Supernatural: Mannequin 3, The Reckoning

Dean: "I don't like the way Kim Cattrall is looking at me."

Mildly creepy. Somewhat funny. And unfortunately, sort of sad.

I liked that they addressed one of those obsessive fan questions, i.e., what if the marauding ghost donated a kidney and the recipient was still alive? Although the fact that poor Isabel died five minutes later sort of negated the coolness. What would they have done if Isabel hadn't died? It would have been interesting to find out. Come to think of it, didn't they encounter a similar situation with remains in "Yellow Fever"?

The anatomy dummy was particularly creepy, but the creep factor was somewhat reduced by Dean's glee as he was playing with it. The thing made me think of Warren in the Buffy season eight comics. (For that matter, the forehead line was very Sylar from Heroes, and the white mannequins reminded me of Doctor Who.) And then we got to Johnny the third victim talking to his at-home sex doll, and I got confused. After I thought about it, I concluded that Rose must have chosen the mannequins to channel her ghostly killer self because of Johnny's sex doll, and because the pranksters had set up a male mannequin at the dinner table to be her faux secret admirer. (I bet that was Johnny's idea.) Rose may have been boring and shy in life, but she was certainly a creative ghost.

The writers have always been consistent with stories that have a symbolic connection to what's going on with the Winchesters. I was thinking that the mannequin murders were a call-back to soulless Sam. But it was also about Dean hurting his "family," like Rose, who ended up killing the sister she loved. Love hurts. Dean stayed away from Lisa and Ben and that hurt them. But Dean staying with them might kill them. Dean was right that if he stayed, Ben might end up a hunter. Although I think he probably will, anyway.

We did get a "farewell to Lisa and Ben" montage. It's time for Dean to leave them behind. Even though I liked the maturity Dean showed during those scenes. He was acting very like a real husband and father, like it came naturally to him.

The time discrepancy for Sam's "fat faceful of Hell" was disconcerting. He was out two or three minutes, and mentally back in the Cage for a week? It sounded a lot like the actual time slip situation. If this keeps happening, it's not going to be fun for Sam. In fact, I kept expecting him to pass out again during the episode.

No happy ending. Dean and Sam didn't save the day and in fact, they made the situation worse. Like last week. It's a season six theme, isn't it?

Bits and pieces:

— Big points for "Mannequin 3: The Reckoning." You gotta love it when just the episode title makes you laugh out loud. I liked the music "Love Hurts" at an appropriate moment, too.

— Dean running from the carjacked Impala was really funny. Jensen Ackles has a gift for physical comedy. I also liked how Dean said, "I'm so sorry, baby" as he outwitted the Impala into a brick wall.

— What a totally nasty practical joke. It seems unrealistic that a couple of reportedly very nice guys would participate in something so cruel, especially when the victim was such a quiet nonentity.

— They addressed the body part situation with the kidney, but technically, the kidney was still there after Isobel died; it wasn't destroyed. Was Rose just so devastated that her need for revenge was over? Why am I coming up with an answer the writers should have supplied?

— Was Jared having a bad hair week? He usually looks so good.

— This week: Paterson, New Jersey and whatever was three towns over. No motel rooms, but we did get the shabby factory/warehouse/whatever that we've seen a few times before.

Quotes:

Dean: "Maybe we'll have a Snooki sighting."
Sam: "What's a Snooki?"
Dean: "That's a good question."
It is. I have no idea what a Snooki is. Could someone enlighten me?

Sam: "Went to church. Donated to charity. Rubbed her feet during Glee."
Dean: "I just threw up in my mouth."

Sam: "That anatomy dummy you were molesting in the lab... what if that's what this is about?"
Dean: "What exactly are you accusing me of?"

Dean: "We've got a bunch of killer dolls, like... Chuckie? I mean, come on. That's just... just... freaky creepy."

Lisa: "What's going on?"
Dean: "We've been Parent Trapped."

Dean: "This is Dean's other, other cell, so you must know what to do."

Dean: "So what are you suggesting? That we cut it out of her?"
Sam: "And then what? Leave her in a tub of ice with a phone taped to her hand?"
I thought this was hilarious in a totally sick way.

Sam: "At least Satan's left the building."
Dean: "Yeah. It's the little things."

Maybe the dynamic of the episode felt off because the boys were separated for most of it. It always feels off when they're separated. And a possessed mannequin episode could have been better. So I sort of liked it, and I sort of didn't. What did you guys think? Please post a rating,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

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