‘Supernatural’ Review: “Form and Void”

Jacqueline Gualtieri ’18/ Emertainment Monthly Movie Staff Writer
Copy Edited By: Brooke Hoppe ’17

After eleven years of shocking viewers, Supernatural seemed ready to throw in the towel. In the season premiere, the show heartened back to the episode “Croatoan.” They had nothing new to say, and nothing to show that could really scare the audience. But in the second episode, they showed just why they deserved an eleventh year.
In the final minutes of the first episode, we get a glimpse of the mark on the body of the baby that Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) saved. Sure enough, just when we thought we were done with the mark of Cain, it rears its ugly head once more. The precious little baby may not be as innocent as it seems. The episode focuses on the growth of the child (Gracyn Shinyei). Obviously, it could not just be a normal baby. Supernatural has had many evil or possessed children on its show, and this one does not seem very different. She can move things with its mind, and is far more intelligent than any baby should be. The only person who seems to understand what is going on is Crowley (Mark Sheppard) who arrives in the guise of a priest to get a closer look at the child. But when Jenna Nickerson (Laci J. Mailey) spends a little time with the baby and comes back a new ― and bloodthirsty — person, Crowley knows it’s more than he imagined. The child is eating souls.

The other plots seem to have been done before. Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) meets a reaper, Billie (Lisa Berry), who admittedly seems kind of cool. She arrives with an air of confidence, and a strong warning to the Winchesters: no more free passes; if they die, they stay dead. She calls Sam “biblically impure,” and with her words, he realizes how to rid himself and everyone else of their disease. Meanwhile, Castiel (Misha Collins) is being tied up and tortured by angels for Metatron’s (Curtis Armstrong) location, while the curse Rowena (Ruth Connell) cast on him wears away at his body. All in all, the violence of these scenes should have been shocking and entertaining, but it’s been done so many times before, it was hard to stifle a yawn as one waits eagerly for the new demonic baby to return to the screen to wreak havoc.
After last year, it was hard to have a lot of hope for the future of Supernatural. Every plot line seemed to have been done before, all the characters had been played out, and a lot of the best ones were dead, and the ones they were introducing seemed useless and only served to irritate the audience. There’s still reason to have doubt for this season, especially considering that Rowena, who was introduced last year and was far from a fan favorite, is still set to be a villain. Each year the villains seem to get worse and worse. Well, perhaps that’s not entirely fair as nothing is nearly as bad as the season seven villain, Dick Roman (James Patrick Stuart). But, Rowena is easily in second place as worst villain. This season, with such a new and interesting twist in the storyline, seems to be heading the right direction. The child is downright scary and we do not yet know what she can do. For the first time in a while, Supernatural has put the excitement and unpredictability back in its show.

You can watch Supernatural Wednesdays, 10/9c, on the CW.
Episode Grade: A-