Supernatural Review 7.13 - "The Slice Girls"

Posted by Joseph Lee on 02.05.2012

Dean Winchester...you ARE the father!



The Road So Far: Dean went back in time and met Elliot Ness, who is a hunter. Together (with some help from Sam), they put a stop to the god of time, Chronos. Not much else in the way of the Leviathan hunt, although we did see that Bobby's death is also affecting Jody Mills.

Season Seven, Episode 13: The Slice Girls
Directed By: Jerry Wanek
Written By: Eugenie Ross-Leming & Brad Buckner

It took seven seasons for Dean's rampant promiscuity to catch up with him, and it did in a big way. The episode opens with a guy getting his hands and feet cut off, and a symbol cut on his chest. We're already on the way for a stand-alone as we get the usual "one brother thinks the case is nothing, the other disagrees" bit. But they end up going anyway, because it turns out it is their kind of thing. I'd actually like it to be not their kinda thing once in a while. I know they did it in season one, but it has been a while. Let it be some crazy guy. He can be crazy because of a monster, I don't care. I'd just like a change of pace.

My complaints over the at times formulaic nature of the show aside, let's look at what exactly happens. Dean is still in a pretty dark place, and decides that hooking up with some strange would be the perfect way to deal with that. Then he realizes that the woman has a kid and there's something weird going on with that kid. Like the fact it talks like a normal person and ages rapidly. At first it might seem like this is unrelated to the case, but they come together in the middle.

The monsters of the week are the Amazonian women of Greek lore. Yes, I think we're stretching a bit for monsters, too. Not quite as much as the fairies in season six, but it's still a far cry from battling wendigos and shifters. The women themselves are also pretty easy to kill, considering everything else they've fought. It was so easy I expected them to get up and beat up the Winchesters some more. How was an episode devoted to them? Surely there was another demon or vampire story you could use somewhere.

So yes, the actual monster for this episode is very weak, but that should give us time to focus more on the brothers and their constant struggle to keep from killing themselves. Dean's wearing his problems on his sleeve, doing pretty much the opposite of what Frank told him to. I don't think becoming an alcholic is a good way to fake it. Sam sees through that, but Dean is right in pointing out that Sam isn't a poster child for sanity these days.

Sam's just better at hiding it. That's something I think some fans aren't picking up on. I've read complaints that the show is too "Dean-heavy" and that Sam's battle with the broken wall was forgotten. I don't think it was. Sam grabs his hand a lot and presses on that area that was wounded when he was starting to get crazy. He seems a little happier and eager to work than he's ever been. Not even soulless Sam wanted to get out there and hunt as much as this one does. He's got some serious problems, he's just dealing with them in a more subtle way than Dean is. It's the fact the brothers are so different that makes their relationship compelling.

There is something I want to talk about, but I can't really do so without spoilers for the end of this episode. I will say it puts a nice little cap on the rift that was there after "The Girl Next Door" and brings some symmetry to things. Something I can talk about is my theory that Bobby's a ghost. I've said before that I wish that "Death's Door" was the end for the character and he didn't return, because I think it would cheapen such a strong performance from Jim Beaver and farewell for the character.

In this episode, we get the reveal that like they did to John's body, they burned Bobby so he can't come back in any way, shape or form. But a burned body doesn't necessarily mean that there is no possibility of a ghost. I think it'd be pretty funny if it turns out that he's connected to his flask. Go ahead and reveal that info as Dean starts taking a drink from it. While I don't want him to come back as a ghost, I will give the writers the benefit of waiting and watching to see where it goes.

Overall, this episode was just okay. There were some strong character moments and I enjoyed seeing the two bicker like we were in season one. But that's also part of the problem. We're way past season one now. You can't just go back and try to put the show back in that mindset. It's an entirely different series now as it's actually grown and evolved. You'd be amazed at how many people want television shows (or bands, for that matter) to stay the same and never adapt. I want Supernatural to keep growing.

The 411: This episode was a step backwards after a string of really good entries. The monster of this episode was one of the weakest yet and the episode really shouldn't be trying to look to the past when we have so much story to cover now. But it did have some good moments from Sam and Dean and signs of what may be yet to come. At least next week we'll see Sam's fear of clowns return. That should be fun.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]