This review contains spoilers.
2.3 Heartache
Good news for veteran Supernatural fans, this episode, directed by Jensen Ackles, has gone back to basics. Though many might prefer the complex, mythology-rich set-up of the last few seasons, many others would agree with me that it has all become a little too much, and the simplicity of early seasons has been completely lost over time. I predicted last week that Kevin’s sudden disappearance would leave room for episodes like Heartache, where we get to see Sam and Dean back on the road again with nothing more important than solving the case at hand, and thankfully I was right.
It was like watching a season one episode, but with a more mature pair of characters who we’ve grown to love and care about. Sam wants to go to college and begin a life that “counts for something”, while Dean can’t foresee a life without hunting and doesn’t want to do it alone. The year apart has changed both characters fundamentally, giving them the clarity to see what they really want, and it’s ironically brought them right back to square one. Sam has always had some mission to keep him on the road, and he’s drawing a line after they find Kevin and close the gates.
That said, the bad guy this week wasn’t the strongest Supernatural has ever cooked up. The episode’s real strength lay in the interaction between the guys, and the case was there to give the episode reason to exist. When seemingly ordinary people from different areas start to rip hearts out at random, the boys have to find the connection – they’ve all received transplants from the same guy. When investigating the donor, a successful sports star who drove off a bridge, they discover that he’s actually been around for nine-hundred years. The deal he made with an ancient god to stay young and athletic forever has carried over to his donated organs, and now there are eight monsters for Sam and Dean to track down and kill.
Supernatural has historically worked well with a countdown to some personal crisis over the season, and I suppose Sam’s disassociation with the hunter lifestyle is season eight’s big issue. There’s some humour to be milked from it, of course, as he takes Dean to a farmer’s market to pick up organic road food, but the writers still give the issue the weight fans expect and deserve. Watching the same two characters wrestle with the life for eight years merits a serious discussion as to whether things should change and, I have to admit, I’m curious as to whether the show’s structure could be altered. Is Dean the one being selfish? Maybe Sam could take some time to be normal?
Somehow I doubt that’s what will happen, and I’m sure girlfriend Amelia will be seen off fairly swiftly in the coming weeks. A slight grumble I have is that the trailer for this week’s episode made a meal of the brief memory tacked on the end of the episode, and I was expecting a full-on flashback episode because of it. We’ve been given bits and pieces of Dean’s experiences in purgatory but so far left in the dark about Sam’s life outside, so I definitely want to see more. No matter how the season’s big ideas play out, though, I’m just looking forward to the next couple of episodes. We were promised the brothers would be back on the road this year, and this episode delivered.
Read Caroline's review of last week's episode, What's Up Tiger Mommy? here.
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