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Supernatural: The Bad Seed (2015)
Good Directing Makes the Best of Bad Writing
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.