Supernatural: A Most Holy Man (13x15)

Aww! I loved the priest so much!

Cons:

Bless this show for its clunky, repetitive exposition, honestly... if I have to see one more scene of Sam researching, Dean asking for an update and then summarizing the A-plot... well, nothing. I'll just keeping watching and shaking my head indulgently. I'm also a little bit twitchy about this side-quest McGuffin trajectory that we're on. Is there going to be an episode devoted to each part of the spell? Can we please get on with it and get to the part where they find Gabriel to use his grace?

There was a brief meta moment where Dean started to hit on a woman who was reading a book about demons, and Dean asked her if she "enjoyed the supernatural." Unless this woman actually comes back into the story at some point, I'm calling extreme bullshit. Dean has definitely outgrown the idea of hitting on people while he's working a case, and the joke didn't even really work.

Pros:

The whole mob operation was a lot of fun. This episode manages to play a bit with a type of genre, without overstepping or taking itself too seriously. It wasn't anything that makes it a truly great episode of Supernatural, but it didn't mess up in the other direction either.

There was a lot of genuinely good humor here, from Sam being forced to uncomfortably flirt with a woman for information, to Sam mocking Dean for his "I can feel it" remark, to both brothers' blase attitude while being held at gunpoint, and Dean's prideful exclamation that Sam is like a Boy Scout, always prepared, when Sam produces lock picks to get them out of a jam. I also liked the fact that Sam bid way too low for the skull in the final negotiations at the end. Not sure if that was supposed to make him look like a dork, but it was kind of precious.

Lucca Camilleri, the priest that Sam and Dean end up teaming up with, is a great guest character. He has a memorable story, good motivations, and is a genuinely good person. It was obvious from a mile away that he was going to end up being the "most holy man" that they needed, but I like the fact that we actually meet this character when he brains Sam and knocks him unconscious. A bit of an inauspicious start for what turns out to be a great team. I also loved the conversation that he and Dean have in the impala about the nature of faith and God. Dean, of course, knows that God exists but has trouble believing that he cares about any of them, while Camilleri has faith that God is Good, even if he doesn't always intervene when humans want them to. I'm wondering if Chuck is going to make another return any time soon... and what would that mean for Lucifer?

A few small things I also enjoyed: the fact that this episode takes place in Seattle! I always get a kick out of that, although the generic coffee shop made me laugh... are they not allowed to film in a Starbucks? I also like the fact that Sam's repetitive head trauma actually got mentioned. Dean is concerned, obviously, to find Sam knocked out in the hotel room, but he actually checks in with him to make sure he's not symptomatic in any way. Wouldn't that be an interesting turn, if we had to deal with Sam having some danger of brain injury from getting knocked around so much? I of course also loved Dean's extreme reaction to the thought of anybody stealing Baby. The impala's been beaten up a fair amount in the past, but Dean's protectiveness does actually make a lot of sense when you get right down to it. 

So... there you have it. One ingredient down, a few more to go... but first we've got to make a detour to Scooby Doo land next week. I'll admit to some trepidation. This could be one of the great meta comedy episodes of Supernatural's long history... or it could be another "Dog Dean Afternoon" catastrophe. We'll have to wait and see!

8/10