Supernatural 2.18: "Hollywood Babylon"

Written by Ben Edlund
Directed by Philip Sgriccia

As I’ve mentioned on several occasions, the best aspect of “Supernatural” is the psychological and emotional development of the Brothers Winchester. Just about every self-contained situation relates in some fashion to the internal struggles plaguing Sam and Dean as they continue their travels. This gives the writers a unique benefit: they can explore long-term character arcs and themes while dedicating episodes to very specific “scary” concepts.

This is where “Supernatural” has exceeded its “X-Files” forebear. As mentioned in the review for “Tall Tales”, I noted that it matched the best self-mocking episodes of that classic by taking the absurdity and relating it directly to the mindset and perception of each brother. There is a cautionary side to the comparison, however. “X-Files” had more than a few “humorous” episodes that never really came together as anything more than a failed attempt to poke fun at someone.

This episode of “Supernatural” is poised on the edge of falling into that abyss, and that’s rather unfortunate. The main complaint is the lack of psychological and emotional context. Granted, Dean is trying to give Sam a kind of vacation, but it feels more like a knowing send-up of “Scream” or its many derivatives than something that fits into the “Supernatural” mode.

From a certain point of view, the writer (who is actually one of my favorite writers in the business) is focusing more on the producers and the people making “Supernatural” than the characters themselves. There’s a lot of talk about the ruthless creative process and how misfortunes are transformed into opportunities, and as a general commentary on the business, that’s great. But what does it tell us about the Winchesters?

It almost feels like the network had been giving the producers a note for months, saying that they wanted to lighten things up, and the writing room came up with this as the solution. I’m just not sure that it’s enough to make it a strong episode of “Supernatural”. The tone is remarkably bland for even a dry send-up of Hollywood nonsense, and there’s very little to tie these events into the larger context of the second season.

On that note, we do see Dean in a lighter moment, taking full advantage of the opportunity to set aside his angst. He gets to bed a hot young “starlet” and meet some of the most obscure bit-part actors in the horror genre. All of that makes sense under the circumstances. Similarly, Sam is frustrated with his brother’s apparent lack of seriousness and dedication. Since he sees service to others as his best path to deliverance from a dark destiny, “vacation” is practically a four-letter word.

Had some of those aspects been more prominent, in favor of the focus on mocking the production staff, the episode might have felt less contrived. Perhaps this simply was a case of bad timing, or a reflection of personal tastes not aligning. It was a competent enough episode that seemed to hit its target well enough, but I’m not entirely sure that it was a solid entry for “Supernatural”.

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

Final Rating: 6/10