Review - Supernatural Season 6 Episode 4 Weekend At Bobby's

In the past few seasons, Supernatural has had unmatched ability to switch tone and format. "Weekend At Bobby's," is, as the title would imply, a Bobby episode. And it's not just Bobby in the foreground; it's as if Bobby were the main character. Sam and Dean spend the episode away from the main setting, Bobby's house, and we see them only a couple times here and there to help Bobby.

"Weekend At Bobby's" wraps up the storyline initiated in the fifth season when Bobby sold his soul to Crowley in exchange for information on a Horseman. The worst part is that Crowley lied to Bobby about giving his soul back after the Apocalypse. In the end, Sam and Dean find Crowley's bones and leverage them to get Bobby's soul back. Still, Crowley is not dead and is the new kind of Hell, so we should see him in the future.

The attempt to humanize (or at least the appearance of an attempt) Crowley is ultimately very disappointing. His deceased son is brought up, but instead of something that would add depth to a one-dimensional character, it's more of the same: Crowley was a bastard hated even by his own son. Nothing new here. Maybe this is wishful thinking, but I hope we'll learn more about their relationship in the future.

Regarding Sam and Dean, it's very cool how the writers use them. We usually follow them around as they track down various creatures, occasionally calling Bobby for help. Normally, Bobby picks up instantly and is able to provide a thorough answer. But in this episode we see Bobby juggling calls from many, many hunters, an inordinate amount of work for one person, in addition to the demon problem he's handling. With all this happening, Bobby is unable to attend Dean's immediate needs, and receives an accusation of being selfish, a ridiculous notion. Looking back, Bobby is undervalued by all. The central conflict of the show is Dean and Sam, but what of Bobby and his responsibilities? Bobby's firm, emotional rebuke does a good job of giving Dean what he had coming.

On the mythology front, "Weekend At Bobby's" is mostly devoid of real answers--Castiel isn't there, Sam's experience in Hell is untouched. We do, however, see further progression of monsters being where they're not supposed to be. It's kind of moot point by now whether something fishy is going on since clearly everything is not right, but it did provide a structure to Bobby's story.

Score: 9.1/10