Kirsti: OH THANK GOD WE FINISHED IT. I honestly don’t think anything has ever felt as long as this sixteen episode season, friends. Not even Buffy season 6… I hereby declare it dance party time:
I used to really enjoy season 3, but recapping it has made me realise just how all over the place it is. Sure, there are some fabulous episodes in there. But we also get some total throwaway episodes, which means that important details don’t turn up until the absolute last minute. I hate how they wrapped up Bela’s story, and while I should give them the benefit of the doubt and say that the writers’ strike got in the way of them doing things properly, I’m not entirely convinced.
That said, let’s rank this sucker:
- Mystery Spot – Like I said when we recapped it, I love the crap out of this episode. It’s a brilliant mix of funny and feelsy, of light slapstick humour and dark depressing OMG SAM WHAT ARE YOU DOING. It’s not perfect, it’s true, but it’s pretty damned fabulous.
- No Rest for the Wicked – I know they had to wrap up the season ahead of schedule, but I think they did a pretty great job of it. Little Girl Lilith was fabulously creepy, Bobby’s holy water sprinkler system plan was ingenious, and Sam mourning his brother’s death was suitably feelsy.
- Bad Day at Black Rock – Admittedly, I have an irrational soft spot for this episode because I saw the highlights of it over and over again when I was in South America in 2008. But I not-so-secretly think this is great. Sure, it’s ridiculous from start to finish and it’s basically 42 minutes of Sam falling over. Don’t care. Still love it. And it’s a pretty great introduction to Bela.
- The Kids Are Alright – I’ve said this before, but no power in the ‘verse can convince me that Ben isn’t Dean’s kid. This episode was fabulously creepy, as the majority of episodes involving small children are. Yes, there are squicky moments. But it’s still great.
- Ghostfacers – This one may be gross at times and it may make me feel slightly nauseated, but I love that we finally get to see the REAL Winchesters in all their swearing glory.
- A Very Supernatural Christmas – Let’s be honest, a big part of why this is rated so high is the flashbacks to the Mini Winchesters and their totally shitty Christmas. Still, while it took longer than I would have liked to get going, the monsters of the week were pretty fun.
- Dream a Little Dream of Me – Mostly rated as high as it is because of Dean fighting his demon self and realising that Papa Winchester was a fucking arsehole. But, you know, the Bobby backstory was interesting too. And I’m glad they found a way to deliver his backstory that didn’t feel like info-dumping!
- Jus in Bello – Sassy Ruby + Henriksen learning the truth + Dean’s snigger-worthy one liners means this one slipped into the top half of the season for me. It still kind of felt like a 45 minute Lilith reveal though…
- Fresh Blood – Mercedes McNab playing a vampire (again) allowed us to have (slightly questionable) Crossover Magic shots. But really, it was Gordon’s ending that pushed this one up as high as this. All I can think of is Harvey Dent: “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”. Really, that sums up the life of a hunter pretty well…
- The Magnificent Seven – A decent season starter, especially with the introduction of Ruby. But our monsters of the week – the Seven Deadly Sins – surely warranted at least a two episode arc. It just felt…rushed.
- Red Sky At Morning – Not the greatest episode, it’s true. And the “kill a family member, see a ghost ship” thing was oddly specific. But I did enjoy the fact that for once, it’s the Winchesters who are being objectified rather than the female characters.
- Bedtime Stories – The idea of a spirit who uses people to play out fairy tales is certainly an interesting one, but a lot of the time this episode was just mediocre.
- Malleus Maleficarum – Sure, it was an interesting introduction to witches in the Supernatural ‘verse. But did we HAVE to kill five female characters in order to learn that Ruby used to be human??
- Sin City – It may just be me, but I find this episode forgettable and dull, and sort of a Demon 101 infodump.
- Long Distance Call – Frankly, this one was boring. The monster of the week is forgettable, I didn’t really care about any of the characters who died, and there wasn’t really any point having Dean ending up in danger because it’s obvious they’re not going to kill him off with two episodes left of the season.
- Time Is On My Side – Look, it’s still better than a lot of other Supernatural episodes. But given that it contains the totally half-arsed ending to Bela’s storyline and the boys giving literally no fucks about the fact that she made a demon deal AS A CHILD and is now paying the price? NOPE. Especially when you add in a minor dose of Eyeball Trauma.
Mari: Well this is a little awkward because I didn’t actually watch the whole season. I briefly entertained the idea of going back and watching what I’d missed but the next four recaps due to be published on the website are all mine and I haven’t started any of them. So, lol, no. What you’ll get instead is my ranking of 10 episodes I saw.
It kind of felt like a lot more than 10 episodes, mostly for the way that the same theme of Dean being a hardass-Dean not wanting to die-Sam being emotional-Sam proposing something ridiculous got recycled so damn much. It was too much and often too on the nose. It’s a shame, too, because there was a lot of really dark and grim stuff here that it would’ve been awesome to explore a bit more subtlety.
Again, my mid-season tap in had me at a disadvantage because for a bit there, I just didn’t care about the Winchesters or the problems, how ever desperate they were. They are kind of difficult characters to just get behind because of the way that they are short sighted, have single track minds, cause a lot of collateral damage and are often rude to women. Those last two, the way the background characters are easily disposed and the misogyny that rears it’s ugly head in weird ways, are two that made me more and more uncomfortable as the season went on.
Still, there were good points. The fact is that by the end (…or by Jus in Bello…) I did care about the Winchesters. There were many creepy moments and the idea that Dean was working against this ticking clock was one I liked.
So, my 10:
- Jus in Bello – Surprised? You shouldn’t be. It’s the episode that really and finally captured my attention. I feel like so much of this show is a bubble around the Winchesters. The mythology is shaky, the writing around the MotW is often plot hole-y, and so much of this season in particular has been about their big problem, which was Dean. I loved that this took the time to slow things down and introduce a big bad we heard rumblings about. Plus, it puts other characters at the forefront. Sure, it kills them off, but to effect. Hands down the best episode of the season.
- Mystery Spot – In the recap, I called this “relatively good.” I see how relative that is now, considering how high up my list it actually is. A big part of that is that this episode seems so pivotal in retrospect. Sam went through some thangs and it has a far reaching effect on his character going forward. Points on points for that.
- No Rest for the Wicked – A little dense and Sam saving the day with his eyes closed at the end made me roll my eyes, but it kept me engaged and Dean actually did die. Huh.
- Ghostfacers – It was an interesting move to put a humorous episode after the Mystery Spot/Jus in Bello 1-2. It worked at times and didn’t at others, but over all it’s a memorable episode.
- A Very Supernatural Christmas – The mythology was super plot hole-y, though the bad guys were creepy enough. Depressing Christmas flashbacks were a thing, though, so at least this made me care a little.
- Dream a Little Dream of Me – Again, in the recap, I said this was okay but I can at least recognize that was mostly my disconnection from the material then. Dream episodes can feel cliche and fast, and this did for me. But it did give us some time with Bobby (!) and a look at Dean’s inner turmoil
- Time is On My Side – Bella got sacrificed to the plot gods in record time and that sucked.
- Fresh Blood – Mercedes McNaab as a vampire earns this bonus points. Gordon as a vampire was less charming, but not a bad episode overall.
- Malleus Maleficarum – Here we are with a weird, disposable background people plot line. I guess the most I can say is that when I think back to this episode I think, “oh, that’s the one where all the women died.”
- Long-Distance Call – An underdeveloped MOTW (shocking) and more of the rinse-lather-Dean-is-dying-repeat.
Next time: We jump into season 4! Will Dean stay dead? Given that there are a hundred thousand episodes of this show left to recap, it’s not likely! Find out for sure in Supernatural S04 E01 – Lazarus Rising.
I'm a 30-something librarian and I still live with my parents because I'm super broke. Leader of Team Heartless Cow. I have an inexplicable love for 90s television, eat too much chocolate, and read more than is good for me.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
