Grade: B-
Wow, Dean. Really? After all you’ve learned and grown in the past few years, you’re still taking a hard line on monsters.
I generally have a lot of faith in Supernatural’s writers room, but it seems like years of development went out the window when Dean offed that pleasant Kitsune, a brain-eating monster with Catwoman’s fingernails. Yes, I know Dean has always taken a very black-white view of monsters, but he seemed to have grown a little over the years, gradually accepting that not all monsters are…well, monsters. Didn’t he?
I’m getting ahead of myself. The Girl Next Door opens with Sam and Dean trapped in Sioux Falls General and at the mercy of the LeviaDoc. Bobby, who is as not dead as originally thought, comes to the rescue, only to find Dean with a broken leg and Sam on his way to becoming dinner. After a half-escape, the three settle in at one of Bobby’s safehouse. With Dean on injured reserve, Sam picks up a case that seems connected one he investigated as a teen, which means…flashbacks!
As Sam starts tracking a mysterious Ice Pick Killer who drains its victims’ brains, he recalls a similar pattern from years ago. Colin Ford returns as young Sam, growing enough that we probably won’t see flashbacks before the boys’ teen years anymore. The young Sam flashbacks are interesting because, for what seems like the first time, Sam is hunting alone. I always assumed the boys stuck together when they were younger and didn’t separate until Sam went to college, so this is an interesting twist on their history. Of course, young Sam is a capable hunter but pretty inept with these young ladies. It’s pretty funny to see young Sam ask his big brother not for advice on hunt but for advice on talking to girls.
With a little advice from Dean and a timely thrashing of some bullies, Sam sparks a cute fledgling relationship with young Amy Pond (for the Doctor Who fans out there), and her mother just happen to be the objects of his and, to his surprise, Dean and John’s hunt. With Sam’s father and brother closing in, Amy’s mother outs Sam as a hunter, forcing young Sam to contemplate killing Amy and her mom. But, young Amy provides him an out by killing her own mother. Obviously, a sacrifice like that means Sam has to let Amy go, with the caveat that she never kills again.
Back in the present, Amy seems to be killing again. In actuality, she feeds on dead bodies, but her son needed live brains to fend off an illness. Amy, as Sam tells Dean, did what anyone would do to save their child and offed some criminals. This development puts this week’s story clearly in the gray area that works so well for Supernatural. It is also a return to the notion that monsters aren’t evil, which leads back to my problem with Dean’s actions. The show has always seen the world in gray terms despite Dean’s moral absolutism. Over the seasons, Dean’s gradual shift from a black/white view to a more balanced vision of the world and creatures in it has been one of Supernatural’s strengths. Yet, seeing Dean kill Amy, in front of her son no less, is either a bold step or a discouraging misstep. Dean’s actions are also going to cause a brand new rift between him and Sam, as Sam specifically asked Dean to let Amy go. Thus, we have another slight regression, as the brothers are back to hiding things from each other, something I thought they’d learned not to do, especially after Sam’s openness about his mental wall.
Thankfully, it looks like next episode will directly address Dean’s actions. How effectively it will address those issues remains to be seen, but Dean has to feel the pain for this, either by his own hand or others. If not, Supernatural’s writers will come off as painfully inept, and they’re better than that. Aren’t they?
On the side:
Besides the Amy Pond reference, this episode is stacked with easter eggs. Anybody else catch the ad for My Bloody Valentine, in 3D, or the Batman: Under the Red Hood t-shirt on the convenience store clerk?
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