Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Supernatural: Inside Man

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."

Did they seriously just yank Bobby out of Heaven with yet another unsuccessful attempt to rid Dean of the Mark of Cain? How is that fair?

Yes, I absolutely loved seeing Bobby again, especially lounging about in his personal Heaven drinking good booze and reading an autobiography of Tori Spelling. And the white corridor, the riot of the surly Bobbys and the Metatron jailbreak were terrific. I love the dark version of Heaven they've come up with in this series.

But what is going to happen to Bobby now? What's the punishment for a heavenly jailbreak? A cell next to Metatron's? Purgatory? Please tell me they won't ship Bobby down to Crowley? I know Bobby said he was more than willing to pay the price for helping his boys and getting back in the game, but the fact that nothing much got accomplished and Bobby will pay for it anyway just ticked me off.

I liked new psychic Oliver Pryce, too, and I was glad he survived. Unlike Pamela Barnes, whom we saw in Heaven in "Dark Side of the Moon," one of my favorite Supernatural episodes. Which made me wonder why Bobby's Heaven didn't include simulations of other people. Wouldn't Bobby want a Heaven that included his wife? Or Pamela, Ellen and Jo, who I hope are hanging out at the Roadhouse with Ash? Of course, that many returning guest stars would have been impractical, I get it.

The Metatron stuff was abbreviated but fun too, although I'm a little confused about the outcome. Metatron was lying about the "river ends at the source" stuff, right? And he told them that God or Lucifer level magic was needed to remove the Mark? Did Castiel finally get his grace back? If not, couldn't he appropriate Metatron's for awhile?


As Sam and Castiel were trying to fix Dean without Dean's knowledge, Dean was pranking Sam's room (a toothbrush in the armpit? Really, Dean?) and hustling pool for money, mostly because he was bored. That somehow turned into an unsuccessful attack by Rowena, and Dean actually giving Crowley some good advice about his family problem. I've been wondering for months why Crowley was keeping Rowena around. Turns out it was just a mild sense of obligation toward a blood relative, easily quashed. And now Rowena is out on the street, looking for revenge. Possibly good for Crowley, but not for the Winchesters.

My favorite bit in the Dean B plot was Dean and Crowley drinking together. Dean had neat whiskey, but Crowley had a fancy drink with a paper parasol, fruit, and a red pitchfork in it. I love details like this. Plus now we know for sure that Crowley has stronger feelings for Dean than he does for his mother. But I think we knew that already.

Bits and pieces:

— Dean's nightmare about killing Sam made me want to stroke Dean's hair and hold him. But pretty much anything Dean does evokes that reaction in me.

— The Tori Spelling autobiography, Stori Telling, is really a thing. Too funny.

— I assume Rowena was painting herself red in order to cast a spell. Rowena's spells didn't work on Dean because of the Mark.

— The "HervĂ© Villechaize" was a huge order of nachos.

— In order to find the way out of your personal Heaven, you must look for something that doesn't belong. For Bobby, it was a silver thread in the rug.

— When the psychic asked for something of Bobby's, I knew Sam would pull out Bobby's hat. The letter Bobby left for Sam made me go "awww," too.

— This week: Heaven, Hell, and Kansas. Where is the playground, by the way?

— The next episode is in two weeks, April 15. Tax day.

Quotes:

Sam: "How'd you sleep?"
Dean: "Like a drunk baby."

Sam: "It's a French movie."
Dean: "You mean like, nudie French?"
Sam: "Even better. It's about a mime that's secretly a cockroach."
Dean: "I don't get it."
Gotta love Sam coming up with a fake movie that Dean wouldn't be interested in watching. What would Sam have done if Dean decided to come along, anyway?

Rowena: "Please. It's nothing you haven't seen before."
Crowley: "You're my mother. I don't want to see anything. I've been to Hell, thanks."

Rowena: "You're sure you're a demon?"
Demon: "You can be damned and a conscientious worker."
Was that some sort of computer product placement? If it was, it didn't work on me.

Pryce: "What are you?"
Castiel: "I'm an angel."
Pryce: "No, you can't be."
Castiel: "Why not?"
Pryce: "Because I'm an atheist."
Sam: "Not any more."

Bobby: "Hell, I'm already dead. What's the worst that can happen?"
Never say stuff like that in the Supernatural-verse, Bobby.

Bobby: "Balls!"
We also got "idjits."

Crowley: "Squirrel."
Dean: "Boris. Where's Natasha?"

Loud speaker: "The Bobbys are fighting back. All hands. We need all hands. They're surly. I repeat, the Bobbys are surly."

Castiel: "The gate is behind door number…"
Bobby: "42."
Billie laughs out loud.

Dean: "Here I am playing Doctor Phil to the King of Hell. Never saw that coming."
Crowley: "Maybe we're getting old."
Dean: "Never saw that coming, either."

Bobby: "This is the Scribe of God? He looks like a Fraggle."
Metatron: "I'm going to take that as a compliment. That was an excellent program."

Except (again!) for the fact that freaking nothing got resolved and Bobby literally lost his comfy chair in Heaven, I very much enjoyed this episode. Three out of four red pitchforks,

Billie
---
Billie Doux has been reviewing Supernatural for so long that Dean and Sam Winchester feel like old friends. Courageous, adventurous, gorgeous old friends.

15 comments:

  1. Deleted and re-posted for spoilers in the first word...

    BOBBY!

    I'm assuming he's gonna get a cell like Metatron. Hopefully he won't be brainwashed or anything with Naomi gone. Either way, I'm assuming the fact Bobby was clearly in trouble means we'll get to see him again, so I'm cool with it!

    I laughed several times at this episode, and I loved the formerly atheist psychic. I'm still fed up of Rowena, but she had a very lovely dress on at the end. When they took Metatron's grace I thought 'hey that's really clever' and then immediately 'why has no one thought to do this before?' Stealing grace is probably a major crime in Angel-land.

    I'm assuming they'll get back to the fact stealing angel grace apparently slowly kills you (or whatever was going on with Castiel at the beginning of the season) at some point (and presumably he doesn't want to use Metatron's unless absolutely necessary for that reason. He needs his own back, which would also give him back his wings. But I lean towards some current popular fan theories on where they might be going with that...).

    I still think they might be building up to something involving Lucifer's cage again. They can't make God take off the Mark if He doesn't want to be found (sniff - I miss Chuck) but they could break Adam out and try for some kind of archangel deal as well maybe... But I'm spectacularly bad at predicting TV shows so I'm probably way off!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Perfect episode, loved loved loved it.
    I loved Sam and Cass working together,
    I loved Dean getting some me time in Sam bedroom and then in the bar
    I loved Seeing Bobby back
    Well I didn't like Rowena speech but I loved that Crowley finally kicked her out. Long time due.
    I loved that the king is back.
    It's a four for me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm thinking they'll just mind wipe Bobby and he'll go back to drinking whisky in the oblivious state he was before.
    Ash in season 5 mentioned the angels had mind wiped the Winchesters to not remember all the times they'd died, so...that's my thought for Bobby. Although, they might post a guard outside his door now just in case :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. By the way, did anyone else well up when Bonny's letter said kick it in the ads? (A favourite saying of the late Kim Manners apparently).

    I too loved the Hitchhikers reference though. Of COURSE it was 42...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bobby, not bonny. I cannot type on touchscreens...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I almost felt BAD for Rowena at the end! I guess she had to make herself sincere as possible to have any chance. There's no possible way she could really have family feeling for Crowley. Right?

    I love how Bobby really knows the boys better than they know themselves and I think he's right. Sam and Castiel must keep Dean involved in what's going on to have their plans be successful.

    Great review!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I loved loved loved this episode!
    My favorite part was Crowley's frilly cocktail complete with a red pitchfork garnish.

    Having Bobby back for any length of time is always going to be a highlight. I loved his heaven, too. I feel like it makes sense that he'd want to enjoy some alone time and indulge in guilty pleasures after being on-call 24/7 for so long.

    It was definitely a 4 for me.

    Great review Billie.

    ReplyDelete
  8. why did they go to Bobby for help? I understand the emotional ties, and uts nice to see him back, but wouldn't Ash have been a much better choice?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Totally thought you were gonna say "three out of four red pitchforks in the end"! Anywhay, why did you laugh out loud when Bobby said 42?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous, you're right -- it should have been red pitchforks. I changed it. :)

    The number 42 thing was a nod to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's the answer to everything.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_%28number%29#The_Hitchhiker.27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy

    ReplyDelete
  11. I found the product placement hilarious. And I'm sure it'll do wonders for Microsoft's sales numbers. I can almost hear it: "So you want to buy a tablet computer. Have you thought of Microsoft Surface? It's what they use in hell." Who could resist that?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Michal - I had the exact same thought. I hope we get to see them using iPads in heaven. It sort of looks like an Apple Store already with all that white.

    This episode made me realize what's been wrong with Supernatural the past few seasons. Bobby, or actually lack there of. There's something about Bobby that just feels...Supernatural. I hadn't seen that he was coming back and the first glimpse I saw of him I started crying.

    I love that Sam kept one of Bobby's hats. It's the sweetest thing. I think the reason Bobby was alone was because so much of his life was running around helping out people. His series of phones was always ringing, he was always doing something. I liked the idea he was finally getting a moment/eternity to himself. Plus, he knew how heaven worked, didn't he? I'm sure the boys explained it to him at some point. I think I'd rather be alone than be surrounded by pretend loved ones. That just feels so wrong.

    How do people get hustled in pool? Don't they watch movies and tv shows?

    ReplyDelete
  13. I was on holidays for two weeks when this episode aired.

    I couldn't watch it but I could read this agonizing teaser of yours every time I came around here... Which I do every day because I'm an addict (is there a word for "Doux addict" yet? Douddict?).

    Your are a very cruel person.

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm a little disappointed they didn't get Ash to help Bobby. Maybe the actor wasn't available.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.