Supernatural: Review: Season 8 Ep 15

The CW, 20 February 2013

Sam and Dean help out a male witch and his doggy familiar with a little local difficulty…

After a few good episodes in a row (and some much welcome and much needed reinvention), Supernatural has rapidly gone to the dogs… with a witch’s familiar alternately taking the shape of a hound or a beautiful woman, much to Dean’s confusion and consternation. Worst of all, this was dull and played out like a particularly poor episode of Grimm, something the long-running Supernatural should be well beyond.

The plot among the witches (and its rather lame resolution) was all a little under cooked, with the episode seeming relying on the eugh factor of possible bestiality (as Sam commented, Dean managed to hold back from making even one joke in that area).

Even the issues of trust explored between Sam and Dean aren’t as sharply written or explored as in the previous episode. The only thing this instalment had going for it, really, was the hint that Sam’s not coping too well with the toll of the trials he’s going through to get the spell to close the gates of Hell. I say hints, but his discomfort was laid on thick with a trowel at the episode’s conclusion, as though the showrunner was shouting at each viewer “Do you see, he’s unwell, he’s suffering” so loudly in order that the most inattentive get it… Thanks for the complete lack of subtlety there, pal.

Verdict: Not Supernatural’s finest hour…

Episode 15 ‘Man’s Best Friend With Benefits’: 5/10

Brian J. Robb