Supernatural season two episode reviews

Season 2, Episode 1. "In My Time of Dying" picks up seconds after the events of the season finale. And, since it brings the multi-episode story of the gun to a conclusion, it would have worked just fine as a season-ender itself. It's another superb episode. Hovering near death, Dean is a spirit in this one. Wandering the halls of a hospital while his brother and father watch on. He finds he is not alone however: there's another spirit trapped, too. And, being Supernatural, it's a pretty girl in need of help.

Except, of course, that's not what is going on, at all! And, boy, was I ever surprised by the twist! Jensen Ackles does some of his best ever work in this one, as Dean has to come to terms with his fate. As always on this show, the action is driven by the characters.

The twist in the father's storyline took me by surprise, also. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense. And it's really the only logical way for things to end. Yet, as I watched it, I was totally sucked it. And, in the final scenes, I was glued to the screen almost crying out "No!" as I waited for the dreadful events to unfold.

Heartbreaking, exceptional storytelling.

Season 2, Episode 2. I have mixed feelings about "Everybody Loves A Clown". Following the episodes with the father was always going to be difficult but I'm not sure that this was the way to go. The case-of-the-week was average. But, on this show, 'average' is really quite good. Killer Clowns are an interesting idea, which crops up from time to time. It works fine here, but I wonder if every kid would really invite a clown into their house in the middle of the night? In this day and age? Hmmm...

The character-work between the brother was top notch. And the real joy of this episode was in watching the brothers closely to see how each was coping with the violent and sudden death of their father. In this respect the show did not disappoint. It never does.

No, what bugged me about this episode were the supporting characters. Who appear (from this episode) to be a bunch of new regulars for the boys to work with on occasion. This is exactly what the show does not need! And all three of the new characters are straight from the Big Book of Bad TV Clichés: a cute girl, a nerd and a mother figure. Yuck, yuck and double yuck! Chad Lindberg is particularly annoying in his role as the computer geek. Alona Tal is cute. Way too cute for this show. She's just wrong. And while Samantha Ferris is very good in her role, I hated the character because it felt like the she was being offered up as quick replacement for the boys' father. Not something I want to see. In the episode after his death or in any future episode.

What the show needed here, I feel, was an episode where the boys are alone and devastated. Where they find their way forward - together - by doing what they do. Instead they have their newest case handed to them by Ellen. And I lost interest. The appearance of this sudden family unit takes away a lot of the loneliness of their situation.

Also, the world of Supernatural is uniquely male. The undercurrent of the show has always been the love between brothers and the love between father and son(s). Plus, the world of the hunters has always been shown to be a world of lonely solitary men, driven by a need to destroy evil. Men with not much else in their lives. Now, suddenly, we learn that they have a bar to go to and swap notes. And there's a cute girl in the middle of all this, too. No, thanks! We've already had that show. It's time to do a different take on this. Hopefully, this pseudo-family won't be around for long... I'm more tempted than ever to check spoilers/cast lists for future episodes to see where all of this is going, but I'm better off not knowing I suppose.

Season 2, Episode 3. "Bloodlust" I didn't like this episode at all. This is the one where they put forward the idea that everything supernatural doesn't have to be killed and introduce some nice vampires (who live off cow blood). I watch Supernatural for a lot of reasons. But not to see rehashed ideas from other shows! It was painful to see the show deliver such a pedestrian script. I knew right from the start where this was going. Once the other hunter was introduced I figured out they would ending up fighting him, one of them (probably Dean) being late into the fight and - at the end of it all - the brothers would be a bit closer. Or something.

One of the strengths of this show is that you cannot write the final scene after watching the first ten minutes. And this week, much to my disappointment, I could.

I also strongly feel that there is no place for "nice" supernatural entities in the world of this show. We've seen that. Supernatural should be more of a bleak world-vision. I keep saying that. But only because that was the way it was during season one and I don't want the show 're-vamped'.

Plus, in another of my pet-hates, in a moment of crisis I do not want to see Sam phoning his Mommy-figure back at the bar. Sam shouldn't be telling Dean "X is bad because so-and-so tells me", he should be saying "X is bad news because my gut instinct tells me". That's cooler. And more interesting.

So, did I like anything about this episode? Yes, two things. The pre-credits sequences was supremely creepy and the idea of Dean opening up about his grief to an outsider is brilliant.



Season 2, Episode 4. "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" Now this is more like it! A really good episode. The story is much better than the previous one, and it's fits into the ongoing character arc for Dean in a much more natural way. While the parallels with their own father's death and their feelings about it seemed forced in the previous episode, in this outing every reference to the dead and the desire to bring them back seemed natural and worked wonderfully. In context of what the brothers have just gone through. This would have made a much better Episode 2.

Great guest casting helps make for a strong episode. Tamara Feldman is very scary as the Big Bad Evil and Christopher Jacot is wonderfully earnest as the guy who brings her back from the dead. For love. Poor schmuck!

This show is remarkable in the way is balances comedy with the serious/sad stuff happening on-screen and never seems to trivialise the pains of the guest characters. This episode is a prime example. Dean and the dead girl's female friend share a scene which is works perfectly on two levels. We are engaged and sad for the girl grieving over her dead friend, and we are laughing at Dean. How the show plays both cards together impresses me. Every week.

The character work on the boys is top notch. It always is. From silly stuff (Dean catches his younger brother watching motel porn) to weighty stuff (Dean finally talks out his feelings on their father's death). "A+" stuff all the way. That final scene was gobsmacking. I didn't expect it. I didn't expect Dean to say that stuff. Man, I can't wait to see what happens next. I'm so glad Sam didn't give him any trite answers before the show faded to black. I had a few written in my own head as I watched, but - upon reflection - they all sucked and the show ending was... perfect.

Season 2, Episode 5. "Simon Said" Bit of a mixed bag, this one. But not evenly mixed. I'd call this one as 80% good and 20% bad. The case-of-the-week is terrific, and anything to do with the Roadhouse sucks. Even better/worse this episode gave two completely new reasons to hate the Roadhouse!

Dean and Sam find themselves up against a foe who can make people do whatever he tells them do (in one hilarious scene Dean cheerfully gives up his car). The story has a great cast and a nice twist. I knew there would be a twist, but I completely picked the wrong person. As a seasoned TV Viewer I knew from the start that the guy with the power wouldn't turn out to be the bad guy, but I totally love the way the brothers also suspected it. Right from the start, they were willing to debate whether the guy with the power was actually evil or not. Sure, each one of the brothers had his own reason for saying what he said, but - still - it's writing like this that makes them seem smart and keeps me interested. As I've said before there is nothing worse than a show where the viewer at home is always two steps ahead of the hero.

So, a good case, a good foe and a good climax.

Then there's the (stupid) Roadhouse. Now, instead of merely travelling from A to B when there is trouble, the boys travel to the Roadhouse to ask their computer geek friend where to go?! Stupid, stupid, stupid! That totally undermines the lead characters, and is a total step-back from what they were able to do back in Season One, where they were a force to be reckoned with: following clues around the country and getting information any way they could. Now, we get to see Sam sitting and telling some (annoying) character what to type into a computer. Impotent, much?

Plus, it reeks of the sort of silly re-vamp that made Knight Rider even worse in it's 4th season. Not only was KITT rebuilt by a gang of street-kids (give me a break) but now he could change shape and rush to the rescue. Suddenly he was always miles away for the climax of every episode and had to rush! to! the! rescue! Very exciting. But silly, considering he never needed to do that before. Now, suddenly, we find Dean and Sam asking Ash for directions. Huh? They never needed to do that before.

But, that is as nothing compared to the ill-conceived final scene: where the boys are scolded and forced to confess about what is going on with them. Yes, Eric Kripke, because there is nothing cooler than seeing our heroes being chastised by their "Mum". (Next season on 24! Jack Bauer's mother makes him apologise!).

Seriously, this show does not need an authority figure. It's so fundamentally wrong for the show that I wonder does the production company even fully understand it's appeal. Aside from the fact that it makes them less cool, the show is about orphans on the road. That's the frakkin' point of the show. Now, suddenly, they have a mum to worry about them and scold them. Yuck. That's a different show.

Luckily, this crap is kept to a minimum and the rest of the episode is stellar stuff. If I was a more obsessive fan, I might do a little DVD editing and remove the scenes with the Roadhouse from the episode for all future viewings.

Oh, one final thing: is the show now going for romance between Dean and Jo? I thought the hint was that she was his sister? Or am I missing something here. It doesn't help that Jensen Ackles and Alona Tal have zero on-screen chemistry.

Season 2, Episode 6. "No Exit" A good case-of-the-week and a nice break-from-formula with Sam taking a back seat (maybe due to Jared Padalecki's injured hand?) while Jo and Dean get most of the scenes. I've not liked Jo very much so far in the series, but I did enjoy her presence in this episode. It was fun to see Dean partnered with someone else and some of the scenes did a nice job of bringing out some new details about him. I don't buy them as a couple, but I could see him liking her and wanting to take care of her (like a little sister, maybe?). The twist at the end - which now gives her a reason to want to stay away from him - was pretty good. I'm interested enough by the revelation that I want to know the story behind it. My guess is that the mother-and-daughter are having a knee-jerk reaction to something that will turn out to be understandable.

The mother-and-daughter aspects of this episode are the only parts I didn't enjoy. I don't like them so I don't care to watch a scene of them fighting. It's a waste of time anyway, that scene at the very start, since even the most naive of viewers can predict from the get-go that Jo is going to disobey her mother and join the boys. And it's sad to see the show get predictable like this, since it spent the first season being quite fresh and un-predictable.

One final point: I absolutely hate it when Ellen scolds the boys. She's not their frakkin' mother and - as I wrote before - giving the boys an authority figure is a huge mistake for the show.

Never mind. Good episode.

Season 2, Episode 7. "The Usual Suspects" A great episode and an instant addition to my list of Best Ever Supernatural Episodes. It deviates from formula, has a very strong story, a non-supernatural foe and two of my most favourite actors (Keegan Connor Tracy and Jason Gedrick). Add Linda Blair to the mix and you have a major win for the Supernatural team. I've not seen much of Blair but she's the one carrying this episode (it's from her point of view and she's pretty much in every scene) and she is fantastic.

Yes, it was easy to see who the bad guy would turn out to be (in the big twist ending) but, hey, you can't have everything. They made references to X-Files, CHiPs and Jim Rockford... I'm more than happy!

Season 2, Episode 8. "Crossroad Blues" A great case-of-the-week episode. It opens with a very stylish flashback to the 1930s and all scenes set there look great. The present day story (of ordinary folk achieving greatness by making a deal with a demon) is much better than it has any right to be. It's an old story. But the show finds a way to make it top notch entertaining. Firstly the people who's lives are affected by the Demon are interesting (especially the painter who asked for talent, not fame/fortune, poor schlub) and secondly the show ties this week's story into the backstory of the show (the brothers talking about the deal their dad made for the first time).

The death scene where the invisible hell hound killed the doctor lady is one of the scariest scenes they have ever had on the show. And Jeannette Sousa joins Nicki Aycox as one of the very best foes/demon girls the guys have ever encountered. She was mean with a capital M (and hot with a capital H). The climax with Dean matching wits with the demon was fantastic. The great thing about this show is that even when we know Dean is lying about his Dad in order to set a trap we also know that he means every word. That's great writing.

Season 2, Episode 9. "Croatoan" Beyond superb. This was something special. Maybe I just have a weak spot for stories like this... who knows? For whatever reason, I loved every single second of this amazing episode. This is the sort of TV hour I would rewatch over and over if I had enough spare time. The boys arrive in a town and soon find themselves trapped with a few innocents while absolutely everyone else in town goes crazy. It's the Supernatural take on every zombie movie you have every loved and I have to marvel at the way the writers can incorporate stock ideas into the world of the show and make them work.

If you accept that Supernatural is X-Files for the 00s then you must accept that they have much more restricted palette from which to craft their stories. I mean, the clue is in the title: all stories must involve the supernatural! So, from the get-go lots of stock sci-fi/fantasy ideas are off the table. Yet, the show finds inventive ways to bring stuff onto the show that you might never expect. In this tale, you get all the beats you'd expect to find in Zombie flicks, or tales of alien possession, or standard stories of apocalyptic plagues. But, no... it's all tied to the recurring demon/evil on the series. Now, that's clever TV.

As for the actual story itself: Wow. Intense stuff. Not just in terms of what happens to everyone in the story, but based on the character drama between the two brothers. Dean has never been cooler, or - in the same beat - more chilling and scary. Jared Padalecki does some of his best work on the show, as Sam faces his own death. He really nailed it. No over-the-top antics, he just conveyed the weight falling on Sam's shoulders as contemplated his fate and totally pulled us in to feel it too. I knew that Sam wasn't going to die (Hello!) but the point was making the audience feel his pain and marvel - yet again - at the amount of suffering this poor guy has to go through.

Supernatural's ace-in-the-hole is the ability is tell strong stand-alone stories and use each one to examine (and lay bare) the characters of the men at the centre of it all. Thirty episodes in and the show has delivered two of TV's best ever heroes. Very real people in the middle of un-real stories.

Season 2, Episode 10. "Hunted" We finally hear what John said to Dean and... it's a bit of an anti-climax, to be honest. The episode plays fair, however, and we do learn what might be in store for Sam. But his father said very little about it to Dean and I feel a bit cheated that the show teased us for so long about it and delivered very little. When we do learn the 'big secret' it turns out to be from a minor recurring character. Strange storytelling choice.

Apart from that it's a bit of an non-entity episode. Sam goes solo, does some digging, meet a cute girl and gets in trouble. Dean appears mid-way through the episode, gets tied up and that's about it. There's nothing much to get excited about, or interested in. The revelation of Sam's future, though it comes from an unexpected source, is very good and promises of much goodness to come...

Season 2, Episode 11. "Playthings" Apart from a "twist" - which is easy to predict - this is a solid and very enjoyable outing. I like the idea of an episode set in a big, creepy old hotel and the show makes the most of the setting. There's some great comedy (with Dean worried about how people perceive them) and some creepy guest characters (the old lady and the ghost kid). I also like the fact that the boys weren't the ones to save the day.

Season 2, Episode 12. "Nightshifter" Superb! Sam and Dean trapped in a bank siege with a crazed gunman, hostages and a shape-shifting supernatural evil. The gunman is after the same supernatural evil that they are, but methods cause a lot of problems for the boys, putting them very much on the FBI's radar (an excellent Charles Malik Whitfield).

From the get-go this is a flawless outing. Great character work as Sam now acts like the tough one when it comes to dealing with the general public. His tough-love methods make sense (and prove tragically prophetic). The action inside the bank is thrilling from start to finish. I defy anyone to predict what will happen next, at any time. When the sniper fired the kill shot I was breathless with shock. And the mechanics of those final minutes (the boys and the two identical girls) were as clever as anything I have ever seen.

Season 2, Episode 13. "Houses of the Holy" A so-so episode. The story is good, but the conflict between the brothers is a bit too manufactured for my liking. Sam thinks the supernatural force at work could be an angel, while Dean reveals that he has no belief in angels. They argue about this a lot and I wasn't buying any of it. I mean, there's already so much conflict inherent in the characters that this seems too contrived to be needed. Even worse was the ending where each brother has come to see things from the other's perspective. It's a solid stand-alone story idea (for a movie or a book) but as part of this television series? I'm not sure it belongs here. It's hard to be invested in a fight that - you know - will never be mentioned again in the series.

Season 2, Episode 14. "Born Under a Bad Sign" Back on form, the show delivers one of it's best-ever episodes. It's a two-hander (hardly anyone else appears in the story) and it's an acting tour-de-force for both men. Jared Padalecki gets to play real Sam (briefly), fake Sam and bad-ass demon. He looks like he is having a ton of fun in all three parts. Jensen Ackles gets to play out some of Dean Winchester's toughest-ever moments (and that is saying something).

The story is simply superb. The mystery is completely engrossing and the ending - when it comes - is perfectly obvious and makes perfect sense. Yet, I truly never saw it coming, such is the skill of the writing and acting. It's the tale of what happens when Dean finds Sam one week after he went missing. Learning that his brother has no memory of that week, Dean takes him on a quest to find the truth and learns that Sam has killed someone. Is this the turning point heralding everything that Dean was warned about by his father? Is Sam about to go all Dark Sam on us?

Much as I love Sam, I'm starting to realise what an epic heroic figure Dean truly is. He's starting to edge his way (in my affections) up alongside people like Carl Kolchak, Fox Mulder, Jack Bauer and Alex Mahone. Watching him deal with the dilemma in this episode was painful. Watching him come to the realisation that he might - one day - have to kill Sam and just as quickly realise that he can never do that. Even when truly provoked: watching Sam torture a loved one.

Sam's fate is a cruel one. But at least it is clear. As a hero, his journey is clear. Escape the curse, fight fate and overcome the demon/prophecy.

Dean, however, has been cursed with choice. He has two routes to heroism. Kill his brother or fight alongside him to overcome the oncoming doom. It is this choice (and the fact that his character will allow him no choice) that makes Dean the truly epic hero of the two.

Dean's becoming my favourite anyway. I often think of a comedy moment from an earlier episode and how much it really says about the man. When Sam mentions myspace and Dean has no clue what it is ("it is a porn site?" he grins) we laugh. But, upon reflection, we can see that this is a solid character moment. Dean is outside the terms of pop culture. He is not one of us. He protects us. And, like Carl Kolchak before him, he is alone because of that. Even with his brother beside him, (thanks to this season's story arc) he remains very much alone.

Season 2, Episode 15. "Tall Tales" I love Jim Beaver. His character is just what the show needs (not that stupid bar!). The actor brings to life the sort of no-nonsense character who would never believe in all this supernatural crap. Consequently, his presence makes everything else in the show seem more real. The two women in the bar, and the computer geek, are prime examples of bad television stereotypes. But a character like Bobby Singer, as the hero in a fantasy show? Nah, you don't see that very often.

But I digress...

This is the funny episode of Supernatural. They tried this before (Season 1, Episode 17) and I hated it. It made things silly, and compromised the world of Supernatural.

That is not the case this time. What you get here is a delightful hour of TV. The show uses one of television's stand-by ideas (story is told in flashback from different perspectives) to great comedic effect. We get to see the brother's perceptions of each other and (tellingly) of themselves. And the actors are simply superb. Scene after scene is laugh out loud funny. Best bits? Dean recalls Sam getting all emotional and hugging some random guy, Sam recalls Dean scoffing free food while questioning someone, Dean and Sam have very different versions of Dean's lady friend at the bar, and many more. I also loved the very last shot.

Season 2, Episode 16. "Roadkill" is close to being the best episode of Supernatural. Predictable, but nonetheless powerful, it stars Tricia Helfer as a young woman on the run from a vengeful ghost. It's the middle of the night (of course) and it's a deserted stretch of highway (of course) when Molly and her husband have a car crash. Molly wakes to find her husband gone from the wreckage and herself the target of a powerful, evil spirit. She runs and runs. And runs right out in front of Sam and Dean Winchester. Who, strangely, have no problems believing that she might be on the run from a ghost. Much to Molly's surprise it's almost as if these two wanderers are prepared to go fighting ghosts. And, before long, the three of them trek back into the scary woods to find the ghost and - Molly hopes - her missing husband.

It's a terrific episode. Tricia Helfer is wonderful (as always) and her performance anchors the episode from start to finish. It's rare (and wonderful) to have an outsider (a normal person) reacting to the crazy things that the brothers have to do on a regular basis. Helfer doesn't get all the acting honours, however, as both the regulars give it their all, as well. And the script not only tells a great story from start to finish, but it also serves to expand the world of Supernatural and define a lot of the rules of what happens there. A+ from me.

Season 2, Episode 17. "Heart" Great performances, but a story that veers too close to silly for comfort. Emmanuelle Vaugier makes a great guest star, but her romance with Sam happens way too fast and the 'emotional' climax left me closer to laughter than tears. It just seemed too absurd for me to buy into. Plus, we'd already seen that it was possible to contain her when she became a werewolf, so killing her at the end seems a tad unnecessary. It's also the exact premise of She-Wolf Of London and they found a way to make it work on that show. Call me a heartless bastard, but I think this is a low-point for Supernatural.

Season 2, Episode 18. "Hollywood Babylon" Another funny episode? So soon? And one that really works, too. In-jokes abound as the boys go-Hollywood and join the production crew on a horror flick. Dean is hilarious in pretty-much every scene. But, right across the board, the script is a gem.

Comedy and Horror go together very well on TV. Kolchak: The Night Stalker (the best show in the genre) was very funny and very scary. The X-Files got funny after they moved production to California and managed to poke fun at Fox Mulder and the conventions of the show without ever compromising the integrity of the character or the drama of the stories.

Lots of other shows (She-Wolf Of London, Special Unit 2, etc.) have been both funny and 'scary'.

Supernatural seems, late in this second season, to be finding it's funny bone. And Dean, much like Fox Mulder before him, is the target of a lot of that. Deciding to make the show's most tragic/heroic character a figure of fun is undertaking a dangerous balancing act but the series (and the actor) pulls it off with no strain. Dean is frakkin' hilarious. He's such a goofball and I love him. Betraying his fanboy roots when face-to-face with a modern scream queen. It seems right, somehow, that this kid who knows nothing of pop culture would have found time to devote his free time to the world of low-budget horror flicks.

Comedy aside, this is a great case-of-the-week. Inventive and entertaining. The writers (having well established the rules of this world) now continue to find clever ways to change things around).

Season 2, Episode 19. "Folsom Prison Blues" Solid case-of-the-week with a great gimmick/change-of-pace (the boys are in prison). When they were arrested I was fooled for a minute or two, but I quickly remembered the opening lines of dialogue and realised (just before the script told me) that this was all part of the plan. Wonderful. I don't like heroes who stumble into cases, it's much cooler that the guys are masters of their own destiny and plan everything.

Garwin Sanford, Jeff Kober and Charles Malik Whitfield are three of my favourite performers and each one gets great material in this episode. Sanford usually plays assholes. Not this time. He's a great good guy in this one. And gets to be the source of the episode's other twist. This one I did not see coming, but I had my suspicions.

Had I been the writer of this story, I would have kept the boys from making direct contact with Kober's character for much longer and made the audience think for longer that he was their inside man.

Season 2, Episode 20. "What Is and What Should Never Be" Wow. I admire the way this show can take standard stories of sci-fi/fantasy and bring them into it's own narrowly-defined mythos. When they were able to do the Zombies overrun the town plot and make it work I came to the conclusion that they can make any story work on Supernatural.

And, gosh darn it, I was right again!

This week, they have a go at doing the ol' Parallel World storyline: where the hero gets to see an alternate version of himself/herself and various other series regulars. Many shows have used this idea to shed new light on the characters and, even when it fails to have depth, the tales are usually a lot of fun.

The SN version is the best of both worlds. Because the 'world' that we are seeing is generated by Dean's deepest wish, we can surmise a great deal about him from what we see onscreen. And, of course, because everybody in it hasn't been scarred by the events of the real world we get to admire the coolness of all these people being shown to us in a new way. In the case of two of them, just being alive is what's cool. And in the case of Sam Jared Padalecki gets to present us with another version of the hero. He's played a couple of versions of Sam in recent weeks and this time out we get to see a Sam who has lived a normal life.

But the episode is not about Sam, it's about Dean. It's about what he wants and - in the end - it's about what he fears.

The first third is mostly light-hearted. Dean's reactions to the world are wonderfully funny. SN has started being funny, now, and I like it. There are many wonderful scenes/moments. My favourite is the lawn-mowing bit, where Dean waves to the guy across the street with unabashed glee. Then he sits and Jensen Ackles delivers an amazing look of self-referential 'knowingness' that speaks volumes for what is really going through at that exact moment.

By the mid-third things have started to go awry, as Dean learns that his dream world is not all that it is cracked up to be. For all that he has, there is something that he does not have: a close relationship with his brother.

Why, one wonders, can the genie (for it is a genie that is doing all of this) not deliver unto Dean a perfect world where is also very close with his brother? I have no easy answer. But I can surmise that because the world is a reflection of the man (and Dean is no fool) it must adhere to certain basic rules of common sense. Deep down Dean knows that their hunting days have brought them together. So in a world without that spark, their friendship lies dormant.

Of course, the episode could have taken it in another direction. Dean's fantasy could have had them as best friends. And Dean's intelligence could lead him to be troubled by that and question it. Thus leading to the same story resolution. Either version works. Bottom line: Dean it too smart to be fooled or - more important - fool himself.

Also, and this is a different take on things: Dean's never had it easy. There's always been a fly in the ointment. Why should his fantasy world be any different?

By the final third, the story has gotten truly cool. Dean realises that it's all a dream and sets about fighting his way out. If the episode has a flaw it's the fact that Sam was there waiting for him when he opened his eyes. Yes, Sam would obviously track him down, he knows - roughly - where he was so that's not the issue I have. I just feel it would have been more powerful if Dean had fought his way out and found himself alone and trapped. Briefly. Then, Sam could have arrived to the rescue. I would have liked to see Dean hit rock bottom (having left the perfect world behind him) before his brother (the real reason he left) showed up and lifts him up again.

But this is a minor quibble.

I loved this episode. And it cements my belief that Dean is an epic heroic figure burdened by choices that his brother does not have to make. This time out he chose to sacrifice an entire world of perfection because he loves, and wants to be with, his brother.

Season 2, Episode 21. "All Hell Breaks Loose" It's been a great season for Supernatural. They've added humour to the mix. They've locked down and defined a lot of the rules of their world, while - at the same time - broadened out the show by doing standard stories from the Fantasy genre (Zombie Flick, Parallel World, I can't wait to see them do a time travel story!).

This one is basically a superhero story. Sam and a bunch of people with powers are locked in a ghost town and must fight to the death. The opening reminded me of the first X-Men movie (they even have a Rogue character). The group is likable, there are some surprises in what happens and the demon's plan (although completely goofy) makes sense.

The roadhouse is burned down (Yay!) and the cliffhanger is stunning. Roll on part two...

Season 2, Episode 22. "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part Two" Well, it's not the best episode of Supernatural, but it's a very good one and it's a perfect ending to the story arc of the Fredric Lehne Demon. He even gets his commuppance in glorious slo-mo at the hands of Dean using the gun introduced last season. It's very satisfying. And it speaks of a well planned-out story arc.

Even better it sets up (what appears to be) a great storyline for the third season.

My only gripe is with the Demon's plan. 23 years for this? Really? Was all of this really necessary? And, yes, I know I'm over-thinking it. And, also, missing the point of the episode. What's the point of the episode? Well, Dean hits rock bottom without Sam and does something typically noble/stupid. And it's great. Every darned second of it. But the rest of the episode is just kinda goofy and doesn't really bear too much thinking about.