Photo : CW
After a major cliffhanger left fans counting the minutes until SUPERNATURAL’s return, it’s safe to say that its 2011 debut kicks it into a higher gear.
By : TAMARA BROOKS
After a major cliffhanger left fans counting the minutes until SUPERNATURAL’s return, it’s safe to say that its 2011 debut kicks it into a higher gear. Fair warning – If you haven’t caught up with Season 6 by now, you probably don’t want to read this.
When we last saw the Winchesters in “Appointment in Samarra,” Dean (Jensen Ackles) had made a wager with Death to get Sam’s soul back, complete with mental “wall” to block the horror it experienced trapped with Lucifer and Michael in Hell for over a year. Meanwhile, RoboSam was trying to sully his “vessel” by killing Bobby (Jim Beaver) – a serious dick move. But it was all for naught as Sam (Jared Padalecki) ended up strapped down in the Panic Room getting his soul painfully reinstalled with unknown results. Also, even though Castiel (Misha Collins) has his hands full with a Heavenly civil war, he still found time to gank Crowley (Mark Sheppard) in simple, badass fashion.
Photo : CW
So, where do we go from here? Let’s look at the first eleven episodes as a mini-season. There were a lot of interesting plot points and questions raised but I could never really get a feel for the where it was going. “Like A Virgin,” which picks up very shortly after “Samarra,” changes all that. The vibe of the episode is definitely different, a breath of fresh air of sorts. It pays off a few of the bigger questions lingering before the holiday break and gives us a peek at where the season is going. What’s changed I think is the show transitions from focusing on internal problems to the big picture. Up until “Virgin,” Bobby and the Winchesters (kind of sounds like a 60s music group, doesn’t it) have been so concerned about SoullessSam that they haven’t been paying that much attention to, say, Castiel when he tries to talk about the Angel War or consider the bigger implications of creatures collecting souls. Consider this a wake-up call.
While the to-do about souls isn’t explained (which I didn’t expect), we do get a hint about the Big Bad that takes Crowley’s place, we find out Sam’s condition, and we’re introduced to a new expert with ties to Bobby. I love the new expert by the way and hope we see him/her pop again (and it seems like we will). Heaven’s civil war doesn’t get any attention but I can tell it’s not going to be on the back-burner for long.There were some great one-liners and exchanges and something about the episode made me long for a SUPERNATURAL/BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER crossover. We also get some expansion of the show’s bestiary and mythology thanks to some creatures we’ve never seen before. It opens up a lot of options in the future. That’s awfully vague isn’t it?
In a nutshell, “Like A Virgin” is an ideal introduction to the back half of Season 6. I definitely feel like the rest of the episodes are all about pay off and, when all is said and done, I think all the puzzle pieces will evolve into a pretty spectacular story.
