Reply To: Let’s all talk about Exile on Main Street (S6 E1)
I had not seen this one in a long, Long time.
It was really jarring to watch this after the end of S5. Seasons 1-5 were so very good. Such perfect Supernatural. It made me fall in love with it.
Then Eric Kripke moved on. They’ve said (writers and producers) since then that they would write a season finale post-season-five and not really know how they were going to resolve it.
That is very abundantly clear here.
So Sam has the HUGE sacrifice of Swan Song. And we don’t get to see Sam or Dean again until a YEAR later! And Dean has a life with Lisa and Ben even though he’s barely hanging on sometimes. But for me, that’s because of the grief over Sam, and this episode tries to make some of that about him “not living his authentic life” – not living as his real self which would a hunter. I kind of disagree with this. It’s always part of him. And the caution and paranoid makes sense that way. But I do think he could have lived with Lisa and Ben. Forever. And been good.
I did like his very believable reaction to Sam showing up and all of that being kept secret from him for a year. He is US in this scenario; not believing any of this. That Grandpa Campbell is back and suddenly there are all these new family members we’ve never met before and Sam is acting very weird.
The only thing that felt “real” about this episode was Dean. He was the only part for me that felt like the Supernatural I fell in love with. The rest was just weird. And Samuel is acting suspicious and Sam is acting suspicious (of course we find out why at some point) but AT LEAST Dean is picking up on all of this!
The start of this one is still my favorite part of it. Seeing Dean living with Ben and Lisa…seeing his life…going out for a beer with the neighbor Syd and having to lie creatively about his past.
Jensen was superb in this one.
I thought Djinn story was weak. Nowhere NEAR as strong as the Djinn in earlier episode NOT AT ALL and it marks the point where Supernatural’s monsters start to be less compelling, less fascinating, and less part of the story. They are a sidebar or a way to move the story along.
The Djinn here were lame. They just were. This is also the point where they seem to “cheap out” on the monster effects a bit and the monsters “stay” much more human-looking than before.
I didn’t love this one. But Jensen was great.