akashiver | Supernatural catchup (Reply)

I've really enjoyed the last few Supernatural episodes. "Monster" managed to elevate itself beyond its metafictional conceits to include some arc advancement; "It's a Terrible Life" manged to bring some office drone humor to what could have been a terrible episode; "Sex and Violence" managed to surprise me with its gender twist, and of course, "On the head of a pin" kept my entertained with arc-y goodness.

"Jump the Shark" announced from the get go that it was going to employ that - yes *that* hated plot device. No, not the shark. The previously unmentioned relative. Did it carry it off? Well... partly. As a device to get Sam and Dean to reexamine their relationship with their father, it worked ok. And I liked the irony that 1) Adam really was their brother 2) he did get a normal life and 3) perhaps in part because he got a normal life, he died before Sam and Dean ever got into town.

That said... it still didn't really work for me. In part, I think it didn't work because the script determinedly played what should have been a monumental plot development - OMG another Winchester! - as a standalone episode from the get-go. Ergo, no Bobby. I don't know about you, but if I was a Winchester dealing with 1) a monster I didn't recognize and 2) a whole bunch of info re: my father's past, I'd probably ask Dad's old friend / super-monster-researcher Bobby for help. And the fact that Bobby wasn't on scene pointed to the Adam thing being tidily resolved by episode end, which it was.

Also, a pet peeve. For godsake Sammy, you're the fracking antichrist. *Act like it.* Whip out that telekinetic whoopass on those ghouls. You can kill the high lords of Hell with your brain. Corpse-eaters shouldn't pose much of a threat, unless you need to appeal to your teengirl fanbase by getting tied up and mutilated again.

Also: ghouls???? Missing corpses in a non-vampire-haunted graveyard? Whadyathink it was, geniuses? Werewolves?

So to sum up: well, Supernatural did a much better job than Smallville with the long-lost brother plotline. But the Luthors would have eaten those namby-pamby ghouls alive.