Supernatural - Reichenbach - Review

        Supernatural, “Reichenbach,” was written by Andrew Dabb and directed by Thomas J Wright. The episode continues to set the stage for this season. We’ve been told that it will be more about examining the brothers’ internal monsters, and so far the only Supernatural monsters we’ve seen have been angels and demons. Dean (Jensen Ackles) is still a demon, but at least this episode finally sees Sam (Jared Padalecki) catch up with his brother, and they finally have a scene together. Wright does his usual masterful job of directing and while Dabb loses points for a pretty lame Franklin and Bash reference, he gets extra bonus points for The Princess Bride reference!

From Season 1 "Hookman"

The episode begins with a flashback that explains why Cole (Travis Aaron Wade) is after Dean – he wants revenge for his father’s death. The flashback is from 2003, so Dean would have been 24 and Sam would have been at Stanford. As young Cole comes down the stairs and runs to his father’s body, he slips at the bottom of the stairs. It looked like there might be stains on the carpet too. It was difficult to tell if he was simply slipping in blood or possibly cast off skin? Could Dean have thought his father was a shapeshifter? Maybe his “father” was a shapeshifter. It’s hard to tell - kudos to the VFX team! – whether that is a matted in shot of Ackles from a very early episode or whether that is a new shot that has had Ackles face de-aged. It does appear that he is wearing the infamous leather jacket that was stolen from a photo shoot in LA many years ago. And he is wearing the “samulet”!

We quickly learn that Cole isn’t a hunter, though he is a highly trained soldier. Sam tries desperately to convince Cole that real monsters do exist. Cole clearly enjoys torturing Sam just a little too much, and Wade does a good job of demonstrating how much he’s on the edge. It’s a nice way of showcasing how both Dean and Sam’s time in Hell really equates to time spent in war. We’ve seen Dean as torturer in “On The Head of a Pin” (and others) and the flashbacks show Sam torturing a demon from just last week.

We then cut to the monster of the week, who just happens to be Dean. Dean is enjoying one of his favorite pastimes – watching strippers. Of course this time, he’s not content to play by the rules and just watch as we’ve seen him do in the past. Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” is playing, and it’s a nice throwback to a couple of episodes. Dean suggests in “Sex and Violence” that that would be the song a siren would sing, and it’s also the song that is playing during Dean’s dream of angel and demon strippers in “The Song Remains the Same.” It’s interesting that Dean does break the rules and touch the stripper (Diana Bello) – and I’m certainly not condoning unwanted touching – but he doesn’t pursue her further than that. Once the bouncer steps in, Dean is happy to simply beat him to a pulp to relieve his growing bloodlust – he doesn’t follow the girl.

The scene in which Dean beats the bouncer (Brad Kelly) and Cole beats Sam is beautifully cut together. Dean leaves with cut knuckles while Cole has taken the precaution of wearing heavy gloves. Sam, of course, has weathered much worse, but even he looks worried when Cole threatens to take a hammer to his knee – having arthritis, I was cringing too! Cole’s soothing ringtone made a great contrast in this scene as he suddenly flips back to “Everything’s fine” mode for his family.

As Dean exits the bar, he’s bumped into by a group of punk kids who call him Grandpa. Rather than beat on them, he just looks at them bemused. This is only the first of several episodes that make you wonder just how demonic Dean actually is. He tells Sam he wants to kill him, but he doesn’t make a move to do so. When Dean has the blade to Cole’s throat, Cole tells him to just do it, and Dean doesn’t.

Crowley (Mark Sheppard) attempts to rein in his “bestie” and help him deal with the mark – while benefitting himself, of course! – by assigning Dean kills to sate the mark. Dean agrees to do it – just this one time. However, once Dean meets Lester, he realizes what a douche the guy is and kills him instead of the wife. Of course, while the end result is that Lester’s soul won’t go to hell and the wife is still alive – the best possible outcome under the circumstances – it doesn’t seem like that was his plan going in.

Sheppard is his usual brilliant self as Crowley. He’s clearly bored to tears at having to go back to work. Clearly, the workload of being King of Hell is more than being the King of the Crossroads. Was he hoping that Dean might take some of that workload off his hands? Crowley’s assistant demons don’t seem quite as respectful as they used to – smirking at Dean throwing Crowley to the ground. Crowley is clearly afraid of Dean – Sheppard’s subtle stepping back from Ackles in the scene is just perceptible. But in typical Crowley fashion he lashes out at Dean where he knows it will hurt. He tells Dean it’s over and it’s not him, it’s Dean. How many other times has Dean had the people in his life push him away or abandon him? Crowley knows the buttons to push.

However, Crowley also calls him on his failure to complete the task. Dean maintains that he doesn’t – and won’t - work for Crowley, but he will call Crowley when he needs someone to kill to satisfy the bloodlust. Crowley tells him to pick a side – is he a demon or is he human? This implies that Dean has some choice in the matter – and this is what he’s musing about as Sam enters the bar, and the brothers are finally reunited. Ackles and Padalecki are both fantastic in this scene. I loved that we get Dean calling Sam, Sammy – and also calling him on the emo-puppy-dog-eyes. Ackles is doing a wonderful job adding this layer to Dean. Padalecki is playing Sam as we haven’t seen him for a few seasons – maybe not since the first three seasons when he was still able to have that more raw love for his brother. Perhaps last season was a crucible of sorts in which Sam was finally able to burn away the negative feelings he had for his brother.

Sam’s plan is to cure Dean. Dean points out that if he wanted to be cured, he wouldn’t have left in the first place. Dean tells Sam that he’s doing everything not to rip Sam’s throat out with his teeth – is that a Walking Dead reference?! (Rick rips Joe’s throat out with his teeth in the finale of last season) Cole arrives before Sam and Dean can actually engage. I realize that Padalecki was actually injured, but it was totally unbelievable that he could think he’d get those handcuffs on a non-demon Dean with one hand!

Dean’s fight with Cole is epic and chilling. I adored Dean taunting Cole. Cole is an idiot for not taking the shot when Dean told him to. The absolute BEST part of the fight – and possibly the episode – is Dean quoting The Princess Bride! “What did you think would happen? You’d just stroll up here and say ‘My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die’.”

Sam gives the First Blade back to Crowley. How will this affect Dean? Demon or not, he’s going to crave the blade. Sam threatens to kill Crowley next time he sees him, but Crowley is clearly not worried – though he does seem a bit worried about Dean holding a grudge for being ratted out. Crowley looking fondly at the picture of the besties on his phone while “Lonely Girl” plays is hilarious – another nice musical touch to the episode. Now that they aren’t besties, I have to wonder what Crowley’s storyarc is going forward – Sheppard is now a regular, so surely we can expect to see him a fair bit in the rest of the season…

Meanwhile, Hannah (Erica Carroll) is taking care of the ailing Cas (Misha Collins). Collins is doing an excellent job as an ailing Cas – I keep feeling badly that Collins himself is sick! Carroll has really grown on me this season after not being all that impressed last season. I thought that I’d really miss Cas’ missing every pop culture reference, but it’s fun to watch Hannah fill that role and Cas have to step in to gloss the world for her. Sam tells Cas that Dean is a demon, and Cas immediately agrees to join him.

The dynamic between the two is very interesting. It’s clear that there is some resistance to Hannah because some viewers are seeing her as a love interest, and some viewers prefer other pairings. However, it’s clear that her feelings for or about Cas are rather conflicted. Metatron (Curtis Armstrong) is convinced she simply wants to be “dominated” by Cas – she wants him back in heaven at full strength as their leader. But Cas already has caught her slipping into human feelings – an offshoot of how long one spends in a vessel perhaps. When she asks if it’s wrong that she wants to look after him, he tells her that it’s very human – and then that he feels that’s a compliment. Hannah points out that the Winchesters are a bad influence on Cas, but he insists they are the best men he’s ever known, and they’re his friends. Cas continues to be a terrible driver.

We also see Hannah start to see some good in people – such as the tow-truck driver, Kim (Tara Pratt). It’s a mark of her still relative innocence that Hannah does go to Metatron to make a deal for Cas’ grace in an attempt to save his life. Metatron, of course, is a master manipulator. The scene between the three is wonderfully shot and acted. I haven’t been that impressed by Armstrong who often seemed to be playing the role for laughs – and a bit over the top – but he reins it in here and seems more committed to the drama of the scene.

Cas tells Metatron that his happy place is picturing Metatron locked up forever. Metatron gives Cas a reason to live and to fight for his grace because Metatron tells him that eventually he’ll escape. The only way Cas can be sure that Metatron never escapes to kill everyone, it by living himself.

The final scene of the boys in the Impala is beautifully shot. It is both familiar and off kilter. Dean is sitting in the backseat, not behind the wheel of his baby – or even in shotgun – emphasizing his “different” status. The Impala is suddenly “just a car” – and it’s funny how much that simple statement – and the state of the car – begin to convince Sam that maybe his brother is farther gone than he thought. But Padalecki’s face is brilliant as he slowly understands the depth of Dean’s ability to torture as Dean explains that letting Cole live is not mercy. Of course, this emphasizes how much failure has tortured Dean himself.

The title of the episode references Reichenbach falls – where Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty fight and Holmes is believed dead. Conan Doyle wanted to stop writing Sherlock Holmes and therefore killed him off. He later regretted having done it and brought Holmes back. In the more recent BBC version, Holmes fakes his death in a similar situation. Everyone thinks Holmes is dead – for their own protection. Is it possible that Dean is trying to do something similar? Kill off “Dean” because he’s tired of being him? Or to protect those around him? Reichenback is also urban slang for “gutted” – or upset. Can we make something of that? What did you think of the episode? Is Sam going to be able to fix Dean? Will Dean let him? What role do you think Crowley will play now? Do you think Cas will relent and make a deal for his grace or find grace in some other way? Will Hannah do something stupid to help him? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

About the Author - Lisa Macklem

I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Forever, Defiance, Bitten, Glee, and a few others! Highlights of this past year include covering San Diego Comic Con as press and a set visit to Bitten. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.