Bad Day At Black Rock - A Review
Bad Day At Black Rock
Supernatural Season 3, episode #3.
Airdate: Thursday, Oct 18, 2007.
Written by Ben Edlund.
Directed by Robert Singer.
In deference to my overseas visitors who wish not to be spoiled, episode review posts and images are no longer being displayed in the blog index. Please click on the post link or go to the “Reviews” category to read a review.
-
Synopsis: Click here to read the episode summary
An unexpected call on their Dad's cell phone, sends the Winchesters to Black Rock, NY, where, unbeknownst to them, their father kept a storage container. That container has been broken into and one item, a cursed object has been taken. Confronting the thieves, the brothers inexplicably trip over themselves and end up disarmed and on the other side of their own weapons. When Sam grabs hold of a rabbit's foot, their luck immediately changed. They learn from Bobby that the rabbit's foot is cursed and when someone has it they have a run of good luck, but that luck turns fatally bad when they lose it. In a restaurant, Sam is distracted by a waitress who picks his pocket and takes the rabbit's foot. Dean goes after Bela to take it back but leaves Sam and his bad luck behind in a motel. Dean gets the rabbit's foot and his own run of good luck. Sam has to put out an A/C fire and is nearly killed by a couple hunter friends of Gordon. To remove the curse, the boys perform a cleaning ritual on the rabbit's foot, but not before another confrontation with Bela who steals Dean's winning lottery scratch-off tickets.
-
Praises: Only the third episode into Supernatural's third season and we've already got the kind of funny episode that's usually shown in the 2nd half of the season. And this episode was funny. I found myself laughing out loud several times. Jensen, as always, had great comic timing. His depiction of Dean’s childish delight in his brother's and then his own good luck was infectious. The contrast of Sam's suspicions of good luck and his fatalistic acceptance of bad luck was excellently performed by Jared. Jared really surprised me with how good his physical comedy was. The newcomer to the cast, Lauren Cohan, also made her first appearance. Her first scene was pretty good because it was unexpected. I, like the boys, was completely fooled and believed (hoped really) that Sam was going to have some “luck” with a woman for a change. But it was not meant to be. Poor Sammy, even when he has good luck, it goes completely bad when it comes to women. I'll admit that the scene where Dean confronts Bela was interesting and gave us some insights into Bela's character. However, I thought there was better chemistry between Bela and Sam in their one brief scene together. The romantic in me thinks that Bela is just the kind of woman Sam needs…a savvy, street smart female who can take care of herself…not some sweet innocent who'll just get killed or some evil, demonic bitch. Still…she did shoot Sam and rob Dean. That'll put a crimp in any potential relationship. Also back was Sam's nemesis, Gordon. In jail, but still a scary badass and still obsessed with killing Sam. He has recruited another psychotic hunter to do his dirty work so now the Winchesters have yet another opponent to worry about. Pheesh, our boys need a break!
-
Nags: Alright Kripke, enough already! I am now officially sick of seeing Ruby's oh-so-fake slo-mo fight scene from the 1st episode. Jamming her down our throats in the “then” bits is not going to get her accepted by fans any easier. In fact, it just gets our backs up. Bela's intro in this episode was definitely better than Ruby's was, but I was still disappointed. When I read about Bela's character in the pre-season, I so wanted her to steal Dean's bull amulet. Had her intro to the series brought with it the long awaited story behind Dean's mysterious amulet, it would have been an instant win. But I guess that was too much to hope for. Jensen and Lauren didn't have much onscreen chemistry. Their scenes together felt somewhat forced. Also, I'm not sure if it's supposed to be this way, but Sam seemed just too emotionally distant. At times, Jared appeared almost wooden, more like set decoration than an active participant in some scenes. That aside, I really did enjoy this light-hearted episode. It was not scary, but that's expected when the evil, supernatural thing is a rabbit's foot.
-
My Rating: Great episode. 4 out of 5 stars.
Blog (RSS)