Supernatural Virgin Diary – The mythology starts to sneak back in

Sometimes I wonder if I would be better off jumping into a show like Supernatural a season or two into things. I’ve never been a particularly big fan of this type of show’s early episodes, as the showrunners are generally concentrating more on creating a new world rather than playing in it – I actually started watching Angel this way quite by accident, and it wound up becoming one of my all time favorite shows.

I’m not saying that to complain, because building the world right is incredibly important. And I’ve enjoyed these early episodes thus far, I just have a feeling I’m going to enjoy the show more as it goes on.

(If you’re just joining, be sure to check out the previous entries in my Supernatural Virgin Diary)

“Bloody Mary”

“You’re not insane.”
“Oh God, that makes me feel so much worse.”

People sure do carry around a lot of unnecessary guilt. Sure, Blood Mary’s first couple of victims might have deserved their fate. But did Charlie and Sam? The one thing I’m quickly picking up on is that these spirits are incredibly vengeful. Charlie wasn’t complicit in her ex-boyfriend’s death, but in Sam’s case that’s a much deeper question.

The dreams that Sam has been having are what I hope to be the beginnings of the exploration of the greater mythology of the show. There are obviously connections between Jessica’s death and the death of Sam and Dean’s mother – what with the whole ceiling-consumption-in-fire thing. I know that the majority of this season will be focused on case of the week stuff, but I’ll be keying in on every morsel of mythy-goodness.

Last week fellow Clacker Deb commented that “Bloody Mary” was the episode that got her hooked. I think she’s going to be disappointed when she reads my reaction: this episode was on par with what I’ve seen so far, nothing specifically noteworthy. I hope (hint, hint) she chimes and shared with me what I didn’t see.

“Skin”

“Skin” provided a couple of Sci-Fi tropes in one episode: shape-shifters and “dark universe” alternate personalities – complete with a Vulcan Mind Meld reference. While unDean wasn’t really an alternate version of the Dean that we’ve grown to know and love, the shape-shifter had enough of his memories to make his argument with Sam believable. I’m curious  as to how much of Dean’s jealousy will rear its head in the future.

The police manhunt for Dean brings up a point that has been sitting in the back of my mind for the last couple of episodes. In “Bloody Mary,” Dean coldcocked a couple of local cops, this week he had an entire town looking for him. As the brothers continue to do their work across the country, the fingerprints and eyewitness drawings have to catch up with them at some point, right?

“Hook Man”

How do the Winchester boys manage to quite literally bungle their way into crime scenes without getting caught? “Skin” made some sense, as it had been some time since the murder. But this week’s almost lampoonish entry into the sorority house was just plain silly.

The one thing I do know about the boys is that they won’t be settling down – at least any time soon. It’s hard to imagine any one place in the country – save for perhaps Cleveland – that is so rife with enough demonic activity to keep the boys anchored down. So when Sam meets a character like Lori and actually develops a connection with them, I actually feel sad that his current life doesn’t really allow for time for a personal life. Obviously there’s going to be more to the storyline with Jessica, but that doesn’t mean he can’t partake in some genuine human interaction with someone he’s not related to, right?

Clacked by Ivey West
on Jun 07, 2012 @ 11:00 EST5EDT