Supernatural 2.7: "The Usual Suspects"
Written by Cathryn Humphris
Directed by Mike Rohl
After a long run of episodes devoted to the series mythology and the exploration of the grief process for the Brothers Winchester, this installment is a bit more self-contained. Even so, one of the key elements of the episode is a nice nod to previous continuity. The Brothers Winchester have been running around the country for well over a year now, and Dean was running cons on his own for much longer. Sooner or later, that should catch up with them, and that’s exactly what happens in this episode.
As usual, the “supernatural” element of the story isn’t the most interesting aspect. The brothers manage to work together despite being kept apart, thinking along similar lines. That says a lot about how capable the two brothers are. In previous episodes, Dean has been the brawn and Sam has been the brains. This episode requires each brother to play in the other’s comfort zone, and that’s always a good time.
With the central mystery being so simple, this episode was all about the little details. This series has always been good at keeping the details straight, so it’s no surprise that a lot of familiar theories and ideas come up along the way. That’s one of the things I really like about this series. While it would be easy to change up the rules from episode to episode, they try very hard to keep the supernatural elements within a certain set of conditions.
The episode could have relied overly much on the Linda Blair references, some of which were so good because they were so horrible, but they tried to make her character viable on its own. That can be difficult, as many fans of “X-Files” can attest. In essence, this character could have been played by anyone and it would have worked equally well, absent a few lines of dialogue.
Overall, this was a somewhat low-key episode with a well-timed guest appearance for the benefit of November sweeps. The series has been struggling in the ratings lately, but given the competition, that’s not particularly surprising. I missed some of the psychological complexities of earlier episodes this season, but it was definitely good to see previous continuity remaining at the forefront.
(As a sidenote: I also have a podcast associated with my various reviews called “Dispatches from Tuzenor”. Current episodes cover “Supernatural”, so it might be something of interest. Go to http://entil2001.libsyn.com if you want to listen!)
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 7/10
Directed by Mike Rohl
After a long run of episodes devoted to the series mythology and the exploration of the grief process for the Brothers Winchester, this installment is a bit more self-contained. Even so, one of the key elements of the episode is a nice nod to previous continuity. The Brothers Winchester have been running around the country for well over a year now, and Dean was running cons on his own for much longer. Sooner or later, that should catch up with them, and that’s exactly what happens in this episode.
As usual, the “supernatural” element of the story isn’t the most interesting aspect. The brothers manage to work together despite being kept apart, thinking along similar lines. That says a lot about how capable the two brothers are. In previous episodes, Dean has been the brawn and Sam has been the brains. This episode requires each brother to play in the other’s comfort zone, and that’s always a good time.
With the central mystery being so simple, this episode was all about the little details. This series has always been good at keeping the details straight, so it’s no surprise that a lot of familiar theories and ideas come up along the way. That’s one of the things I really like about this series. While it would be easy to change up the rules from episode to episode, they try very hard to keep the supernatural elements within a certain set of conditions.
The episode could have relied overly much on the Linda Blair references, some of which were so good because they were so horrible, but they tried to make her character viable on its own. That can be difficult, as many fans of “X-Files” can attest. In essence, this character could have been played by anyone and it would have worked equally well, absent a few lines of dialogue.
Overall, this was a somewhat low-key episode with a well-timed guest appearance for the benefit of November sweeps. The series has been struggling in the ratings lately, but given the competition, that’s not particularly surprising. I missed some of the psychological complexities of earlier episodes this season, but it was definitely good to see previous continuity remaining at the forefront.
(As a sidenote: I also have a podcast associated with my various reviews called “Dispatches from Tuzenor”. Current episodes cover “Supernatural”, so it might be something of interest. Go to http://entil2001.libsyn.com if you want to listen!)
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 7/10
posted by John Keegan | 16:02
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