Review

Sam has gone walkabout again and Dean is frantically trying to track him down via phoning home or at least phoning the roadhouse. Just when it appears that Sam may have slipped off the grid, the wayward Winchester phones Dean with news of where he’s at. Sam has gone missing for a week or so and has no recollection of what he’s been up to.

Seems in his week out Sam has been a very naughty boy and has killed a hunter, which can’t be good news given the police issues Dean has and their limited number of allies. Has Sam gone darkside on us or is there another explanation? Some characters reprise from earlier episodes along with one of our favourite demons from season one. A dark and brooding episode ensues.

It’s always interesting to see what a director making their Supernatural debut can bring to the table and Tobin doesn’t disappoint. The dude nailed it and threw on one of the best episodes of season two thus far. We get thrills and spills, some decent drama for a change, and some further information on the demon situation. Director Tobin jams a whole lot into his 50 odd minutes but manages to cover bases without letting the pace lag at any stage. This is well crafted T.V. that a whole bunch of small screen moviemakers should catch to see how it’s done.

Tobin gets his episode underway in some style. Dean is under some undefined bridge and the director has a whole washed-out feeling happening. Bad Sign will retain the washed-out look throughout its running time, with most scenes almost shot in black and white to good effect. Not quite sure how Tobin achieved the look as there’s none of that obvious filter feeling to proceedings you normally get, guess it was all in the locations, and ensuring that nothing colourful clogged up the screen. Imagine having to go through a service station and removing every bit of coloured product! Maybe Tobin got some of the crew that handled the leaves in Carpenter’s Halloween involved or something. Oops bit of a digression already going down but wanted to underline the point. Visually Bad Sign is stunning and it gets better from there, friends and neighbours.

Director Tobin also brings some camera shenanigans into play that surprisingly work well for the episode. He uses that rapid shotgun style editing that came into vogue in PG13-rated big screen flicks through the first decade of the century, and actually shows how to use it to effect albeit it with a slight wink toward Edgar Wright. Tobin gets away with the effect as he uses it to move the story along in rapid fashion, which is a requirement as there’s pretty much two episodes worth of stuff jammed into Bad Sign and the running time is well under an hour. Normally I find the effect jarring and a complete waste of time – most Directors simply use it as a cheap way of adding some spice to proceedings – but Tobin, like Wright, has it working for him and I was nodding in approval over the approach.

What really got me humming along to Bad Sign however was Tobin hitting the atmospherics out of the ball park. This is a pretty grim episode and the Director nails the requirements. Check for the scene where the brothers are closing in on the dead Hunter’s house: Tobin has the cold ice happening and the backlighting going down which was pretty much a staple of season one but is well missed in season two.

Cathryn Humphris turned in an excellent script. Besides the two-part nature of the episode Humphris hits a home run with the character Jo and her relationship to Dean. One gets the feeling that the Producers wanted to touch base with the character of Jo again and Humphris uses it to her advantage. We also get the normal Dean one-liners, a fresh approach to how various demons feel about the upcoming war, and one funky exorcism. Side note with the exorcism, and this wasn’t my thought one of our readers wrote in with it, both Sam and Dean should be scared following events in Bad Signs; will we see continuity in future episodes on that front? The other thought I came away with from Humphris’s script is that maybe Bobby is going to be the stand in for John Winchester through the rest of season two, you know the dude with the arcane knowledge the Bros can hit up for information when things get tight. And equally perhaps the mentor figure both Brothers would appear to need. Just a thought and nothing much may come from it.

If all else fails hit the exorcism trail and live it up, though to be honest the episode was rocking without a support system to keep it alive

In terms of “borrowing” from other horror parties, I guess the concept of “the devil made me do it” is pretty much a tried and true plot device in the genre. Without overly reaching we could drop The Exorcist, Regan while possessed doing away with whacky Brit character Burke Dennings, and John Farris’s Son of the Endless Night, that uses demonic murder as a central plot development, on Bad Sign’s bum without breaking sweat while doing so. As stated this is pretty much a well used horror device so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it rearing its head in the episode under review.

A decent amount of mullet rock going down through Bad Sign, though at least one of the song selections had me scratching my head. We get “Back on the Road Again” by REO Speedwagon, The Doors hitting out with “The Crystal Ship”, and “Ashes to Ashes” from Tarbox Ramblers. Okay admittedly I have never heard of the final band listed.

One of the best episodes thus far of season two, Born Under a Bad Sign touched all the right bases with me, kept the plot arcs moving in the background, and was heaven help us a dark and atmospheric ride that has been sadly lacking thus far in the new season. I simply loved the derelict shooting locations, Director Tobin’s rapid and at times erratic scene transitions, and the whole brooding nature of the episode. Hopefully this is a sign that things are tightening up and heading toward home at this point in the season.

The final episode of season three has aired in North America, and to the profound delight of Winchester fans everywhere a fourth season is currently in pre-production. Guess the show is managing to keep its audience then.

Full recommendation on Born Under; this is a darn fine horror outing that doesn’t pull its punches. The questions are kept unanswered through to the final act and some resolutions will have you nodding your head in approval. For those who are not regulars at Winchester family reunions the episode should still work as the incidental characters get enough backyard to have all bases covered. Go on take a walk on the wild side with the episode.