Wren’s Top Five Episodes Of Season Seven

And whaddaya know- I’m back. Did you think I’d ditched you?

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working pretty hard, hence the sudden dropoff in posts. However, I’ll make sure I finish my Top Five series before Season Eleven gets here. (Also- that trailer. Wow.)

So, without further ado: Season Seven. My least favourite, actually, but I still rather like it. The leviathan stuff got so very plotty that I think it ended up detracting from the emotional impact of the season, though I love the Hallucifer arc to bits- and then the whole season was filmed in very un-SPNny primary colours. Supernatural, please don’t bow to the demands of your network. It’s terribly bad for you. (Insert Hollywood Babylon gif here. ‘Who says horror has to be dark?’)

1. The Born-Again Identity

I realise I’m probably alone in this, but this episode’s one of my all-time favourites. So Cas returned, and that was nice- but the JP stuff is what I love this episode for. What powerful acting. He seems tired beyond all endurance, yet he still peels himself up off the bed to go help Marin. (I was so excited to see her in Hannibal. Terribly sad that she got eaten.) Pretty sure that was what sparked the affectionate series of Sam posts, all of which were along the lines of ‘I bet if Sam had six broken legs and half a lung after a fight with a rugaru he’d still run out into the road to rescue a puppy on the verge of being squidged by a truck’. Also- Mark Pellegrino’s last appearence. Round of applause for this guy. You remember his heartwrenching performance in Sympathy For The Devil? And then we have THIS? Just- what talent. (Also, I did a couple VS essays involving this- Their Souls Are Broken, Doc, and The Thing About Heroism.)

2. Death’s Door

I had tears literally streaming down my face the whole way through. Unbelievable. Burst into sobs when Bobby looked fondly at Sam and Dean arguing about peanut butter and banana sandwiches. (Honestly, if someone was to read my blog without watching this show, they’d think I was some kind of emo nutter. You have to see it to understand Jim Beaver’s capacity to break millions of hearts with the word ‘idjts’.) And seriously- the speech about kids eating your food and breaking your heart- Sera Gamble, I miss you sorely.

Oh- and Rufus! One of my all-time favourite characters on SPN. Love the earring here.

Wrote about the power of cup-drops here.

3. Repo Man

Super disturbing episode. Wrote about Samifer and Stockholm syndrome here. Very effective, too- we haven’t really checked in with Sam’s Hallucifer problems since Hello, Cruel World, and by now he’s just used to it- he lives with it. Again, kudos to Mark and Jared. Plus, Dean as damsel in distress was refreshing. It tends to be the other way round. Fascinating to see how they react to the reversal of their usual roles. (Dean, of course, was his snarky lil’ self, and Sam nearly shot several people and started talking to the devil, because this is Supernatural.)

4. Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie

Kind of a lead-up to the whole Hallucifer arc. Easily the season’s funniest episode. The whole thing is basically Sam getting beat up by clowns. I miss Ben Edlund.

The interrogation of the poor Plucky staff lady cracks me up. Sniggering just thinking about it. And Dean and his slinky- dear God- and behaving like a twelve-year-old the whole way through.

‘They think the ball washer did it.’

‘The what?’

‘The ball washer.’

‘The what?’

‘The ball-‘

5. Time After Time After Time

You know what I said about the repulsive primary-coloured brightness of this season? Well, this episode is the exception. I actually lost track of the plot because I was too busy staring at the decadent noirishness of the ’44 scenes. Loved JA’s work here, too- getting all caught up in ‘the Chicago way’ (and about kicking in Nazi skulls- lol- another of those jokes that you should never hashtag). Plus- guy looks good in a suit. I found Melissa Roxborough to be something of a weak link in the episode’s cast- I only mention this because she crops up again in Season Nine’s backdoor pilot Bloodlines as the hot werewolf. I wasn’t convinced by her there, either. Bloodlines is the only episode I flatly refuse to rewatch.

Also, bury me in Sam and Jody’s relationship. Kim Rhodes is a wonderful actress and Jody a wonderful character. She’s survived five seasons! Five!

Honourable Mentions:

Meet The New Boss- love this. Misha killed it, as did the Js. The whole opening scene is so painful- what Cas did to Sam is just hanging in the air, and Dean and Bobby are staring in disbelief. Now I come to think of it, this season’s pretty Sam-centric, probably thanks to Sera. By no means a bad thing, though we could have done with some more Dean stuff; luckily Jensen’s not really the sidelineable sort of actor. I did think the character elements were excellently done, over the whole season. Sera gets a lot of crap, but people disregard a) her incredibly difficult task and b) how well she really did with some things.

Hello, Cruel World. More Edlund! Wonderful broment here. Dean grabbing Sam’s hand and shouting at him to make him stone number one. Despite the Amy arc (which I disagree with the general opinion on- I thought it really well-done), that scene stands alone as a pillar of lovely codependent goodness.

Slash Fiction, to which I happily award the Wrencollins Certificate Of General Disturbingness. God, this episode made me ANGRY on first watch- I felt so defensive of Sam and Dean- and J2 were fantastic. Funny silly scene with the leviathan talking in the diner. ‘Wanna swap?’ ‘No. I like this one’s hair better.’ Plus, more Jody.

Out With The Old. I actually have a huge affection for this episode. I love the snow, I love Sam being done with everything, I even enjoy the way the leviathan were done here. But ugh- that horrible death with the teakettle- ugh.

Survival Of The Fittest, purely for Meg smashing the Impala through the Sucracorp logo. I love that scene. And a shoutout to James Patrick Stuart, who played Dick Roman and did a great job. So slimy. Shudder. Love the scene with him and Crowley.

The Girl With The Dungeons And Dragons Tattoo, because Charlie. And because Dean teaching her how to hit on a man. ‘What would H do?’ Yes, Charlie, what would she do? RIP.

Party On, Garth. Drunk Sam and Dean. Also: Garth.

Season Seven, Time For A Wedding. Look, I know legions of fans were horribly offended here. I thought it was kind of hilarious. More on that here. And I get why other people disagree, so let’s agree to differ, huh?

Now, you know the drill. Let’s hear it.

Read my Vivisecting Supernatural meta essays at https://cobwebqueen.wordpress.com/tag/vivisecting-supernatural/.