I, for one, was somewhat underwhelmed by this episode. I loved it, but at the same time I felt that it could have been, I don't know... more. And I know, it's just the set up for the season finale, but it seems that some of the interesting storylines that were set in motion on this show earlier in the season are being squandered and not used to their full potential. The re-appearance of Ava was welcome, and where they went with her character, but it feels like the storyline was ditched far too easily. Ditto with the Roadhouse and Ash. Additionally, the not-so-shocking ending could have at least attempted to get us to believe that it won't be undone immediately next week. But we'll get to all that in a minute...

Big ups to Rohin for covering Supernatural last week while I was out of the country. While my recap won't be nearly as focused on the relative hotness of Jared and Jensen, I did realize this week that I have been being sexist as I reflected on the fact that the actress that plays Jess was way too hot to have been offed in the pilot (although she was hotter in the pilot). But that was part of the genius of how this show began. There was a bit in the beginning of the pilot that was so overly WB, with Sammy's hot girlfriend and black best friend while some Emo crap played in the background. Then by the end of the very first hour, they had trashed that concept so throughly, ending with Jess's death and a little AC/DC, I knew I had a new favorite show.

Okay so y'all know that bit I said about Smallville? I actually mean it for this show too. I was pleasantly surprised to know that Jensen Ackles' amazingness is further than skin-deep as his southern-twang is what makes the girls (et moi) go ga-ga.

But I'm procrastinating, so on with the show, etc.!

Supernatural finally returns to us this evening with one of the most meta episodes that they have ever produced. While it's not strange to see the show winking a bit at the audience, even in the most serious of episodes, it's hilarious how much fun the writers had with this show making fun of themselves, Hollywood, their own show and even their executive producer, McG. Even one of the worst produced episodes of the series, which I refer to as “the one with the racist truck”, gets a good skewering in the episode. I was also particularly fond of the fact that while Dean has no connection to modern culture, be it internet, film, or music, he certainly is deeply tied into his own version of culture which apparently incorporates just as many horror films as classic rock tracks.

It's nice to see Supernatural return to form after the crapfest that aired last week. If you can't see the quality difference between this episode and “Road Kill," then you just aren't paying attention. This installment gave us heaping helpings of comedy, terror, character development and a fantastic ending, while putting a bit of a twist on what could have been a very routine werewolf story. I had trouble placing the guest star playing Madison, but even when I identified her from the execrable House of the Dead 2, I still didn't hold it against this episode.

We start in an upscale bar in San Francisco. It's nice to see the boys in an urban setting, it always seems to give the show a good change of pace. We meet Madison hanging out with her friends, when her boss rolls up and awkwardly hits on her. She shoots him down in short order, but a creepy guy in the corner catches her eye, throwing her off her game. She quickly exits and walks alone through a deserted parking lot. We expect her to be attacked any moment, but she is simply being watched by the creepy guy. Score one for subverting our expectations. Well played, Supernatural.

The next morning, Madison is making coffee in the office when something odd catches her eye: a smear of blood on the door. She pushes it open to find her randy boss from the night before mauled on his desk. The coffee pot shatters. She screams.

Flames. Title.

What a disappointing episode. As a fan of both Supernatural and Battlestar Galactica, I was looking forward to this show returning from their month-long hiatus with Caprica Six herself guest starring. First, let me give congrats to Tricia Helfer. Supernatural gave her more screen time than Battlestar has since they've come back from hiatus, but you certainly can't say that they gave her more to do. As much as Six rawks Battlestar, it was never so clear to me how little she gets to emote on that show. However, the material is so much better than anything this episode has to offer that I really hope she gets more chances to perform and show her range. It was aspect of her performing ability that casting directors and showrunners should take notice of. Frankly, in this episode I think she acted circles around the boys, who seemed like they were phoning it in and... I don't blame them.

Who at the CW got it into their thick head that Tricia Helfer guest starring would bring in a large enough audience to justify a catch-up episode that is this pandering and repetitive? Furthermore, who thought the Battlestar audience, that they were clearly counting on, were so stupid that they couldn't catch up on this series quickly? Supernatural had been on a run, telling good stories, building their season/series arc, and expertly dodging boring exposition in every episode. Apparently they saved it all for tonight. If the Trickster episode was for the fans, then this episode was to explain this series to my mother. Rooting us to Caprica Six's perspective, nearly every aspect of the entire series is recapped or explained in such a way that even a four year-old would get it. I haven't seen a show so blatantly recap their own series since the post-Superbowl episode of Alias, and that was still a game-changer. And it was after the Superbowl!

This week we get a standalone episode that is a bit of a departure for the series, however it's not unlike many of the comedy based episodes that The X-Files did the past. I was pleasantly surprised that unlike some of those episodes, the comedy and non-sequiturs of this episode did nicely tie into a “real world" situation for the boys and was not simply a case of the writers and production team just having fun.

THEN: Our recap this week consists of nothing but Sam and Dead playing pranks on each other and calling each other names. A funny montage, but you think that they'd have been able to find more humorous clips than just them seemingly saying “bitch" and “jerk" over again. It started me off giggling like an idiot anyway.

NOW: We meet a stereotypical big-shot professor who comes across an attractive co-ed outside his building at the middle of the night. She says she's a student and convinces him to let her in. In short time, she reveals that she's not a student at all and coyly hooks the professor and reels him in. The professor holds on to his ethics for like thirty seconds, but however when he starts to suck face with her, she suddenly changes to a rotting corpse. The professor backs away in horror. Downstairs, the janitor is locking up when behind him something goes thumpity-crump. He turns to find the professor dead on the concrete behind him.

Flames. Title.

I'm really excited to be recapping Supernatural for the site, as I truly think that it's one of the most underrated shows currently airing on any of the major networks. I don't know if its because everyone makes assumptions about CW being nothing but teeny bopper shows, because it follows the crapfest that is Smallville, or simply because it's against some of the heaviest hitters that are on the air right now, but this show just isn't finding the audience that I feel it should have. Between the twisty storylines you don't quite see coming, to the emo-shunning classic rock soundtrack, to the fact that the show is downright the creepiest, scariest thing on the air, this show has had me hooked solid ever since I jacked the pilot off bittorrent. I wish I had started with “Night Shifter" two weeks ago, because it seemed to have a dollop of everything this show has done right.

This week, tons of material in the “Then" segment. Some that probably would have been better left out, yet still doesn't manage to ruin all the surprises of the episode. We start out “Now" in the way Supernatural is beginning to perfect; right smack dab in the middle of the story, not bothering with any unnecessary boring setup. Dean's on the phone, desperately searching for Sam whose gone missing. Lots of interesting jump cuts in the scene, reminiscent of Steven Soderberg's The Limey to keep it interesting. That may sound pretentious, but the whole first half plays very much like scenes from Memento, so someone's been watching their indie flicks. Dean finally hears from Sam and heads out to meet him. Sam's sitting alone in a hotel room, covered in blood (not his) and doesn't remember a thing.

Flames. Title.