kills Sam's friend, why? Because you always kill the monsters.
Sam kills Dean's daughter, why? Because you always kill the monsters.
They let the murderous warlocks live, why? Because the hubby chose not to kill them? Does not apply, see Amy, Sam's friend.
Because they're too powerful?
Hello, they've gone after archangels, pagan gods, elder gods that want to eat the world - would two semi-competent warlocks/witches really stand a chance if the Winchesters regrouped, stocked up and came back?
This episode - or the ending, rather - does NOT COMPUTE!
(And yes, most of this post is cut-and-pasted from last episode's comments. ;) )
I have two theories for the demon trap in the ceiling.
1) Jeffrey did it. His plan was to summon the demon, but he was afraid he wanted to run or something, He wanted to speak with them and convince him to be together again.
2) Bobby's ghost draw it.
Are they just going to say "Dick Roman" once in every episode or can we expect that story to go somewhere? Sure, they don't no how to kill them but they don't seem to be doing much research...
Anyway the episode was ok, so I'm not complaining. I'm just wondering.
Just one little question. If the brothers have that chant in Latin or Greek to exorcise the demon, why do they need to torture the victim then? It seems the got rid of the demon pretty easily when it was inside that lady's son, just with the spell. Am I missing something?
They need some info about Lilith, so they have to torture the truth out of him.
One of the best this season! Felt like good old Supernatural a couple of seasons ago, I have missed all the demons! And yes!! Lucifer.
There is something about Mark Pellegrino's hair that I can't stand. It's weird, I know! I just can't put my finger on it!
well , i loved the episode... demons are back and they rock! heheheh
Except for the Lucifer stuff -OMG his bifurcated tongue was AWESOME- I didn't really like this episode. I don't know what it was about it, but it just didn't, I dunno, jive. There were great lines... Wonderful plot seeds for the future and some funny moments, but. I can't even put my finger on it. But Mark was amazing -and adorable!- as Lucy and I'm now worried for Sam, just as much as I'm worried about Dean. Both brothers having their own wild tailspins into intense mental cracking will not be pretty. I have no clue how it will play out for the rest of the season but I hope the writers are able to tie it in with the Leviathan story. So yeah, I agree with the middling rating of the episode. Great moments, overall lackluster. Oh, and there was something about Cas people seemed to be freaking out about but I can't be bothered to care, honestly.moreless
Haven't seen this ep yet - S7 hasn't even STARTED in the UK. But I would dispute that they gloss over what happens to the meat suits. We've been shown quite graphically the results and that the boys are affected by it. When Meg's first MS died, when the ghosts of victims haunted the boys and Bobby...and many more. I think the boys are all too aware, but over the years, they've had to simply care less and less otherwise they'd be weeping into their beer all the time.
Great episode and Lucifer seems to be back in force! I certainly look forward to seeing how things play out!
Beelzebub is not Lucifer Morningstar. Instead it's a very, very old god of evil from pagan days.
This aside I think it was a very good episode with a lot of good ol' times feeling.
And Mark Pellegrino IS awesome, more of it pleeeease!
He was awesome in Lost as Jacob, as Bishop in Being Human, in Dexter, Mulholland Drive and in thousand other roles I pressume.
I thought the devil's trap on the ceiling was quite a cop out. It was forgivable thanks to the head banging but ultimately, this episode wasn't as good as the previous one. Supernatural needs to go back to being as dark and as scary as possible. It can keep it's weird moments of humor, i.e. suicidal teddies and rainbow farting unicorns, but only if more emphasis is put on the creepy, clowns and other unsettling menaces.
Great episode! I had the same questions you did. My theory is that Jeffrey let the guys beat him up because if he acted like he didn't want them to get the demon out then they would figure out that he liked being possessed?? As for the devil's trap, Jeffrey is the only one who could have put it there, so I guess it was to trap the demon and make him possess him again if he refused or if things got out of hand. They should have had an explainer for that one.
The woman said she gave Jeffrey the symbols and stuff that he needed to know for summoning the demon. It makes sense to me that she would trick him into putting the devil's trap on the ceiling so that if he summoned the demon they would both be trapped.
I think Jeffrey didn't miss the demon until he was gone and that left a void in his life. That would explain why he wanted the demon out at that time.
I assume the demon prison sigil was put there by Jeffrey just in case he summoned the wrong demon, or the demon himself may have created it to protect himself from Lilith or her crew.
This episode showed us what Supernatural is all about! I mean the tension in this ep was amazing! And Mark Pellegrino was the master of this episode! I mean I just love him! And he is always welcome in my tv screen as well.
Anyway, finally some great episode and I had the chills like Lucifer. And his forked tongue - creepy!! I just cannot write how much I love Ben Edlund for this episode!
I hope that Mark will be in the next episode as weell coz I thought they forgot about him
The forked tongue was SERIOUSLY creepy. Less than a second and unforgettable ever!
I totally agree. It was the creepiest scene ever but it still tempting me so I am watching it over and over again ;)
Is it bad am glad the Satan wall is down? Not just because i get to see more of Mark Pellegrino in my tv ( ay caramba! Mi cabeza!) But the possible friction btn the Dick guys n satan has me thinkin satan might actually be useful to Sam n Dean...
I thought it was an OK episode. When I saw Jeffrey in his support group I immediately thought, cool a support group for the formerly possessed" sadly it didn't go there Like you Tim I wouldn't mind seeing a few episodes on the fall out of Dean and Sam's well intentioned torture and banishing of the locals.
Actually the support group turned out to be closer to Demons Anonymous. Meat sacks addicted to there demons. That would be a cool idea as well.
Bringing back demons really made me realise exactly what Supernatural has been missing ever since seaon five, so I thought this episode was a vast improvment over most other episodes, to which I can see you agree on the scoreboard. I absolutely adored Mark Pellegrino, no one can say: "He just said 'shut up' to me" in such a hilarious manner. I replayed that over and over.
The 'shut up' joke was SUCH an Anouk-joke. Maybe even the biggest I've seen so far.
I too immediately spotted those two glaring plot holes and was left scratching my head in a less than satisfied way. On the other hand, every time Mark Pellegrino appeared on the screen, I couldn't stop my face from grinning and a schoolgirl giggle escaping my lips. He alone made the episode for me. In my social circle he's known as that guy who's in everything, to me he's that awesome dude who makes everything better. So as much as Supernatural wants to use him, I am 100% on board.
Actually loved this episode.... Think it was Mark that did it for me. Every episode of supernatural he is in is just AWESOME. Also agree with the whole Satan issue. How cool would it be if he was in every episode.
The table head-banging was probably one of the most disturbing out of the blue scenes on tv in a long time. Very cool.
I thought it was a good episode, especially in comparison to some others this season. For the rest of the season, I say keep putting Mark Pellegrino on every episode, because he is amazing.
I loved this episode. This is what Supernatural does best. Mark Pellegrino was amazing.
It could help if when you were putting up your season ranking of the episodes, you could link to your other reviews. It's kinda hard to find them once they go past the front page.
Seconded!
Mark Pellegrino as the devil is so brilliant! I love it when he's on the show. And now that he's kind on sam's shoulder i'm excited to see what happens. Maybe we'll have a little bit of crazy bitch no-soul sam (which i loved) back...
I think all-and-all it was a good solid episode (but then again, all Supernatural episodes are), but the devil-trap magically on the ceiling was so disturbing! Seriously! I actually replayed that part of the episode several times to see if i missed something, but no. It was there. Magically. And i just couldn't get over that.
i didn't like this episode much at all, nothing really happened. when you have a show about supernatural stuff literally named Supernatural, having a natural 'enemy' for the episode is a pretty big letdown
I enjoyed the episode. I think I would put it above "meet the new boss". I enjoy Mark Pellegrino in the role of the devil. I wish him playing the devil would have lasted longer. It is nice to know that he is going to be in next week's Being Human as well. I think in the same type of role being a ghost or hallucination of Adain's. He plays such a great bad guy. But I think he is sticking around this time because Sam talked to him. So that made the hand rubbing pain cure redundant.
The rest of the episode reminded me of seasons past and I for one am glad that have spent a lot of time away from the leviathans, that storyline never really seemed to get any traction and the sheer invincibleness of them save for some industrial cleaner was kind of out there even for Supernatural.
But i am optimistic, the past few episodes at least for me have been in the right direction and have become increasingly entertaining.
It is just funny. Tim, the sheer unexpectedness of seeing people slam their heads against the table and the poker face of Pellegrino missed with Sam trying not to notice. It just makes it funnier.moreless
I'll ask this again. Why is this the only show who's review comes so late? Every other review is next morning and some the same night. Just curious as to why this is.
I got this one! Supernatural airs at 9pm on Fridays, and I work a M-F normal 50-hour work week. I need my weekends to do things like eat and sleep. Supernatural RARELY sends out advanced copies to critics, so usually I'm not able to get to it until Monday. This wasn't a problem when SPN was on Thursdays... the move to Fridays (and Fringe's move too) make my Mondays a pain in the butt. Sorry about that!