Friday, March 16, 2012

Supernatural 7x16 "Out with the Old"

Well hi! What's this? We're back from hiatus? As Abed would say, cool cool cool. Oh sorry, I'm just happy that Community has also made its return to the airwaves as well. Yes, I like shows other than Supernatural, people.

But, let's get back to business! In case you've forgotten, the Winchesters have been dealing with these Leviathan baddies since the start of the season, and they've been getting some help from a crotchety dude named Frank who knows a thing or two about going off the grid. Also, Sam's helluciantions have returned, as the last time we saw the dear boy, he started talking to Lucifer again, which apparently opened the floodgate.

Which means now, in tonight's episode, Sam hasn't been sleeping much, because it's worse when he sleeps, though we find out it's also happening while he's awake too, he just doesn't talk about it much. Luckily, he appears to have been pretty forthright about all of this with Dean, rather than keeping it hidden. You know that wouldn't have been the case not so long ago!

Recap/review of Supernatural 7x16 "Out with the Old" by freshfromthe.com
Don't touch cursed objects, kids. Use rubber gloves!
In any event, Sam's dealing with it while they discover their next case, a seemingly regular one involving some cursed objects, since they can't seem to find any concrete information on just what Dick Roman and his leviathan hordes are planning with their land in Wisconsin. This cursed object business is happening in my very own hometown - Portland, Oregon! Also, there's all sorts of snow, which is kind of hilarious because it hardly ever snows much in Portland, EXCEPT this year it has snowed a lot, and only just this past week too! Craziness! Whoa, tangent alert!

Anyway, some ballerina died by literally dancing her feet off, so the boys go to find the ballet shoes that could be the culprit, wrestling them off a little girl who had just put them on. Unfortunately, Dean happens to touch them in the process, and starts getting an urge to dance out his little heart too. Lucky for Jensen Ackles, they are able to find where the shoes came from pretty quickly - an antique shop called Out with the Old, where the owner recently opened up a bunch of curse boxes his mom had previously hidden, selling a bunch of cursed objects to locals, including those ballet slippers. He still has the boxes, though, so Dean only has to suffer one longing look at them before they go back in the box.

They find more of the empty boxes, though, and have to go track down some other objects, including a creepy gramophone (I'm not sure why anyone would want that weird music playing in their house!), a tea kettle, and a, um, "gentleman's magazine." Yeah, I don't want to know how that kills someone either, though my mind can supply enough ideas easily enough. Yikes. They get them back and stick them back in their boxes. Done, right?

Not so much, because Dean notices that all of the shops, including the Out with the Old one, have been sold to the same real estate firm, which we come to find out is run by a pair of leviathans, Joyce and her assistant George. Why are they trying to buy up all of this space? Well, that's what the boys want to find out. Dean calls up Frank for some help and they find out that the real estate firm is owned by none other than Roman Inc.

Alas, they're not going to be able to surprise attack these leviathans, because Sam has a near crash incident while falling asleep driving, prompting him to stop at a coffee hut, where assistant George sees him getting a triple Red Eye (egads!). Joyce and George get the shop owner from earlier to fake that he opened one of the cursed objects, which brings the Winchesters running, unaware that the leviathans are there waiting for them.

A fight ensues, wherein George mysteriously helps out Sam by telling him where some of that cleaning agent stuff they hate is, and pointing him in the direction of a sword in which to chop off Joyce's head, which he promptly does. Once the dust has settled, they question him - why did he help? Just what is Dick Roman planning? Turns out George just hated Joyce, he's not suddenly on their side or anything like that. And though he doesn't know the big plans per se, he does know that what they have planned for this particular section of Portland is a research facility, in order to cure cancer.

Cure cancer? Cue the confused looks. George says they're there to "help," whatever that means. It's not clear whether they end up chopping off his head too, or letting him go, but in the end the brothers pack up all of the curse boxes and drive out to catch up with Frank, only to find that his trailer has been ransacked, with blood spatters all over the place. Another ally gone! They really just need to stop dragging people into these things. They always end up dead, right?

Random Thoughts:

- In case you missed it, this episode was co-written by Jenny Klein, who I was able to interview about her experience. Check it out here if you haven't yet!

- What is the leviathan plan, anyway? I guess I've just never understood the appeal of taking over the world.

- Um, I may or may not have found myself yawning after I saw Sam yawn. I didn't know that could happen by seeing people do it on TV and not in real life, but there you go.

- Dean's face when George licked that sword - priceless. Loved that reaction shot.

- Bad Moon Rising featured at the end of the episode, the same song that was playing when the car was hit by the semi back in the season one finale. You had to know things were going to end badly as soon as that song started up.

- Next week's episode features the return of someone. Whether they are the same as when they left remains to be seen, however! And, also, Sam's condition gets markedly worse. Sammy!

Quotes:

Dean: Dancers. They are toe shoes full of crazy.
Sam: And you would know this how?
Dean: I saw Black Swan. Twice. Hot tutu on tutu action. Come on, Sam, what's wrong with you?

Dean: Although, I hear they have good coffee in Portland.
Sam: Dude, that's Seattle.

"Pas de done." - Dean

"Oh what a dreamer you are." - Dean

Dean: I wonder how old porn kills you.
Sam: You probably don't want to know.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. George's revelation about the "Big L's" reason is to benefit mankind with the ability to cure cancer, not only is it the lamest plot twist ever to lure the viewer into a false sense of security (if that was ever the case) or just misdirect them, but clearly we've seen them eat people curse the race as a disease, so when it comes down to it the Leviathans are looking to either transform the human race into L's or exterminate them. This lame twist has cemented in my mind proof that Sera and co. are running on fumes trying to extend her Leviathan plot. The show much like Sam is suffering from fatigue.

    EDIT: Got rid of the author bit because I forgot this episode was the result of a writing duo and it's impossible by me to determine who wrote which part. Though I still fault the uneven leviathan plot to my dislike of a pretty average episode.

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  3. Well, it's not optimal to have the break-ups we've had this season. I enjoyed the episode, mostly because I was just glad to see the boys back on screen. I, too, was relieved to hear Sam telling Dean all about the ongoing hellucinations. No more secretz plz.

    I'm confused about the Leviathan, but I think that's a good thing. It's better than being bored, which is what I was starting to be. And I do have those moments of-- how can they possibly beat these things?

    I liked the ballet slippers and other cursed objects-- nice little touches by the writers.

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  4. I liked the cursed objects too. I thought they were the strongest of the two plotlines. Though in my opinion being confused about the leviathan is just as worse as being bored, confusion leads to frustration, which leads to anger, which leads to suffering. hahahaha

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