Supernatural: Dog Dean Afternoon

Posted by: Kyle Tetarenko  •  November 5, 2013 @ 8:30pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

The Winchester brothers have a new case on their hands after a mysterious string of animal attacks but to catch the killer, Dean will have to take dog whisperer to a new level in Dog Dean Afternoon.

Though Dean wants Sam to get more rest, Sam is anxious to get back on the case and investigate the strange killings in Oklahoma. After snooping around in the victim's taxidermist office the two of them find nothing but after the second victim is killed in an animal kennel, they have a witness to both murders: the Colonel. Unfortunately the Colonel is a dog but after getting some advice from Kevin, Dean uses an Inuit spell on himself to talk to dogs which they later discover is the all-purpose spell to talk to animals. The Colonel takes the boys back to the kennel where Sam has to pay up for information to a small dog. The dog describes the man that is behind the killings which leads them to the restaurant Avant Garde. The killer is actually the head chef named Leo who has been consuming animal organs to temporarily gain the ability of the animal and stave off the cancer that is slowly killing him. Either way, Sam and Dean need to stop him before he can strike again.

Where last week's Slumber Party missed the mark, Dog Dean Afternoon managed to strike the balance between comedy and horror. While I expected Supernatural to shy away from the campy and cheesy moments they went for it. Dean was talking to the Colonel quite often and the scenes in the kennel were definitely a high point with Sam being forced to rub the small dog's belly. It was all ridiculous to watch but Supernatural knew that it was having fun and not take itself too seriously which it has done in the past.

Though gory kills have long since been a trademark of Supernatural, they just didn't work with a goofy concept. Dean was talking to dogs, mice and even pulling his gun on a douchebag pigeon (which was hilarious) but watching the friendly dogs tear apart Leo at the end of the episode was strange. They seemed cute and friendly until they ripped a man to pieces.

While we have seen Sam be saved by Ezekiel in every episode this season, Supernatural seems more than happy to remind us that he is still in there every chance they get. The show is still cheating every time Sam gets fatally hurt (which seems to be a bit too often lately) when they could have easily just knocked him out. Dean would have still saved his brother and the story wouldn't have been any worse for it. What even worse is that Dean has to tell the same lie again and again and it makes it feel as though I have seen the ending of the episode before it happens. Either Sam becomes the hunter he used to be or Dean learns to keep a secret but something can be done to make it better than what it is now.

After last week's preview I was expecting a truly terrible episode of Supernatural but that didn't happen. Instead we got the Supernatural take on Turner and Hooch and more than a few laughs. We'll see what happens when Castiel returns in next week's Heaven Can Wait.

Have a comment? Share your thoughts below or chat with me @Extra_Lives

Tags: Supernatural, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki

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