KSiteTV welcomes another new writer! Jeff Holbrook is a fan of a lot of the shows covered here and we’re happy to have him! This week, he’s reviewing and recapping Supernatural. He has some cool ideas coming up for his Supernatural coverage which you will probably see changing over time.
Supernatural 7.11 “Adventures in Babysitting”
Synopsis: Still reeling after what happened to Bobby (Jim Beaver), Dean (Jensen Ackles) becomes dangerously obsessed over finding a way to take down Dick Roman (guest star James Patrick Stuart). Meanwhile, Sam (Jared Padalecki) decides to help a teenage girl (guest star Madison Mclaughlin) look for her father (guest star Ian Tracey), a hunter who has gone missing. Sam traces his last steps to a truck stop where the help (guest star Meghan Ory) turns out not to be so friendly.
If you have not seen this episode yet and do not wish to be spoiled, do not continue reading!
Recap: Now that we are alone, the episode starts out at a truck stop with hunter Lee Chambers (Ian Tracey) watching an attractive waitress named Sally (Once Upon a Time star Meghan Ory) seduce and lead a man away. He goes to follow them and is knocked out shortly after realizing that his waitress drugged him. There is a three week period montage of the brothers mourning Bobby’s death through silence and drinking before showing that Dean has become obsessed with finding out the meaning behind the numbers that Bobby spent his dying breath writing. He reaches out to Frank Devereaux (Pirates of the Caribbean‘s Kevin McNally) to uncover the relevance. Dean and Sam go their separate ways when Bobby’s phone gets a call from a concerned young girl. Sam rushes off to help her while Dean leaves to find Frank.
When Sam tracks the girl down, we learn that she is Lee’s daughter Krissy (Madison Mclaughlin) and that he has been missing for five days. Sam leaves to find him and we catch up with Dean and Frank in a standoff, proving to each other that they are not Leviathans. In the middle of some terrific banter, Frank informs Dean that the reason he could not figure out the numbers’ meaning is because a single digit was missing. The complete set equaled the coordinates to a field in Wisconsin located on Dick Roman’s property. They head to the field in order to set up surveillance. Dean ends up passing out from exhaustion while he and Frank are monitoring the area.
Meanwhile, Sam makes his way to the truck stop and discovers that he is hunting a Vetala. Sam calls and leaves Dean a message before going off to find Lee. He is brutally attacked and taken by the two Vetala. Dean wakes up after a thirty-six hour nap and finds Sam’s message waiting for him. Krissy calls Dean per Sam’s request if he were MIA for too long and Dean races to the case. He arrives to meet Krissy and she forces him to take her along, pleading that he understand how she feels. Dean refuses, so she proceeds to tell him that she memorized and burned the job information, leaving him no choice but to take her with him.
They arrive at the truck stop and tail the Vetala to their feeding area where they find Sam and Lee. Dean handcuffs Krissy to the steering wheel and goes after them. As Dean is about to kill one of the venomous waitresses, Krissy bursts in to attempt a rescue of her dad and is grabbed by the other monster. The teenage girl catches the Vetala off guard with a fatal knife blow as Sam is cut loose to take out the other one.
Sam and Dean meets the Chambers duo at the local hospital, and, due to some strong advice from Frank, persuades Lee that he should retire from hunting and salvage his daughter’s and family’s future. The brothers say their goodbyes and ride off in the replacement Impala. Again inspired by a pep talk by Devereaux, Dean says that working is the best way for them to handle Bobby’s loss and the last scene is of Dean listening to some Classic Rock with a smile on his face, more than likely thinking that Bobby would be proud.
Review: I want to start off by welcoming back Kevin McNally who reprised the wildly entertaining hunter/bipolar idealist Frank Devereaux. This episode was awesome! Going into it I feared that it would be a truly depressing atmosphere for the brothers, which was shown in the opening montage mentioned in the recap. Though the loss of Bobby is one of, if not, the biggest death in the series yet, not counting the Winchesters’ own deaths in past seasons, this episode did not sulk for long. The previous episode “Death’s Door” was a perfect closing chapter for Bobby Singer (played by the phenomenal Jim Beaver). Though the writers did not state which path Bobby chose in this week’s show, I can understand why they did not. I imagine that Bobby will return in some capacity before the season’s end. After all, no hunter’s burial shown suggests that his body is still around with the chance of him returning as a ghost. I am happy that the episode did not solely focus on the Winchester brothers’ pain of losing him. It’s probably a good thing that us fans had the winter hiatus to come to terms with his loss as well.
This episode really put his passing into perspective for the boys with Sam struggling to tell Krissy that Bobby was gone and practically all of Dean’s emotions throughout the show, but it also showed that they can survive it and grow stronger from it. Despite the decent amount of action and suspense, the episode proved to be a nice character development piece with superb acting all around. We even got a glimpse into Frank Devereaux as he told Dean that he came home to find his wife and two children gutted, explaining that he pastes a smile on his face week in and week out because he is supposed to be professional. He stated simply that Dean needs to do the same or quit, which is exactly what he needed to hear.
It was nice to get to know the Chambers family some, too. It is interesting to compare Krissy’s lifestyle and childhood to Sam and Dean’s. Dean fought so hard not to get her involved despite the fact that he would have done the same thing that she did if his family was in trouble. Their time in the rental car together served as one of the high points of the episode. I don’t know if I can ever fist bump again now!
“Adventures in Babysitting” had some of the greatest and more entertaining dialogue of the season. Most of it is due to Frank and Dean bickering, leaving me to hope that Kevin McNally will be returning several more times before the season wraps up. I could write an entire short story due to my new love for Frank’s character. There are too many awesome lines to quote. I suggest rewatching the episode and leaving comments stating your favorites. My favorite line involves Frank telling Dean that Gwyneth Paltrow is a Leviathan. Classic! The Vetala dialogue was rather bland and is the only thing that I am not a fan of in this episode. “That’s for the crappy tip!” Sigh.
Thanks to the nearly flawless performances, writing and directing, this great opening to the second half of the season has given me a lot to look forward to. Like usual, I’m already counting down the days until next Friday.
Rating: 4.5 Leviathan Gwyneth Paltrows out of 5
Jeff Holbrook is a graduate of Digital Media Design from the Steel City. Despite writing comedy for National Lampoon and sporting the Superman “S” on his chest, He enjoys watching Supernatural, Community, The Walking Dead and Spartacus among others. You can reach him at holbsproduction@gmail.com or on Twitter @holbsproduction
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