Reviews That I Missed: Supernatural 13.06, “Tombstone” aka Did…Not…Work
Eh, okay. I’m not sure what they were going for with “Tombstone,” but it didn’t work. Actually, that will be the mantra for this review. Did…not…work. It’s a shame too, since the previous two episodes were so strong and season thirteen was starting to find it’s footing. Sadly, this one crashed and burned to the ground. So much for momentum.
The extra long “Then” summary was instantly my clue that we were getting a stinker. I hate being proven right when we’re only 1 minute into the episode. I can think of about twenty different ways they could have reunited Castiel with Jack, Sam and Dean, but here we are. The road trip together, working a case, it was an ideal setup for them all to catch up, especially Castiel and Jack. It could have been EPIC. Then why did everyone feel so out of sorts? Was that by design? There was zero emotional connection or impact. The MOTW case looked good on paper, but the execution and editing was clunky as hell.
I mean, nothing worked between the four main characters. Dean was happy to see Castiel, but Sam was skeptical and aloof? Why? Castiel was wooden and lifeless most of the episode, especially with Jack. He seemed defeated and didn’t care. Shouldn’t he be full of new life given his new chance? I mean come on, Jack wished Castiel was there and he woke up in the empty! Never ever happened before! Shouldn’t that have triggered some happiness at least? Instead, Jack got a faint thank you and a trademark hug. Opportunity missed. Dean and Castiel talking about Tombstone? What a disaster. I felt like I was watching fan fiction. Did…not…work.
Normally I dig retro callbacks to other episodes, but these ones really didn’t need callbacks. Did you really want to see Dean go after a Ghoul in the dark underground tunnels again? “Jump The Shark” wasn’t enough? It was way creepier in season four BTW. The Die Hard shoutout did not help the contrived setup of the scene. Dean geeking out over the wild west in “Frontierland” was endearing. Here, it felt very forced. Or out of place. Or both. Heck, I don’t know. I think Dean’s sudden mood swings are just off putting. He’s a total dick for five episodes and now he’s all happy and smiles? Of course, Sam was being a cold fish and background noise, so I guess at least he hadn’t changed so far this season.
Speaking of Sam, why did Dean send Sam away with Jack and Castiel? They couldn’t go on their own? This hunt would have worked way better with both brothers going after the bad guy. Why would Sam let Dean face that kind of danger alone? Did…not…work.
Jack killing an innocent bystander and his overreaction to it was just cringeworthy. Hideous. This whole fish out of water, charming innocent young man learning the ways of the world plot was working great! It didn’t have to abruptly go this way. Oh, so Jack is now bailing like Mary did? Especially when he was just reunited with Castiel? The guy that was supposed to teach him and protect him? I’m glad Dean was finally coming around but, ugh, terrible ending. It’s another super contrived plot that came out of nowhere, just to justify that Alex Calvert wouldn’t be in the next few episodes.
Did…work
Okay, it wasn’t a 100% waste. The characters of the week were interesting. Dave the Ghoul was one of the better MOTW characters. A cocky cowboy that wasn’t too annoying. I really liked his girlfriend Athena too, probably more so. She was nice and quirky. I spent most of the episode wishing she wouldn’t die so I’m glad she didn’t. But the best lines and the best character ended up being the Sgt. Joe Phillips, who wanted to kill the Ghoul for killing his nephew. He wasn’t in too many scenes but when he was, it was awesome.
Also, score one for a great motel room! The Wild Bill Suite. I did enjoy looking at the decor and ignored Dean’s love of all the wall pictures. There were too many good things to notice. I mean, it had saloon doors going into the bedroom! There was a wooden cutout of Wild Bill himself, the avocado green kitchen and the wagon wheel lighting. The red leather couch with the longhorn emblem on it was really cool too, as well as the mural of the horses. The set decorators once again got to have their field day!
Castiel and Jack had a couple of great scenes, the most memorable one being when talking about Kelly. It was earnest and sweet. It didn’t fucking last.
Best line of the episode comes from Castiel: “Yeah, I was. But then I annoyed an ancient cosmic being so much that he sent me back.” That pretty much sums it up.
Okay, one more gripe. They’re investigating the death of the deputy and there are snowcapped mountains in the background? I’ve been through Kansas, I don’t recall those ever existing there, especially in Dodge City. Almost all of Kansas is flat as a pancake. No, it’s NOT close to the Rocky Mountains. Great attention to detail there guys! (They did this too for Ohio in “It’s a Terrible Life.”). Did…not…work.
(Looks like Vancouver)
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this one. There’s not much to examine here other than they must have took a rough script and ran with it because they ran out of time, or just stopped caring. Filler with a capital F. Overall grade, a D. Coming up next, “War of the Worlds.” Another episode I don’t remember seeing before. Gee, a Brad and Eugenie mytharc episode with Lucifer and Asmodeus. I’m bringing the marshmallows, because I suspect there will be plenty of camping.
Alice Jester is the founder, editor-in-chief, head writer, programmer, web designer, site administrator, marketer, and moderator for The Winchester Family Business. She is a 30 year IT applications and database expert with a penchant for creative and freelance writing in her spare (ha!!) time. That’s on top of being a wife, mother of two active kids, and four loving (aka needy) pets.
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