Supernatural Season 5 Episode 7 - The curious case of Dean Winchester

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In honor of Halloween, allow me to dedicate the first few sentences of this review to my hormone driven, shallow and girly personality. (makes a hand gesture and out comes "the girl")

I don't know about you but Patrick (Hal Ozsan) is hot! There's something about his accent and his hair and his lips that make me go hmmm... His eyes are so hypnotic as well; like he's undressing you with it. Of course, Jared's hotness is already a given (don't be jealous, baby)

Chad Everett was kind of adorable as well and maybe (yes, maybe) even hot. For a senior citizen, he's still kinda hot. Okay, maybe it's just me. But he is really cute.

Okay...girly moment over. I'm stuffing her back into the bottom of the chest and will not come out until next Halloween.

For me, the episode was all very moving and very poignant. If there's one thing I like about Supernatural is that even if the show's whole theme is fictional - they try to humanize the characters in it - yes, even the supernatural beings in it. I thought this episode was very moving because it dealt with a lot of human emotions and conflicts.

First, there's that struggle between chasing after hope out of desperation. Often, we find ourselves struggling and searching for hope but we search for it in the wrong places. Bobby was searching for hope in that card game, hoping to gain his self respect back by gaining the use of his legs. He was measuring his worth against his capability to hunt, not even considering how important he truly is to the brothers, with or without self mobility.

It's funny that Dean was actually given a gift in this episode. The presumption was that they'll never live to be that age - as hunters. Now, he was given a chance to know how it is to be a hunter AT that age. He has now understood how his "unhealthy eating habits" will affect him in the future. See? Something great came out of the ugly situation. (Of course I couldn't stop laughing with that entire sequence in the motel room: Dean in that robe, the "grumpy old men" comment, the old chicken junk comment, the "you're just like my grandpa" scene...hilarious!!)

Gray areas and perception was also a sub theme in this episode. We have fallen prey to a lot of presumptions and assumptions about people. I've always believed that in this life, it's all about perception management. It's about how people see you, how you want people to see you and the truth about who you really are. We put people in stereotypes and generalizations; we label them and we often can't see beyond that label - rich, poor, kind, evil, slut, flirt, nerd, etc. We often can't see beyond a label we stick anyone. The layering of Patrick's character was amazing - the character was well written and it kind of left me wondering if a lot of other people think about how one person can go beyond a label or a stereotype. Or, do we just fall prey into the stereotype - that people can't change; that once a (insert label of choice here) always a (repeat label here). Can a leopard really change his or her spots? Can we teach an old dog new tricks? If the only things constant in this world are death, taxes and change, why is it so hard for us to accept the concept of change?

Anyway... going back. I love veteran actors. They've got so much tricks and techniques that you just can't help but be amazed by their performances. Chad Everett got Dean down pat - from his little idiosyncrasies and mannerisms (the open arms gesture, the "twinge", the furrowed brows and even the delivery of the lines was down pat Dean. Chad is the man! I wonder what kind of prep work he had to do.

Here we also see Sam coming into his own as a man. Although they too, fall prey to the trappings of stereotypes (as seen in one sequence where Bobby asked for help to be wheeled up.) But we see Sam come up as a man of his own - trying to save his family and proving his worth on his own. *sigh* Makes me want to just hold him and make him feel all good about himself...(slaps girly self: "Didn't I stuff you in a chest with locks?!")

Great episode. It's almost cruel to say the cliche: I laughed, I cried, I had a great tme.

Supernatural is seen Thursdays on the CW. 9pm/8CT