The Kids Are (Almost) Alright - a Review of Supernatural Season 3, Episode 2

Yet overall the episode left me feeling like I was watching a friend losing control and not knowing what to do about it. I was, quite honestly, cringing in embarrassment for the characters in several supposedly key scenes of the episode. Jared Padalecki overall carried this episode as his character of Sam Winchester seemed to suffer the least amount of disconnection and loss of charisma. However watching Sam Winchester having been written as being intimidated by a demon, whose presence in my opinion had all the threat factor of a cheesy game show host, left me feeling uncomfortable about what might be happening to Supernatural in the 3rd season.

While I understand the intent behind his behavior was to show that Dean Winchester was in the first stages of denial, it seemed to me that the character was pushed so far over the top in that direction that the character and the actor had no choice but to free fall over the edge into being a caricature with no familiar ground to work from. This push over the top into a free fall of caricature like behavior left the character of Dean Winchester, in this viewer's estimation, stripped of something essential that has always kept Dean from turning into just another stereotypical 'good ole boy'; his underling quixotic sense of dignity and his charisma.

Having watched him throughout his career and having seen him on stage this past June, I know that Jensen Ackles is a powerhouse actor who can turn in performances that can knock your socks off and that he has a real mastery of comedic as well as dramatic timing which has been so well displayed time and again in the character of Dean Winchester in the past. So it's hard for me to admit that I found his work in The Magnificent 7 so disconnected from what I have come to expect from him as Dean Winchester. In all fairness though, to me I think the loss of Dean Winchester's underling quixotic sense of dignity and charisma had more to do with how the character was written for this episode than anything on Jensen Ackles' part as an actor other than it seemed to me that the mark he is usually so flawless at hitting was many times eluding him.

To be honest, what left me the most uncertain about the future of Supernatural after watching The Magnificent 7 was the loss of dignity the episode itself suffered as a whole to me as a viewer. As a viewer of Supernatural the one thing that has always held me fast to my loyalty to the show has been the creation and presentation of the characters, Dean Winchester in particular. I am a long time fan of westerns and cowboy heroes. Dean and Sam Winchester have always seemed to capture that essence of the heroes of the classic western. Dean in particular has always had that presence, charisma and fundamental dignity that to me makes any 'cowboy hero' worth watching. For me Dean had no sense of that fundamental dignity, charisma or presence in The Magnificent 7.

In the hands of a lesser actor, this loss could have been even more painful to watch. Luckily for Supernatural viewers, Jensen Ackles is by no means a lesser actor and he managed to salvage some of Dean's moments and give them some semblance of presence instead of falling entirely into caricature-land the whole episode.

The Magnificent 7 for me overall was also too disconnected in many ways from what has made Supernatural such a joy to watch for the past two years. Yet being a viewer who is vested in Supernatural and as someone who understands the concept behind needing to shake things up from time to time, I am not one to just walk away from something after one distressing 3rd season premiere episode.

So I sat down to watch The Kids Are Alright and I am happy to say that while I still perceive a disturbing sense of disconnection, Dean Winchester has stopped free falling over the edge into caricature-land and has gotten back his underling quixotic sense of dignity and charisma. Jensen Ackles was once again hitting all his marks flawlessly in this episode as Dean Winchester.

"If she's Gumby, does that make me Pokey?"

Such a classic 'Dean like' adorable line, the perfect comedic timing of the delivery and accompanying facial expression made me laugh instead of cringe and I knew I was going to like this episode.

Sera Gamble's script is not without its flaws don't get me wrong. I thought the episode spent just a little too much time on the mother and her changeling daughter Katie. While I understand that this was in an effort to heighten the terror that was happening with these children, to me it dragged on a bit too much in the episode. However to Gamble's credit the characters were fully fleshed out and believable. This script would have made an awesome Scifi Channel movie of the week all on its own. The subplot of 'isn't he or is he Dean's son' was very well written with a perfect balance of comedy, angst and emotion all translated well to the screen by the actors chosen to play young Ben and his mother Lisa. Both of them had great chemistry with lead actor Jensen Ackles and the things that this situation explored and revealed about Dean Winchester were amazing to watch. Did I mention that Dean was back on the mark in this episode?

The Kids Are Alright also advanced more of the storyline for Sam Winchester that was revealed in the season 3 opener and played more into his interaction with Ruby, 'the kick butt chick with the cool demon slaying knife'. If this script has another flaw for me, it's the continuation of what I am hoping will not become a very disturbing trend of making Sam Winchester appear ineffectual in an effort to make Ruby come across as said 'kick butt chick'.

First we had Sam cringing in apparent intimidation of the cheesy 'game show host wannbe' demon Pride in The Magnificent 7 and now we see him spending an inordinate amount of time franticly rooting through his duffel bag for a flask of holy water as the supposed demon threat just sits there and waits on him. Sam would have been dead three ways to Sunday if she had been a real threat to him. It just seems to me that the Sam Winchester of the first two seasons of Supernatural would have been a lot quicker on the draw. Seemingly making Sam so ineffectual to me just doesn't serve to create the impression that Ruby is a 'kick butt' anything and all it did was make me cringe in embarrassment for Sam Winchester once again.

That bit aside, Jared Padalecki continues to give excellent depth to his character of Sam Winchester who has had to deal with some pretty hard emotional 'punches' already this season. Gamble's contributions to the growing mystery surrounding Sam Winchester and the directions his life is headed in were well written and gave Padalecki something solid to sink his teeth into as an actor. However there are flaws with this overall 'demon destiny' arc they are building for Sam Winchester that don't seem to me fit into the first several seasons of the series and I am getting a sinking impression that Sam's history is undergoing a 'revision' to suit the needs of this story arc.

More disturbing to me is the continued disconnection between Sam and Dean as brothers that I first felt in The Magnificent 7 and continues on in this episode. Dean and Sam spent very little time together balancing each other's storylines out and there was no point of connection that tied them together other than the brief battle with the 'mama changeling creature', which by the way as a way cool 'kick butt' scene. No brotherly conversations or questioning looks to each other about what was going on with them once they parted company after the first diner and very cute diner scene. More disturbing to me as a viewer is the fact that Sam's storyline as it is unfolding seems to exclude Dean from something that is being presented as having a large impact on their family, a storyline that, if I am following it correctly, seems to be dealing with something that goes back into their family history. Sam says 'my mother, my uncle, my mother's friends'.

Pardon me for asking this, but isn't she Dean's mother too, wasn't this Dean's uncle too? Being left with these questions about why Sam's storyline of family history and drama seems to be excluding the only other member of that family left and by all rights the one that has given everything he has to protect the family and Sam specifically continue to add to the disturbing disconnection I see going on with the Winchesters.

For me these worrisome questions leave a bad after taste to what was really a very good episode, one much better in this reviewer's opinion than the 3rd season opener was. So my last comment will be one directed to the writers and producers of Supernatural.

Hey, you do remember that Dean and Sam Winchester are brothers right? What's suppose to be Sam's family history is also Dean's family history right?

Just checking!

Supernatural stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as Sam and Dean Winchester; two brother's whose 'family business' is traveling the highways and back roads of American cities hunting down and getting rid of 'supernatural threats' and airs on the CW Network on Thursday nights at 9PM EST.