Episode Review: SUPERNATURAL (“Sex and Violence”)

Season 4, Episode 14 (74)
Date of airing: Feb 5, 2009 (TheCW)
Watched for review: 2011
Number of review in January/2012: 69/69

So, that’s how sirens look like in the universe of SUPERNATURAL? I’m kinda disappointed, because once again the show destroys my wishful thinking of how urban and supernatural legends really look like, and what they really have done. Other than that, it was a rather average episode. Not much surprising, totally predictable, and with a shitty ending once again. It’s interesting how often Bobby (Jim Beaver) was used as a last-minute rescue, before the brothers kill each other or get killed themselves. During the fight scene, I was counting the seconds whether Bobby would come and save the day, or when the spell would weaken in Dean (Jensen Ackles) during the axing scene.

The story was once again not a burner. I actually liked the middle part of it, when Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean were “forced” to work together with Nick (Jim Parrack), and when there was the possibility that Cara (Maite Schwartz) is the siren. But then that idiotic twist ruined everything. First, the whole tension-laden sex scene between Sam and Cara didn’t have a meaning anymore, and second, the reason why Nick would reveal the flower to Dean is beyond me. So, again all logical reasons were destroyed for a tiny little twist. Yeah, that twist was cool, but in the storytelling it didn’t make sense.

In addition, I couldn’t even count the predictable scenes and moments. As soon as Sam and Dean were at the strip club, I knew the siren would cast a spell on them, and they will battle it out. I also knew instantly it was not all about husbands killing wives, which is why I also knew the episode would show the siren casting a spell on somebody, who is definitely not killing his wife, but someone else. I also expected for Cara to be either a suspect in the case or the real siren, after her chemistry with Sam got way too much attention during their first scene. And then Bobby? Well, his appearance at the end was also obvious. And I even knew right after the fight and the siren’s death that the brothers will be swapping the “We’re cool?” in the last scene, just because it’s the usual thing to do for the writers to create some insight drama and irony. The only real surprise was that Nick was the siren. The rest… scriptwriting 101.

I really hope this episode will shadow some aftermath in the next episode. After all, Sam and Dean were both clear about what they have said to each other, and there was the truth speaking out after all. Completely different from the previous, similar cases. So, here’s to hope that the differences between the brothers will grow. After all, it could be an interesting development in the fifth season. 5.5/10

Making love in the doctor's office

Ugly siren looks in the mirror

Southland – Season 2

Season 2 of NBC's cop drama aired on TNT in March/April 2010.

Southland takes a “raw and authentic look” at Los Angeles and the lives of the LAPD officers who police it. The show centers around the experiences and interactions of LAPD patrol officers and detectives. Among the characters are rookie Officer Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie) and his training officer John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz); Detective Lydia Adams (Regina King); Officer Chickie Brown (Arija Bareikis), who aspires to be the first woman on the elite SWAT Team; and Detective Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy), whose home life interferes with his working life.

Episode 01: Phase Three
I already wrote a review about it. Click here to read it. 9/10

Episode 02: Butch and Sundance
It was a good episode, and the officer’s case about the family murder was interesting. Only the conclusion was predictable and therefore lame, but I liked the scene, where Cooper and Ben were in the house and looking for more dead family members or the murderer. It was a pretty strong scene, and I was always thinking that the cliché would strike and the murderer would come anytime from a corner and start a shoot-out.
Unfortunately that was the only real story I found interest in during the episode. Sammy’s drama with his wife Tammi (Emily Bergl) was a bit unspectacular, and her crazy behavior in the shopping center was a bit over the top for me, mixed with a bit of bad acting there. The Lydia/Rene (Amaury Nolasco) couple is alright, but I can understand now, why the producers cut Amaury Nolasco from the cast, since his character leads itself kinda to nothingness – he is completely uninteresting, and I don’t think that Nolasco was the right cast for this role.
I missed Chickie in this episode, as well as some sort of ongoing storyline. I had the feeling the writers wanted to start one in the last episode (the kill in the prison), but either I didn’t see anything here or I forgot it already. 7,5/10