Amara was pretty creepy and Crowley is great as usual
Long standing problem of the show is the nerfing, Rowena can do whatever whenever it seems but because the show demands it doesn't when can.
The more i see this this more i realize that 1-7 would have never focused this much on characters, sure we had some Lucifer Nick scenes, Lilith but they had very little screen time.
4 Reviews
a grab bag of a script.
CubsandCulture12 October 2020
The overall episode is incredibly disjointed and includes a couple a scenes that have *nothing* to do with the story the episode is telling. The worst offender is the random angel and random demon bonding over getting screwed over by management scene. But the more philosophical scene with Amara and Crowley discussing what they want-Crowley wants to turn people away from the light because it is the fall that is enjoyable. Both scenes are interesting in their own-more so the Crowley scene- but in the episode they stop the pace of the story completely. I'm not sure why they didn't move the angel, demon scene to a teaser (it works better there). If the individual story threads weren't compelling this would be such a muddled mess.
Good Directing Makes the Best of Bad Writing
fourtypesofjam28 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
There were days in which this episode would have been par for the course for Supernatural. The darkest days of Seasons Nine and Ten might have been happy to welcome this trudging soldier among their weakened ranks. However, it appears that in Season 11, the show has finally turned a corner. And this episode simply isn't good enough.
Unlike the other three episodes that have currently aired this season, the plot of this episode unveils in strange fits and starts which leave the watcher slightly disoriented at best and utterly bored at worst. Although the episode is intended to be about saving the angel Castiel, the frequent intrusions of other characters crammed into the story mar the intensity and emotional resonance of any plot developments. These other characters and story lines are not uninteresting, but they're scattered into the episode like chunks of rock into cookie dough. Nothing feels epic or important when it's given so little time to be understood.
The dialogue is, broadly speaking, rather stupid. The characters can be, and have been, written far better than this. Any sense the watcher gets of the depth of these characters is provided by good acting and good directing. It is frustrating to see them reduced to a lower intelligence than they seem able to demonstrate in other, better-written episodes.
The show's age-old issues with fetishizing women of color return in the form of the "Busty Asian Beauties" pornography. The scene where they appear on video is strangely extended, allowing good time for offence to really sink in. It's eyebrow-raising that someone in the Supernatural writers' room still finds this funny or relevant.
What saves the episode is its direction, and the continually excellent acting. The apex of the episode is the fight scene in which Dean confronts Castiel, which, whilst not given enough time by the writers to really hit home, nevertheless is a good piece of television. It's visually interesting with some really great shots and fantastic choices made. The bizarre mixture of sentiment and macho-ness in the dialogue is given soul by evocative cinematography. As a climax to the episode, it was done as well as possible given how many other plot points were struggling to make themselves heard.
The absurdity of Rowena's harmless exit at the end of the episode couldn't be saved by directing or acting. It was contrived and foolish. "I, a Bad Character, will leave now without hurting these Good Characters because..... well, it's the end of the episode." Come on, Supernatural, you can do better.
There are sparks of excellence here, some visually fantastic shots, some acting that tugs on the heartstrings. But the episode as a whole is failed by its poorly-executed, overstuffed plot. I say again: Come on, Supernatural. You can do better.
Unlike the other three episodes that have currently aired this season, the plot of this episode unveils in strange fits and starts which leave the watcher slightly disoriented at best and utterly bored at worst. Although the episode is intended to be about saving the angel Castiel, the frequent intrusions of other characters crammed into the story mar the intensity and emotional resonance of any plot developments. These other characters and story lines are not uninteresting, but they're scattered into the episode like chunks of rock into cookie dough. Nothing feels epic or important when it's given so little time to be understood.
The dialogue is, broadly speaking, rather stupid. The characters can be, and have been, written far better than this. Any sense the watcher gets of the depth of these characters is provided by good acting and good directing. It is frustrating to see them reduced to a lower intelligence than they seem able to demonstrate in other, better-written episodes.
The show's age-old issues with fetishizing women of color return in the form of the "Busty Asian Beauties" pornography. The scene where they appear on video is strangely extended, allowing good time for offence to really sink in. It's eyebrow-raising that someone in the Supernatural writers' room still finds this funny or relevant.
What saves the episode is its direction, and the continually excellent acting. The apex of the episode is the fight scene in which Dean confronts Castiel, which, whilst not given enough time by the writers to really hit home, nevertheless is a good piece of television. It's visually interesting with some really great shots and fantastic choices made. The bizarre mixture of sentiment and macho-ness in the dialogue is given soul by evocative cinematography. As a climax to the episode, it was done as well as possible given how many other plot points were struggling to make themselves heard.
The absurdity of Rowena's harmless exit at the end of the episode couldn't be saved by directing or acting. It was contrived and foolish. "I, a Bad Character, will leave now without hurting these Good Characters because..... well, it's the end of the episode." Come on, Supernatural, you can do better.
There are sparks of excellence here, some visually fantastic shots, some acting that tugs on the heartstrings. But the episode as a whole is failed by its poorly-executed, overstuffed plot. I say again: Come on, Supernatural. You can do better.
What's with all the bad acting???
derekfb2 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Seriously! What's with all the bad acting in this episode? Was it meant as a joke? Every single one of the "extra" witches in this episode were clearly not actors nor had they ever taken a single acting lesson in their lives. It was already bad enough when they had 3 witches do some weird jiggly seizure type dance and puff into smoke but then when they have 2 other "extra" witches at dinner with Rowena one of them stands up and says some ridiculous sounding and horribly delivered enchantment while pointing at the guy like a Mr. Smith from The Matrix 2. This woman's poor excuse for an attempt at acting was unbearable. That was the last straw. I stopped the episode right then and there. I might quit the show after that. It's been bad for a long time now but that was seriously the last straw for me.
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