Supernatural's epic 5-season journey came to an end last season. It could have been the end of the series, and it'd be a fitting conclusion with the defeat of Lucifer and tinge of sadness with Sam dying.
But here we are, at the sixth season, after the CW renewed it for another year. The key is reinvention,--how Supernatural can be different and switch things up so viewers are interested. "Exile on Main St." achieves this goal with a few startling revelations early on. Unfortunately, the rest of the episode is hit-or-miss
The episode begins with Dean going about regular life--work, Lisa, a friend, salting eggs--contrasted by flashes of his previous hunter life. Then Djinn show up and cause Dean to hallucinate.Not only is Sam and Grandpa Samuel back, they've been back for an entire year, as previewed by the appearance of Sam outside Dean's window at the end of last season's finale. Somehow, Samuel was pulled from Heaven and Sam from Hell. Hopefully, we'll finally get a resolution to Castiel's return as well.
We meet the family members Sam's been hunting with for the year. With everything going on the Djinn story is badly developed, shoehorned into the episode, serving only to get Sam and Dean questioning themselves and the reveal the Grandpa Samuel may be up to something, as he bags a Djinn when Sam is gone. I know it's the CW, but the episode should have been longer to stretch out the monster story into something more substantial.
On the other hand, there's a new problem for Dean, perhaps akin to Sam's at the very start of the series. Dean had a good, normal life for the year, which is why Sam and the others left him alone. However, if the near-miss threat to his family is any indication, he's not a normal guy. Darkness follows him wherever he goes and Samuel's warning about monsters coming out all the time is more bad news.
Score: 9.0/10
Saturday, September 25, 2010
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