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Supernatural: Tombstone

"The dead are rising in Dodge City, Kansas."

I wanted hugs. I got hugs.

Except for the brief in media res opener, this episode began right where I wanted it: the aforementioned hugs. The Winchesters love Castiel, and he loves them right back, and I was glad that no one tried to make Castiel's return into something it wasn't. I was also pleased that they all realized early on that it was Jack who woke Castiel in the Empty.

(However, I'm freaked that Chuck has no power in the Empty; that's ominous. With the way things go on Supernatural, it seems likely that someone else we care about will eventually wind up there, possibly in the season finale.)

Wasn't it nice to see Dean smiling again, enthused about a new hunt? Supernatural always ends up tragic, so as a fan, I take my joy wherever I can get it. Dean and Castiel in cowboy hats doing Tombstone, that was joy. Dean has always gone ridiculously over the top when wearing western gear, so that was consistent. (Dean's boots deserve a special mention.)

I also liked the idea of a ghoul with a favorite form, keeping a body part of a famous old gunslinger around to "gnaw on." I kept expecting someone else to turn out to be the ghoul, especially fun undertaker Athena, but he stayed old gunslinger Dave Mather throughout. It even made sense for a ghoul to have an undertaker as a girlfriend, although thankfully she had no idea what he was and drew the line at killing as well as bank robbery. Actually, Athena was a lot more fun than Dave. I really liked her specific look with the red and black accents and her taste in music. Although if I were working on a dead body in the basement, the last thing I'd do is block off my ears so that I wouldn't hear someone coming up behind me.

While "Sarge" Phillips clearly didn't quite swallow Dean and Castiel as Texas Rangers, it was gratifying that he and Dean had a meeting of the minds and that Dean deliberately made it possible for Sarge to avenge his own nephew. Sarge would make a great hunter, wouldn't he?

Unfortunately, it was too predictable that Jack would end up hurting someone again, this time permanently. Doesn't it seem to you guys that it was too soon to take Jack on another hunting trip, no matter how cute and enthusiastic he was about hunting zombies? I'd hoped that the adorable father and son discussion Castiel and Jack had in the motel room while the Winchesters were sleeping meant that our favorite angel would be able to help Jack put a leash on his power. Maybe if he'd had a little more time?

It certainly feels as if the Winchesters will eventually have to hunt Jack down and take him out. Could I repeat that I'd really prefer that things didn't go that way?

Bits:

— For some reason, I liked that both Sam and Dean jumped directly into an open grave at different times during the episode. They're so casual about this sort of thing. Years of practice.


— This episode featured a very old west musical score.

— The boys were carrying dry cleaning into the motel! Did they hear my recent reiterated complaint about where they were hiding their wardrobe?

— I was wondering if Dean would keep the Impala while the other three returned to the bunker, but no. It looked like Dean stole another classic car that looked and sounded a lot like the Impala but with a white interior.

— Athena had been to an Amanda Palmer concert the night before. I'd never heard of Amanda Palmer.

— This week: Dodge City, Kansas. They all stayed in the Wild Bill Suite of the hilarious Stampede Motel, which might make the list of kitchiest, most over the top motel rooms ever.

— Dean and Castiel were agents Russell and Kilmer, Texas Rangers, while Sam and Jack were FBI agents Elliott and Paxton. They were the Earps and Doc Holliday in 1993's Tombstone, an undeniably great movie. I recently rewatched it for the umpteenth time, and I don't even like westerns.


Quotes:

Sam: "You're dead."
Castiel: "Yeah, I was. But then I annoyed an ancient cosmic being so much that he sent me back."

Dean: "Two salty hunters, one half-angel kid and a dude who just came back from the dead, again. Team Free Will 2.0, here we go."

Dean: "Oh, yes! Stirrup hangers!"

Jack: "I thought angels were good."
Castiel: "Well, in heaven, 'good' is a relative term."

Castiel: "I told you, he’s an angry sleeper. Like a bear."
Jack waking Dean was hilarious. So was Dean draped over his coffee the next morning.

Dean: "Just act like you're from Tombstone, okay?"
Castiel: "The city?"
Dean: "The movie, with Kurt Russell? I made you watch it."
Castiel: "Yeah, yeah, the one with guns and, ah, tuberculosis. (Imitates Val Kilmer) I'm your huckleberry."

Dean: "Can I say that I'm getting real sick and tired of fighting things that look like other things?"
Could that possibly be our Most Obvious Symbolism, since Jack looks like a harmless young intern?

Sam: "So what do we tell Athena?"
Dean: "Well, we keep it simple. Tell her that guy she's banging eats dead people and we're here to kill him. Or we could lie."
Sam: "Yeah, we definitely lie."

Definitely a fun one, although I could have done without the predictable ending,

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

13 comments:

  1. Let´s all hope Jack survives this season!!!

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  2. Loved Jack waking Dean up like that. It's been pretty consistent throughout the show that whenever they wake up unexpectedly they go straight into hunter mode. Liked the coffee scene, and the fact that Cas's old long trenchcoat is back! Athena was cool. She looked very 1940's/Rosie the Riveter to me.

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  3. If God has no power in the Empty, how did he bring Cas back twice?

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  4. Good point, Austin. I'd assume that God kept Cas from going to the Empty at all.

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  5. Well, I guess that might work. But let's be honest, the series has been known to change the rules when they feel like it. Remember the lengths that Castiel & Crowley went to to break into purgatory when all they needed to do was cut a deal with a reaper, judging by season 9?

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    1. I Think that the problem that Castiel and Crowley had, was not going too purgatory, but too gets all the soles from purgatory in one swoop. Because if they did not have the spell they had too go to purgatory a billion times.

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  6. When Dean said "two salty hunters" what does that mean?

    This is one of the reasons I love supernatural, ones in a while I hear a word I have never heard or read before.

    Because when you look it up it has different meanings, and I am unsure which is the correct one

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  7. Nicole, I'm pretty sure that by "salty," Dean meant experienced, tough and vulgar.

    magritte, you're right that they've changed the rules. But they don't do it often. They're pretty consistent with their mythology.

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    1. Thank you:) when english is your second language, I sometimes come up short with my vocabulary:)

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  8. @Nikole, as a native English speaker, I thought the use of salty was unusual myself. I'm not used to seeing it used that way outside of the context of sailors...where the origin of "salty"=experienced is obvious.

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  9. The momenet Jack started doing everything better then the Winchesters it was obvious that he's going to be put on a bus at the end. I bet now we will see some episodes that start with: "We have no intel on Jack let's do a stand-alone episode" :)

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  10. I don't think the boys are carrying dry cleaning. If you notice when they pull up to the Stampede Motel it is also a western clothing shop. They bought western getups to blend. That's where Cass got his hat as well.

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  11. I loved Cas description of the movie Tombstone and how irritated he was with the cowboy hat! I love how excited Dean gets with cowboy lingo, history, etc. So cute! Overall, cute episode.

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