There comes a time when a string of episodes like "Frontierland" show up and you begin to wonder when the meat of the season is coming. It's near the end of the sixth season and honestly, not much has happened since the first arc of the season with soulless Sam. Supposedly, the angels are fighting a huge war and Eve is on a rampage, but so far, we've seen little of anything.
Normally, I'd be fine with a gimmicky episode like "Frontierland," because the writers are adept at writing funny situations while advancing the plot without cutting too many corners. This time around, however, the overall plot development is paper thin, while the rest of the episode is dedicated to "this travel travel thing is funky" jokes, which are funny but not deep.
The plot of the episode is rather meager as well, with the Phoenix, an angry guy who burns people, and Samuel Colt, a regular, chill guy, turning out to be stock characters. The final confrontation, teased at the beginning of the episode, is over in a blink of an eye and is very anticlimactic.
Looking ahead, Castiel has a big, dark secret that caused another angel to attack him. Hopefully we'll finally get to see what's going on in heaven.
Score: 8.3/10
