Mallena’s Musings: Supernatural 13.07 “War of the Worlds”

We will take a stroll with Satan, see some old friends/foes, and find out who is bothering a witch named Daniela on Supernatural this week.

Oh my Dad, I do enjoy Mark Pellegrino’s portrayal of Lucifer in this episode. I really like the opening sequence when Luci’s talking about Chuck – that narcissistic, creative deity; who took his toys and left Lucifer and all his creations, all alone. There’s some interesting visuals while Luci waxes poetic and it’s also nice to see Lucifer tortured, for a change. Once again, I don’t really see enough of Michael to decide if I like the character, or not. Luci’s sure of one thing, though. If Michael can get out of his current reality, then our beautiful world is toast. Things that make you go hmmm – wasn’t Lucifer planning on roasting half the planet, not that long ago?

It’s also nice to see a version of Kevin Tran, again. I do laugh when Kevin says that Michael’s taking him to Paradise World to meet hot women. Lucifer’s response of “I’m sorry, what?” is also very funny. I love Luci in this scene; he’s walking down a street trying to scare people who are not impressed by him. Now, before you get the wrong idea, I’m not in love with this whole episode – just parts of it. I do have some complaints, which I will pontificate on later.

Sam’s looking good in a pink/rusty red shirt, hey…anyone remember the purple paisley wondershirt? I miss some of the ways that the boys used to dress. Nowadays, it’s usually all flannel, all the time. Anyways, while Sam and Dean are researching a case (Jack’s gone, so they might as well go hunting) involving dead witches, we are treated to scenes in the alternate reality.

There’s some good stuff here with Kevin and a way to open a rift that he’s found for Michael. The problem is that the rift only admits one person through at a time and Lucifer’s smart enough to get through before Michael can stop him. It’s too bad that Kevin couldn’t go through with him, that would make things interesting for our boys. Of course, Mary’s nowhere in sight, so she’s still stuck. I’m sure that this season we’ll be treated to a virtual revolving door of rift. Heck, the door into Purgatory became a popular tourist destination and Hell’s just down a flight of stairs, so I’m not too worried about cosmic forces or epic sacrifices that will be needed to open another rift. I’m afraid the days of wonder on this show are well past us now. That’s not to say that I (or anyone) can’t enjoy the Supernatural that we see on our screens, now. That’s our choice to make. For me, I’m still enjoying the ride and rolling my eyeballs until I get dizzy, but still can’t help pining for the great stories of yore. I read a commenter on another site that said that she was tired of reviewers rehashing everything that was great about the first five seasons and comparing them to the current show, instead of reviewing the episode at hand – on its own merits. I can understand what she’s saying, but it’s hard for some fans to appreciate the show as it is now presented. It’s like growing up on a tropical island, where you eat fresh seafood every day, and moving to an impoverished Midwestern city where you can only buy frozen fish sticks made out of tiny pieces of compressed and molded fish parts. The fish sticks are tasty, but don’t compare to the feasts that once were.

Okay, I’m almost convinced that the boys are dealing with Ketch’s twin…until I know for sure they’re not. Dean’s got Ketch’s number and he convinces Sam to do one of those sudden, gigantic strides to Dean’s side. I remember the last time that I saw Sam doing that. It was to get away from Abaddon in that warehouse where Henry died. One giant stride from Sam gets him halfway across a room, you know. I’m not thrilled with Ketch’s return. The BMOL plotline was so bungled, last season, that he’s just a bad reminder of it, for me. Ketch could disappear and take Asmo with him, for all I care. Ketch has joined forces with Asmo, and may have always been his stooge, but I’m not excited for the Asmo/Arthur combo to come. We’ll see. The only part I did love with Ketch is when he’s walking around eating a sandwich. Dean might be perturbed that Sam’s letting him out of lock-down, but…come on, Dean! You can’t keep a prisoner somewhere that doesn’t have access to a bathroom. I think it’s written in the Geneva Convention, somewhere. Whenever there’s someone being held captive, for a long time, I always hope that they are given food and potty breaks. No matter how evil someone might be, they don’t deserve to be deprived of their most basic needs.

Castiel and Lucifer are engaging to watch. They’re both becoming the Energizer Bunnies of Supernatural. They just keep going and going. The episode does end at an interesting point – Asmo has Cas and Luci, Michael has Mary and Kevin, and the boys have more bruises from all the fight scenes. Rowena gets a mention and once again that fumbling witch seems to have everything anyone could want, if they were trying to stave off that pesky death thing. Add in a visit to Heaven’s sandbox and a return of a familiar actress to complete the fun. I’m cautiously optimistic about the direction that our show’s headed, but not exactly blown away. I’d like some lobster in the future, please, but for now…I’ll settle for a fish stick.

Random Musings

War of the Worlds: I’ve never read the book, but I do like the 2005 film with Tom Cruise. Yeah, the ending’s kind of lame, but there’s some great visuals, scary humongous aliens, wonderful special effects, and an adorably young Dakota Fanning. The only sequence that I really don’t like in the movie is the extremely violent one with Tim Robbins. I’m guessing that Supernatural’s title is referring to the coming fight between our reality and the one that Mary’s currently residing in.

Erica Serra plays an angel in this episode who wants to find Jack to see if he can reproduce angels. I’m not sure that’s in his skill set. Erica also had a memorable role as Robin the maybe/maybe not bartender in a great season six episode, but she’s most known for playing Deputy Jo in Eureka and Maya in Battlestar Gallactica.

Lucifer’s an interesting character when he’s played by Mark P, but should I feel bad about enjoying him so much, here? I’m usually a sucker for redemption stories and I’ve always believed in forgiveness. Darth Vader did lots of terrible things in Star Wars, but who didn’t get all teary when he seems to be forgiven after he’s vanquished by Luke? I enjoy Crowley, mostly, but don’t want to forget what he did to Sarah. That was an ugly, pointless death that Sam had to watch happen. I’m also not okay with the terrible things that Lucifer did to Sam in the cage, but since I never saw much of it, it’s easy to forget about all of that when Luci’s being funny. I tend to be able to compartmentalize what I’m watching now, away from the character’s actions in the past. It helps if the character is charming, funny, and good-looking – which seems wrong, somehow. Metatron did horrible things and he looks like a demented hobbit…but he was amusing.

What did you think of this episode? I found it to be a mostly amusing ball of fluff, kind of like a cat I used to have. Just watch out for the claws.