Alice’s Random Review – Supernatural 13.13, “Devil’s Bargain”

It’s that time again for a look at a new “Supernatural” episode and, oh man, a Brad and Eugenie episode?  Nuts.   Here I am on a Sunday, called in as a utility player to do a review while I’m watching the Olympics because the regulars are busy.  After looking at “Devil’s Bargain,”  I’m at a loss.  Again.  Haven’t we been here before?   

 

This is the issue.  I’ve grown to think of Brad and Eugenie episodes as “kitchen sink” episodes.  Instead of the writers feeding us bread crumbs every week, slowly unfolding the plot in an engaging and logical manner, we get a lot of nothing most weeks and then suddenly have these thematically out of sort episodes by these same writers that try to resolve months of neglectful plotting in all one sitting.  Instead of something exciting, we end up with a garbled mess that has us scratching our heads in the end, the sounds of “WTF???” ringing in our ears over the fact that very little of what we saw made any sense.  

 

I know though, I’m not a fan of Brad and Eugenie’s work and at this point I never will be.  I’m sure that they don’t exist to make me happy either so it’s a detente.  We agree to disagree.  So, how do I critically review something like this?  Easy, it’ll be a random set of thoughts, just as random as the episode itself. There’s really no other way to do this.  

 

 

I see that we’re playing fast and loose with the rules of angel grace again.  Oh boy.  Last I saw, especially in Castiel’s case, angel grace cannot be replenished.  Also, isn’t archangel grace much different to angel grace?  Or is it they just need more?  A little explanation there would have been nice.  Isn’t it awesome when writers decide to play fast and loose with canon just to service their own plots?  Speaking of servicing plots, we’re back to dumb Winchesters this week.  Wouldn’t have Sam and Dean wanted a full translation of the demon tablet a little sooner than this?  Didn’t Kevin get some of it done at least?  It’s not like Donatello has been working on secret missions to save the world.  He’s been at home eating chicken.  It’s kind of lazy they would want this now.  Also, why were Sam and Dean so careless as to go through the trouble to find Dontello, learn that Asmodeus is a shape shifter and think, oh, we’ll just leave him by himself and let him go get his own chicken?  Nothing bad can happen.  Can he be mind controlled if he’s soulless?  That’s just a random thought, I don’t know the answer.  Anyway, if anyone should know what Asomdeus is capable of, it’s Castiel.  A little forward thinking would be awesome guys.  They were too busy I think spending their time off screen.

 

I really liked Sister Jo and think Danneel really brought something to the role, but her dangerous game will end up getting her killed by the end of the season, likely sooner, essentially making her introduction a total waste.  Let me guess, Lucifer will tire of her and put his fist through her heart.  Oh boy, how horrible of him.  Stop you evil dude, stop.  (Yes, that is my monotone voice.)  Interesting choice to turn sucking angel grace into an exotic pleasure, but hey, since that’s what happened with Sam and Ruby with the demon blood, why not?  I guess it can be called a shout-out, even if it was more awkward than sexy.   

 

Why is Ketch alive again?  Oh sure, I remember the episode where he came back to life, trying to play himself off as a twin brother, but that still doesn’t really answer the question, does it?  Don’t get me wrong, I love what David Haydn-Jones brings to the role.  I really didn’t mind Ketch as a character.  But how does he end up living compared to all the other cartoon villains we’ve had in recent years?  The British Men of Letters was an atrocious mess.  We still don’t know who was the brains behind its treachery and we’ve supposed to suddenly buy he’s working for Asmodeus?  Why, best price?  There’s a gaping hole in explaining the connection between these two and I just have a hard time buying they’re working together.  The most reasonable explanation is the short attention span in the writing.  Wouldn’t it be fun if Ketch…LOOK SQUIRREL!!!

 

That comes to my biggest nitpick of the week, the “stunning” return of Gabriel.  Yeah, except it’s not so stunning.  Anything is possible with these two writers because they have the freedom to introduce any plot twist that comes with no reason or foreshadowing.  Whatever suits their “sensational” story.  Nothing is shocking on this show anymore, except when there’s actually logical plotting and characterization.  Remember in season 11 when Chuck talked about how much energy is required to resurrect an archangel?  So, is this AU Gabriel?  Did the reunion of Chuck and Amara cause that event of energy needed to resurrect archangels?  If so, when does Raphael pop up?  I’m sure we’ll get an answer eventually, or maybe not. 

 

I should be thrilled that Gabriel is alive.  I’m a HUGE fan of Gabriel and was crushed over his demise.  But these character returns have not be very good in recent years.  The return of Lucifer has been a massive bust, diminishing his once fearsome character to cartoon status, the return of Chuck ended up being a total farce and any other secondary character has returned just so they can be killed.  I’m not excited about characters returning anymore.  In Gabriel’s case though, I very much hated the way he was killed off.  I still curse to high Heavens any mention of “Hammer of the Gods.”  So yeah, given the way he exited, his return really can’t be any worse, can it?  I said, CAN IT??  Yeah, that could be my lack of imagination being setup for a big fall.  It wouldn’t be a first.  

 

Now, I did have one thrill of the week.  Why did it take Castiel this long to go back to the “two fingers of unconsciousness” trick?  He’s used it like once in the past few years.  That was his thing when he was first introduced.  It still makes him look badass and trust me, Castiel stopped being badass a long time ago.  

 

So, yeah, that’s all I got.  All in all, another Brad and Eugenie episode of watching a bunch of vapid characters plot world dominance while Sam and Dean sit on the sidelines instead of being the main characters in their own show.  When looking beyond the surface, there’s just not a lot here.  We’ll see in the coming weeks if any of it plays out properly or is dropped like a hot potato.  But I’ll have to ponder that later, right now I have an Olympics to watch.  

 

Overall grade, I’ll say a C- for now, but this could either go up or down once we see if it ends up being relevant to the rest of the season.