Supernatural 1.6: "Skin"

Written by John Shiban
Directed by Robert Duncan McNeill

In which Sam visits an old friend from college with a personal problem, but when the brothers look into the situation, he and Dean find themselves face to face with a shapeshifter…


In my comments on earlier episodes, I mentioned that Dean was becoming a far more compelling character than Sam. After this episode, I still feel that this is the case. What’s more, I think the writers are beginning to recognize it. This is ostensibly Sam’s episode, delving into his world and his emotions. Yet what I took away from it was a better sense of Dean’s issue with Sam and his previous life.

Sam was the one who escaped, and for that reason alone, Sam should have a lot of internal conflict with his current situation. He thought he had escaped his past, and it came back to bite him. Intersections with his old life are almost impossible, because he has to lie to them, and there’s an inevitable barrier of deception.

Jared plays the character as someone trying to contain his broiling emotions behind a flat affect, which can work if there’s sufficient acting ability. Think of Edward Olmos on “Battlestar: Galactica” and how clearly he can communicate with just a minimal shift of facial expression. Jared doesn’t have that, and so what is meant to seem like an extreme bit of conflict doesn’t necessarily shine through. Contrast that to Jensen’s ability to convey an entire story with one smirk, and there’s a huge difference.

It wouldn’t be so obvious if there were several lead characters, but this is a two-man show. Jared and Jensen need to carry the story forward on a roughly equal basis. Unless, of course, the writers play Dean as the lead character and Sam as the “straight man”, which is where I think the scripts are slowly but surely going.

This is an example of where the exception proves the rule. Take the focus off Dean and place it on Sam’s world, and it’s just not as much fun. That’s why it was far more interesting to hear all the things that Dean felt about Sam, and why it would have been better to hear a lot more. One can feel for Dean and get a sense of how wounded he really is. Sam, for all that his world has turned upside down, doesn’t connect as quickly or easily with the audience at large.

This is another episode with a lot of similarities to old “X-Files” episodes. In this case, it’s a much darker take on the concept in “Small Potatoes”, right down to the shedding of skin on a regular basis. I found that less interesting as a result, but I did find the darker side rather intriguing. I always go for the more psychological aspect of a story, and in this case, the brutality of the skinwalker betrayed a deep psychological deformity.

Also interesting is this ongoing hint that many aspects of the “supernatural” involve a component of telepathic ability, or more broadly, memory appropriation. Not only that but there seems to be a sharing of information, perhaps indicative of a common source of memory or, more disturbing, a hierarchy dictating how to react should the Winchesters came calling. It doesn’t just make this episode more interesting by allowing Dean’s hidden issues come to light; it also adds flavor to the overall mythology.

While the direction was strong and the intent of the story was quite clear, I’m not sure that they took the concept far enough. Also, no matter how hot Sam’s friends might have been (or unusually thin), they simply aren’t compelling. Jess was never all that interesting, even with that costume in the pilot, and Mandy is equally bland. Then again, the women are almost always eye candy, so perhaps that’s not so important in the end.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10