Home (The Journey Home) Review

This episode was billed as the “biggest event of the year” in the promos, which is actually rather amusing. After all, few people beyond the faithful would have any concept of why this episode is important to the series. This is probably one of those rare instances where an arc episode is less effective than a simple stand-alone tale, if only because the stand-alone episodes have less pressure to deliver.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I prefer long-term and seasonal arcs because of the depth of character development that they provide. A more episodic approach does not prevent that kind of exploration, but as seen on a series like “X-Files”, it can lead to inconsistent character portrayals as characters act in accordance with specific episode demands, not long-term consistency.

This series has been better than most at finding a happy medium between the extremes, and this episode has a lot of disturbing moments just from the perspective of a haunting. Tying it to the overall season arc is perhaps a bit extraneous. Like the previous episode, the return home works best in terms of the insight to the characters. Dean shows a remarkable vulnerability, and Sam is even more driven than usual.

The brotherly dynamic is really coming through. Dean deals with the world superficially and hides his vulnerability and lack of real mature growth behind a mask of expressive bravado. Sam seems to connect with people on a more substantial and empathetic level, but he tries to hide the source of that empathy behind a mask of stoicism. While Dean is more approachable as a result, the writers are doing a good job of giving Sam equal personality.

As strong as Missouri was as a character, the “family” connections were probably the weakest aspect of the episode. It was too easy to guess that Mary was still in the house, for instance, and that was one of the weaker moments. The point of the episode seemed twofold: to show that their father is still hunting down the entity that started it all, and to show that Sam’s abilities are becoming more prevalent.

If I have any sense of where this is going, I expect that this hunt for the entity will culminate with the end of the season, probably coinciding with a reunion between father and sons. I have no idea how that would turn out, but that probably means one or two more “arc” episodes between now and the end of the season. In this case, I’m only with that, because the stand-alone cases give the writers a chance to flesh out the brothers and their psychology, which has become a surprising source of depth for the series.