Supernatural, “Paint It Black,” was written by the team of Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming and was directed by John F Showalter. It’s another monster of the week episode with just a few nods to the Mark of Cain storyline. Unfortunately, there’s also a heavy dose of the Rowena (Ruth Connell) storyline, which may or may not ever fold into the Mark storyline. This is not my favorite writing team, but I did like that they developed the Isabella’s (Catherine Michaud) storyline more fully and in a pretty interesting way.
It’s not apparent from the outset that Isabella is the ghost. We see her talking to Sister Mathias (Rachel Keller) and simply assume she is another nun. In the first flashback, we only see her from the neck up, so get now hints about the time period. I had pretty much figured out that she was a ghost by the time the camera pulls back to reveal what she’s wearing and then tells us that we’re looking at Florence, Italy, in 1520.
Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) think it may be a witch at first because cheating men are being targeted. Sister Mathias is also a good red herring at the outset. Dean just wants to focus on hunting, to distract himself, but Sam isn’t giving up and is continuing to research. The episode gives us quite a bit of insight into both brothers.
There are also a few nice humorous moments, such as when Sam gets their names wrong in front of Sister Mathias and when he tells Dean that she’s married to Jesus – so not likely interested in Dean. And did anyone else catch what's on the message board? "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother."
Sister Mathias feels close to Isabella and tells her, “We’re supposed to enter the convent for a higher purpose but many chose this because of the things that overwhelmed us.” Dean asks Sister Mathias why she’s joined the convent: “how one quits one life for something completely different and then believe in it so much,” she answers, “I felt I had no choice. My life had become painful, hopeless. I felt I needed to find something larger than myself. A kind of mission, I guess. You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure.” But of course, we’ve seen Dean do this time and time again. Somehow, I doubt that Dean’s about to join a monastery.
Dean takes confession to lure the ghost out. The first half is pretty funny as he clearly has no clue what he’s doing and he spins a tale about Gina. But then the conversation turns serious. He tells the Priest (Steve Curtis), “What if I said I didn’t want to die? Yet. That I wasn’t ready.” The Priest asks if he’s expecting to die, and he continues, “Always. The life I live. The work I do. I pretty much just figured that’s all there was to me, y’know? Tear around and jam the key in the ignition and haul ass until I ran out of gas. I guess I just thought sooner or later, I’d go out the same way I lived. Pedal to the metal and that would be it.”
The Priest encourages him to go on. Dean says, “Now. Recent events made me think I might be closer to that than I really thought and… I don’t know… there’s things. There’s people, feelings that I want to experience differently than I have before or maybe even for the first time.” The Priest suggests, “a little deeper than with Gina.” Dean says, “Yeah. I’m just starting to think that maybe there’s more to it all than I thought.” The Priest asks if Dean believes in God because that might be a comfort to him. Dean tells him, “I believe there is a God, but I am not sure he still believes in us.”
For me, none of this really sounded like the Dean we’ve come to know. For my own part, the Dean that mourned his loss of innocence in Hell already cared deeply. The Dean that had dedicated his life to hunting things, saving people, killing as many evil sons of bitches as possible, already knew about these things. The Dean whose entire heaven consisted of family or the Dean who imagined a sun drenched picnic with Lisa in “Dream a Little Dream of Me” also knew these things.
In the end, after telling them that the church is on a burial ground but poo-pooing the idea of ghosts, Sister Mathias finally comes clean and admits that she’s been helping ghosts find their way to the other side. Dean is sure that Isabelle is tied to her journal, but Sam isn’t quite so sure. Dean and Sister Mathias go in search of Isabelle. Why? It really doesn’t make a lot of sense for them to split up. In the end, we learn that Piero (Peter J Gray) used Isabelle’s blood and bone – part of her finger – EW! – in the paint. She was actually tied to the painting, and Sam burns it just in the nick of time to save Dean after Isabelle possesses Sister Mathias.
In the final scene, Sam is actually driving. And in contrast to the opening when Dean was driving and directing how they’d proceed, Sam says he’s not giving up. He offers to be there for Dean if Dean wants to talk. Sam tells Dean, “There has to be a way. There will be a way and we will find it. That’s what we do. So believe that.” Dean says, in a very world weary way, “Okay Sammy.” Sam isn’t satisfied until he gets Dean to growl “okay” convincingly. As Sam drives, we can see that Dean is physically uncomfortable. Is the Mark starting to manifest itself physically again? Making Dean ill as he resists its murderous tendencies?
Rowena is causing havoc in Hell’s court. To placate her, Crowley (Mark Sheppard) brings her the High Priestess of the Grand Coven, Olivette (Teryl Rothery). Rowena takes great pleasure in torturing her, learning that the Grand Coven isn’t so grand anymore, mainly due to the interference of the Men of Letters. She also tells her that the only two Men of Letters left in North America are the Winchesters. We also learn that the Men of Letters took all the spells and secrets of the witches. Could there be something in there that would help with the Mark? In the end, Rowena doesn’t kill Olivette, she simply turns her into a hamster.
Crowley reiterates that his relationship with the Winchesters is his own business and he’s not killing them, regardless of what Rowena might want. Even in the Crowley storyline, we hardly get any Crowley. Having the “villain” a total wimpy mama’s boy is becoming increasingly less interesting for me.
All in all, this episode had some interesting moments, but really didn’t work over all for me. I wanted more out of an episode with such a great title – sure it tied into the painting, but the black should imply some demonic element at the very least. It was nice to see both brothers speak about what they’re thinking and feeling. I felt Sam’s dedication to saving his brother felt a lot more in character than Dean’s confession. What did you think of the episode? Are you as tired of Rowena as I am? Do you miss the days of Crowley’s witty repartes? 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.
