Supernatural Season 4 episode 17 - It's a terrible life

I have a confession to make.

I initially thought that this episode was going to be a little lacking. I had my reservations about it and quite frankly, I was expecting to be disappointed. I thought it's a "breather" episode that would ruin the momentum of the pacing that was set from the previous two episodes. I was wrong, I admit it - Kripke is a god.

Oh it was funny. It's the kind of funny that won't be as much if you didn't know Dean since the pilot. The little nuances of the (anti)Dean is quirky enough to be funny: the way the hair was styled, the constant smoothing of the tie. Then there's the obvious ones, I mean, did you see the amount of milk he put in his coffee? I cocked my brow and shook my head. The kicker though was when he got in his car. I literally screamed "Sacrilege! Adulterer!" (or Car-erer...or something. You guys get my point, right?) He still had Dean in there though: the vanity (please, cleansing diet? No carbs?), the cockiness and the snarkiness. Quite interesting though, it was this anti!Dean that blatantly showed his intelligence. Then again, it could just bias since this entire set up was that angels' doing. And, oh my Jehovah's witness - are his nails manicured?

Was it just me or was there a Filipino pun in there? The "Don't heat your fish here, it stinks" sign is very reminiscent of the bagoong joke about pinoys. I'm pretty sure there's a sign like that in a call center somewhere. Oh, and suspenders, Dean? Red suspenders at that! The Devil approves.

Again, I'm going to spend a couple of inches of space to race about Jensen's acting. The shift of character and idiosyncrasies from Dean Smith to Dean Winchester was both abrupt and subtle. The final sequence where Zacharia and Dean were in confrontation was actually quite witty and humorous. You'd think Dean would know what decoupage is, right? Then again, that's the hilarity of it.

It was also interesting to see the inter and co dependence the Winchester's have of and on each other. If it were up to Dean, he'd really just up and leave. But he needs Sam as his lifeline, as his guide. This is pretty much the same for Sam. Sam is the catalyst, the agitating chemical that creates a reaction from Dean. Even in a world where they're supposed to be total strangers, they still gravitate toward each other. Says a lot about instinct and primal urges.

Now comes the part where I declare my love for Eric Kripke, Sera Gamble et al. I know, the character was a dude but the dude had my name and that's all that freaking matters! WOOT! WOOT! I'm turning those soundbites into message alert tones and ring tones for my phones! Sam and Dean Winchester saying my name. Dean Winchester shouting my name out. I can die now. Never again will I complain about the masculinity of my name. I love my name.

Back to saner things... For someone who declares that he doesn't believe in destiny, he's pretty much wrapped around it. Dean needed this, more than Sam did. Dean needed to be placed in that perspective of "outside, looking in". The harder truth is easier to accept if someone else says it for you. Zacharia (Thank you again, Kripke. That's my oldest son's name.) couldn't have said it better. It's scary to even think about what Dean is really destined for.

My mind did a little back step when Zacharia commented about his vessel being smelly. Wasn't this the same thing Uriel said about humans? I've watched the episode three times and every time, my spidey sense tingles.

The only criticism I'd have would be that change in contrast and colors when the big reveal happened. It's dramatic, yes and I'm pretty sure that it's symbolic as well but it's also cliche-ish. It's like painfully stating the glaring obvious.

All in all, I think it's a wonderful episode - a perfect episode to set the next mood and to transition Dean from a whiney angst addled man into the badass hunter that he truly is.