Supernatural: Unhuman Nature

Posted by: Kyle Tetarenko  •  November 29, 2018 @ 11:35pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

What just happened?

After he collapsed on the floor, the Winchesters rush Jack o the hospital in the hopes of discovering what is happening to him. Following several medical tests, the doctors don't know what's wrong but they do know that his body is shutting down. They want to run more tests but Dean, Sam, and Castiel decide they need to get a second opinion from someone that may be able to help Jack. Elsewhere, Nick continues to leave bodies in his wake as he tracks down the people responsible for killing his family. It's then that he meets up with a reporter that covered the death his family. She tells him that a beat cop named Frank Kellog responded to the crime but was unavailable for questioning after the murder. Back at the bunker, Sam has called Rowena in for help but she confirms more of the same – Jack's nephilim body is falling apart without his grace and there isn't anything she can do. Jack has accepted that he is dying but wants to live some of his life. before he eventually dies. Rather than spend time arguing, Dean takes him up on this and decides to spend time with Jack before it's too late. Unwilling to let things end this way, Castiel goes to see a shaman named Sergei that the Men of Letters would contact when they needed answers that no one else had. It's a long shot but Castiel is willing to do anything it takes to save Jack.

Unhuman Nature was an episode that will be known for its small character moments with a story that moved at a snail's pace. More than anything, Unhuman Nature felt like an episode that we have seen before but spread throughout the rest of season fourteen. Nick is still out there killing people and trying o take revenge for what happened to his family while Jack has gone from archangel to mere mortal to dying child. Where Unhuman Nature falters is in how Jack ended the episode by being worse off than he was before without any clear direction of where the story will go. Even introducing a new character, Sergei, fell flat as his efforts and build up amounted to almost nothing. With so little happening, it actually makes Unhuman Nature an unsatisfying episode that feels more like a stop gap than a story we could get into.

Perhaps one of the weakest parts of season fourteen has been Nick. Several years ago, Lucifer was a great character – one of the best that ever appeared on Supernatural as Mark Pellegrino was great in the role. Later on, Lucifer returned and the character was finally killed off at the end of season thirteen when there was no space left for the character to explore. As Nick, Mark Pellegrino is great but it feels like the actor is being kept around more than the character should be. Nick's realization that he has become a monster was a great moment but having Lucifer awaken in the void felt terrible. Supernatural needs to move on from the character and Nick's disconnected plot is only taking away from the rest of season. These stories would be better served closer to when Nick's plot inevitably reconnects back to the Winchesters. It will probably be around the time that Michael reawakens in Dean...just a guess.

Unhuman Nature was not a good episode. Sure, we got the touching moment between Jack and Dean but their relationship feels counter to everything that Kelly Klein said about Castiel when she wanted him to be Jack's father. Everything around Jack has been centered on Dean rather than the angel that was supposed to guide his son through the world. On top of that, very little happened to bring the overall arc of season fourteen forward. Here's hoping that next week's Byzantium fairs better.

Tags: Supernatural, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins

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