Supernatural: Torn and Frayed Review

Okay, so just so we can be clear on this, I still review TV shows on this website. I haven't done it a lot lately, but I still do. That being said, let's talk about Supernatural.

Spoilers follow.

So, SPN is back from it's mid season break and  this week, Alfie- you remember Alfie, right, you know that angel with an obscure name who's possessing some teenager- is being tortured by Crowley. Let's be honest, torture is rarely more entertaining then on this show, but this week, information is actually gained from it for once. So, Naomi tells Castiel of this, and Cas, who obviously doesn't remember he's under orders, gets Dean, and they go to find Alfie.

The episode starts off right after the last one pretty much, in that Sam is still pissed at Dean for lying to him and letting Benny walk. That's a nice touch of course, just because I've always liked that show is willing to go the extra mile in terms of replicating how human beings actually behave. Plus, it's always entertaining seeing Dean and Cas interact (I nearly died laughing at the laptop scene), and just having Cas around (the guy's my favorite character, sue me) in general.

As far as Sam and Amelia's little jaunt this week goes, I'm glad they put it in the episode for two reasons: one, it's provided some good character development for Sam, and two, it, hopefully concluded that little story line. As hot as Amelia is, I've been consistently bored out of my mind during the flashbacks to her and Sam's relationship. I get why they've done that story line, to give Sam some development like I said before, but it was still boring. But hopefully that's over now that Cas has told Sam and Dean they're both being stupid and Sam has grown in a way that doesn't involve severe physical/ emotional trauma, and we can get to the good stuff.

Good stuff like Naomi for instance. This season's been really good about keeping the intrigue levels at 11 so far, and an exception this was not. First, I really liked that all the angels are hardwired with basic programming to serve God and protect the tablets. And of course there's the big reveal that there is an angel tablet, which serves as an opposite to the demon tablet and can trap all the angels in heaven. In spite of team free will demolishing the angel's rule by destiny three seasons, because those feathery bastards are control freaks and apparently still have quite a bit of say over what happens on Earth, they do not want this to happen. Nor do I, because if it does, we can say good-bye to holy tax accountant.

This was all in like the last 15-20 minutes of the episode too, so I was pretty much on the edge of my seat. I was actually kinda disturbed, too (in a good way; trust me, I watch The Walking Dead AND Being Human; I know when disturbing is good), when I saw that Naomi had been scrubbing Cas' memory the same way Crowley was torturing Alfie, and I guess that's how she maintains control over heaven. What I wanna know is has she always been sort of in control upstairs, you know, like a man behind the curtain type deal, or did she just come power after Michael and Cas both went AWOL and Raphael died? Plus, does she actually have full control, or is she still just like the Angelic CIA? Important questions, folks.

And, just to mention some other stuff, I also appreciated seeing Kevin and Crowley again, the action was good, I loved the opening song, etc.

I only had two complaints about the episode: one was that I thought the scenes with Benny felt a little tacked on, and two, I was hoping Garth would be in it. I know I'm one of maybe three people who actually likes Garth, but yeah.

The bottom line: great episode in what has thus far been a great season. Next week: the return of Felicia Day (and there was MUCH rejoicing!).

Final Rating: 93%