Supernatural: Nightmare Logic (14x05)

I'm really liking this whole Sam-as-leader thing they've got going on this season.

Cons:

Bobby having a son feels a little... sloppy? Lazy? Unearned? I don't know. I appreciate the impulse to differentiate this Bobby from the one we've known before, and giving him a son is certainly one way to do that. But it's hard to connect with this guy. He doesn't have the relationship with Sam and Dean that drew us to his character in the first place, and his romance with Mary is a little bit lackluster as well. It's not painfully bad or anything... it's just kind of boring.

The djinn are really cool in Supernatural's lore, but this example didn't have the cool psychological insights that we usually get with them. We didn't confront Sam or Dean's deep fears or wants. Bobby's son was really the only new insight that we got, and that wasn't all that interesting.

Pros:

But this was a really good episode. I'm in love with how hard Sam is working, and how good he's doing as a leader. He has all of these cool systems in place. He teaches classes, has hunters going out with cameras to record their hunts, has regular check-ins and training protocols, and it's all just super adorable. Of course, the guy is getting next to no sleep, which isn't great, but he's still doing so well. This show is going to last as long as Jared and Jensen want it to, essentially, but I really think we've finally found the thing that builds to Sam's endgame. He's an amazing hunter, but he's also a brilliant strategist and he's deeply entrenched in the research and organizational side of things. He's taking what Bobby used to do and pushing it so much further, and I love it.

Similarly awesome is how Dean is reacting to all of it. He still seems a little put off by all the extra people in the bunker, but he can see how hard Sam is working, and he's so very clearly proud of his brother. I love it. There's the moment when he gently defends Sam to Bobby, who had accused him of messing up by sending Maggie on a solo hunt when she wasn't ready. There's also the end scene, where Dean gently comments that Maggie "learned from the best," referring to Sam. It's just so cute, but also kind of depressing, how flustered Sam is by the slightest praise. He's just not used to it. And it's nice to see that Dean can recognize how important this is for his brother. He wants to encourage this new direction.

I've already mentioned that Bobby and Mary's romance isn't doing much for me, and in truth, Mary's character still feels a little bland to me. But I really do like all of the different character combinations and pairings that this new "ensemble" show can offer us. We get mention that Cas and Jack are still off on their hunt, we see that Bobby and Mary are working together; next week looks like Sam and Charlie pair up. This all allows for some legitimate subplots to form. It gives compelling and logical reasons why certain characters aren't around for certain episodes. This episode actually included some non-clunky exposition drops, which I appreciated. Sam's stress over his role as the "chief" of all of these hunters provided a good excuse for him to list off which characters were where, and with who. That's much appreciated.

Another thing that's awesome about this season? Michael represents a reset of the lore. One of the consistent sticking points with Supernatural is that there's a paradox between Sam and Dean being able to go up against the biggest, most powerful beings in the world, while also still being realistically threatened by basic monster-of-the-week hunts. It was always just a little silly when a run-of-the-mill vampire or ghost could get the drop on one of them. But now, Michael has come along, and all of the rules are different. He has changed the monsters so that Sam and Dean are working at a real disadvantage, and that's such a neat idea. We see Sam and Dean making calls at the end of the episode to warn their network of hunters, and Dean is apparently on the phone with Garth, which I of course love.

Dean has been trying to process what happened with Michael and move forward from it, but learning now about the traps Michael has set for hunters really sets him back. Sam promises that they'll find and kill Michael, but Dean is feeling some understandable despair over the situation. Sometimes Supernatural does things really right, and this final scene with Sam and Dean was one of those moments. Dean is in a dark place, but he's sharing that with Sam. He's not completely off the deep end. And Sam loves his brother so much. We don't need to say much in this scene to see that. Sam says he'll do everything he can to catch Michael, Dean points out that Sam is only getting three hours a night, and Sam says he'll sleep two. He's dedicated to this. Not just because Michael is evil and must be stopped, but because Dean needs to stop him for his own peace of mind.

I think I'll stop there. This show is so... comfortable to me now. I know it'll come to an end at some point. I know we probably don't have that many more seasons left in the tank. But I'm so grateful for the years I've spent watching this show, and I'm grateful that there's still a lot to enjoy and discuss with the fandom!

8.5/10