Supernatural: Blood Brother

Posted by: Kyle Tetarenko  •  November 1, 2012 @ 9:30pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

Look, it's a picture of me and Castiel! Jealous?

Since returning to our world, Benny has had one thing on his mind: kill his maker for sending him to purgatory. When he finally returns to his former hunting grounds in Eagle Harbour, Washington he kills a few of his old friends but needs Dean's help after almost dying from the encounter. Meanwhile in Enid, Oregon, Dean and Sam are still tracking down Kevin Tran with no luck when Dean gets the call from Benny, leaving Sam behind to help his friend. After Dean catches up to Benny, he gets the full story. Benny took to the seas with pirate vampires (vampirates) under the leadership of their maker or "The Old Man" as they called him. The Old Man thought of himself as a god and the other vampires were his followers but when Benny met Andrea, everything changed. Instead of handing her over to his maker, he fell in love with her and left his life with The Old Man behind him. Unwilling to let Benny go, The Old Man caught up to him years later and cut off his head while his followers held him down. The last thing Benny saw was The Old Man tearing out Andrea's throat and now that he's back, he wants to repay the favour.

Blood Brother was a great episode for Benny to take the spotlight and make an impression. Until now, Benny had largely been a shadow that loomed in the background; we knew he was there but didn't know how deep his connection to Dean was. Hearing Benny's motivation to fight his way out of purgatory with Dean was tragic. The last image burned into his mind before he died was seeing the woman he loved being slaughtered and his return gave him no closure. He wanted revenge and to leave The Old Man's mansion a burning crater but instead, The Old Man robbed him of his revenge and destroyed his memory of Andrea when he turned her into a vampire.

Benny's place in the overall story this year is still up in the air because if Sam and Dean somehow get Kevin to rid the earth of all demons, Benny (played by Ty Olsson) would have to go. It may be since this is his first return from death but Benny's return is far more interesting than Dean's. Dean came back to life with a newfound clarity amidst the guilt that he left his best friend behind but Benny is lost without any sense of who he is. It's a curious opposition between them but purgatory sharpened Dean's focus while Benny discovered how damned he is. Whether he ultimately sides with Sam and Dean or turns against them, Benny has the potential to be one of the most interesting characters in years.

For a handshake between Sam and Benny that only lasted a moment, it spoke volumes. As if by muscle memory alone, Sam was ready to draw on Benny and kill him on the spot but Dean wouldn't have it. Dean isn't the same person that went into Purgatory and while he's still loyal to Sam, his bond with Benny is solid. How this affects their relationship going forward may sound familiar to last season's The Girl Next Door but Benny is not just a childhood friend, he got Dean out of purgatory.

Blood Brother is a good episode that brought Benny into the fold. It's too bad that Sam's flashbacks aren't nearly as interesting as Dean's but a journey into normalcy from demon hunting isn't especially exciting. Maybe next week's Southern Comfort will shed more light on the girl that pulled Sam Winchester out of the game.

Tags: Supernatural, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Benny, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Ty Olsson

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