Croatoan Review

Coming into the winter hiatus, “Supernatural” continues to hit the ground running with excellent character development and psychological exploration. Both aspects have become hallmarks of the series, setting it apart from the typical “monster of the week” shows and many of its forebears. To turn back to a favorite point of comparison, the “X-Files” often lacked this kind of consistent character arc, especially when events called for deep consistency.
 
In what has become the common structure for the series, the supernatural occurrence taking place in Oregon is a means to an end. That end is abundantly clear by the final scene. Something had to force Dean into a corner regarding John’s final words, and this is the perfect time for it. Dean is close to cracking under the pressure, and Sam is getting tired of being held off.
As revealed up to this point in the season arc, Dean is a complete and utter mess. He blames himself for his father’s death, and he truly believes that he should be dead. That comes with constant shame, regret, and anger, all of which Dean tries to divert into the hunt and keeping watch over Sam. He takes the negativity out on the demonic, and it’s affecting his judgment. And now the situation with Sam is beginning to boil over, because what he sees happening with Sam doesn’t mix well with whatever secret he’s keeping. It’s no wonder that Dean is on the verge of a psychotic break.

Part of the problem is that Sam is no longer interfacing with the demonic in quite the same way. The visions were bad enough, because they link him to a dangerous legacy of people with similar abilities and unusually bad consequences. Also, he cannot control the visions, so the question of source and purpose comes into play. Now he’s immune to a demonic virus that causes people to go into a homicidal rage, something apparently planted to test Sam’s development from the demon’s point of view. Neither of the Brothers Winchester can ignore the implication that Sam is at the center of something nasty, especially since Dean knows the potential for it.

It’s always nice to see how characters slowly but surely arrive at a particular decision, and that happens in this episode. When it appears that Sam is infected, Dean makes the conscious decision to remain behind, giving up survival so he can attend to his brother’s fate himself. He looks to be welcoming death and an end to the hunt, which is a far cry from the super-confident maverick in the first season. It’s exactly that kind of measured storytelling that is all too rare in network television.

The characterization is so strong that the concept seems thin by comparison. The virus is really an excuse for a bottle show, and by that measure, it works beautifully. But as an independent concept, it’s essentially a riff on the recent fascination with zombies, and that’s beginning to get a little tiresome.

 

Thankfully, the writers manage to transcend that by focusing on all the right elements.