Alice’s Review of The Winchesters 1.11, “You’ve Got a Friend” and 1.12 Preview and Photo Gallery

Oh man, a review. Well um, it’s just, I dunno, I have nothing to say?

It is getting really hard to watch this show. There’s only two episodes left, maybe in the entire series, and they’re just not picking up the pacing or the tension or delivering any kind of coherent plot. Everything seems off, random, and it feels like they’re stalling. I have some wild theories about where this could be going, but is any of that worth having to get through one of these episodes? Sometimes not. It could be I’m just in a blue mood this week and my patience wearing thin, but I really want to watch the show for once where I can enjoy what I’m seeing. Be actively engaged in what is in front of me. I’m just not there. I didn’t even like the blouse Carlos was wearing this week.

But in a half hearted attempt, let’s follow the bouncing ball. John faces the whole fugitive thing because of the Kyle mess, a guy who was mourned quite a bit for someone they barely knew, while Carlos and Lata have their own adventure at Chez Campbell with a shadow monster. John’s fugitive adventure fell with a massive thud, as he decided to surrender to Betty who checked the one obvious place he was, the MOL clubhouse. It is a small town, cops know how to find people. Mary and Millie decide to reason with Betty by telling her the truth, but she didn’t take the whole “monsters are real” thing very well. Duh! I wasn’t expecting her to be all “oh, if you say so,” but come on, a little narrow minded there?

Then there was the other half of the story, and I just didn’t get why it was happening. Finding out Lata’s secret was, meh. I can’t fault Nida Khurshid for acting the hell out of the thing, which she totally did, but the back story seems so superfluous this late in the game. What was the benefit from learning that? Her dad is a sanctimonious asshole? Mom lets him? I know, character closure. That would be great…if I was looking for that. Forget the need for a fast moving adventure. I just want to know what the f*** is going on. It reminds me of them dragging out the whole “Who killed Laura Palmer” in Twin Peaks the whole season. By the time you got to the end, no one cared anymore. There has to be a good story in between the intro and the reveal to keep your audiences engaged. That’s not happening here.

Forget the lack of a good story. Things are just plain perplexing! Why is this happening? The whole jailbreak scene to me was a real joke. Seriously? It was that easy? Didn’t John have to go through an arraignment in court? Where was the lawyer? It looked like he never left the interrogation room. Come on Betty, you didn’t notice any of that? It’s the fuzzy details again that make me very suspicious of what they’re trying to do here. Careless or brilliant? After asking that for 11 episodes, I’m tired of being a broken record by repeating myself with no real answers.

I don’t get the bracelet thing. It only affects those that have deep, dark secrets? So Betty didn’t have a deep dark secret, so she got to see the truth right away? That was their plan? Why would Maggie hide it in snacks? How are Maggie and Lata suddenly the best of friends? Was that hinted before? Who knows, maybe it was, but I’m too apathetic right now to look it up.

So, let’s just throw this week’s plot away and see what we’ve got for the next two (and possible final) episodes.

Two episodes left and only now they’re looking for Dean? Shouldn’t they have pulled that trigger earlier? They got down to it, he’s not of this world. Well duh. I think that was obvious. I could even guess why the Akrida see him as a threat. He’s freaking Dean Winchester. Where do John and Mary even remotely think they are going to find him? They have no name, no clue as to where he could be, no options. We’re just gonna find this guy, because we’re badass hunters! How about engaging people that are connected out there like Ada and Samuel? Plus, are we any closer to the Akrida Queen? Wasn’t that supposed to be the real focus when they found out where the Queen was two episodes ago?

I’m still sticking with the theory that Dean is in a dream/limbo state. By engaging the Akrida, he’s fighting the demons holding him back from moving to the next life. His weapons are his parents. Maybe when Dean gets out of his dream/limbo/imminent death state, the Akrida cease to exist? They’re dreamworld monsters? Is that why they’re threatened? They don’t want the dream to end? Hmm, sounds like Djinn thing to me.

I’ve read the speculations, in next week’s promo they are engaging Limbo the clown. Really? So this clown in tapping into hidden fears. That had me asking briefly, maybe this isn’t Dean’s limbo/dream sequence. Maybe it’s Sam’s? There is no evidence of it being Sam’s though, it’s just that I could see Sam trying to bend time to make his brother a hero and keeping himself out of the story. I could also see Sam being caught in a dream about homicidal clowns. Otherwise, I’m dismissing it.

But this episode was also about secrets. It boils down to the point, and Carlos said it, the truth sets you free. So, perhaps Dean is avoiding the truth, he’s dead! He’s fighting for life and should be surrendering. Dean was a master of resistance when it came the death. He wouldn’t go lightly. Also, remember the series finale when Dean was surprised he got into Heaven? I still suspect that maybe there was a struggle in a limbo/temporary holding state that he had to overcome to get there. Am I still spitballing on that theory though? Yes I am.

Anyway, I was bored with “You’ve Got a Friend.” The pacing was sluggish and awful, and the setup doesn’t seem like they’re prepping to play out the story satisfactorily in two episodes. It’s too late in the season for filler! I wasn’t getting the “feel good” moments of the characters, probably because I was waiting for something to actually happen. It didn’t.

Overall grade, I’m waffling between a C- or D+. I guess it all depends if what happens here leads anywhere.

And now, the penultimate episode preview…

Episode 1.12 is titled “Tears of a Clown.” Yep, a clown episode. The lyrics of this very popular song is basically a guy pretending to hide his pain. Happy on the outside, sad on the inside. Who is the subject of this charade? We’ll find out this week, but my money is on John based on the promo.

Here is the synopsis, courtesy of The CW:

THE HARDEST LIES – Mary (Meg Donnelly) and John’s (Drake Rodger) tense discussion is interrupted when Carlos (Jojo Fleites) and Latika (Nida Khurshid) arrive to discuss a mystery involving a creepy clown. Meanwhile, Ada (Demetria McKinney) makes an interesting discovery. Menhaj Huda directed the episode written by David H. Goodman (#112). Original Airdate 2/28/2022. Every episode of THE WINCHESTERS is available to stream on The CW App and CWTV.com the day after broadcast for free and without a subscription, log-in or authentication required.

Interesting, last week it was secrets, this week it’s lies. So what’s the deception? Yeah, got nothing.

There were two whole preview photos released and one reveals more stunt casting! Welcome to The Winchesters Ruth Connell!

Finally, a freaking clown promo. Not like that hasn’t been done before!

Anything you want to share that you haven’t already, or are you frustrated by things not coming together like I am? Share your thoughts in the comments! Or, come back here after the episode is done and share your reaction to another clown story.

Check out Alice’s entire roster of Supernatural reviews on her Writer’s Page!

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