Winchesters in Disrepair, Thoughts on Supernatural “Sharp Teeth” 

OK, as good as it was to see Garth [DJ Qualls] again, I’m going to have to say “Sharp Teeth” was just okay for me. Maybe it’s because we just had two stellar Supernaturals that were heavy on mythology. Maybe it was because Crowley was a part of both “Road Trip” and “First Born” and the dialogue Mark Sheppard delivered was some of the best snark ever written on this show. Maybe it’s because the episodes mixed it up a bit wowing us with Sam and Castiel goodness and great guest stars like Timothy Omundson, who really connected with Jensen’s Dean Winchester. So maybe it’s not fair to hold “Sharp Teeth” up to the standards set by those episodes. But life isn’t fair. That’s one of the things we’ve learned on this show, right?

For me, I guess I’m high on mythology and less in love with standalones (unless they’re of the humorous variety, that is). Some thoughts re: “Sharp Teeth”:

-Garth’s a werewolf. Who knew? I’m glad we finally found out what he’s been up to but I’m slightly upset about this development. I’m hoping the Garth-Winchester goodbyes at the end of the hour aren’t permanent. Sam and Dean should have use of a friendly werewolf in the future, right? Speaking of which…

-There are friendly and spiritual werewolves out there. And some are born lycanthropes instead of going the whole being bitten route. I do love when this show puts their own twist on things. But I rather see werewolves of the vicious kind. However, the wife being the dastardly one without her good guy Reverend husband knowing — that smacks a little bit of a season one episode I think you guys have heard of — “Faith.” Now that’s a standalone that was stellar.

-Speaking of season one…the actor who played  Reverend Jim in “Sharp Teeth” just so happened to also guest star in “Scarecrow.” I like Tom Butler so I’ll forgive the recycling. Oh and that was Eve Gordon playing Jim’s evil wife. Gordon’s been on so many shows including American Horror Story, Hart of Dixie, Scandal and Felicity. But I loved loved loved her as June’s mom on ABC’s Don’t Trust the B in Apt. 23.

-Sam asks about the mark on Dean’s arm and…Dean tells Sam the truth. We don’t have to go weeks with Dean trying NOT to tell Sam about it. I’m so thankful for this. His being upfront with this latest development was refreshing especially since this particular Winchester has had (more than) a bit of trouble with truth-telling this season. And whenever something of this magnitude happens to Sam, he’s rarely truthful. So to see this reveal now was totally cool with me. Now let’s see if Dean will be as open if he starts to experience any side effects or learns more lore about the Mark of Cain.

-Dean still thinks he’s poison. It’s so sad. He even tries to trick Sam into believing the case was over. I don’t know. Jensen seems to be playing Dean as if he’s kind of dead inside, don’t you think? He still doles out the one-liners but they don’t have the same kind of Dean Winchester flair they usually have. He’s almost zombie-like in manner. Not quite but you get what I mean. This is a nice touch. And, yes, he still thinks he’s dying an early death. It made me even more sad when he told Garth: “Somebody’s gotta live to tell this damn story someday. And who better than you?”

-Not only is Garth a werewolf, he’s married to one and he belongs to a pack. I’m happy for Garth. Glad they got rid of the mother-in-law from hell and that he has a family to share his life with. I don’t think he needs to take any blame for what happened to Kevin. But it’s going to be hard for Dean, Sam and Garth not to feel guilty.

-That Dean hurling the knife at a perfect trajectory to kill the cop/were-dude? Mighty epic.

-Sam is finally Sam again and he’s taken out of the action. Boo. That was highly disappointing for me. I want Sam and Dean fighting side by side. Whatever’s going on with them they could at least be in sync when in battle mode. And Sam’s spent way too much time being tied up, in a hospital bed, knocked out and otherwise indisposed when it comes time to bring the bad guys down. Come on, Supernatural. Let the brothers fight more than just each other. Let them be the fierce and daring duo we know them to be. And Sam’s such a big guy. Time to stop keeping him down.

-Okay, I’ve been putting off this part of my recap/review — talking about the final scene of “Sharp Teeth.” This is what I’ve been processing for the past two days and I’m still unsure of how I feel about it. Sam and Dean are so damn complicated. And such hot messes. Extremely hot. But this conversation didn’t sit well with me. Here’s what went down after the case was solved and they drove away from Garth. They pulled into a parking lot where Sam’s stolen car was located (I’m assuming it was stolen). They got out of the car and leaned against the door much like they love to do. But what ensued was all sorts of painful:

Dean: Hey. Uh…listen, that night that, uh you know, we went our separate ways…
Sam: You mean the night you split?
Dean: Fair enough. I was messed up, man. Kevin was dead and I…I don’t know what I was.
Sam: Okay.
Dean: Hell, maybe I still don’t. But uh, I know I took a piece of you in the process and for that…somebody changed the playbook, man. You know, it’s like what…what…what’s right is wrong. And what’s wrong is more wrong. And…I just know that when…when we rode together…
Sam: We split the crappiness.
Dean: Yeah.
Sam: Great.
Dean: Okay.
Sam: But something’s broken here.
Dean: I’m not saying that it’s not. I think maybe we need to put a couple of Ws on the board and we can get past all this.
Sam: I don’t think so. No I…I…I wish but…we don’t see things the same way anymore — our roles in this whole thing. Back in that Church, talking me out of boarding up hell or tricking me into letting Gadreel possess me…I can’t trust you. Not the way I thought I could. Not the way I should be able to.
Dean: Okay, look. Whatever happened, we are family, okay?
Sam: You say that like it’s some sort of cure all. Like it can change the fact that everything that has ever gone wrong between us has been because we’re family.
Dean: So what, we’re not family now?
Sam: I’m saying you want to work? Let’s work. If you want to be brothers…(silence for a few seconds) Those are my terms.
Dean nods. They get back in the Impala.

First I’m not completely sure about the way Sam ended his part of the conversation. Does he mean he no longer considers he and Dean family? Has he disowned Dean? I don’t know what writer Adam Glass meant here. It feels like he’s saying we can do the hunter thing together. But we are no longer family. And that’s so harsh. Maybe he meant we’ll just put the family part aside for now. I’m pissed at you. But there’s a job that needs to be done. I hope that’s what Sam meant.

And I get Sam not trusting Dean right now. I really do. Although I didn’t think he was all angry about being talked out of shutting the gates of hell stuff at the end of last season. He has every right to be completely pissed about Dean letting Gadreel possess him, however. Dean did it for the right reasons but he knew damn well that Sam wouldn’t really ever agree to it. And I’m not going to go back into my whole Sam not wanting to die last season argument I tend to bring up continually. I think Sam has every right to be angry. And that he should own it. But blood is blood. You can’t deny that.

And on Dean’s part, he’s the one that was all about keeping his distance from Sam and now he’s suddenly let’s hook back up? I don’t know. It felt a little too sudden for me. And it’s not going to be as easy as getting a couple of Ws on the board to fix what’s going on with them. Dean — this is a complicated matter. It’s going to take a complicated solution.

I don’t know. Every time I think the relationship between these brothers has deteriorated as far as it’s going to go, things descend to a whole new level. Is there going to be a time when Sam and Dean’s relationship is too damaged to repair? I hope not but are they dangerously close? Because I miss them being on the same page (for the most part). For choosing each other at the end of last season, they haven’t really spent that much time together this season. I miss them being in sync. I can’t wait to see how this show is going to get these brothers out of this hot mess. Extremely hot. Have I mentioned that yet?

Oh and congrats once again on the ratings for this show — I love that it continues to do so well for the CW.

Supernatural airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW.