Supernatural: Sharp Teeth

Posted by: Kyle Tetarenko  •  January 28, 2014 @ 8:59pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

Once bitten, never the same.

Following up on a lead after a cow was eviscerated, Sam finds himself in a hospital in Wisconsin to see who is responsible for the attack. As it turns out, Dean is already there waiting for Garth to wake up. Their former comrade has been missing for the past six months and after tracking him down along with a strange cow murder, the two of them want answers. Sam slaps Garth into consciousness (literally) and after a few moments of the Winchesters bringing each other up to speed, they realize Garth has taken off. Not wanting to get his brother caught up in his current state, Dean tries to ditch Sam but his plan fails when Sam catches him in a lie. Now on shaky ground, they agree to work together and part ways as soon as the job is done. Shortly after, they quickly find Garth at his girlfriend Bes's home but almost kill her when she attacks Sam in werewolf form. Garth quickly stops them and then tells the Winchesters that he's become a werewolf himself. The boys can't believe it but Garth fills them in on how he was hunting a werewolf six months ago and was bitten during the kill. He was more than prepared to take his own life but Bes stopped him just in the time and now the two of them are married and even a part of a family worship group. He tells Sam and Dean that his new family doesn't hurt humans and that the cow was just an accident. After investigating further, everything seems kosher but Dean doesn't buy it. After the two of them are told of another incident involving a deer, they investigate only to be attacked by the werewolf sheriff. The sheriff happens to be a part of the same worship group but their goal isn't to have nice dinners with the family, it's to worship a Norse deity who intends to bring the end of days. Just when things couldn't get any worse, Garth and Bes are missing. Now Sam and Dean are running out of time to save their friend from a werewolf cult bent on world destruction.

Whereas last week's episode, First Born, was great story with humour and action, Sharp Teeth was predictable and slow paced. Werewolves, or lycanthropes as some would call them, have always been hit or miss on Supernatural. Earlier seasons have depicted them as rabid beasts while last season's Bitten was a fantastic way to show werewolves as humans who are overtaken by the monster within. Sharp Teeth had so little story that it quickly became dull and Dean's suspicion of Garth's adopted family could only be proven sooner or later as the plot had no where else to go. It's one thing to have a predictable story but it's another when it's this lacks charm, wit or fun.

This may have been the send off episode for Garth but it was another let down for Supernatural. Much like Kevin Tran, we barely got to know Garth before we find out something terrible has happened to him and that we are saying goodbye. Just as Sam and Dean said, we haven't seen Garth in six months. As an audience, how can we care about a character that we only see a few times a year? DJ Qualls didn't have an especially involved role in the episode either. Garth was written as a passive character to his own goodbye episode. If Garth had been written to save Sam and Dean with his werewolf abilities or had done something other than be chained to the post, at least he could have been the hero. Instead, Dean saved the day and took down three werewolves without breaking a sweat.

It was a long time coming but Sam finally confronted Dean on being a terrible brother. Dean lies to Sam and has tricked him into being possessed by an angel and that was just this season. They may be family but what does that mean? Sam was right to say that he can't trust Dean because even though his brother is a great hunter, he's playing a different game than Sam. Dean is doing what he has to do and while he holds Kevin's death over his head, his revenge is consuming him.

Sharp Teeth had its fair share of problems but the moments between Sam and Dean managed to keep it from being a waste. Maybe next's week's episode, Purge, will be better but based on the preview, I have my doubts.

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

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