Supernatural (TV Series) We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012) User Reviews

In defense of Sam...

[StorieLuver · 9/10 · 25 April 2019]

I know a lot of people were extremely annoyed with Sam in this episode and his failure to search for/rescue Dean. However, if you binge watch the second half of Season 7 and then watch this episode immediately after, his actions make perfect sense. First, we had Ghost Bobby losing his dead-guy marbles due to his failure to move on; his final words to the Winchesters were "When it's your time to go, GO!" In other words, he was telling the boys that they need to stop trying to bring their departed loved ones back and let the natural order do its thing (which is basically what Death himself had also told Dean in Season 6). Which leads to the second thing: for all Sam knew, Dean WAS indeed dead. Remember, as Crowley told Sam in the last minutes of the Season 7 finale: "You are well and truly on your own." Sam didn't have Cas to check if Dean was in Heaven, he didn't have Bobby to turn to for lore, and Crowley certainly wasn't going to help. So what could anyone legitimately expect Sam to do, other than move on with his life in whatever way he could? Best scenes of this episode:

• Dean's montage in the beginning to "Man in the Wilderness" (it's a perfect theme song for him), leading to the reveal that he's now buddies with a vampire.
• Dean's interactions with food. When he refuses Sam's offer of dinner and then doesn't choose something from the motel vending machine, Sam knows something is seriously wrong with his brother...so he orders him a burger as a peace offering.
• the hotel "bro-ment" where they try to reconnect and catch each other up on what they each did for the past year.

Overall, "Supernatural" can usually be counted on for strong season premiere and finale episodes, and this one stayed true to form.

Strong Season Opener

[voldie25 · 9/10 · 5 October 2012]

I wasn't the biggest fan of supernatural season 7,but Jeremy carver redeems this show with a strong premiere.It's been one year after the events of season 7's finale,Dean gets out of purgatory with the help of Benny the vampire,Sam has a dog and a potential love interest.The reunion between the brothers was not unlike the one in the excellent"Lazarus Rising".Whats funny is,Dean was angry with Sam when Sam went looking for Dean in Lazarus Rising and he's also angry with Sam here because this time he didn't go looking for Dean. Cas is missing,although we didn't get to see much of him.The flashbacks to Purgatory were violent and nicely done,while the dog flashbacks with Sam felt a little cheesy.The other storyline with Kevin was also exciting and possible sign of things to come

Overall,this episode is a strong start to what is hopefully a strong season

What Has Happened in the Purgatory?

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 14 January 2014]

One year after his disappearance with Castiel, Dean returns from Purgatory bringing the demon Benny in his arm and releases the demon in a grave with his bones. Then he seeks out Sam and learns that his brother is not hunting anymore. Dean listens to the telephone messages and they track Kevin that is hidden from Crowley. When they find Kevin, he tells that the Word of God will allow vanquishing all demons and locking them in Hell forever.

"We Need to Talk About Kevin" begins without explanation about what has happened in the Purgatory with Dean and Castiel. The friendship of Dean with Benny is weird since Dean has always been radical in this regard. I am looking forward to see the sequence of this story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Precisamos Falar Sobre o Kevin" ("We Need to Talk about Kevin")

What happened to this show?

[A9AMouse · 14 August 2014]

I admit, when I saw my first episode of Supernatural on the CW, I was concerned: "I'm way too old for this show (20's), but it's actually a pretty serious horror show." I hadn't seen a show pull off suspense this well since the X-Files, and that makes sense, as X-Files regular Kim Manners directed many of the early episodes.

Seasons 1-3 were taut and, though some of the writing belied an intent to relate to a teen demographic, really kept my interest. I was honestly touched at the chemistry Sam, Dean, and their father shared. The show had a very steady and logical buildup to more intense enemies and plot lines, and it seemed to be written with a hand much steadier than most CW fare. This makes sense, because Eric Kripke originally wrote Supernatural as an organic 3-season project, and it was supposed to end with Dean in Hell at the end of Season 3.

However, due to the show's success, Kripke wrote 2 more seasons. While these were of slightly lower-quality (likely due to the fact that they were tacked on after the original three seasons, which had been written as a standalone artistic project), they were suspenseful, and some of the best scares in the show came from the horror episodes in season 4. The show still took time with the plot development, and concentrated mostly on suspense (a la the X-Files) and character development with Dean, Sam, etc. It was still great.

However, since Kripke's departure, the show has really lost its touch. Kripke was dark and grandiose, but displayed a fine touch that allowed him to intricately weave plot points into jump scares and classic mythical monsters, angels, and demons. The new writers seem to have lost touch with the things that made this show great.

No longer is the show dark and brooding - it was almost comical when the possessed girl slit her roommate's throat in S08E01. No longer does the show seem to be based in long-established mythology - season 8's tablets of god's word and hell-gates seem way more sci-fi/Star Wars/Marvel Comics than horror (aka, nerdy). The new creative team even seems to eschew the basics of episodic buildup and the masculinity that defined Sam and Dean's way of life. When Sam and Dean fight in S08E01, they seem to just be going through the motions, not having a genuine brother-to-brother moment after a year apart, with Dean IN PURGATORY. The storyline seems contrived, and the show even seems to have cheaped-out on the purgatory monsters, who just look like humans with extra teeth (not scary).

I just can't empathize anymore. Instead of two bad-ass ruffians who can handle themselves, we now have dorky 17-year-olds who only talk about their SAT's and can't act. Castiel has been more annoying than cool since season 6 ended, and not even Mitch Pileggi (also of X-Files) was able to save that mediocre season (mostly due to the stilted, jumpy writing). During seasons 1-5, I was hard pressed to propose ways to improve any specific episodes; now, it is rife with technical and writing errors that make the show almost un-watchable.

Dean's back

[shwetafabm · 8/10 · 24 June 2020]

Obviously Dean's back Sam gave up hunting that actually makes sense to me from a character perspective Kevin tho is the loose end Dean's a hypocrite who says he wants Sam happy and normal but he wants him to be with him if he isn't dead The episode was fine I like Crowley I like the humor I think sometimes th humor verges on making the characters look ridiculous, the did that with Crowley in the episode, i still liked it. They never explain what happens when one dies in purgatory.

Starts off the season right but introduces an ill-considered plot construction

[CubsandCulture · 8/10 · 27 August 2020]

The tablet story and the brothers being in much different places are introduced with flair. Ackles and Padalecki seemed to be rejuvenated by the change in show runners and I like Dean's more blunt attitude at the start of this season. Unfortunately, this also introduced Amelia and Benny. Both characters and plotlines are by themselves fine. Both go a long way to explain the brothers butting heads. However, because the Benny storyline runs in parallel with Amelia it feels like once again the show is queerbaiting with Dean. I doubt it is intentional but once again a Sam romantic, erotic relationship is juxtaposed with a textual platonic Dean-other male friendship and it is really hard to avoid that subtext.

The show needed to be more careful with Dean's characterization if they were not willing to actually go LGBT with him.

Sam, oh Sam

[readonly-26204 · 8/10 · 17 January 2021]

The episode in and of itself wasn't to bad. There were a lot of cringe worthy things (not in a good way).

Best things: Crowley and Dean and a little bit of Kevin. Worst: Sam-did the new writers not know that Sam has had normal on multiple time throughout his life--I guess he forgot about 4 years in Stanford. and really just walking away from Dean...

I am curious about Benny and where that is going to go.

Supernatural is Losing its Identity

[cjacobs96 · 4/10 · 4 October 2012]

Before anyone goes crazy over my negative review, trust me when I say I've given this a lot of thought. Supernatural is a unique show in its ability to blend several elements of storytelling, these being horror, fantasy, comedy and drama. The thing that really tied everything together and brought it home, however were two things: subtlety and character development. The thing about all of the seasons up until 7 was that even if the stories were boring or mundane, they were still told with a certain class and flare. You were always watching an episode of Supernatural even if it wasn't the best episode of Supernatural. Now I feel as though the show has virtually lost its identity and is just going through the motions of telling a story, rather than taking the time to let the characters live and breath the story as it unfolds. You're probably wondering exactly what was in this episode that I found so disappointing. To be honest, there was no one event that completely killed it for me, but just the accumulation of bad storytelling decisions. First of all, Kevin's girlfriend was probably the weakest aspect of this hour. After she talks to Sam and Dean, she turns to her roommate who is talking about a nice looking Jewish boy and says "Shut up, bitch," before cutting her throat. Maybe I'm just a bigger fan of the more serious episodes, but I just found that silly. Then when she is talking to Kevin later, the dialogue is pretty bad. Now moving on to Sam. I can kinda see how this romance with Amelia could work, but the whole situation of them meeting is pretty contrived. He hits a dog, she does something spunky to get him to keep it, showcasing her "strong" character and things go from there. I'll be honest, I didn't feel like a lot of thought was put into that. I know these are all little things, but I feel like they've been steadily adding up and becoming more and more noticeable over the last season. If you're still reading, you probably at least somewhat agree with me, but if not, I will say that I didn't think this episode was entirely bad. The story behind the monster hitchhiking a ride in Dean, being set loose and now causing havoc was easily the strongest element of this episode, and one which I believe has much future potential. It worked so well because it just happened. It wasn't a story element that the writers had to get out of the way, it just happened. Basically my problem with Supernatural is that it's no longer doing what it does best and is instead trying to be something bigger. I know what you do well isn't easy- compelling story lines with believable characters to ground everything, but if you lose that entirely, you've essentially lost Supernatural.

Does the writer know the characters??

[michaljojok · 3/10 · 30 September 2023]

Even if the plot direction you are taking can be interesting, you can't change the fundation and the basic action of a character. It feels incomplete. I genuinely thought something is up with Sam. To find out is was just lazy writing is disappointing.

Also when Kevin's girlfriend dies, the boys never been so unsympathetic. Only when something happens to someone close to Dean and Sam it is sad?? Other people just have to "get over it??"

The Conversation between Amelia and Sam was weird too. Can you imagine a veterinarian talking to someone like that? Guilt tripping you and builing you to adopt a dog??

So Sam understand the dog is his responsibility, but Kevin can just die?!