Supernatural: And Then There Were None

Posted by: Kyle Tetarenko  •  March 7, 2011 @ 8:58pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

After trapping themselves inside a building with a demon, the Winchesters along with Rufus and Bobby soon realize this new demon can possess anyone but when the demon could be the person standing behind you, who do you trust?

When investigating strange killings, Bobby crosses paths with his old friend Rufus and in an effort to stop this new demon from striking again they decide to team up. After catching up with Sam and Dean to hunt the demon, they manage to track it into a building where Gwen and Samuel are already on the case. Following the broken family reunion, Dean almost keeps his promise to kill Samuel but Sam stops him just before he can pull the trigger knowing that they need to work together to stop this thing...and then Dean kills Gwen. Unfortunately, this new demon possesses people and uses them to kill one another and is a creation directly from the demon mother herself, Eve. Even though they now know what the demon is they have to contend with the fact that it could have possessed any one of them, at any time, in a locked building and is trying to pick them off one at a time.

Is it just me or has Supernatural been considerably better the last few weeks than it has been for most of the season? "And Then There Were None" took the simple plot of a demon that possesses its victims and turned it on the hunters themselves. On that note, although this demon was a new creation from Eve herself, it fit seamlessly into the show compared to the dragons or the dreadful mannequin possessing ghost. Even by their standards, dragons and mannequin ghosts are almost absurd and by grounding the demon to their level of realism it made for a great story.

The trust between hunters is an unspoken bond but when someone takes that away, it takes them completely off balance; throw in Samuel for good measure and you have the makings of another strong episode. What Supernatural did so well this episode was instil a sense of paranoia amidst its characters and unto the audience; by trapping them in a building it only confined that feeling like being in a pressure cooker about to overflow.

There were also a few standout performances by Jim Beaver and Steven Williams. Though we rarely get true exposition into Bobby's past, we were finally told just how Bobby became a hunter and how Rufus (Steven Williams) was the hunter that saved him. Rufus has popped up on the show almost since the beginning hearing the tragic history between him and Bobby in Omaha was palpable. The regret in Bobby was heartfelt but the anger and resentment from Rufus was unrelenting in a fantastic scene between the two of them. Rufus's funeral played out perfectly, with the hunters saying goodbye to one of their own and a good friend finally gives us the sense they are facing a formidable villain for the first time this season.

Even with the great plot and performances there were definitely some missed opportunities this episode. After Dean killed Gwen there was barely any mention of her death for the rest of the episode and it just felt rushed. Whenever characters are unexpectedly killed off in a show, it's understood that there death happened so suddenly to emphasize the impact felt by people surrounding them and that didn't happen here. Everyone had forgotten about her just as quickly as she died and this only served to underline her irrelevance. Speaking of killing off characters, Samuel's death was surprising and I think it happened too soon this season. Not only was his death largely forgotten by the end of the episode as Gwen's was but his time with Bobby was scarce as well. The dynamic between the grandfather and the surrogate father was like a couple of aging pros going head to head. Had Samuel survived and only Rufus died, Bobby and the Winchesters would have only resented him more than ever and it would have set up the story for a final confrontation between them later in the season and what Samuel was doing to save his daughter.

Overall, "And Then There Were None" was a very good episode that cost itself some great storylines down the road. Though Bobby and the Winchesters have gotten closer, it seems that a lack of foresight could be a damaging mistake. I guess we'll find out if the risk was worth the reward when Supernatural returns in April with "Trail of the Dead".

Tags: Supernatural, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Bobby Singer, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Jim Beaver, Mitch Pileggi, Rufus, Steven Williams

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