Review

Sam and Dean are investigating a jewellery store heist apparently committed by a long term employee. The Winchesters immediately make the connection to a previous bank robbery also committed by a trusted employee. One glaring similarity is that in both cases, the perpetrator apparently died before getting their hands on the money.

The Bros decide to talk to Ron, a bank guard, who has his own theories about a “mandroid” committing the robberies. On the bright side of the knife, Ron has copies of the surveillance tapes covering the bank robbery. Sam and Dean quickly determine they are dealing with another shape shifter and where it will strike next.

The Winchesters stake out the next target, a bank, and identify the shape shifter. Just when it looks like an early night with cocoa, Ron arrives packing heavy ordinance with the intention of smoking out the “mandroid”. Naturally a siege develops, with the cops quickly on the scene and the power cut off to the bank. Which is unfortunate for the Winchesters, as the only way they can identify their target is through glowing eyes picked up on the security camera.

Probably one of the best ever openings to a Supernatural episode gets lost in the rest of the developments. The obligatory “then” is playing, given us background on whatever previous episodes have a bearing on the current one, when suddenly we break to a news flash dragging us into the “now”. Sterling stuff to get this episode out of the station and headed down the tracks. And if you think we are pretty much just going to rehash season one episode Skin then you would be wrong. There are quite a few twists involved in a pretty tension-laden episode here.

A couple of pointers before we get into the meat and three veg on offer with Nightshifter. Conspiracy dude Ron could be seen as just another amateur stumbling onto the Winchester patch but I think writer Edlund is hoping we will take more out of the character than simply a comedy angle. For sure we had the “hellhound” guys Ed and Harry back in the season one episode Hell House that kind of worked as Supernatural’s Lone Gunmen but they were never meant to be taken seriously, and I still wouldn’t complain if Ed and Harry were brought back. But here Ron reflects the Winchesters, and there’s no doubt that a role reversal between the Brothers is meant to indicate more than just a comedy angle. Sam goes with the reasoned lying to cover tracks, normally Dean’s preserve, whereas the older Winchester brother seems at least sympathetic to Ron’s paranoid ramblings. What we are meant to take from this scene is that in some weird way Ron is a reflection of the Winchesters and just how normal people would see them if they spouted off their arcane lore. Hey, I could be completely off the reservation here, but I get the feeling there’s more happening with this episode than a surface scan would reveal.

The second pointer I wanted to bring up is the character of FBI Agent Henricksen, excellent name choice by the way. The Fed seems to have way too much information on the Winchesters and one wonders what’s happening at the Federal level; for sure Dean would have a file, and after this episode Sam is sure to have one right next door to him. You get the feeling the new character was thrown into the mix late in this episode but will reprise somewhere further down the track. Troubling times for the Winchester brothers; the FBI are actively searching for them.

Okay, I’ve almost done the review of this episode on two plot pointers, so let’s move it along and cover the normal episode content in a slightly less stuffy way. Director Sgriccia nails things here with a tension-filled, and in places pathos-touched, episode that hits all the right buttons. The Director achieves what everyone tries to do in these long running franchises, actually make the audience concerned that the major characters aren’t going to make it to the end credits. Plenty of scenes of Dean and Sam wandering dark corridors on their own, and for much of the episode we simply don’t know who the shape shifter is pretending to be.

Good old fashion Revenant romp that drives towards it's conclusion without putting a step wrong

Notably in season two the atmospherics haven’t been all that, much prefer season one episodes like Scarecrow, but with Nightshifter we get a return to an all-out attempt to creep out the audience, though there is sans dry ice or backlighting to heighten night time scenes. Sgriccia tries a different angle and it’s working for mine.

Also well handled is the police siege with snipers, swat members, and mucho on the action front at the end of the episode. Clearly Sam is over his broken arm, and the escape in this one would rival most heist flicks. Both Dean and Sam recognising they are screwed by episode end is a highlight of Nightshifter, but I kind of hope they don’t focus in on that development too much. Leave it for a surprise development toward the end of this season or even as an inclusion sometime next season.

Checking into what other properties Nightshifter borrows from, I came up with The Hidden and as mentioned some of the plot devices borrowed from The X-Files. Notably this season the episodes aren’t so clearly remaking horror plots and themes from other outings, maybe I need to dig deeper. For once the Supernatural team are getting beyond their fixation with referencing Star Wars in about every episode of season two, Nightshifter instead extends to Terminator 2, cool reference, and surprisingly Dr Who, courtesy of a magazine photo of a “Cyberman”.

Pfft, they really are going out of their way to short-change us on the hits of mullet rock, not to mention the total lack of Black Sabbath this season. Last week we got zero in the way of tunes, this week we get one, “Renegade” by Styx. If they aren’t going to be dedicated to the soundtrack then they should leave well enough alone.

Pretty good episode that takes a break from Sam’s emoting like a teen chick unable to get Boy Band tickets, and Dean’s paranoia-infused concerns over Sam turning to the dark side. Darn, just when they don’t include a Star Wars reference I end up dropping one into the review. For mine one of the weaker monsters the bros have gone up against, but still with not knowing exactly who might be a monster in disguise there were some chills, albeit as much as commercial telly will allow. If they want to throw on a few more straight episodes that don’t involve the plot arcs before we get towards season end then I will be more than happy.

With the writers strike officially over, the TV networks stateside are all hopping on the new episodes bandwagon in order to grab them some of that advertising pie. CW announced that Supernatural will return April 24th with four new episodes in season three. Not entirely sure where they are up to with the latest season, hey I’m Downunder and don’t watch the idiot box at the best of times, but mark it down in your TV viewing schedule. Regular readers will of course note we’re kind of a year behind most places in reviewing Supernatural, yes we suck but at least we’re not all gushy over all things Winchester. As ever we call them as we see them.

Worth dialling into Nightshifter as it’s pretty much a standalone with the proviso that you will probably pick up a few more things with a couple of the season one episodes under your belt. A return to atmosphere had me all aglow with excitement, they can serve this up any day of the week and I’ll dial in. Have a look if you aren’t down with all things Supernatural, the Winchesters certainly aren’t going to rob you of an evening.