Thursday January 31, 2008
3T6909
The seemingly harmless practices of a group of neighborhood witches goes bad when one of them kills a woman. Ruby offers her assistance... but she has a few secrets of her own.
Read Full Recap » (warning: possible spoilers!)One of the most visually disturbing and inherently frightening episodes ever! hide show
Witchcraft is a fascinating subject and I'm glad that Supernatural acknowledged it with such a frightful, intense and disturbing episode!
Ben Edlund's script is tight and solid, the supporting actresses all very good (and especially Erin Cahill as Elizabeth Clark, the most shy and recalcitrant of the witches), Robert Singer's direction is phenomenal and the episode is just scary: the episode doesn't portray a rather simple, quite banal, wand-waving magic, but a bloodier one. "A witchcraft" as said Eric Kripke, "that hurts you and costs something... and there's bleeding in bowls and sacrificing chickens". He was right. There's something so tactile about the witchcraft portrayed in "Malleus Maleficarum" and it's this quality that makes it so disturbing: bloody, falling teeth; worms and maggots; pins in the throat... This is a vicious witchcraft, an unsettling one, a powerful one to see in an episode of Supernatural. If you like this angle, be sure to watch "Sanguinarium" (The X-Files, 4x06), which is a great episode directed by none other than Kim Manners.
The episode isn't just about a monster of the week, because it also recounts Ruby's backstory (she was once a witch who sold herself to a demon) and, foremost, because it sheds a light on Sam's slow and stead transformation: the thought of losing Dean and the conscience that he will be left alone in fighting their war are struggling within is soul, and he's trying to harden himself up in preparation of the days to come. This is a subtle transformation, and a very deep one, and once again it shows the depth and the profundity of Supernatural.
Witches, witches and more witches hide show
All things considered, Season 3 of Supernatural has been pretty good. I've been letting the high quality of Season 2 blind me, so when I think back on the Season up until this point, it's actually been really good. Supernatural has the tendency to take an episode that could be considered average under other circumstances or on other shows and make it excellent. This episode was the opposite: it had a great plot, great suspense, and multiple twists.
A coven of neighborhood women turned witches are investigated by Sam and Dean after one of their own is responsible for a couple of deaths. As the episode unfolds, we learn that the demon in charge of the coven is extremely powerful, more than Sam and Dean originally thought, and that Ruby happens to know her. We ALSO learn that Ruby was once a human witch hundreds of years ago but had been turned by a demon and ever since, has been trying to keep the human side of her in front of all else.
This episode was just chockful of little tidbits of information. We learn about a reference to a new player in the West who views Sam as competition and wants to eliminate him. Also, it seems that Dean's attempts to stop his death will be for nothing, seeing as Ruby herself has said there's nothing she or anyone can do. I don't expect that to stop Sam at all though. After all, they're the most important things to each other and they'll pull through
This episode was hilarious. So much funny lines. Ruby of course livens things up with saving Dean's life. After he repeatedly called her a b***. Ruby is so awesome. And we learn a whole lot more of her in this episode. She was human once. All the demons were. That was pretty big. She was around when the plague was big. And finally she was a witch back then. The other demon girl was funny too. I'm so glad she died. I am also glad Renee died. Then Ruby & Dean bonded & it turns out there is no way to save Dean out of his deal. What are the Winchesters going to do now?
Sam and Dean happen upon a coven of witches. hide show
This season is definately looking up. Sam and Dean happen upon a coven of witches. Solid writing and good additions to the lore of the series. One small qualm, the endings of episodes seems to be that of Sam and Dean getting the crap kicked out of them and then disposing of the "creature of the week". I'd like for the "creature of the week" to win once in a while. But that is a small qualm in a strong episode that shows that this season may be finding its footing after a very rought start. Sam and Dean are clicking.
Really great episode. hide show
Well, overall it was one of my favorite episodes of Supernatural this season. Sure it didn't really have the best side-mystery like the fairy tale episode, which I just can't forget, but they were able to connect the side-story into the mainstream story, which is looking very interesting at the moment. We also get a very good luck at who Ruby really is and her past and she helps Dean and us viewers further understand how demons come to be and what Dean should expect when he's going down under. She also reveals her true motives into getting close to Sam. Wonderful work with this episode.
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