When I saw the preview for “The Slice Girls” I was more than a little skeptical about the premise of the episode. The whole thing was a little too “Breaking Dawn” for me. Any other Twilight readers out there? No? Just me? That’s ok. I’m only a little embarrassed. But I actually ended up enjoying this episode more than I expected. In all fairness, part of that could have been the fact that I’ve been in something of a Winchester withdrawal these past two weeks. I think I would have been happy to watch them do a crossword puzzle. But I do think there were some really good moments in this episode. It won’t go down in history as one of the great filler episodes but I certainly wasn’t disappointed.
The first thing I noticed about this episode was that the tone felt a bit off. Sam and Dean were there but they weren’t talking or acting entirely like Sam and Dean. I couldn’t put my finger on it until I talked with my Buffy-obsessed friend who pointed out that it felt very much like an episode of Buffy. That’s not to say it was bad, just different. Supernatural and Buffy may share a genre but to me they are very different shows with very different styles and tones. And The Slice girls definitely had a few Buffy qualities to it. Again, that’s not a bad thing. I just want to be clear that I in no way mean to insult Buffy. It’s never been my cup of tea but I know why it’s good and why so many people love it. I think that show and I just run on different wavelengths, which is probably why I was so quick to notice the Buffy-esque tone of The Slice Girls. So did anyone else notice it too? Maybe you can better help me articulate what about this episode felt off.
Before I kick off this week’s review, let’s just get this out in the open shall we? It took me an inordinate amount of time to get through the first 10 minutes of this episode. An embarrassingly, inordinate amount of time. Pause rewind pause rewind pause rewind. Even I was starting to think “awkward!” But seriously, these precious, precious moments of Dean getting it on are so few are far between that a gal really has to make the most of them. It wasn’t only the bedroom frolic scene, (intercut with awesome gore and set to an ACaDaCa soundtrack), though that was a visual and sensory delight, it was also the bar room flirtation. The close-ups of the eyes and mouth, the little knowing smiles….. Pause rewind pause rewind pause rewind. Hey, no excuses….I go by the name sweetondean after all….
Somehow, the gap between this and the last episode felt simultaneously long and short. Maybe because there has been a lot to process about the show recently or maybe because this season has at times, felt like different seasons meshed together. This episode in particular did not feel gelled with many of the other episodes season seven has brought us to date. It was visceral, dark and despairing and all around, pretty decent, if somewhat depressing.
Aren't I efficient? Here's my review of the episode from a few weeks ago just in time before the new episode airs tonight. I know I believe in "better late than never" but yes, I dropped the ball. As I said in my explanation about skipping reviews, it all about writing a wrong. This is one very happy review though, so enjoy!
Review - Time After Time
It’s interesting, the past few seasons I’ve been using the word “filler” a lot, throwing that word around as if it’s been a crime against loyal viewers. All it takes though is one clever writer, one who remembers the great fillers of old like “The Usual Suspects,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Bad Day At Black Rock,” “A Very Supernatural Christmas,” and “Wishful Thinking” to take a concept that has been a weak spot in this show of late and make it memorable again.
I have made a mistake. As some, or a few, or several, or none (I really have no idea) may have noticed, I never wrote a review for both “Adventures In Babysitting” and “Time After Time.” While I had given myself a few good reasons for not doing this, it was only this week that I realized it was all a bunch of bunk.
Truth be told, I felt like the reviews had gotten kind of stale lately. I thought my “Death’s Door” review was one of the best ones I’ve ever written, but then again I had some extraordinary material to work with. The real challenge came with the lesser, aka “filler” episodes. My criticisms were going on to be a broken record. I start writing and pretty soon I’m humming Herman Hermit’s “Henry The Eighth I am” to my self (Second verse, same as the first...). A lot of repetition with little substance.
In “Time After Time,” Sam and Dean are divided by 68 years of time when Dean is transported back to 1944 along with the god they were hunting: Chronos. And yet, the bond Sam and Dean share is showcased beautifully throughout.
It's captured in little moments.
As we watch the brothers set up their latest squatters house, they don't seem frustrated or destitute. Sure, Dean wants to hear that the bathroom has more than a hole in the floor, but there doesn't seem to be the anger or exhaustion he showed in “How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters.” This house may not be theirs, and it may not be ideal, but somehow just by their behavior towards one another it becomes like home.
Rock, paper, scissors makes its return. It's funny that, while Dean did not choose scissors, Sam managed to win anyways. This gives Sam the sole bedroom available. Dean's disappointment in losing is boyish and a treat. There isn't any tension between them over this. Instead, he whines almost playfully, “How does paper beat a rock? It's stupid.”
“Sweet merciful awesome”. Dean pretty much hit it right on the head with that line. I love me a good filler episode. Especially when they involve Eliot Ness, Back to the Future references and Dean Winchester in a fedora. There may not have been a ton of major plot development in ‘Time After Time’ but I found it to be a very enjoyable hour of television.
I have to admit I was in the dark about the plot of this episode. As you may or may not know from past reviews, I avoid spoilers like the plague. I don’t even read the episode synopses when they are released. So Eliot Ness was as much a surprise to me as he was to Dean. And being a born and raised Chicagoan this had me pretty excited. Although I think Dean may have been even more geeked than I was. I love how much of a fangirl Dean is about those things. He could not have been more starry-eyed if he tried.
Confession time. I’m a Kevin Costner fan. There. I said it. The reason I’m baring my soul to you is that I share Dean’s passion for the movie The Untouchables. You see there was a period of time there, where every Friday or Saturday night, after coming home from having a few drinks, I would stick on The Untouchables DVD to send me off to sleep. That or No Way Out, or Bull Duhram – from which I can recite large hunks of dialogue. Geesh, now I’m really coming clean! You know how Dean said he’d seen The Untouchables fifty times? Hey Winchester, I reckon I can beat that! So guess who was I was a teensy bit excited about Time After Time? Me! Which is why I ask you to excuse me if I come across a tad over enthusiastic.
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Wednesday, 08 February 2012 00:06 | 
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