Supernatural 2:17-19

2:17 HEART

Directed by Kim Manners. Original Airdate: March 22, 2007.

Watched and Reviewed on June 8, 2011.

Synopsis: A mauled body with its heart missing. The Winchester brothers know that means one thing: a werewolf... and tonight the moon is full. Can they save a lovely girl from being the next gruesome fatality?

What a bummer of an episode. It isn't clear from the title, but this is the werewolf episode (that I've been waiting for). I didn't know there was gonna be a werewolf episode for sure, but given the nature of the series, it was only a matter of time - and, hot damn, did it deliver. Well, it was it a little lackluster when it came to the actual amount of werewolf-ing on screen, and the whole lycanthrope aspect was actually more of a gateway to something else involving one of the brothers than anything, but it's still an incredibly solid episode for what it is. That being said, the unassuming title seems a lot more appropriate than if it were called something corny, like "Bad Moon Rising" or some shit. Speaking of which, there are references to John Landis and Joe Dante in the episode that I found rather amusing, and it's a nice little nod to horror fans that the "uninitiated" probably won't pick up on.

Score: 7.5

2:18 HOLLYWOOD BABYLON

Directed by Phil Sgriccia. Original Airdate: April 19, 2007.

Watched and Reviewed on June 9, 2011.

Synopsis: The ghosts go west. A filmmaker fakes a supernatural soundstage death to create online buzz for his in-production horror flick. But the second death is all too real.

This is the self-referential "meta" episode. I thought TALL TALES was the weird off-episode of the season, but HOLLYWOOD BABYLON takes the cake; it makes TALL TALES look like a season finale by comparison. So the brothers end up in Hollywood, where they crash the set of a horror movie and investigate the usual unexplained death that may or may not be tied to a haunting. That being said, there's a movie-within-a-movie scenario here, which leaves the door wide open for a vast amount of in-jokes, and the episode at least delivers in that respect. There's a really goofy atmosphere throughout, and while it's amusing for the most part, it's also dumb as shit and pretty terrible. I'll probably make it a point to watch the episode again if I ever revisit the season, just because it's an entertaining time-killer, but I'll always consider it to be, technically, one of the worst episodes of the show EVER.

Score: 5.5

2:19 FOLSOM PRISON BLUES

Directed by Mike Rohl. Original Airdate: April 26, 2007.

Watched and Reviewed on June 10, 2011.

Synopsis: Special Agent Henricksen finally achieves his goal: Sam and Dean behind bars. The only thing scarier than the guys they meet on the inside is a murderous spirit who's offing inmates one by one.

At this point, I prefer the first season to this one because of the stronger running storyline and the inherent incentive to get to the end, but, on the other hand, this season has a bigger selection of solid, well-written episodes, and FOLSOM PRISON BLUES is one of them. In this episode, the brothers purposely get themselves arrested so they can do a favor for a friend of the family, which consists of eliminating a harmful spirit that dwells in the prison that they carefully get themselves sent to. Based on the show's track record, I expected the typical episode structure of the brothers finding themselves in a situation that's seemingly impossible to get out of, only to be saved at the last second by a deus ex machina, but this episode proved to be the exception thanks to some clever writing. Well done. I also loved Jeff Kober as one of the prison inmates.

Score: 8