He's my cherry pie
9.5
Any episode that opens with someone tenderizing meat is nearly always a sure sign that badness ensues shortly after. And sure enough, we get a gruesome murder (involving the meat tenderizer, of course) to open this latest installment of "Supernatural", which has a fair amount of gore, nastiness, and some pretty no-so-subtle, twinge of homoeroticism. Then again, look at the title of this ep. So all this is appropriate.
But, as with so many other plots on this show, we get a very unusual twist. Well, as far as the ghost story goes. As it would normally be expected in the midst of a Siren case for the main villain to be a girl, turns out the perp in question is a guy. Now, his dialog would suggest he is somewhat gay since all of his vics happened to be men. Not that it really matters, just making an observation since this was the twist. And it was an extremely clever one at that. That trick with Dean, Nick the flask was a totally unexpected turn. Okay, so maybe Nick wasn't exactly "in love" with Dean, but he sure seemed to want to be sure Dean would be his "brother" forever. Forgive me, but there is just something oddly and completely bizarrely hot about that. And true, it was hella nasty when Nick spat that venom in Sam's face. Eww! And worse, in their true form those Sirens were just gross all around. And a tad risque, such as the sex scene between "Belle" and that Lenny fella. It was crystal clear the thing had...."melons"....up front. Bobby said it all: "Those Sirens are nasty things". Now we see why. Again I reiterate something I've said in past eps - it's amazing some of the things they get away with on public television these days. Oh well.
Aside from all that, however, Nick's deception made for a rather disturbing catalyst for the fight between Dean and Sam. Which, in my opinion, was by far the worst fight yet between the bros in the series. At least, in the physical sense. Seemingly for once, Sam dominated that fight. Well, at least at first. Spell or no spell, that was serious rage Sammy was putting out there. I believe Nick knew what he was doing when he spurred that fight on. Anyone could see the tension brewing between Dean and Sam, and now that tension was unleashed here. Especially on Sam's part. This time, he made it abundantly clear to Dean about how Dean was holding him back, spouting off about being stronger and smarter and just an overall better hunter than Dean. Man, that time with Ruby has really given him an ego! But Dean's right: Sam is still hiding things from him, lying and being secretive about his meetings with Ruby, but still Sam refuses to let him in. Even going so far as to accuse Dean of being weak. That's gotta do some damage to Dean's trust, not to mention his already shot self-esteem.
The tables turn, however, when Dean takes over the fight and gets the upper hand. In fact, it gets to the point where he almost kills Sam here. But Sam's not entirely wrong about Dean's behavior. Dean's not weak, but it seems like he's almost too scared to face what Sam is becoming. Then again, perhaps he is feeling a bit inferior to Sam because of his powers, which admittedly are growing stronger (as he witnessed Sam's defeat of Samhain eps ago), so this scares him even more and probably makes him feel powerless (or at least limited) to the demon hunt. And of course Dean's still whining over his tortured time in Hell, Sam! Who wouldn't? That is an experience that not only is about the worst thing anyone could go through, but also separates the brothers on a more defined front. Dean's time in Hell wasn't controlled, Sam's sitch with his powers and Ruby is. Despite whatever intentions, Sam had the choice to go after Lilith and train with Ruby while Dean was gone. No one actually forced him. Dean, on the other hand, was given the decision by Alastair to torture other souls in Hell - so I guess that makes it a choice for him as well - but at the same time it was torture or be tortured, so basically he was put in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, thereby isolating any actual choices for him. Nothing was actually controlled about it. Either way, he was damned.
I'm just grateful Bobby came along and saved the day when he did. It was kinda ironic - more like symbolic, actually - that this happened as it left the fight ambiguous: who would actually win? We saw Dean ready to chop into Sam with that axe, but that doesn't mean Sam wouldn't have slipped out of it somehow at the last minute. After all, he is pretty darn clever, that boy. Of course, that is just speculative, but still doesn't diminish the fact that when it comes down to it, who would be the more likely victor now that Sam is indeed stronger and smarter than before and Dean has proven to have developed a weak state due to his Hell experience? At least there's a part of Dean that still retains hope. He made this obvious when he told Sam that they used to be in it together, always watching each others backs. But it seems more and more like Sam is starting to embrace his newfound "spotlight" by straying further into the dark side, a place he frighteningly seems to feel like he belongs.
One thing more, this trend that seems to be going on with the brothers about them fighting and then apologizing , blaming the mojo effects inflicted on them for making them turn on each other, is getting kinda old, but in no way less important. As trite as it sounds, it just means that no matter what they feel or fight about at the time, there's always a part of them that knows they still need each others' backs and support. But the question is: how long will it take till this trend is eventually broken? And which direction will it lead? Bits and Pieces:
- Jasmine, Aurora, Ariel and Belle. Clever to use Disney character names for the strippers. Kinda cute.
- Nice trick with Bobby and the FBI scam. One of the many reasons why Bobby is the absolute best....knowing he's always got the brothers' backs no matter what and under any circumstance.
- Hilarious when Bobby gave the boys soda instead of beer at the end. "You guys are driving, ain't you?" Classic. - Adorable look on Dean's face that he finally scored a case involving strippers. Bless his heart.
I'm gonna give this ep a 9.5. As awesome as it was, it just wasn't a perfect ep to me, but very close up. Next ep looks like the bros investigate people who are dying but....aren't, really. Can't wait, as usual.