This week Supernatural puts Dean on trial, literally, to judge his guilt. It’s a good idea, one this show needs given last week’s episode when Dean killed Amy and lied to Sam about it. Unfortunately, the result feels like when a defendant gets off on a technicality.
The Egyptian god Osiris is putting people who feel guilty on trial and sentencing them to death. The punishments are delightfully fitting, like a man who ran a dog fighting ring getting mauled by a ghost Rottweiler. Dean is perhaps the biggest defendant of all-time given all the guilt he carries with him, and this leads the big trial.
Sam steps up as his lawyer (because he was pre-law and watches The Good Wife, which might be even more embarrassing than Dean’s Dr. Sexy M.D. obsession). Osiris calls Jo and Sam to the stand to prove that Dean is responsible for putting them in danger, but Sam does a good job disproving it. The truth is that Jo and Sam would’ve been roped into this world no matter what and Dean has no real responsibility for it.
But Dean does have guilt over Amy, and his refusal to tell Sam about it gets him sentenced to death. Ghost Jo shows up to carry out the sentence (a death similar to her own as she turns on the gas in the motel and prepares to light it, blowing him up). Luckily, however, Bobby comes in for the last minute save, revealing that a ram’s horn can temporarily kill Osiris.
This leads Sam to a synagogue where he grabs a shofar and kills Osiris. I suspect there might be some deeper meaning behind an Egyptian god being killed with a Jewish religious artifact, but I don’t know enough about religion to fully understand it.
So Dean gets away scot-free and he doesn’t even need to tell Sam about what he did to Amy. See, I told you he got off on a technicality. The big lesson of the episode isn’t about Dean, but about Sam. We learn that he doesn’t feel guilty about anything anymore because he views his time in Hell as penance that wiped the slate clean. I’m not sure if I believe that, and the final scene made me think back to Sam’s soulless times. All is definitely not right with him.
Next week on Supernatural: So far season 7 started with two great episodes and followed it up with two mediocre ones, but next week could be great again. It’s the big Buffy reunion with Charisma Carpenter and James Marsters.
(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.
