TV REVIEW: Supernatural “Blade Runners”

Let me give you some background on my Supernatural history.  About five months ago I embarked on a month-long journey that cemented my relationship with my Netflix account.  I admittedly had never seen an episode of Supernatural, but I was privy to the fanfare and online obsession.  I had avoided the show only because I knew there was a chance I would fall in love– become obsessed.  One episode turned into ten, ten turned into four seasons, and four seasons turned into a four week binge watch that culminated in watching about one hundred and seventy-seven episodes of Winchester angst, demon hunting, undying devotion to an angel in a trench coat, and ridiculous shenanigans.

Hold your applause.  The feat wasn’t easy nor something I would say I’m proud of.  My Netflix account asked me on a daily basis if I was “okay” and even sent me numbers to a therapist.  YES I’M FINE, NETFLIX.  I JUST REALLY LIKE MEN IN TRENCH COATS.

The point of my quip is this: I really came to love everything about Supernatural in a very short period of time.  Our love affair was a whirlwind; I got swept up, but now I’m unfortunately coming down.  The second half of season nine has been anything but a smooth ride.  It has constantly given us new turns, forgotten stories, and filler episodes that just leave me confused when the show jumps back on this season’s track. But let’s just do it, let’s talk about Tuesday’s episode entitled “Blade Runners.”

It seemed Dean had yet to give up on his mission to find Crowley.  If you remember correctly, Crowley’s one job was to find the First Blade, bring it back to the Winchesters so Dean could explore the real power the Mark of Cain bestowed upon him, and take out Abaddon once and for all. Unfortunately, Crowley was nowhere to be found; the only evidence to go off of was drunk dials Crowley had made to Dean.

In order to find the flaky King of Hell, the Winchesters decided their best course of action would be summoning a Crossroads demon and straight up ask them where Crowley was.  The boys mumbled the incantation and POOF! Wait, who is that? Oh my gosh, is that…SNOOKI!? Yep! The Crossroads demon was in fact the pint sized Jersey Shore alumni.  Snooki– sorry, Nicole– spouted that she had no idea where Crowley was, but that didn’t stop the boys from having some jabs at the Dancing With the Stars demon.

Pictured: Nicole Polizzi as Nicole — Credit: Katie Yu/The CW

It turned out Crowley had been holed up in a hotel room, complete with his own human captives and a lady demon.  Unfortunately for Crowley, though, this lady demon only reported to one person: Abaddon.  She quickly outed Crowley for being a human blood junkie when he was really supposed to be out looking for the First Blade.

Under a blood-drunk haze, Crowley called the Winchester brothers for help.  The boys staged a brief intervention and reeled the demon in.  The boys brushed themselves off and reembarked on their mission to find the blade.  Searching for the rare item proved unsuccessful as Abaddon and her crew had kept themselves one step ahead of the trio.  Luckily, Dean’s flirtations once again won in this round, and was directed to a man named “Magnus” who had bought the blade.

It didn’t take long for Sam and Dean to come to the conclusion that Magnus was a former, discharged Men of Letters whose name was really Cuthbert Sinclair.  The boys tracked him down to a heavily guarded and spelled mansion in the middle of nowhere.  After gaining entrance and successfully killing two vampires, Sam and Dean learned that Cuthbert Magnus was a rare items collector, even holding a zoo of demons on his premises.  Magnus expelled Sam from the mansion, as it was Dean he really wanted.  With Dean in his possession he could finally learn what kind of power the First Blade held.

As per most Supernatural episodes lately, the episode came to a head with a race to save Dean.  When they finally did, the real influences of the First Blade were enacted.  Power pulsated through Dean and he used the mighty weapon to sever Cuthbert’s head from his body.  The blade was too powerful, though, and took Sam’s pleas for Dean to finally let the weapon fall.  The ramifications were evident.

Pictured (L-R): Kavan Smith as Magnus and Jensen Ackles as Dean — Credit: Diyah Pera/The CW — © 2014 The CW Network

With the blade now intact, the boys can finally learn the real capabilities Dean now holds.  Crowley, however, has stayed one step ahead of the brothers and has snatched the blade from right under them.  His leverage is the blade– without it he would be ganked.

What further consequences will Dean experience now that he knows the power of the First Blade? Will Crowley stick around long enough to join the Winchesters on another hunting expedition? Will Castiel come back into my life now?

This episode was a nice refreshment for the real arc of this season.  The boys are now back on track to rid of Abaddon and Crowley is proving that he isn’t just some soft junkie now that he has the blade.  I do wonder, though, did the Mark of Cain play a role in Dean’s assassination of a regular human in the last episode?

I was also happy to see the brothers working well together; no poignant monologues on the state of their relationship were necessary.  With only a handful of episodes left, and a backdoor pilot to a spinoff sandwiched in between, it will be interesting to see what kind of head this season comes to.