'Supernatural' Review/Recap: "Paper Moon"

Alysha Boynton ‘17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Season 10 of Supernatural is making all the right moves, this week sticking to the simple but effective formula that made their earlier seasons such a joy. “Paper Moon” was successful as an episode because it trimmed the fat, so to speak, and pushed aside the many twisted up subplots and characters like Crowley (Mark Sheppard), Castiel (Misha Collins) and Hannah (Erica Carroll) to focus on just Sam and Dean for a little while. Not to mention how the parallel between the monsters of the week, werewolf siblings Kate (Brit Sheridan) and Tasha (Emily Tennant), with Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) made for some chilling foreshadowing of what Sam may eventually have to do to Dean if the Mark of Cain takes over again.
Even though it was technically a filler episode, it was special for a number of reasons. First was because of the glimpse it gave viewers of Sam and Dean when they weren’t hunting, something that has very rarely been shown before. The episode began with the bros having some “We Time” (Dean’s words, no, seriously) sitting in fold-out chairs by a lake and drinking beers out of a cooler while wearing matching sunglasses. Yes, it was as adorable as it sounds. It was a refreshing and different way to start an episode, plus it actually made sense as a way to follow up Dean being cured of his demonism. Sam wanted them both to rest for a little while, but it’s just not in their nature to sit still for too long, and they were off on a case before 5 minutes of the episode had gone by.

The episode brought back Kate, a werewolf the brothers encountered in season 8, who seemed to be breaking her promise to stay on the straight and narrow by ripping out and eating the hearts of innocent men. This was the second reason the episode stood out from a normal filler; the bulk of the episode was all talk, with the action coming at the very end. Kate and the Winchesters sat down together at a diner and she told them all about how she turned her sister into a werewolf to save her life. Ah, co-dependent siblings doing whatever it takes to save the other, it’s no wonder her story struck a chord with the boys. Unfortunately, it was clear from the story that her sister couldn’t control the urge to kill, so Sam and Dean deceived Kate by telling her there was a cure for werewolfiness and got her to take them to the cabin where she knew Tasha would be hiding.
In the end, Kate had to kill her younger sister because of the bloodthirsty killer she had become. The scene itself was well done and shocking, but it was mainly the allusion to what the brothers’ future may hold that was troubling. Dean is cured, but he’s by no means back to normal, and the thought that Sam might have to kill him, empty as it is because we know the one thing the Winchesters can’t do is kill the other, was still cause for some worry. Even though the brothers were uncharacteristically open and communicative about their feelings in this episode, there’s still a lot boiling under the surface, and it’s likely to come to a dangerous head at some point this season.
Overall Episode Grade: A-