Episode Title: “…And Then There Were None”
Writer: Brett Matthews
Director: Mike Rohl
Previously on “Supernatural”:
Thanks to the machinations of Balthazar (Sebastian Roché), Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) found themselves stuck in a world where they were actors on a TV show called “Supernatural.” A killer angel named Virgil (Carlos Sanz) followed them through to the alternate world, which appeared to have no magic at all. Virgil went on a killing spree before Sam and Dean stopped him and were drawn back to their own universe by the evil angel Raphael (Lanette Ware). But the brothers were saved by their angelic ally, Castiel (Misha Collins).
Prior to that, the Winchesters were stung by the betrayal of their maternal grandfather, Samuel Campbell (Mitch Pileggi), who left them to die at the hands of demons. Before he got away, Dean promised Samuel that he would kill him the next time he saw him.
Story:
The Mother of All aka Eve (Julia Maxwell) attempts to seduce a trucker, who instead tries to offer the seemingly young girl comfort in religion. She spits at God’s words and puts her mouth to his ear, transferring something into his head. Hours later, the man returns home and slaughters his family. Later, the Winchesters and their mentor, Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) interview the clearly confused and remorseful trucker before learning that a similar crime occurred at a cannery factor. Once there, Bobby encounters his old partner, Rufus Turner (Steven Williams) and they agree to work together on the case. While posing as FBI agents, they examine the dead shooter and discover black goo in his ear.
Sam and Dean meet up with Bobby and Rufus and break into the factory at night… only to discover that Samuel and their cousin Gwen Campbell (Jessica Heafey) are already there. Dean draws his gun and tries to make good on his promise to kill Samuel, but Sam prevents him from going through with it. Samuel explains that they’re also tracking the monster that possessed the two men. Dean angrily leaves the room and Gwen is aghast that Samuel betrayed them. She follows Dean and he confirms what Samuel did. Then he coldly shoots her, while clearly possessed by a demonic worm.
The others race out and find Gwen fatally injured and Dean missing. Rufus and Samuel eventually corner Dean and they don’t trust him even though the creature seems to have fled his body. Realizing that the creature could be in any of them, Bobby collects all of their weapons and secures them in a locker. Samuel then goes off to use the restroom and practically dares the Winchesters to follow him. They do and they confront him over his betrayal once again. But Dean notices the black goo in Samuel’s ear and the brothers narrowly miss getting killed by him.
While searching for Samuel, Sam is separated from the others and trapped with Samuel. Despite promises to fill in his memory, Sam shoots Samuel dead. But because the creature doesn’t emerge from his head, the others assume that Sam might be possessed. During an impromptu autopsy of Samuel, his corpse springs back to life and attacks them before briefly knocking out Rufus and Bobby. With the identity of the possessed hunter once again in question, the Winchesters discover a way to test for the creature’s presence using electrical shocks. Everyone passes the tests until Bobby suddenly stabs and kills Rufus. The brothers then knock him out and restrain him.
The Winchesters torture the creature, but it refuses to leave Bobby’s body without killing him. It taunts them with the knowledge that it is a new monster created by Eve to target them. And he boasts that humanity’s days are finished. The Winchesters ultimately shock Bobby almost to the point of death until the creature dies first and falls out of his ear. Later, the Winchesters and Bobby bury Rufus and Bobby relates the story about how he and Rufus became partners and then drifted apart. With regrets, they pay tribute to their fellow hunter.
Breakdown:
This was one of the stronger episodes of the season, primarily because the people behind “Supernatural” don’t seem to have any problems killing off their supporting characters.
Initially, the only one I was upset to see get written out of the series was Gwen, since I like the idea of another female hunter out there who is related to and allied with the Winchesters. But the moment that Dean shot her was such a great surprise that it set the tone for the rest of the episode. It was definitely a shock value death, but when it works it’s hard to argue with it.
Likewise, Sam’s shooting Samuel was unusually intense because the aftermath left it unclear if Samuel was actually possessed or not. It basically seemed as if Sam had just brutally killed his own grandfather either out of paranoia or a desire for vengeance. And if either of those had been the reason, it would have been a huge turning point for the recently re-ensouled Sam. The sequence in which Samuel’s corpse attacked them was also an excellent “jump” moment. Even if it might be the last time we see Samuel as a regular on this series. Mitch Pileggi is kind of a genre legend, so I’m sure he’ll find a new home soon if he doesn’t return to this show. But it was a good way to go out.
There was also a mini “X-Files” reunion between Pileggi and Steven Williams, who played Skinner and Mr. X respectively on that series. The only real disappoint about seeing them back together was that they didn’t have a brutal fight with each other to echo their best scene from “The X-Files.” Williams was also really compelling as Rufus and he’s been a recurring presence on this show for a long time. His death actually had more meaning than Samuel’s or Gwen’s simply because he was better developed and he had more tenure here.
The funeral for Rufus also had some moving moments, but I would have liked to have seen the brothers show some grief for Gwen and even their grandfather. I’d like to think that they got burials too, but we don’t see anything to support that.
“Supernatural” seems like it’s on the verge of finding a direction again with the Eve storyline, but this season has been jumping around all over the place in terms of its narrative. I’m not sure if this story is supposed to be more important than the war in Heaven or if they are related. But I’d like to see more of the pieces come together when the show returns next month.
Crave Online Rating: 8 out of 10.
