Supernatural S05E08 - Changing Channels (2009)

Review

The Winchester Bros arrive in Ohio, sorry didn't catch the city, investigating what turns out to be Lou Ferrigno as TV's the Hulk murdering some dude with anger problems. It doesn't take the Boys more time than discovering a ton of chocolate bar wrappers to deduce they are dealing with their old nemesis the Trickster. Dean is keen for a rematch as he wants to "gank" the elusive entity while Sam wonders if they can't enlist him in their battle with Lucifer and Angelic horde. Naturally the Trickster has other ideas and is out to teach the Bros a lesson in the reality of the current situation.

The Boys are lured out to an abandon factory where they quickly find they are in television land, a bunch of commercial television shows, that are meant to teach them they have preordained roles to play. Castiel attempts to reach them but the Trickster proves to have too much gas for the Winchesters favourite Angel, and it's up to the Bros to cancel the fake season. By episode end the Winchesters uncover a number of secrets and learn there won't be any help coming from unlikely sources.

Whoa we have some demanding readers, in no uncertain terms I was taken to task for not getting my Supernatural on for quite some time, okay it's been like a year and a couple of seasons under the belt people. Sorry had shit to do, will attempt a forced mask over the next few months and see if we can't catch up with all things Winchester. In our absence from the scene the major Supernatural sites have gone and we are left with the sort of sites that list episodes to gain Google rankings, might have to switch search engines to be honest. So without further excuses let's hit the Impala shotgun seat and see what's happening as the Winchesters rock the supernatural scene.

Dean Winchester watches soap operas, guess he might knit as well

So Supernatural pulled out one of their great episodes to keep us rocking, always up for something that tries to be different to what we expect to see and hey it got us away from the whole "monster of the week" thing. The episode kicks off as if Supernatural is one of those 1970s half arsed studio comedy affairs that pretty much killed off the small screen as anything like a serious medium. You know the network production of inane comedy, canned laughter, and light that is lighter than reality. It's all pretty plastic and fake but gets us into the whole middle of television land thing. We then variously get Doctor Sexy MD, complete with over the top dramatic acting, a Japanese game show - involving contestants getting whacked in the nuts - those kooky Japanese, and the obligatory Police drama. All with pretty much expected theme songs and the recognition that commercial television has never really been focused on creating anything realistic, advertises like viewers in a weird make believe situation. Hey I was digging it, especially Sam's credulous view of the stuff going down.

We do get a few revelations as to who the Trickster is, and not surprisingly I wasn't shocked or viewed the development as something that might have prolonged impact on the way of things in terms of season plot arcs. On the bright side of the chalice I now understand why Castiel was pretty ineffectual in dealing with the main antagonist for the evening, but am left bemused at best by the Tricksters outlook on life. Enjoys the mayhem he causes, but wants the whole Michael versus Lucifer end times to go down, say what? Anyone else wondering about the weird logic of a character who is living the life but wants it all burnt down!

Of additional import Dean reiterates that the Winchesters aren't about to be anyone's bitches, regardless of holy nature or not. The Boys are still looking for the ways and means of finishing their immediate problems without bringing about the Christian holocaust in the process; hey not bad for a television show right? So basically we're getting some underlining of this point of view just to keep the slow amongst us up with developments. I kind of dig the emphasis on Winchester versus whatever the hell the supernatural is about to throw at them. The Boys may have indivertibly released Lucifer from his cage, thus plunging the world into the end times, but they aren't about to go into that dark night and for sure are not shirking their responsibilities when it comes to resolving the situation.

One aspect of Supernatural that this episode should be a grand example of, and hey I'm complete remiss in not making this point in previous episode reviews of this season, is that the franchise is still rocking out with the originality. After four seasons of supernatural hijinks the show still presents something totally out of left field that had me grinning like a loon and nodding my head in approval. There's currently no danger of this one starting to revisit previous hunting grounds, so hooray for prospects with a whole slay of future seasons already given the thumb up. I think the X-Files was the only other long running speculative series that could drop something completely weird on us and have fans leaping up and down on their sofas.

So after some lean pickings we finally get movement at the mullet rock station and not before time if you ask me. Taking a deep breath here, Anya Marina Move You and Not a Through, Something Real by Renee Stahl, Robbi Spencer I Love to See You Happy, and the Who rocking out Won't Get Fooled Again. Really can't complain about that half dozen tracks, guess someone has been reading the site.

Guess Changing Channels isn't going to work for everyone, hey there's a few folk out there that have problems with quirky episodes, but I was bouncing along to what was being shown on my screen. Definitely enjoyed the tongue in cheek humour, the ability of the Writers to bash away with multi-level puns, and hey who would have thought Dean would be into afternoon soap operas! Got to say I have an awesome time and was chuckling away throughout the proceedings, guess this may be a slight calm before the storm heading into mid-season over the next few weeks. Oh to heck with it, recommendation kids, you don't overly need to be following the season plot arcs - would help, but plenty of fun here for all the family. Above average episode, you won't be changing channels while this bad boy is screening!