In the third episode of the eleventh season of Supernatural, yawn. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
Trigger Warning: For racism, queerbaiting
So that happened. The most remarkable thing about “The Bad Seed” is that it’s utterly unremarkable. There’s practically nothing here that’s memorable or stands out from the plodding plot, nor is there any attempt from the show to subvert or twist storylines we’ve seen before.
And oh god, we’ve seen all of this.
STOP IT, SUPERNATURAL.
IT IS THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2015, AND IT IS HIGH TIME THAT THIS SHOW RETIRE THEIR RACIST SHITHOLE OF A JOKE CONCERNING ASIAN PORN. NO ONE FINDS THIS FUNNY. NO ONE LIKES IT. AND FOR A SHOW THAT HAS HAD ALMOST NO ASIAN WOMEN ON IT – AND CERTAINLY NOT IN A MEANINGFUL RECURRING ROLE SINCE MS. TRAN – THIS IS EGREGIOUSLY RACIST AND I DON’T CARE. I AM NOT GOING TO BE SUBTLE ABOUT. FUCK THIS.
Rowena
I like her and her character, and Ruth Connell is a delight on the screen. So why write her as an alternately bumbling fool and a powerful witch? It’s not that funny, and it doesn’t do anything for the story. Are we supposed to feel intimidated by her power, or are we supposed to laugh at her? This episode can’t seem to make up its mind about her, and it’s frustrating. And it’s not like characters can’t be layered or have numerous characteristics all at once. But the Rowena we see trying to assemble a coven comes off utterly differently than the Rowena we see toying with the Winchesters. Is she a confident character or is she uncertain and goofy?
I think I wouldn’t be as critical of this if Rowena’s character went anywhere in this episode aside from off-screen at the end of it. She kills a bunch of witches, she fails to start a coven, and then she cures Castiel before disappearing. It’s so convenient, and it’s so boring.
Crowley / Amara
There’s so much potential in the scenes between these characters, and I think that the writers were trying to build this elaborate conversation about God, good, evil, and a new world. Truthfully, Amara’s discovery of the world since her imprisonment as the Darkness is compelling, but only to a point. The show doesn’t develop these conversations beyond the superficial, and it left me wanting more. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since I’m still interested in The Darkness / Amara as an antagonist. I also appreciate the dynamic that’s developing between her and Crowley. I think it’s potentially exciting that Crowley’s already bit off more than he can chew, you know?
There’s that neat scene in the middle of “The Bad Seed” where a demon and an angel meet over drinks to talk about The Darkness, and I think it demonstrates what might come of this show. The Darkness might be the only antagonistic force that requires all these players – these demons, angels, humans, and monsters – to unite against a common foe. Could you even imagine how cool that would be??? COULD YOU IMAGINE?
But I’m at a point where I’m a little tired of imagining this show being better.
The Winchesters
So we’re back to the Winchesters lying to each other again and keeping secrets? Yes? That quickly after the assertion that they wouldn’t do it again? As I said earlier, this episode is painfully unremarkable, and it’s unfortunate that the Winchesters’ story is not inched forward one bit. Instead, they spend this episode sitting around on computers. Then arguing. Then chasing down some important thing that will help them on whatever mission they’re on, and then they capture that person, and then that person gets away! You’d think after ten seasons of this show that the boys would be able to properly secure a witch, but apparently not?
That’s one of the main issues I have with this episode. “The Bad Seed” is stale because aside from a few brief moments, nothing new exists here. It’s all recycled plots and tropes, and it’s like someone reached into a grab bag of Supernatural episodes and assembled this with the pieces. That includes the gratuitious queerbaiting here, too. Look, I can’t claim that I know anything substantive about this fandom because my only interaction with it has been through this site and in-person at conventions. But I found that as a whole, shippers can sometimes get a raw deal from not just this fandom, but this nerd culture as a whole. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be invested in Destiel and to watch what this show does with these two characters.
Prior to one of the longest bits of physical affection between Dean and Cas, Dean catcalls a random woman. I cannot possibly imagine a better representation of NO HOMO aside from Dean actually saying it than this. He confirms his heterosexuality to all of us, and then proceeds to spend an entire sequence clutching Cas’s face, running his hand down to his thighs, and being mere seconds away from making out with the man.
But he’s straight. And people who ship this and see signs of it in canon are delusional.
Sigh. I want men to be able to be physically affectionate with each other without the stigma that is attached to it. But gods, y’all, this is just so exhausting. It doesn’t bring me joy to talk about queerbaiting, and I much prefer to be able to just yell about how much I love something. It’s fun! I feel uplifted afterwards! But this show just seems to be doing this shit on purpose at this point. There’s a 0% chance that they aren’t aware of what they’re doing by now, and it makes me tired thinking that they’re going to constantly push a narrative on us and then immediately deny that it’s happening to us.
Meh. So Castiel is cured, I have no idea how he’s going to contribute to the story, and we’re pretty much right where we started at.
The video for “The Bad Seed” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on Patreon!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME.
– IÂ will be at Borderlands Books, Book Riot Live, and Windycon this fall! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates / Appearances page.
– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Kings, season 1 of Sense8, season 1 of Agent Carter, seasons 1 & 2 of The 100, Death Note, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series will replace the Emelan books.
- Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook! I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
