Supernatural Station

Supernatural Season 3, episode #1.
Airdate: Thursday, Oct 4, 2007.
Written by Eric Kripke
Directed by Kim Manners.

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• Synopsis: Click here to read the episode summary

  A week has passed since hundreds of demons were released into the world. Dean is living it up and Sam is being tolerant of him. When Bobby recruits the boys to investigate a demonic omen, they find a entire family lying dead in front of their TV. An unprovoked attack on a shopper over a pair of shoes, leads the Winchesters to a bar run by a group of demons. When a hunter duo walks into the bar unawares, the Winchesters and Bobby come to their rescue, saving the woman but too late for her husband. This brings them up against the pack of demons, each one representing one of the 7 deadly sins. Hunkered down in a house outside of Lincoln, Nebraska, they confront the demons, sending them back to hell. That is, except for the three who were killed by the mysterious, dagger-wielding Ruby, who came to Sam’s aid when he was cornered by them.

• Praises: I will admit to being pathetically eager for this season opener. I learned to stay away from spoilers after last seasons' gave me false hopes that all 3 Winchesters would survive (I still miss John, damn it!), so apart from the appearance of Katie Cassidy, this episode was almost completely new for me. I liked the idea of the 7 deadly sins and the actor who played “pride” was a riot. It was amusing how Sam and “pride” recognized each other right away. In comparison, Dean and “lust” were lackluster. There were several funny one-liners in this episode, and not just uttered by Dean, either. Bobby got a laugh from me with his “fat, drunk and stupid” line and Sam had several good quips as well. There was also plenty of the ground level camera angles and dramatic lighting that is now synonymous with the show. I particularly liked the upside down angles from the scene where Bobby practically stepped over Dean to greet the other hunters. That hunter-duo was a fascinating couple. We were given just enough of their story to like them and to feel the pain of their loss. The new regular Ruby, made a couple brief and mysterious appearances. I had problems with this character as you will see in the nags section, but I have to admit that my interest was peaked when she was recognized by one of the demons that hasn’t been topside since the middle ages. Oh yeah, I also liked the new "Supernatural" logo as well.

• Nags: This episode delivered the standard Supernatural fare, but it was missing something…that extra umph to take it a step above good. Maybe my expectations were too high and I couldn't help but be a little disappointed with the reality. With the exception of “pride”, the demons representing the 7 deadly sins were neither scary nor very interesting. Lust wasn't sexy. Gluttony wasn't portly enough. Envy was just boring. And the others were practically invisible. I have no idea which one was sloth, greed, or [what is that 7th sin?]. After the brief glimpses of Ruby, my first judgement is…disappointing! How am I supposed to take her seriously as demon hunter when she fights with her long, blonde hair loose and flowing around her face? She must be real talented to be able to do battle with her vision obscured like that. In any real fight, that hair would be an easy weapon for her opponent to use against her. (Has Kripke never seen a cat fight?) But the biggest WTF moment was when I saw “Katie Cassidy” listed as a star of the show, with her name coming right after Jensen Ackles in the credits. Not even Jeffrey Dean Morgan had that billing. This means she’s not just coming in as a recurring role, but as a main member of the cast. This change in the dynamics of the show is going to be hard to accept. I doubt if many fans will like it.

• My Rating: Good episode. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 6th, 2007 at 2:05 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.