Supernatural: Paint it Black (10x16)

Another filler episode, but I actually thought a lot of it worked quite well.

Sam and Dean are on the case after three people commit suicide by gutting themselves. Dean meets a nun, Sister Mathias, at the church who tells him that all three of the victims had recently been to confession. Sam and Dean aren't sure what's going on, so Dean decides to go to confession to see if there's a curse or a ghost or something else like that. In his confession, Dean starts by just talking about his exploits with the ladies, but then after some prodding he admits that he doesn't want to die. He wants to experience things in a new way, and maybe feel a deeper connection with someone.

Throughout the episode, a nun working at the church talks with another nun, a woman named Isabella who has a terrible story. She was in love with a great artist in Italy, but the artist did not love her back. As she saw him with another man, she decided to kill him. It is revealed later on that this woman is actually a ghost from the 1500s. Sister Mathias comes clean to Sam and Dean that she knew about the ghost. She says she didn't know that Isabella was hurting anybody, because a lot of ghosts end up hanging out around the church for a while. Mostly they are harmless.

Isabella wrote her story down in a journal, and Dean assumes this must be what tethers Isabella to the spot. Sam isn't so sure, however. As Dean and Sister Mathias try to fight off an enraged Isabella, Sam reads the journal. He learns that Isabella had cut off her fingertip and had Piero grind up her flesh and bones to use in his paint. She is tied to a painting. Sam destroys the painting, saving Dean and Sister Mathias.

As the boys head off in the impala, Sam tells Dean that if he ever needs to talk about anything, he'll be there for him. Sam also tells Dean that he still believes there's a cure out there for the Mark of Cain, and that Dean shouldn't give up hope. Dean doesn't seem to believe it, but he says okay, in order to placate Sam.

Meanwhile, Rowena is moping around Hell and making everybody's lives even more miserable than usual. Crowley, finally fed up, decides to fetch Olivette, the High Priestess of the Grand Coven, so that Rowena can make her case to be allowed free reign to do her magic. Rowena is delighted to have Olivette as her captive. She tortures the witch, reveling in her power. She accuses Olivette of always being jealous of Rowena's greater skill. Olivette says that the Grand Coven isn't what it used to be - most of their knowledge was stolen away long ago by the Men of Letters. Olivette tells Rowena that the Winchesters are the only known remaining members of the American chapter of the Men of Letters. Rowena talks to Crowley about this, but Crowley reiterates that his relationship with the Winchesters is his own business, and he won't be killing them. Rowena turns Olivette into a hamster, so that she can be the one to run pointlessly in circles for a change.

My biggest complaint about this episode is actually sort of hard to explain. I felt like the world of the guest characters wasn't fully fleshed out. Like, we have this woman who murders her husband because she's possessed by the ghost, but she comes in and out of the story so quickly we don't get a read on her. Sister Mathias could have been actually very interesting, but we're left with no answers about her own past. The priest ends up dead in this episode too, and even though we'd spent several scenes with him, there's no sense of grief or loss associated with his passing. I could have used a more deep look at these guest characters.

I also have to say that Rowena becomes a little bit less threatening with each passing week. I think it's probably because we've seen her scheming and plotting and moping and yelling for such a long time now. I want her to go out and do something! I want her to become a threat again.

But, for what it was, this episode of Supernatural did deliver a couple of cool elements.

First of all, I rather enjoyed the story of Isabella. It was a bit simplistic and cliche, perhaps - the passionate affair between the young innocent girl and the artist who lives only for his work. But I really enjoyed the way that Isabella's story was timeless. The trick was that you didn't know she was from the 16th Century until much later. Seeing the two nuns talking to one another, you cannot feel the centuries separating them. There's so much history built into the church, and the timelessness of religion was nicely played up here.

Of course, I loved Dean's confession. You can tell that the first part of the confession is fully in line with his job as a hunter. He's just bullshitting his way through this so that he can figure out if anything's haunting or cursing the place. We haven't seen Dean running around with a bunch of women lately, anyway. Then, after the priest suggests some deeper reflection, we get Dean's real confession: he doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to go out swinging. He wants... normalcy. For the first time, he's really contemplating what it might mean to leave this life behind. He might never get to fall in love for real. He might never get to have that peace of a happy life. Of course, my mind goes to a Destiel place with this. When he says that there are people and feelings that he wants to experience differently... I mean, what else could he be talking about? He doesn't just say "feelings." He says "people." That leads me to believe he's thinking specifically about a person who he wants to experience his feelings with. Differently. Or maybe for the first time. My goodness.

Sam's speech at the end, in the impala, was great. He hasn't really had a lot to do lately except for give Dean pep talks about the Mark of Cain, but I think this pep talk is my favorite. He tells Dean that he can sympathize, in a way. He's used the job to bury his feelings in the past. But he's not giving up, and he's asking Dean to please not give up either. He wants them to be united on this. Dean doesn't believe - he wants to, but he doesn't. Even so, he wants to make Sam feel better. These two will kill me one day, I swear.

Despite a bit of annoyance at Rowena's plot thread, I'm excited that we seem to be moving towards a more concrete connection between Rowena and the Winchesters. I really want to see them come face to face with her. Also, I do enjoy how happy Rowena was to get the opportunity to torture Olivette.

Crowley's line about his "relationship with the Winchesters" actually made me feel bad for him. He has no good excuse now - he simply won't kill Sam and Dean (or let anybody else hurt them) because he doesn't want to. He can't pretend it's all part of a higher plan anymore. He likes them. Were Sam and Dean in a situation where killing Crowley was the only way to get what they wanted, I somehow don't think they would hesitate.

That's where I'll stop. I didn't mind this episode, for the filler that it was. But I want some more A-plot! I want Cas! And I want Charlie! And Bobby! (Recent announcements have me very, very excited). See you next week!

6.5/10