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Supernatural: Atomic Monsters

"Yeah. We don't get normal."

Exsanguinated cheerleaders, cattle mutilations... I went into this thinking it was going to be a typical standalone Supernatural episode. Instead, it was so disquieting that it creeped me out.

The real difference was the ambiguity of the evil. Henry and Janet Whitman were desperately covering for their son Billy and hoping they could still get him into Yale, even with his newly acquired bloodsucking problem. They were even willing to take the blame and let the Winchesters behead them to protect Billy. But Billy, a vampire who still had a conscience (like Benny, whom we saw earlier in Sam's horrendous dream), wasn't okay with what his parents were doing. Billy gave himself over to Dean and his machete. That really bothered me – that beheading a teenage boy who was trying to do the right thing didn't seem to bother Dean at all.

But it was Sam that disturbed me the most. Sam feels like he can't breathe. He's burned out and bitter, complaining about white picket fence bubbles and saying that he still thinks about losing Jessica. That dream in the opener was so disturbing, and not just because Dean had a beard: incredible video game violence in the red-lighted Men of Letters bunker, with demon-killing bullets and Sam as the bad guy, once again addicted to demon blood, responsible for killing Bobby and Jody in Sioux Falls, not to mention Dean. This must have something to do with that "Equalizer" bullet wound connecting Sam to Chuck.



Speaking of which, what the Chuck?

God wanted to talk to someone about what a drag his life has been lately, so he dropped in and dumped on his ex. Really? Although it's not like I didn't enjoy seeing Becky again. Good for her, happy with a husband and kids and making money from Supernatural fandom, and I liked that she felt such deep and sustained regret about what she did to Sam in "Season 7, Time for a Wedding."

It's just sad that we weren't too far into the Chuck and Becky show when I could just feel that Chuck was going to kill her. Evaporating her husband and kids too was incredibly dark, like Chuck has gone full villain now. How much power does Chuck still have, especially over the Winchesters? I'm unclear about that, since he abandoned the Supernaturalverse.

What was Chuck cheerily writing about in the end, lounging amongst Becky's Supernatural memorabilia? Was it Sam's dream? Will it actually happen? Please, no. I have accepted that Supernatural is finally ending, but they simply cannot go that dark.

Can they?

Bits:

— Chuck said that Becky and her family weren't dead, just "away." Which I assume means that they can come back.

— Chuck mentioned his love of Leviathans as villains. I love when Supernatural satirizes itself.

— Veronica the ambitious cheerleader had braces, so she couldn't be a vampire. LOL.

— What did the episode title mean?

— This week: Wherever Becky was living, and Beaverdale, Iowa, and I'm not going to comment on the town's name in relation to cheerleaders because Dean did it for us. Sam was FBI agent Plant; Led Zeppelin.

— This will be the last Supernatural episode directed by Jensen Ackles. Sigh.

Quotes:

Dean: "It's veggie bacon. You've been asking for it."
Sam: "Yeah. But every time I ask for it, you say, and I'm quoting, 'I don't want any of that hippie Sarah McLachlan grass-eater crap in the Meat Man's kitchen.' Which by the way, for what it's worth, you gotta stop calling yourself 'the Meat Man.' It doesn't mean what you think it means."

Becky: "Instead of reading your stories, I kept writing my own."
Chuck: "Your own Supernatural?"
Becky: "Where the guys didn't have hunt monsters all the time. They just sit around and do laundry and talk, you know? I mean, that's what people like the most, anyway."
Chuck: "Well, I mean, people like monsters."
Becky: "Meh."

Becky: "So you want me to... fluff you?"

Sam: "Seriously? We're questioning mascots now?"
Dean: "Smart kid. He's actually got a full ride to IU. Don't underestimate the mascot, man. The guy's got access, knows a lot about cheerleaders. In a mostly non-creepy kind of way."

Becky: "I'm a writer too, Chuck."
Chuck: "Fan fic. Not really the same thing."
Becky: "Writing's writing!"

Janet: "We can bury them out back. Under the peonies."

Becky: "You can't do this."
Chuck: "Oh, Becky. I can do anything. I'm a writer."

It's amazing that an episode about Becky could be this upsetting. What did you guys think? Three out of four Sam and Dean bobbleheads?

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

6 comments:

  1. I agree with your whole review. Overall, a great episode. Lots of foreshadowing going on!

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  2. "That really bothered me – that beheading a teenage boy who was trying to do the right thing didn't seem to bother Dean at all."

    That happend because Chuck was rewriting his story, to make it darker, didn't it? Does this mean there's no free will, even for Sam and Dean?

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  3. I was about to say the same thing - so the freedom (of Sam and Dean, and the rest of the world) is just an illusion?! I still think that in the finale the boys will find a way to set themselves free from Chuck's creative control, but at what cost?

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  4. I think the title was a play on the term "Nuclear Family" since that what who turned out to be the monsters in the end.

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  5. I thought they would bring back Benny with this whole parallel worlds thing, instead he showed up in a dream for like 4 seconds. Really?

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  6. I found this whole episode just strange all around. I think you hit the nail on the head with your opening statement Billie. It felt like a strange disconnect throughout the whole episode. Then Chuck behaving like a petulant needy writer was just menacing. Dean felt "off" as well because he seemed passive. Almost like when he was when Michael had control. So yes I think Good Ole Chuck is still being a puppet master behind the curtain...

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