“Sweet merciful awesome.” – Dean, when he sees Eliot Ness’s trunk o’ weapons
Why, all these years later, am I still waiting for John to show up in one of the time travel / alternate universe / ghosty episodes? I really ought to let it go — Jeffrey Dean Morgan is not coming back. And likely Bobby isn’t either (although I swear he drank Dean’s beer in last week’s episode), but I just want these boys to have their Giles, you know? After seven years, although they’ve grown in leaps and bounds, the Winchester brothers still need a father figure.
They both did get mentors in tonight’s episode, though, and it worked. Dean was absolutely ga-ga over Eliot Ness (rightly so) and Sam and Sheriff Mills worked really well together. The scene when she found Bobby’s booze from Rufus was pretty great, and she was right — that booze needed some drinking. Now that we’re without Bobby, I hope we see more of her.
It was pretty brilliant of the writers to throw Ezra into the 1944 scenario, because every hunter needs a Bobby figure. Does that mean Bobby was essentially the woman behind the boys? Say it isn’t so! Her gruff demeanor, along with her usage of the word “idjits,” was definitely a welcome reminder that Bobby may be gone, but not forgotten.
Although I would have liked to have seen Jason Dohring‘s storyline fleshed out a bit better (we really didn’t get the opportunity to develop any empathy for the character), it was so, so wonderful to see him back on my television screen. It’s a shame he wasn’t used to his full potential … he should have a character that at least has the potential to become recurring. For such an enjoyable episode, they just didn’t do right by the monster of the week. Giving him the throw-away importance of seeing the future covered in thick black ooze didn’t cut it.
I really enjoyed the Back to the Future shout-outs, and Sam’s gleeful face when he shared Dean’s letter with Sheriff Mills was … awesome. But my favorite part of the episode was a beautiful tie-in to the theme of the season (which, dare I say, may be starting to become clearer) — Eliot Ness’s speech to Dean, aka Nancy:
“Boo hoo, cry me a river, you Nancy. Are all the hunters as soft as you in the future? Everybody loses everybody, then one day — boom! — you’re number’s up. But at least you’re making a difference. So enjoy it while it lasts kid, ’cause hunting’s the only clarity you’re going to find in this life, and that makes you luckier than most.”
Is Dean ever going to see himself as lucky? Will he ever stop crying in his liquor-spiked coffee? Will Sam’s resurgence of positivity rub off on Dean, based on the words of the great Eliot Ness? I’d really like to see this significant moment continue to be significant in future episodes this season. It’s time for the writers to step it up and start connecting the threads of what could be a great story.
This and that:
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jan 13, 2012 @ 22:40 EST5EDT
I have to ask this. Where the hell is Dean´s car? I love it so much and all of the sudden it stops showing up..I know that when the leviathans appeared and started chasing Sam and Dean they had to hide their identities and so on, but it has been who knows how many episodes and Dean doesn´t even mention his “baby”!
*POST AUTHOR*
They had to ditch it b/c the fake Sam and Dean were driving one (the disguised leviathans). They’ve been away from that storyline so long now, I can’t even remember if LSam and LDean are still out there!