{"id":4274,"date":"2014-12-10T13:00:56","date_gmt":"2014-12-10T21:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4274"},"modified":"2014-12-01T19:27:48","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T03:27:48","slug":"mark-watches-supernatural-s07e15-repo-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2014\/12\/mark-watches-supernatural-s07e15-repo-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Supernatural’: S07E15 – Repo Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifteenth episode of the seventh season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, Sam and Dean are drawn back to an old case when it appears a demon has somehow resurfaced from Hell. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of serial killers, alcoholism, PTSD\/trauma, gore\/body horror<\/b>.<\/p>\n

THIS EPISODE WAS TOO MUCH\u00c2\u00a0WHAT THE HELL<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Revisiting the Past<\/b><\/p>\n

There are a number of ways to look at what happens in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Repo Man,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as well as at least two or three different story threads weaved throughout this episode, so let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s start with the most obvious one. While past cases have come back to haunt the Winchesters, and while we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also seen characters from long ago return to the screen (hello, Lucifer!), this truly felt like the first examination of what it was like to be a\u00c2\u00a0victim<\/i> from one of these cases. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s completely brushed over by the narrative of this show because of the nature of how it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s framed. Since we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re always following the Winchesters as they move from city-to-city across America, it means we never see the fallout. We rarely revisit old characters to see how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing or how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve changed since their paths crossed with the Winchesters. And even when we have? I think you could state that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve mostly been able to get on with their lives in their own way. (Hell, until her son is kidnapped, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that precisely what Nora Havelock does?)<\/p>\n

So what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interesting to me about how the first half of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Repo Man\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is framed is that the show gives an idea what it might be like to cross the Winchesters and\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i> really turn out all that well. The portrait of Jeffrey that we get (and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to call it that for ~reasons~) is one that shows us how much his life changed since being possessed. Is he in the\u00c2\u00a0worst<\/i> place imaginable? No, not at all, and I did appreciate, even given the big twist, that Jeffrey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s support group was not played as a joke. He turned to alcohol when he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cope with the reality of his life anymore, and those people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c particularly Al \u00e2\u20ac\u201c helped him gain control of his life. (OH, THE TRAGIC IRONY, I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T DEAL WITH IT.)<\/p>\n

Unless you get into hunting, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply nothing for victims of supernatural violence to help them through what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve experienced. (Let me take this time to recommend the stunning novella,\u00c2\u00a0We Are All Completely Fine<\/i> by Daryl Gregory, which has a simple set-up: What if five survivors of horror movie scenarios did group therapy?\u00c2\u00a0You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re welcome<\/i>.) That means that some of them are not going to cope with their trauma well. Now, I had this huge thing I was gonna write about Jeffrey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story and how sad it made me and I fell for this and GODDAMN IT.<\/p>\n

Real Monsters<\/b><\/p>\n

This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the first time the show has featured real human evil as the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153antagonist,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but the twist halfway through \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Repo Man\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is particularly heartbreaking because we have to accept that we fell for Jeffrey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s act. (I fell for it. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m including y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all in a collective \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because, once again, it makes me feel like a better person.) But it\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i> new to see a demon possession as a catalyst for something that was already within a person. Jeffrey was not a victim here; no, he always wanted to kill all those women, and the demon that possessed him was what made him confident enough to do it. I wrongly assumed that Jeffrey was possessed in the present time, but this is so much worse than possession. Jeffrey was a goddamn serial killer, and he wanted to bring that demon back to\u00c2\u00a0willingly<\/i> be possessed.<\/p>\n

This is so fucked up. SO FUCKED UP. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, he cut off Nora\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s son\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ear OUT OF SPITE. What the hell.<\/p>\n

Lucifer<\/b><\/p>\n

I retroactively feel\u00c2\u00a0even sadder<\/i> about Sam Winchester. While we saw Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s struggle with his Hell-ish hallucinations earlier this season, most of the time, we just have to iamgine what Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going through. This episode does not allow us that luxury anymore, and now we get a fuller look at exactly what Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been going through this season.<\/p>\n

AND IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO AWFUL. While it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nice that Mark Pellegrino is in this episode, I just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 CAN SAM GET A BREAK? PLEASE? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seeing Lucifer every waking minute. Dealing with a hallucination that acts like an attention-starved child is annoying, sure, but then we find out that the hallucinations manifests in glimpses of Hell. LIKE, THAT SCENE IN THE LIBRARY IS ONE OF THE LEAST OKAY THINGS IN THE ENTIRE\u00c2\u00a0SUPERNATURAL<\/i> UNIVERSE. And\u00c2\u00a0this<\/i> is what Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been dealing with for\u00c2\u00a0months<\/i>. M O N T H S. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been seeing violent images. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been tempted with a version of his subconscious, and that might be the worst part of this.<\/p>\n

Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it, though? Lucifer helps Sam work through the case he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on; that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undeniable. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not\u00c2\u00a0actually<\/i> Lucifer but a part of Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s subconscious. When we find out that Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ignored his hallucinations for months, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right at the time when his hallucination tempts him the most. Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s loneliness works against him, and he eventually caves to Lucifer, and IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO WEIRD TO WATCH. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a jarring experience because I had to constantly remind myself that this wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a physical manifestation of Lucifer. And yet? That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that this didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have physical ramifications. We see how Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reliance on pain to bring him back to reality has slowly eroded, so much so that by the end of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Repo Man,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shown to not work anymore. So how will Sam ground himself? How is he going to deal with an ever-present Lucifer?<\/p>\n

Lord, I just realized that when Dean eventually finds out what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening with his brother, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to react poorly. He is! IT CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T END WELL. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know how Sam\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i> get help. Is this a supernatural malady, or is this specifically a mental issue? Could therapy help him? WHY AREN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T THERE THERAPISTS FOR HUNTERS?\u00c2\u00a0When will Sam Winchester be left alone?<\/i><\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Repo Man\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– Mark Does Stuff is now on Facebook<\/a>! Feel free to Like the page, which I’m running myself, for updates and SILLINESS.
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running, I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!<\/a>
\n– Please check out the MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next two Double Features are now in the schedule! I will be watching <\/b>The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i><\/b> and then <\/b>Leverage<\/i><\/b>. <\/b>Commission away!
\n– I will be at quite a few conventions and will be hosting events throughout 2015, so check my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page<\/a> often to see if I’m coming to your city!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"