Nate Winchester’s Review of The Winchesters 1.04 – “Masters of War”
Everyone else is probably going to love this episode. And that’s ok.
Final Score: 
I realize now I forgot to specify the timelines of my selection of historical discoveries. The Dead Sea Scrolls is one of the more famous findings of pre-Christian writings. The Ugaritic texts are even older. They are quite possibly older than Abraham meaning they would be pre-Judaism writings. As you’ve probably guessed, I have a casual interest in archeology and ancient peoples. In fact it was the playing with lore that first drew me to Supernatural because that’s so often how this stuff goes. We think we have it all figured out but then “oops!” there’s a new discovery and we learn things that put a twist on it all. So yeah, it bugs me when I watch writers’ invent an excuse for some plot point and the excuse is either flat wrong and/or plot breaking when a much more obvious solution could be found with 5 minutes of research.
The episode is what I’d call a “trailer first” writing. You can almost see the writer coming up with ideas that go in a trailer first, then trying to write in justifications for those trailer shots after. “John looks up and sees the MotW in the mirror…” Why? Why did the god Neto do that? Was he actually there and turned invisible or just projecting an illusion? If he could go invisible, then why pretend to be a regular dude during group? Neto being ethereal and kind of drifting around the hospital, only visible to those drawing near him until they enter his realm fits with everything we’re shown on screen for the first two acts – but then they have to have the twist reveal at the end which ruins all of that and raises endless questions. Every time I try thinking about this episode my brain just keeps tripping over these questions until I have a headache. (How did Lata know the book they needed was in Maggie’s room anyway???)
I did like the doctor in this episode, I thought he did a good job.
I will also note that all 3 MotW so far have demonstrated relocation powers – either to other places on Earth or to “other realms” that may exist in some manner outside of reality. This is not a complaint actually. It could be a clue as to the Akridas’ plans that the glowy stuff they have been collecting could give them pieces or powers to relocate from outside the universe to inside it. It’s a possible set up I’m noticing and we’ll see if it pays off or not. This season will earn a TON of goodwill from me if they manage to stick that landing.
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Enjoy more of Nate Winchester’s Video Reviews of The Winchesters and Supernatural, plus book reviews, fan fiction books, games, and more! All found on Nate’s Writer’s Page!
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