Review

A girl is stalked through the late-night mean streets of Chicago but manages to make it home uninjured, which, given the nature of Supernatural, is something of a surprise. Alas for the chick in question – but having the viewer going wow! – she isn’t safe behind locked doors.

The Winchester Bros are soon investigating a “locked door” mystery, but are they the hunters or the hunted this time around? Meg (Nicki Aycox), whom we met in the previous episode Scarecrow, certainly has her own ideas on that. She’s back, she’s twice as evil, and she’s brought a little help along in the form of shadow demons called “dævas”.

It’s the Winchesters vs. Meg, and the surprise arrival of Big Daddy John Winchester to get your pulse racing. Hey, didn’t John say … never mind, it’s in the script! A pretty damn cool episode ensues. Ready to check out the shadows in the Windy City?

This episode has about the best introductory scene yet committed to the season. Sensational stalk sequence, fully using light and darkness to ramp up the tension and get that boat out of the marina in awesomely good style. The intro finishes with an almost black and white look, and effective use of a splash of blood to vividly convey what you don’t quite see. Director Manners has put together one of the great openings for any horror show, and it would not be out of place in a full length big budget Hollywood movie.

The sharp-eyed will note that the episode writer is Supernatural heavyweight Eric Kripke, so we just know that the plot arcs are going to come into play. Kripke hammers into a fairly big one, expands on it, and is clearly building momentum towards the season’s two-part finale. If Shadow is any indication of where we might be headed, then I’m digging in like a lard arse at a free McDonald’s night.

The Winchester clan face some anciet demons in an outstanding episode

There are a few interesting aspects to this episode which had me nodding in appreciation of the Producers once again being able to mix it up a bit, and stop the season from getting stale in any fashion. Again we have the role reversal between the brothers; Sam is the take-action dude this time, while Dean is doing the research. Well, actually Dean’s research involves using his phone-a-friend option, but whatever – you know what I mean.

We also, for the first time all season, get a minor character reprising. Meg is central to this one, and she also follows Dean’s lead by using her phone-a-friend. Clearly there’s a lot more here than meets the eye, and it all bodes well for future episodes. I’m actually rather enjoying the character of Meg, and actor Nicki Lynn Aycox has an evil sassy bad girl going down that you would not like to meet in a back alley. Just what Meg is isn’t entirely clear at this stage, as her persona checks out when the Winchesters check her background.

Shadow's big change in plot devices is of course the Winchesters not being the hunters for once. They have been set up, and this episode changes track a number of times as we discover what’s going down. Makes for an engrossing hour of television, with the viewer never quite sure where we might be headed by end credit rolling time.

As usual, dialogue is strong with some choice interaction between the Bros. Dean is pumping out the one-liners like a Vegas comedian, Sam is being serious, and that scene with Sam outside Meg’s apartment is a hoot. During said scene the long-suffering viewer also gets some T&A action, with a long-shot of Meg in a lacy black bra. They can keep those shots coming at me all night long, to be honest.

I’m saying all these good things about the episode but still haven’t rated it a perfect 10 out of 10, so what didn’t I like? Well, a major flaw for me was the appearance of patriarch John Winchester. Just a few episodes ago he mentioned that the boys weren’t ready for what meeting him could involve, but suddenly the meet is on. We learn quickly that John was absolutely correct in his assumption, but it kind of breaks the over all flow of the season. If the boys aren’t ready to get the family reunion happening, then the Scriptwriter should have spent a tad more time making it absolutely essential that this happens. Slightly having your cake and eating it too would be my call. Minor quibble, but we do like to find fault.

Equally, the Winchesters take down of the shadow demons was a tad too easily for my liking. Okay knocking over a satanic altar I can live with, but really – light dispelling darkness? That seems slightly trite; it’s lucky we avoid any refrain of “stay in the light”.

Music-wise we get a couple of tracks that make a change from the single ones being dished out just recently. “You Got Your Hooks Into Me” by Little Charlie and the Nightcats, and “Pictures of Me” by Vue. I’ve mentioned the lack of Black Sabbath, right?

Shadow worked for me, but I was kind of hoping for something extra given that opening prologue. The episode rocks along without losing its way at any stage, we get a fairly major plot arc built upon, and the episode has the season conclusion simmering away in the background. There are a couple of weak points to the whole affair, but overall it didn’t have me frothing at the mouth and ready to write letters of disapproval to the Producers. On the balance of things, a good tension-filled outing, with a touch of class in places. They can keep bringing back Meg all they want as far as I’m concerned, as the chick is a hoot.

We’re clearly heading towards one hell of a rounding-out of the season, as this episode really ramps up the major plot arc. I’m kind of concerned at this stage that they may overplay this aspect of Supernatural. The season has been a pretty good mixture of stand-alone episodes and continued plot arcs, but it could fall apart rapidly if the writers don’t tie things up neatly. We’ll have to wait and see what goes down.

I would recommend Shadow, but it does require the viewer to be conversant with previous episodes. Not entirely sure this one stands on its own, but I’ve been immersed in the season for some time now; you might be able to get to the end credits with no knowledge of what the Winchester thing is. Worth dialing into for the opening sequence alone – oh, and for Meg.