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Supernatural: Jus in Bello

Henriksen: "I, uh, I shot the sheriff."
Dean: "But you didn't shoot the deputy."

Just when I really started liking Agent Henriksen, they killed him off. Bummer. What a hunter he would have made.

I liked pretty much everything about this episode – except, obviously, the ending. The holy water in the toilet. (Holy swirlies, Batman.) The way Henriksen finally realized that the Winchesters had been right about demons all along. The clever reverso trap-the-demons-inside gambit. The subplot about Nancy the virgin, who was definitely warm for Dean. The title "Jus in bello" refers to laws about acceptable practices in war, like the Geneva Conventions. Appropriate, considering how many innocent bystanders just got creamed.

How many people died because the Winchesters couldn't bring themselves to sacrifice both the willing Ruby and the also willing Nancy? Not that it would have been right. It's an interesting moral dilemma. Yes, I think the boys did the right thing; I think it's safe to say that human sacrifice is, like, wrong.

And that cool trap would have worked if one of them hadn't gotten away to alert the "new leader rising," Lilith the little girl, who had white eyes instead of black. Unfortunately, the evil child thing has been done to death. On the other hand, this show tends to be unpredictable, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and see where they're going with this one.

The wanted for murder plot is finally over, and the brothers are now presumed dead. Of course, if they get caught by the cops again, they might be wanted for murdering an entire police station full of people. Bela set all of this death in motion by setting the FBI on Dean. I think any chance I might ever learn to like Bela is pretty much gone.

Bits and pieces:

— Groves, Henriksen's boss, was played by Peter DeLuise, an executive producer on Stargate. Is he getting back into acting? Just available quickly in Vancouver, perhaps?

— Dean and Sam had protective pentagrams tattooed on their chests because of what happened to Sam. That made sense. I absolutely loved how they revealed them.


— The "I shot the sheriff" line was just too funny. I knew Dean wouldn't be able to resist and I started laughing even before he said it.

— This week's siege took place in Monument, Colorado.

— Agent Henriksen was also in the season two episodes "Nightshifter" and "Folsom Prison Blues."

— Note from later: Aimee Garcia, who played Nancy, was later a cast member on another favorite show of mine, Lucifer.

Quotes:

Henriksen: "The most dangerous criminals you've ever laid your eyeballs on. Think Hannibal Lector and his half-wit little brother." That wasn't very flattering to Sam the possible Antichrist, who is actually the brains of the outfit. Plus, sort of inflated, don't you think?

Dean: "It's like they got a contract on us. Think it's because we're so awesome? I think it's because we're so awesome."

Ruby: "Does anyone have a breath mint? Some guts splattered in my mouth while I was killing my way in here."

Dean: "I'm not going to let that demon kill some nice sweet, innocent girl who hasn't even been laid."

Nancy: "When this is over, I'm going to have sooooo much sex. (The deputy glances at her) But not with you." She wanted Dean. I think she would have gotten him, too.

Lilith: "Excuse me. I'm looking for two boys. They're brothers. One's really tall and one's really cute?" Come on, Lilith. Sam is really cute, too.

Four out of four stars,

Billie
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Billie Doux adores Supernatural which is a good thing since apparently, it's eternal.

7 comments:

  1. Really, really good. I was sad to see Henrikssen go, but it was an action packed episode and funny.

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  2. I just finished watching this episode. You're right Billie. It was excellent except for the ending. But I don't think everyone dieing was in any way due to the boys not using Ruby's option. The writer's may have wanted us to see it that way, but logically it doesn't work because it assumes that Lilith, evil as she was, would not have done what she did even if she was not alerted by the one demon that got away. She knew where the demons were headed. She was very powerful. I'm sure that she would have learned that Sam had been there regardless and would have killed the town anyway.

    I found the ending unnecessary. Although I guess it could be seen as Lilith's declaration of war on Sam? SL

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  3. Wow!

    I agree with your review completely, Billie. Let's make sure that Bela gets what's coming to her. Is there any way to sic Lileth on her?? Having said that, this show has already had enough creepy children. Hope the writers are going somewhere with that.

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  4. I'm pretty sick of 'the tall one and the cute one' thing. Both are tall (yes, Sam's taller) and both are extremely attractive, mmk?

    And sorry but how hot was the simultaneous showing off the tats thing? Swoon.

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  5. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Mr Beaver thinks the White Witch is related to Lilith (or maybe that she is Lilith, I can't remember). I like to think this is why Lilith's eyes are white.

    (And I'm guessing there's something special about colourful-eyed demons - fallen angels rather than fallen humans maybe? And without wishing to introduce spoilers, this show cannot get to the angels fast enough, we need to see some good supernatural forces as well as bad!)

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  6. sunbunny, I laughed at your comment. There is a moment in the gag reel for this very episode where Jensen says that the comment he gets a lot is "you're taller in person" cause he looks much shorter than he is next to the gargantuan Jared :)

    For me, this episode may have been the one where I began to wonder if it wasn't as good as Buffy. Still a while to go before it overtook the number one spot, but this, for me, was a stellar performance all around, from the lead cast, to the recurring characters, to the one-offs.

    Also, about Bela, I don't think we were ever supposed to 'like' like her, I think she was always meant to be a likable villain, which is what I see her as. I don't like her, but I love watching her be a bitca :)

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  7. I always liked the episode title, something about the "Jus" I think. I'm a fan of real words that may be mistaken as English misspellings. I liked the episode too, the jail episodes continue to be a highlight for me... I wonder if this is the end of them

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