In the third episode of the tenth season of Supernatural, Sam tries to cure Dean. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.Â
Trigger Warning: For talk of blood, torture, abuse, mention of immolation.
For an episode that contains some of the most surreal and significant storytelling of the series, “Soul Survivor” was kinda boring at times.
Cas / Hannah / Crowley
It’s all just… meh??? I actually had a moment early into this episode where I thought the show would focus entirely on the exchanges between Dean and Sam, and now that I look back on the episode, I feel like that should have happened. Instead, we’ve got an awkward, aimless road trip between Castiel and Hannah. Like, I know they’re on their way to help Sam, but it truly feels like it takes days. And what do they do while driving? They get lost. They superficially discuss humanity. Hannah flirts with Cas, Cas rejects her, the Adina subplot is resolved in the most lackluster manner possible, and… okay? About the only thing here that grabbed my attention was Crowley’s appearance.
And yet, even Crowley’s part in this episode felt disappointingly stale. I know that his version of Hell is bureaucratic, but it doesn’t really make for compelling entertainment. I suppose that the scene where a demon immolates himself in protest of Crowley was surprising, but where does it lead? What does it mean? It’s a glimpse of something more, sure, but is that enough to keep our interest? For the most part, any of the scenes not in the Men of Letters bunker felt like the writers were gently nudging the characters around a game board, settling them into place for a story they don’t even know the ending to. It makes this episode feel like I’m trudging through quicksand.
Demon Dean
I won’t deny that it was entertaining and electrifying to watch Jensen Ackles so wholly become Demon Dean, but good lord, I’m just sad. I’m sad because it’s hard to watch Sam end up being the show’s punching bag again. That’s not to say that what Sam did in order to find Dean is excusable or that he shouldn’t be held accountable for his actions. I don’t have a problem doing that. But within the moral framework of this show, it felt particularly egregious to me that the writers – through Dean – focused on Sam’s misstep when… y’all. These brothers have done so many things worse than this. So why is Dean trying to get anyone to believe that Sam is a bigger monster?
I think you could view this as Dean’s torment of Sam, simply put. It’s the only way it makes sense to me. Dean emotionally manipulates and abuses Sam because he can; that’s what the Demon part of him does. Demons are cruel, they’re opportunistic, and they so deeply understand human nature that they know precisely how to exploit them. And there’s a selfish aspect to all of this because Dean is concerned with self-preservation. The demon within him wants to stay there, and if he can convince Sam to stop the holy blood therapy, then he survives. So what does he do?
The worst. Like… jesus christ, y’all, we’ve seen the Winchesters say some nasty shit to each other, but what the hell. This was so horrible to watch, y’all, especially when Demon Dean blamed their mother’s death on SAM’S VERY EXISTENCE. Who said that this was okay? Who??? And look, I don’t think Sam is going to spend future episodes worrying too much about what Dean said during this time, given that he knows how demons work. Still, that doesn’t exactly make this less upsetting, you know? It’s still a vicious thing to watch unfold.
Well, and then Dean escapes, and this episode turns into The Shining. I don’t know that I found the cat-and-mouse game as entertaining as the conversation between Sam and Dean, but it was certainly necessary, at least to demonstrate the physical capabilities of Dean in this state. He’s emotionally intimidating and violently terrifying. And goddamn, Jensen Ackles does a fine job with this new twist on Dean. But HEY, I GOT A PREDICTION RIGHT, Y’ALL. I am not like… sitting here and wishing he could abuse Sam more???? But I suspected that we wouldn’t get Demon Dean for very long. Still, it’s not like this struggle is suddenly over, you know? Dean still has the Mark of Cain, meaning that if he dies again, he’ll resurrect as a demon. Or… maybe something else??? I don’t even know how this shit works, so perhaps I shouldn’t assume anything. Regardless, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that dealing with the Mark of Cain is next in terms of this season’s arc.
The video for “Soul Survivor” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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