snarkview: 7.17, the born-again standard “let’s rehash old plots and fuck ’em up”.

7.17, The Born Again Identity.

This episode was down as Cas’ big return. His chance for redemption! HIS GLORIOUS…something. But…it’s apparently about Sam ending up in a mental hospital.

Oh.

No, seriously. How did I not know this? Sure I don’t go looking for spoilers but all I heard in the run up to this episode was CAS, CAS, CAS, CAS – and oh Sam has a breakdown. On another note I refuse to call Lucifer “Hallucifer”. What is wrong with you people?  

So, this episode was Sam-centric. That’s usually code for “It’s about Sam, but there will be limited Sam POV or it’ll be mind-numbingly boring”.

• It starts with Sam running from Lucifer or something. He’s in some alleyway or something and idk he does drugs or something but there are drugs. More running. Well, it’s more jogging than running. And, oops. Sammy boy jogs in front of the slowest speeding car in the history of television.
• He’s in a mental hospital, due to the fact that…I don’t know, perhaps he said some stuff about Lucifer and they were like, “A-ha, he’s one of them” and there’s some stuff about how he’s on the verge of death, how the longest someone went without sleep is 11 days. I’m pretty sure that those things called ‘sedatives’ are supposed to help Sam with that. But apparently, Sam’s immune to all kinds of medication because they don’t work.

Aww. 

….

WELL, DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. THIS IS SUPERNATURAL

• So Dean goes off looking for a cure and it’s so fucking tedious. He calls every number Bobby has and finds nothing but idk Theoretical!Spirit Bobby drops some book that magically reveals a card with a number on it. Dean calls the number and speaks to this guy (I could not understand a word this man said) and he tells Dean all about some healer called Emanuel that cured his eye).
• Dean goes looking for this Emanuel, but not before he ganks a demon. OH, DEMONS ARE BACK. HURRAY and when Emanuel does arrive, whaddya know bitches, it’s Castiel.
• Meanwhile Sam’s in hospital and NGL, he looks hot. But it’s just the standard stuff, Lucifer being snarky, playing grating songs, and making maggots appear in his sandwich. MAGGOT FILLING. It’s like a throwback to season 3.

• Oh, wait. But seriously, he must be the most toned and bulked up person who’s wasting away. I love how they can have him remain awake in an episode where he’s drugged up and not like, have him be asleep the whole time. It’s almost as though he didn’t spend a quarter of an episode in a closet that one time. Or almost as though he wasn’t in that one episode for 5 minutes that one time. Or almost as though he wasn’t in an episode for 30 seconds that one time. THE ONE TIME LESS SCREEN IS JUSTIFIED, AND…WE GET THIS.
• There’s some girl called Meredith or something, who just happens to stroll into Sam’s room and just happens to be haunted by her dead brother. And, if she was a hallucination it’d be a good way to maybe justify that screen time. BUT SHE’S REAL. SAM IS GOING TO HUNT WHILE SLEEP DEPRIVED AND ON THE VERGE OF D-D-DEATH. It’s so effing tedious. There’s this one particular scene where she gives Sam some candy bar or energy bar and he can’t open it. My. Heart. Bleeds. I’m the worst Sam-girl ever, lol.
• MEANWHILE,  Emanuestiel has agreed to help Dean save Sam and they’re in the car and Dean tells Emanuestiel all about how Cas betrayed him and “broke his brother” did I mention that Emanuestiel doesn’t remember anything past strolling out of the river butt nekkid. It just makes Cas that much more annoying and I want to throw something at the screen.
• Dean goes to buy something from the store and is upended by some more demons. I was kind of expecting a scene ala “Let It Bleed” where Dean goes all Steven Seagal and beats the shit out of them and kills them without actually moving but alas, he gets himself thrown into a glass freezer door or something. AND, DRUMROLL…Meg appears and saves the day.  For the love of Sam, stop. Stop bringing her back.  Stop ruining the character even more than you have already. STOP. But yeah, she says some stuff. I can’t actually understand a word she says. But apparently the demons and therefore Crowley want Castiel for some reason and…she’s tagging along. Whatever it was I can guarantee you that it was stupid and made no sense okay. So maybe I wasn’t listening. 🙂
• Back in the car, there’s an awkward scene where it’s meant to be awkward in the car. But it’s just painful for everybody. Dean looks uninterested, Meg is just smirking and Cas is all *CONFUSED FACE*. But they make it back to the hosp and somehow Emanuestiel realises that he’s Cas (I think Meg tells him that he’s an angel, that’s what it sounded like). Dean’s all like, “You have the juice to kill all these demons”. Oh, yeah. There’s a bunch of demons randomly scattered at the hospital. They obviously never consider the fact that the demons could be INSIDE doing something to you know, that other guy Sam. But whatevs. Dean gives Cas the trenchcoat, and he puts it on despite the fact it’s covered in blood and all sorts and seriously. Ew.
• Lemme go back to Sam for a sec, the usual stuff has been happening and he somehow manages to help the girl get rid of her brother. I see he’s can work a lighter but not open a candy bar. The lights smash and he tells the girl to run and then the workers come in and take him away. Electric shock therapy. ‘Cept, a worker doing that is…a demon. Ouch. But hey, Sam’s hair looks good.
• Outside, Cas manages to remember how to gank a demon long enough to remember everything in about 2. 3 seconds. He should be dead, he bleats afterwards. Blah, blah, blah. SHUT UP AND GO SAVE SAM!
• Inside he kills the demon currently shocking Sam. Sam however looks up and sees Lucifer instead and tells Cas that he’s not real. Cas is just like “Oh Sam…” I’m more like, zzzzzz.
• To cut a long story short, Cas can’t heal Sam (I’m 100% sure that we knew this already? Or it might have been that he didn’t have the juice to do it back whenever can’t remember). But…he can maybe shift it. So he does. To himself.

TO. HIMSELF.

• There are some shitty effects that are like red bolts of electricity on Sam and Cas’ eyes. But well, Lucifer is in his [Cas] head now and, seriously I hope we don’t have Lucifer/Cas scenes. DOESN’T MARK PELLEGRINO HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO WITH HIS LIFE? But yeah, they leave loony!Cas in there.
• Sam and Dean stroll out of the hospital and…Sam’s all like, “We’re just going to leave him there”. Ah, now I remember why I love him. BUT YES SAM, YOU DAMN WELL ARE. I’d say permanently but the writers of this show are morons and are already bringing him back this season. *YAWN*

The End.

Well there was another scene after but it was Meg and I don’t give a shit.

Thoughts

So Sam’s finally got a hospital scene and it’s in this episode. Minus points for that. What a disappointingly abrupt end to a storyline that should have ended a long time ago. I would have expected it to be resolved over the course of two episodes but no. It seems as though whoever did the research for this episode as well didn’t really do their homework properly. Cas’ inclusion was annoying to be honest. Watching him not remember was made worse by the fact that he did remember so quickly. I really hope that Ghost!Bobby never ever materialises. Screens may be damaged. Meg 2.0  seems to just pop up randomly when she’s not needed.

Jared was pretty awesome in the episode too.  Kudos Jared!

At least Sam’s okay, I guess. I’m spoiler free for the next few episodes, something I should rectify because surprises with this show are NEVER good. NEVER, EVER, EVER.

Unless it’s Sam in hospital attire.