If I'm being brutally honest, I was not looking forward to this episode simply because of the writers. I have, in the past, openly criticized Buckner & Leming on their writing style and choices; and they are responsible for several of what I consider to be the worst Supernatural episodes. That isn't to say that all of their episodes are dreadful, they have had some good moments in the past, but I have not been too impressed with their work.
With that being said, Soul Survivor is the third episode of season 10, and a rather crucial episode for the Demon Dean arc. It was announced months ago by the writers and through PR that Dean's demon arc would only last 3 episodes, therefore making this the final of the three part "Deanmon" story. And how did it hold up? Well, I'm not going to lie, I was bored out of my skull.
The final act of Dean's 'dark' story should be a thrill ride from start to finish; like what we saw with the last episode 'Reichenbach', it is very possible to keep the tension and excitement building even without characters holding knives or guns up to each other. It is possible to have an episode hold your attention from start to end; and I regret to say that this episode did neither of the two.
Soul Survivor consists almost entirely of talking. Yes. Just talking, and talking, and more talking. And when they weren't having idle chit chat, the characters would often fill the time with exposition to explain plot holes or events that we weren't even concerned about.
We all saw the promo, we saw Dean tied to a chair with Sam attempting to heal him and then of course we saw Dean chasing Sam around the bunker with a hammer. Odd how the one thing they promoted took up so little of the episode. Instead of exciting, hair-raising action, I sat through about an hour of car rides, talking, random flashbacks (to episodes that just aired a week ago) and of course more talking.
Because, truly, when I am watching an episode about Dean being cured of his demon, The last thing I want to see is Sam mindlessly walking around the bunker and sulking over pictures of his brother.
The last thing I want to see is scenes filling up time that could be better spent on excitement and, dare I say, even a bit of horror.
The LAST thing I want to see is time wasted on more implications of an incestuous relationship between Castiel and his sister, Hannah.
On the plus side, there were some events - that I will refrain from talking about for spoilers sake - that happened in the episode which could potentially lead to interesting stories later on. If done right, the writers could keep the season rolling in a good direction.
Was this episode bad? No. Was it good? Also no. I was bored for about 90% of the episode. I wanted to watch an exciting climax to this extremely well built story arc. And I, for one, was not very impressed with what was delivered.
With that being said, Soul Survivor is the third episode of season 10, and a rather crucial episode for the Demon Dean arc. It was announced months ago by the writers and through PR that Dean's demon arc would only last 3 episodes, therefore making this the final of the three part "Deanmon" story. And how did it hold up? Well, I'm not going to lie, I was bored out of my skull.
The final act of Dean's 'dark' story should be a thrill ride from start to finish; like what we saw with the last episode 'Reichenbach', it is very possible to keep the tension and excitement building even without characters holding knives or guns up to each other. It is possible to have an episode hold your attention from start to end; and I regret to say that this episode did neither of the two.
Soul Survivor consists almost entirely of talking. Yes. Just talking, and talking, and more talking. And when they weren't having idle chit chat, the characters would often fill the time with exposition to explain plot holes or events that we weren't even concerned about.
We all saw the promo, we saw Dean tied to a chair with Sam attempting to heal him and then of course we saw Dean chasing Sam around the bunker with a hammer. Odd how the one thing they promoted took up so little of the episode. Instead of exciting, hair-raising action, I sat through about an hour of car rides, talking, random flashbacks (to episodes that just aired a week ago) and of course more talking.
Because, truly, when I am watching an episode about Dean being cured of his demon, The last thing I want to see is Sam mindlessly walking around the bunker and sulking over pictures of his brother.
The last thing I want to see is scenes filling up time that could be better spent on excitement and, dare I say, even a bit of horror.
The LAST thing I want to see is time wasted on more implications of an incestuous relationship between Castiel and his sister, Hannah.
On the plus side, there were some events - that I will refrain from talking about for spoilers sake - that happened in the episode which could potentially lead to interesting stories later on. If done right, the writers could keep the season rolling in a good direction.
Was this episode bad? No. Was it good? Also no. I was bored for about 90% of the episode. I wanted to watch an exciting climax to this extremely well built story arc. And I, for one, was not very impressed with what was delivered.