Supernatural 4.2 Review: Failure is Not an Option
September 26, 2008 by Cynthia
Failure, or more precisely, “you win some, you lose some,” was the theme of this week’s episode of Supernatural “Are You There, God? It’s Me Dean Winchester.”
The tag offers up The Three Stooges sleeping in one bed and a hunter confronted by her worst nightmare — the souls of those she couldn’t save. Of course, we don’t know that until our intrepid trio start seeing ghosts of their own; Meg, Agent Hendriksen, Ronald the Mandroid hunter and a pair of creepy kids. They’re all kind of pissed off at the fact that the Winchesters and company failed to save them and they’re rubbing it in with statements that really hurt. Hendriksen tells Dean about how he had to watch Lilith peel the skin off sweet Nancy the virgin. Meg calls Sam a monster (way to hit home, lady) and the ghost girls make Bobby experience their pure terror as a monster ate them up.
(Side note, did those little girls remind anyone else of those “dead zone” cell phone commercials? Creepy.)
Apparently it’s part of the “Rising of the Witnesses” which is one of the 66 Seals that lead to the Apocalypse. Castiel says Lilith is working her way through the seals (think locked doors) and if she breaks through the last one then Lucifer will walk the earth. (Yeah, like he doesn’t already, says me.) So basically, the good guys lose this round but get out with their hearts in their chests, so good news there.
I have mixed feelings about this one. It was cool to see three of our old friends pop up to scare the guys but I feel it’s a little early in the season to give us a “locked room” episode. What I mean is, I love seeing the boys face down their own demons but I’ve already had enough of low-self-esteem Dean to last me until at least Christmas. Yes, I know that feeling like a failure is one of Dean’s big buttons, but usually he lets go of it quick in favor of protective Dean, charging in to save another damsel in distress. Think about it. Last season they were responsible for unleashing a multitude of evils upon the world and now it looks like they’re the catalyst for the coming apocalypse. If all of that is true, then Sam and Dean are better off dead. Yes, I like the twisted, turning mythology (which is only going to get worse after next week’s episode) but come on — these two can’t be responsible for all of the evil in the world. Cause, come on, Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, that creepy Burger King King. . .
I’m ready for a good old monster-of-the-week episode; Bloody Mary, Hookman, Long Distance Call. In those episodes, the writers managed to slip in plenty of personal angst amongst the ruins and that’s the way I like my emo. I’m tired of seeing the boys save no one but themselves (and Bobby). I want to see them saving little children and shrieking damsels and geeks who don’t know better than to read aloud from The Book of the Dead.
Yes, I know those episodes are coming but I would have liked to have seen them come a little sooner — as in, next week.
Which reminds me. . . guess what I have in my hot little hands. . . here’s a musical clue. . .
Photo courtesy of The CW
i think supernatural 4.02 is awesome,
i’m no comment cause supernatural rocks!!!!!!!!
dean i love you!!!!!!!!!!!
I totally agree with you in that part “these two can’t be responsible for all of the evil in the world. Cause, come on, Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, that creepy Burger King King. . .”
I really hate that! I mean they are not God, they are nothing, so, why show them like a gods? And just another thing, now, bobby has a room against all????? then, why, not to unlocked dean there, and then go after lilth? then maybe dean couldn´t kill me, so, why kripke put big mistakes here?
I am assuming you have 4.03 in your hands…which i hate you for (harsh perhaps but its just my jealousy speaking!)
as for the lack of stand-alones, i think when you bring someone back from hell by introducing an angel its fitting to spend a little time redefining the dynamics of the show. at the core of 4.02 was the arc of the season – stop Lucifier!
and as such “Save the Winchesters…Save the world” i hope the CW remembers that when it comes to giving us S5
i think supernatural is better than its ever been. The humor, story, effects, everything is spot on in my opinion
Sam looked so darn pretty in this.
Liked the episode , agree about Deans selfworth issues , sorry but it been milked for all its worth .
Ixchel, good point about the panic room – unless it’s implied that he built it in the 4 months Dean was gone. . .
to Ixchel/Cynthia re panic room… you forget no way Dean wouldve done it, hell he wouldnt even do the live forever spell …cause locking him away in a panic rm (even just to buy time!) would have been “welshing on the deal” and if they did that Sam goes back to dead!
Elaine, I did think of that but hey, knock him on the head and lock him in! I get it, it’s fiction, I just don’t like when things pop up for convenience sake — it’s like the old story telling rule, if you’re going to shoot a guy with a gun in act 3, you better see the gun over the mantel in act 1
Supernatural is up to another level till 4.2 .
lilith,angel,and the lucifer in fairy tails–of course,in black storys.THese who have real super power makes this drema more shocking and mysterious.It has become a holy war of heros,and our Dean and Sam are facing more majical things and producing more thoughts.
not too harp on the point but what if the gun was in a drawer in act 1 – does it really hurt the story when its pulled out and used in act 3 …. when the panic rm was revealed i thought duh of course Bobby would have one of these!
i do see your point with the “convenience sake” angle… cause what was up with Dean sleeping on the floor at the end, i am sure Bobby’s 2nd floor had an extra bedrm or two
I love how Meg called Sam out on Ruby. And I was pleasantly surprised to see my hawt angel of the Lord (I’m so going to hell for lusting after that guy) make an appearance in the end. I didn’t think he’d be in this episode.
Still, it’s nice to see a good funny Supernatural once in a while, so I hope there are a few of those coming up soon. Also, I’d like to see a few monster of the week episodes too. I understand Kripke’s trying to tell an epic here, but it is getting a little heavy on Winchester angst. Let’s help some other folks.
Even though I’m excited to see In The Beginning, I hope they do a little switch-up soon with some stand alone ones.
Tell me Sam appears in the flashback episode this week. Tell me so I can watch it. Because if Sam’s not there, I’m not watching. I absolutely, totally and completely refuse to continue watching the Dean Show. I am so tired of Kripke shoving Sam into the background in deference to Dean and his self esteem and daddy issues. The entire first half of season 2 was all about Dean and his grief (we did not get one single episode about Sam and his potential grief, even though he was the one with the contentious relationship with John and had to shoot him and found him dead!). Then it was all about how John’s secret about Sam made Dean feel. Then Sam died and came back, and it was all about Dean’s deal and how Sam’s death made him feel. Now, yet another season of Dean evaluating his self worth, plus ANOTHER episode of him hanging out with family, this time with grandparents! Hello, Mary apologized to SAM in Home! Sam has never met his mother, Sam had the unfinished business with his father, Sam was the one who wanted normal, Sam was the one who was researching about Mary, Sam was the one who the YED informed that Mary knew him. I’m incredibly resentful of the fact that once again, only Dean gets to hang out with his family and only Dean gets to discover the family secret and only Dean gets to the special saintly one. The lack of any movement in character or plot for Sam is enough to make me stop watching this show, because frankly, it’s been four years now and I’ve gotten no payoff. Seriously. Dean’s got the characterization, the family connection, the active plot, the Angel, the mytharc, the spoilers and all of Kripke’s love. And Sam? Sam has a backwater plot presence and Ruby. Who sucks even more this season than she did last season.
While this episode was more low-key than the dynamic S4 premier, I didn’t construe it as an angsty episode for the boys; not even for Bobby. They were caught off guard, sure. But I didn’t interpret their shows of sorrow at loosing people as pity-me or boo-hoo. More as just that – sorrow that people died. Maybe you’re reading too much into this episode, Cynthia? Anyway, I agree that it would have been cool to have had this “reunion” episode as #4 or #5 in the season, but I’m not complaining! I just love that Supernatural is back on the air!
Katie – Considering Sam has been keeping secrets about their – notice I said THEIR – mother for the past 2 seasons, having Dean go back and see his mother and father is only fair play. And if you’ve missed the growth and action regarding Sam, then I have no idea which show you’re watching, because you’re not watching supernatural. Watch, don’t watch … only you really care about that one. But if you insist on the melodramatics, go to the Sam forum at supernatural.tv.com. I’m sure there’s a thread for those who can’t seem to see how much Sam has changed over the last season. Otherwise, how about sparing the general supernatural fandom who love both guys the tantrum?
Dean and Sam are not responsible for unleashing evil last season. Just because Isaac blamed them for it(when he wasn’t even there) does not mean they are or ever have been responsible. We saw with our own eyes what happened. Jake opened the gate, Jake let out the demons. The only thing Dean, Sam, Bobby and Ellen are responsible for is not being able to stop him in time and I didn’t exactly see any OTHER hunters around trying to stop him. He was going to do that whether or not Dean, Sam, Bobby and Ellen were there, in fact he would have done it and then gone on to be their general.
As for Dean’s self worth issues, I didn’t see them in this episode. They were all taunted, they were all affected. They all helped stop the effects of the witnesses. Only someone who was truly arrogant, which Dean is not, would not wonder “Why me?” upon being told an angel from God gripped them tight and raised them from perdition, it’s got nothing to do with self-esteem. What I saw was Dean saying “Yeah I’ve done some good things, saved some lives but helloo? Why would that rate there being any good reason to pull me out of Hell after I’d made a deal of my own free will to go there?”
As for Sam, I’ve seen plenty of character development for him. Most of the first half of Season 3 focused on Sam’s feelings, and yes much of it was about his feelings regarding Dean’s deal and how that made him feel, but most of the previous two seasons Dean’s character development focused on Dean’s reacting Sam’s situation and at the time we were certainly told over and over again that was a great storyline and just as important as Sam’s destiny(all of which he still had last season and we learned about some of it). Even after that with Mystery Spot, Ghostfacers, Time is on My Side and No Rest for the Wicked – we saw how Sam was feeling, what he was willing to consider. That’s character development people. I tend to think it’s less that Sam hasn’t gotten any character development and more that perhaps some people don’t like the character development he has gotten and prefer to ignore it and say it didn’t happen.
Katie….Sam WILL be in next weeks episode. I just don’t know how much, but there are promo shots clearly showing him with Ruby.
Where did all this Sam/Dean-let-the-demons-out nonsense come from? It’s like a crazy game of telephone that has spun out of control and has somehow become truth.
Jake opened the Hell’s gate. Jake let the demons out. The gate would have opened if Sam and Dean had decided to go to Vegas that day, rather than try to save the world. Albeit, they weren’t able to stop it — but they weren’t responsible for it being opened.
I would like everyone in the SN verse to stop blaming them for opening the gate and letting all the demons out. They didn’t. PLUS, they managed to kill a major badass demon (Azazel/YED) in the process.