Review

For episode 6, we head to St Louis and meet up with a couple of Sam’s real life friends. Old school chum Zach has been accused of murder, and his sister Rebecca can tell the Bros that the dude was at her place at the time of the crime, which was committed at his place.

We’re dealing with a shape-shifter here, and when the monster takes Dean’s likeness things heat up nicely. Ready to check your identity?

Skin started out pretty effectively, and I was expecting another perfect episode. Unfortunately the show missed some opportunities, didn’t evolve as expected, and while still providing the fun times, it failed to have the same effect as the two previous entries in the series. I was simply not as down and digging the tension following the opening scene as I should have been. Still an enjoyable 40-odd minutes of mayhem headed my way though.

We open with some unknown chick, later revealed as Rebecca, tied to a chair and on the receiving end of some pretty harsh treatment. Once again this is implied rather than explicitly stated, as the show holds to its ability to suggest rather than bludgeon us over the head with on screen violence. A SWAT team going full-on situation control mode interrupts her attacker. We get some pretty effective use of light and darkness as the team moves through the house, and the final frames capture what looks like Winchester funny dude Dean as the perpetrator.

Following the opening, the episode was always going to have issues matching up for the next 35 minutes. There’s a lot of missed opportunities, and one glaring plot hole to contend with. The whole shape-shifter thing was cool, but director McNeill missed the opportunity to milk that for all it was worth. Keeping the audience confused as to who was the real Sam, Dean, or Rebecca, should have been the agenda, and McNeill shows his ace card way too soon. Nice touch with Dean’s damaged shoulder, but slightly telegraphed, and we all picked up on it far before Sam got with the program.

Missed opportunities spoil what should have been a classic episode of Winchester mayhem

I simply can’t do this review without mentioning the first plot hole I have picked up on in the series. Rebecca is pissed that Dean pretended to be a police officer, and feels that this will jeopardise Zach’s case. Guess the fact that she stole a videotape used in evidence won’t have the same impact. A fairly lame development that should have been handled with far more aplomb, rather than making it central to the plot line.

Throughout this episode we get the theme of the Brothers leading a different life from regular people. This is actually handled pretty well, though a tad laboured at stages. The point is made that Sam has to lie to his college buddies as they just aren’t ready for his real activities, and hence why Dean has always been a loner. There’s also the introduction of the idea that Dean might be jealous of Sam’s venture into normality, and this may well be the start of another story arc, with a confrontation between Dean and Sam pivotal to a future episode. Supernatural is certainly turning into a layered series, and the texture is becoming rich.

Director McNeill does save the episode with a pretty cool shape-shifter morph scene. I was digging that, and added a point to the rating on the strength of it.

Skin reminded me of two movies, though I would be stretching things to say the show is nodding in their direction. There’s a real Saw feeling to a couple of the chicks-tied-in-chairs scenes, with the same use of light and darkness to bleak out the visuals. I was also thinking the episode was showing a bit of the John Carpenter influence with the shape-shifter appearing behind a victim at one stage. As stated, these are more influences than actual re-imaginings.

Music wise we aren’t disappointed. “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly, “Poison Whiskey” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Hey Man, Nice Shot” by Filter, and “All Right Now” by Free. Is there a CD soundtrack available?

Skin presents us with more details on the thinking of both brothers: Dean holding issues about the life he could have led if he didn’t stay home to help out Dad, and Sam clinging to his former life as the college dude. Good to see the characters being fleshed out, and the impact the current chain of events are having on their respective world views. Am also pleased we have got past Sam’s single-minded idea of finding John Winchester as a device to finding what killed Jessica. That plot point was showing signs of rust already.

Overall I enjoyed episode 6 Skin, but was left with the feeling that it could have been done a whole lot better with some more thought being put into how to use the underlying ideas. Amy Grabow (Rebecca) did well with her role, and I wouldn’t be concerned if we were to get a reprise of Becs later in the series. A couple of notable scenes helped this one rating wise, and they are worth dialing in for.

At the quarter mark of the season, Supernatural is holding up well and delivering on the potential shown in the pilot episode. We have the standard plot elements in place, the arcs between episodes are being developed nicely, and there’s a great attention to production standards being shown. The season will sink or swim on the next six or so episodes, as we head into the middle of the season. I’m still with it all the way at this stage.

Skin is an okay episode and worth having a look at. A couple of the scenes have money-shot written all over them, but I was slightly disappointed more wasn’t made out of the ideas writer John Shiban presented us with. It’s a breath of fresh air to have violence implied rather than stated, and Skin delivers if you have a vivid imagination.