Supernatural: Heartache Review

You lurk in spoiler-filled waters, be warned.

It was inevitable that Supernatural was gonna start cranking out a few monsters of the week eventually this season, which came to be this week. And how was it? Meh. The show's had some really good MOTW's over the years, too, like season 2's Bloodlust and season 7's Repo Man, but this was not up to that level of quality. By no means was this a bad episode, i.e., this wasn't something from season 3, it was just a tad bland.

The monster just wasn't that great, and you could see where this was going pretty quickly, as was voiced by the not-so-good dialogue. You might be interested to know that this was written by the writers of season 1's Route 666 (the racist truck episode). Just sayin'. In truth, the dialogue probably was the worst part of the episode, with so many scenes, like Sam once again telling Dean he wants a normal life, were awkwardly written, while others, like the first encounter with Eleanor, were cringe-inducing. A few moments had some great lines though, like the bit at the farmers market, or the interaction between Dean and a no-nonsense, no snarkiness detective (played by Jensen Ackles' dad Alan Ackles, no less), though beyond those things were pretty chunky. Rising above the writing was Jensen's directing; it's his third time behind the camera, and he seems to have to genuine talent for it, though he wasn't given a lot to work with.

Anyway, the monster itself, Brick, you never even meet, and there's a few plot holes regarding him; for instance, if Brick knew his heart was the source of his power, why would he let that be donated? And how did no one notice that all these athletes from throughout sports history looked curiously similar? Shame on you writers.

The best parts were the continuity bits, like calling up Harry Groening (the mayor from Buffy) for information now that Bobby (RIP)  is no longer an option, even if you don't get to see said mayor, which is a shame. And of course Sam's renewed, season 1-esque desire to go back to a normal life now that he's got a dog and kinda hot girlfriend (displayed in an aww-inducingly warm and fuzzy flashback), contrasting with Dean's "you and me hunting, that's where it's at" attitude. The scene was a awkwardly written, but the point gets across.

In the end, after two fantastic opening episodes, SPN crashes back down to Earth with a little too much impact.

Final Rating: 76%