Supernatural: Reichenbach

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

Sam may have found his brother but will he be able to face what Dean has become?

On June 21st, 2003, a young boy is awoken to the sound of a struggle. He cautiously makes his way down the stairs only to find his father dead on the floor. He tries to get a response but there is nothing. Then Dean walks out, cleaning his knife as the boy glares straight into his eyes. Back in the present, Sam is still tied to the chair and not willing to give up the location of his brother. His captor, Cole, wants answers and is willing to put Sam through the wringer to get them. Speaking of ringer, Cole's phone suddenly goes off when he gets a call from his daughter but he drops his keys when reaching into his pocket. Sam seizes the opportunity and manages to escape; just like Cole planned. Meanwhile in North Dakota, the party hasn't stopped for Dean but it does hit a speed bump when he roughs up a bouncer. Crowley is outside waiting. He wants to use Dean as his own personal hit man for his soul stealing deals. Dean play along for just one time but after he kills the man that made the deal, Crowley isn't happy. The King of Hell may be angry but that means nothing to Dean. He won't be Crowley's dog and he certainly won't back down. When Crowley realizes that he can't tame Dean, he calls Sam and gives up Dean. Sam heads towards his brother right away but he may not be ready for the new Dean and on top of that, Cole lies in wait to make his move.

While last week's episode was a solid start, Reichenbach brought the feeling home for Supernatural. For Sam and Cole, it was a race to get to Dean but it was only Sam that was prepared to see what his brother had become. The made for a tense pacing throughout the episode as Sam wanted to save his brother and Cole wanted revenge. To break up that tension, the storyline with Castiel and Hannah provided some light and tender moments between two angels. I didn't mention their plot in my summary for fear of that one paragraph being impossibly long.

Though I wasn't sure of the direction that Supernatural would take with demon Dean, they nailed it in Reichenbach. In life, Dean Winchester was a famed hunter and scourge of the demon world. As a demon, he is a time bomb. An explosion that could go off at any second and destroy anything and anyone in its path. Jensen Ackles is showing us a side of Dean that we have never seen before. This Dean is focused, ruthless and knows full well what he is capable of. Sam was afraid to try and only managed to best his brother when Cole was throwing his face into Dean's fists to distract him.

We have seen Castiel's human side many times before but it was Hannah's experience on earth that did a lot to impress. First appearing as the character Hannah in season nine, Erica Carroll showed us Hannah in a new light. No longer consumed by the civil war in heaven, Hannah's feelings for Castiel make her a bit vulnerable and her openness to experience humans with Castiel is a stark difference from most angels that we have seen before. It was also during her scene with Metatron where she showed that her lighter side doesn't mean that she has softened up, just that she wants to save Castiel.

An odd title but Reichenbach was a great episode from Supernatural. Dean is a merciless force to be feared but Sam is still intent on saving his brother no matter what it takes. Will he be able to do that before Dean kills him or Cole finds him? We'll see in next week's episode, Soul Survivor.

Tags: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel, Crowley, Hannah, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, Mark Sheppard, Erica Carroll

Related Posts

Comments Posted ()

SBM on Social Media

ShowbizMonkeys.com on Facebook ShowbizMonkeys.com on Twitter ShowbizMonkeys.com on Instagram ShowbizMonkeys.com on YouTube