Can you imagine trying to explain tonight’s episode of Supernatural to a friend who doesn’t follow the show? How would you explain Becky knowing characters from the show without ever having met them and referencing episode titles without spending 30 minutes explaining Chuck, the Supernatural books and throwing out the word “meta” a couple times? Yet, “Season 7, Time for Wedding!” makes perfect sense to any Supernatural fan and gives us a break from the heavier episodes we’ve gotten this season. This entry perfectly showed off the humor Supernatural excels at – self referential to the point of breaking the fourth wall (think “The French Connection”) – while mixing old characters with new ones. It might have been a little jarring to see super fan Becky pop up out of nowhere, but seeing as how she allows Supernatural fans to actually exist in the onscreen world, she’s fun to have around. It would have been amazing to see Chuck again; however, judging by his disappearing act at the end of season 5, I don’t think our favorite writer/prophet/God will be coming back any time soon.
Was that the most bizarre cold opening ever?
I know that subhead is “prisoner of the moment” but this week’s episode got off to a bizarre start. Firstly, who knew that Sam and Dean had an annual Vegas trip? Isn’t that a little risky with the Leviathans tracking their every move? Shouldn’t they be laying low? Overlooking that omission, our next surprise is Sam in a chapel with Becky in a wedding dress. That’s quite a hook! (The revamped title screen was hilarious, by the way.) I knew something was up but I honestly didn’t expect Becky to be using a love potion she got off a crossroads demon. We’re straying into Harry Potter territory here! I like that they explained how Becky was controlling Sam right out the gate since the reveal gave us time to contemplate how horribly things would go once Becky’s contract came due. Because little does she know that the demon who’s buying up souls is cashing in about 519 weeks early.
With the stakes established and Sam tied up (literally at one point) with his new wife, we’re introduced to Garth, who’s called in by Bobby to help Dean work the case. Garth is quirky but not a bad hunter. He devises a plan to help the CEO’s wife, discovers Becky’s tweets and doesn’t grind Dean’s gears too bad. All these callbacks to previous seasons (here with Chuck and Becky) this year have reminded me how small the supporting cast of Supernatural has shrunk so it was nice to see some new faces show up here. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Garth again in season 7 given how dangerous the Leviathan storyline is, and keeping in mind Supernatural’s penchant for killing off its supporting cast, I feel confident the next time we see him will be the last. Not saying I want that to happen. It’s just a hunch.
“Supernatural’s not exactly popular.”
What a fantastic line that was. It actually made me laugh out loud. No show on television has a better time making fun of itself than Supernatural. Not only that, but no show finds craftier ways to break the fourth wall and keep it within the confines of what’s possible within its pre-defined reality. As I said earlier, what other show could pull off having the embodiment of its fans exist onscreen? Just this one. Supernatural gets a ton of mileage from its meta humor and rightfully so when you watch an episode like the aforementioned “French Connection.” Obviously this episode wasn’t anywhere near that level but it still had plenty of moments to make Supernatural fans smile. I loved Becky knocking out Sam with Dean’s waffle iron and enjoyed guessing what Sam was saying when the sock was in his mouth. It’s the little moments like those that Supernatural does so well.
It’s been a while since we had a crossroads demon on the show but the sly swindlers made a nice return here in the form of Guy, who packed a little more personality than most of his kind. Unfortunately for Guy and his intern, Crowley doesn’t smile upon screwing people out of their souls: “This is Hell. We have a little something called integrity!” The King of Hell shows up to protect his business interests (because cashing in early apparently hurts consumer confidence) while rocking a nice playoff beard and agrees to rip up the contracts Guy’s holding if the brothers turn him over. I loved Crowley’s appearance because it was so true to his character: not truly good, not truly evil, always looking out for his own interests. Even his decision to keep the demons away from Sam and Dean is self-motivated seeing as how he knows the Leviathans would tear his employees to shreds. I hope to see him again soon.
Sam and Dean don’t hug it out. They just shoot monsters.
Sam and Dean ended the episode in a good place. They were cracking jokes and enjoying each other’s company, which is something we haven’t seen in a while. It’s about time the Winchester brothers got to this place in their lives. Dean’s got to be 31 now and Sam can’t be far behind him. They’re both mature adults now who are fully capable of working through their issues. Even though Amy’s storyline felt shoehorned in to give the brothers some drama to work out, it paid dividends because Sam and Dean’s relationship is better than it’s been in years. If the Leviathan story can turn into something half decent, new characters keep getting introduced and the brothers stay happy, this could turn out to be an awesome season. We shall see.
Line of the week
Garth: “Numero dos: he said you’d be all surly and pre-menstrual working with me.”
Next week on Supernatural Our three favorite hunters actually go hunting!
