Watching Supernatural season 7 might give you depression. There’s no real fun in this week’s episode, just a depressing, unsatisfying ending that leaves Sam and Dean as messed up as ever.
This isn’t a criticism, just an observation. In fact, I enjoy the psychological subtext of this season. Supernatural has seen the Winchesters defeat Lucifer, prevent the Apocalypse and battle angels. But the monsters keep coming, and sooner or later Sam and Dean had to realize that they’re never going to win, they’re just going to keep fighting until they die. It’s a harsh, bitter reality, and it’s one that Sam and Dean are quickly coming to now that Cas and Bobby are both dead.
This week the boys battle Amazons who have sex with a man and then have a baby who grows into a teenage girl in less than a week. Those girls must then go out and kill their fathers. That would be fine except Dean becomes one of the daddies.
Yes, we meet Dean’s daughter, and the best scene of the episode is when she comes to him, seemingly for help, but in reality she’s playing with his emotions so he’ll let his guard down and she can kill him. What do you do when you’re forced to murder your own daughter?
In Dean’s case, he tries to talk her down, but that’s when Sam shows up and wastes little time killing her. It’s a lot like earlier this season with Amy, only this time Dean is reluctant to do the job and kill a monster because of his personal feelings and it’s Sam who does what is necessary.
If the idea of Dean watching while his brother kills his daughter isn’t depressing enough, the other Amazons get away. That seems about right for this episode. It’s not really a victory, it’s just a sad, miserable ending where no one feels good about it.
The final car scene highlights that confusion and overwhelming sadness. Neither of the boys really knows how to deal with this situation, so they just say a few words that don’t make much sense then shut up and drive on to the next town.
As I said, Supernatural has become more depressing than ever, but that’s clearly what the show is trying to do. It wants us to feel lost and aimless, just like Sam and Dean. The death of Bobby is still being felt, even if it’s not on the surface. It’s like the scene where Dean thinks Bobby’s ghost might be helping them out. Sam reveals that they burned his bones so Bobby can’t be a ghost, but Dean is desperate to look for any sign that there’s some larger force at work to lead him.
I may hope and wish that Bobby is helping from beyond the grave, but I doubt it. I think Dean is seeing what he wants to see because that’s how he handles grief. He pretends like it doesn’t exist.
Just to end on a more positive note, it was fantastic to see Harry Groener (aka the Mayor from Buffy) as the anthropology expert. He’s always a welcome addition to any show.
Next week on Supernatural: Sam and Dean battle unicorns and clowns. Really.
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
