Supernatural: "Appointment in Samarra" Review

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Article Comments for [link=http://tv.ign.com/articles/113/1139805p1.html]Supernatural: "Appointment in Samarra" Review[/link]
by Diana Steenbergen

Summary: Dean and Sam find themselves in opposition to each other in "Appointment in Samarra", the last episode before Supernatural takes a mid-season break. While Dean must impersonate Death for 24 hours in an attempt to get Sam his soul back, Sam works to prevent his brother from being successful. [link=http://tv.ign.com/articles/113/1139805p1.html]Read Full Article[/link]

 

[darktreeExecutioner]

I didn't have many of the same problems that this reviewer had with the episode. For example, it was completely in Dean's character to make the brash move to save the dead nurse's fiance (husband?) even at the expense of the deal. Also, having Dean mouth off in usual fashion to Death simply reinforced his personality. As for being appalled at the consequences of defying Death, Dean is hot off the heels of defying the Apocalypse, and it seems perfectly natural that he would assume that, having beaten that, that he could somehow cheat Death.
As for Bobby's stupidity, it led to some pretty humorous (if predictable) moments with Sam, particularly involving a clear rip on the Shining. I look forward to seeing how the gang reacts to the soul, and if (and when) the wall will fail.

 

[grandslam2288Mercury]

Now I'm curious about the power of having a human soul like death said.

Also what is the civil war in heaven about? What does Raphael want bc it cant be the apocalypse bc Lucifer and Micheal are trapped. How would he release them this time?

 

[RustyHitman]

Bad review. I thought this was one of the better episodes this season. It finally felt like an episode of 'Supernatural' and not the goofy shenanigans that had been going on to start this season.

 

[biodead]

Not to bash you Diana, but I just don't get it. You gave 'Clap Your Hands' a 9.0, which was one of the worst episodes this season, but criticized this one for completely inane reasons. I thought this episode had much better writing considering some of the crap we've had to endure so far. I would give it at least 8.0, just because I felt like they actually tried to do something interesting this week, even if the execution was a tad bit off.

Did anyone else find it ridiculous when every single soul Dean gathered would immediately turn around and obnoxiously ask why? Realistically a real human would assess the situation a while longer before snapping back with "why." Every single one of them did this...that really wasn't well thought out at all.

 

[kylenin51]

"You gave 'Clap Your Hands' a 9.0, which was one of the worst episodes this season."

No way. I really liked that one. I thought it was the second best episode this season, right after "Weekend at Bobby's". However, I can agree with everyone else here about this week's episode. It certainly was nowhere near as bad as the reviewer is making it out to be.

 

[TheManWhoWasNotThere]

this was one of the best episodes thus far this season. sorry but at 7.0 you fail

 

[Dredgon]

I too am disappointed with the review, this was definitely one of the season's best. Death was phenomenal once again, and I loved how he stoically chastised Dean for not having any manners when speaking with him, as Dean was just being Dean and Death was not amused. It was also great to see Tessa again, she was great too as she had to baby-sit Dean and teach him to be Death. I think it is understandable how Death is how he is, as he probably felt like Dean such a very long time ago when he was created to kill those who time was up, so perhaps that is why he ended up helping Dean. It also made sense for him to choose Sam in a heartbeat instead of considering Adam, as he was obsessed with getting Sam’s soul back at any cost.

Being Death was amusing at first with Dean calling the gunman a d-bag, and the extra cheese for the guy with the heart attack, but it took a much more somber turn with the little girl. I think we all knew she would die in the end, but seeing Dean get taught the lesson about life & death and how he and Sam are always disrupting it, most notably stopping the Apocalypse, was good and hopefully they will find a purpose to all this later on.

Balthazar was great for his return appearance, and I liked the banter between him and Sam before he gave him the spell. I wonder if it would have even worked, Balthazar could have just wanted to hurt them by having Sam kill Bobby, as he is basically a Terminator ready to kill all in his way, and thus make Dean kill Sam or at least cripple their relationship. It was amusing to see Sam try to kill Bobby with the axe, and to have Bobby go downstairs when he knew Sam was there, ready to kill him.

I also liked how Death brought the Purgatory storyline back, as he told Dean to keep digging, i.e. looking for it, due to all the souls there. They have in essence escaped him, as their bodies may be gone but their souls are “safe” in Purgatory, at least from him and his Reapers. It is interesting that Death himself does not know where Purgatory is or how to get the souls inside there, and I think it is much cooler for the brothers to be looking for it for him, instead of Crowley or some other demon on a power trip, since he is very powerful and a man of his word. That whole conversation at the end was awesome, and I like how Death got Sam’s soul in like two seconds and was in the panic room to put it in. I liked it being represented by an orb of light, and I cannot wait until the Hellatus is over and we get to see just what it did to Sam. Overall, a great episode to leave off on until the season resumes, and I can’t wait for the next one. A 9.7/10

 

[Maxor127]

No way was this the season's best. I agree with the 7.0. I think it's insane that anyone thought it was a good episode. It had a lot of potential, but it failed. This was probably the first episode to make me really not like Sam or Dean. I actually did leave open the possibility of Bobby getting killed only because Dean was Death, and I thought the two plots would merge and end with Dean not able to kill Bobby. The whole Dean as Death thing was the worst part of the episode. It was neither funny nor moving. I didn't care for these people, and I don't understand why Dean did either. It was all just cliche.

And then the whole Sam/Bobby thing. I didn't like how Sam was willing to kill to not get his soul, especially when he'd know Dean would hunt him and kill him forever. Or how he trusted Balthazar at all. And yeah, Bobby was stupid to fall into Sam's trap, but it's not his fault that the plot decided to give Sam superhuman stealth, speed, and recovery.

But seriously, to call this episode an excellent episode is an insult to Supernatural episodes that were actually excellent. It was a crappy episode. Accept it. They can't all be good.

 

[grandslam2288Mercury]

@dredgon

Death did not mention anything about purgatory. He was referring to why the angels want souls. Why does it make them more powerful.

Also I'd love to see a very powerful character come back such as Azazel or even Lucifer and have Death just say I'm tired of you and kill them immediately.

 

[legacyAccount]

Yeah the ep had alot of potential but just ended up using a cookie cutter story that was very predictable(and I don't usually find I can predict ANY element of a supernatural episode, they always have an original twist in them) dull, full of plot holes and characters acting.......out of character! Bobby was stupid going into the basement, Sam even without a soul, I thought it was a bit unbelievable that he was willing to kill bobby and then especially dean removing the ring just to save some random guy.
Oh and death's reason for giving Sam's soul back anyway was weak. I would have just preffered if dean had suffered through and beaten death fair and square, that would have been more believable.

Considering we have to wait a couple of months till the next episode, i'd give this a 6.5

 

[venom_y3k]

I think a 7.0 is right. The writing was good, but come on Dean taking the ring for a random guy its dumb, he already torture souls in hell for like 10 years and now when all the season he is desperately trying to get his brother soul back he just folds.

Also Sam getting out of the basement that easy thought the panic room, really??? When in the 4 season he was trapped there with psyquic powers he couldn't.

You need to remember stuff from past season, you always get it right but this time you just let it go for a easy way out.

 

[kayell10]

i could understand why anyone would dislike this episode, which i loved btw. But everything the writers says here is just so stupid, it is annoying.

First, you don't understand why Dean is so surprised? He is more surprised not at the simple fact there is a consequence but what the consequence turned out to be. I doubt Dean refused to kill the little girl expecting and/or hoping someone would die as a result of his actions. And besides this is the first time Dean has experienced consequences for turning against Death, so, him surprised in that sense, yes, and not an unexpected reaction.

Second, Dean taking off his ring is actually consistent with his character and his intentions throughout the series. He wants to save people.He is a knight in shining armor, it is why he hunts. After seeing an innocent women die at the cost of his mistakes, he is not willing to see another die. Moreover, there are always other options to get Sam's soul back, at that point Dean has hope something he's shown throughout the series in different circumstances

Third, the main point of the whole part of Sam chasing after Bobby is to show just how changed and or evil Sam is without his soul, he is willing to kill Bobby! Predictablity is an issue when for example Bobby is being hunted by some random demon, because there is no point to it other than entertainment. But this plot point has a point, it emphasizes the urgency of getting Sam's soul back which fittingly concludes at the end of the spidoe. And it is that point that drives those scenes and this episode from beginning to end, thus it is idiotic to say predictbality is an issue.


Fourth, Death wasn't all too intense the first time we saw him. There was slight humor with the talk of the pizza n' all. So there is consistency with his character. And Dean is more sarcastic because death helped him the last time they met. Dean trusts death maybe not completely but more than their first encounter, and thus it is no surprise that he is more his sarcastic self

Though i do agree on one point, Bobby's stupidity. It is out of his character, and that was one aspect of this episode that bugged me.

What i loved most about this episode is the character of Death, we see more of a human side in him, with his saying of the ring weighing more than it looks. I found that and other things he said to be really profound. And i also like his role as a teacher too, and how the lesson connects with the current theme of the episode and what Dean is going through
There was also enought humor too, so
9.0/10

 

[davi123d]

that episode was atleast an 8.5

 

[Dredgon]

@grandslam2288Mercury - I never considered that, I just automatically thought he was talking about Purgatory when he talked about digging & souls. But you could be right too, I was not trying to present my theory as fact, and if I did, sorry for the confusion!

 

[Clements_01]

I loved certain parts of the episode, but it could've been more cohesive as a whole.

The main drawback of the episode was Dean learning his lesson. Everyone knew he'd take the ring off, fail and learn Death isn't as easy a job as he'd imagine. So that half of the episode struggled to be anything other than cliche. Although, I applaud it for not going the route I expected, with Bobby (at Sam's hands) being the reap that tips Dean over the edge. Instead it was a grieving husband.

The real juice of the episode was Soulless-Sam's desperation not to let his soul back in. When they had him tied to the table and he was pleading for them not to let this happen, televisial gold. I especially loved Death's line about "this might feel a little itchy...but whatever you do, don't scratch".

The next episode will be interesting, if only to see what this "new" Sam is like, now that he's been reunited body and soul. Inparticular, which perspective will he assume - the soul that's been in Hell for a year (which is technically the real Sam) or the body that's been a douchebag hunter for a year?

 

[D-Bane12]

I admit this episode was pretty predicable, but it was good. I'm actally more about the reason Death gave Sam's soul back than whatever the wall hold.

If you ask me, I think the mystery Death was hinting at got to be connected to Crowley looking for Purgatory, the Civil in Heaven and all those angelic WMDs lose on Earth.

 

[Pizawle]

Predictable I'll give you, but underwhelming? Nonsense.

Superb episode.

 

[Dawko01]

7 ? no....9/10 !!!

 

[Lurkero]

I can't tell what Supernatural wants me to feel this season. Most of the main characters aren't likable and this brother feud/saving has been going on for the past 3 seasons. I really wanted them to get past that in season 6, but half of the season is gone already.

At least Death got to be cool again.

 

[Ruzlix]

The whole Dean as Death thing was the worst part of the episode. It was neither funny nor moving. I didn't care for these people, and I don't understand why Dean did either. It was all just cliche.

And then the whole Sam/Bobby thing. I didn't like how Sam was willing to kill to not get his soul, especially when he'd know Dean would hunt him and kill him forever. Or how he trusted Balthazar at all. And yeah, Bobby was stupid to fall into Sam's trap, but it's not his fault that the plot decided to give Sam superhuman stealth, speed, and recovery.

But seriously, to call this episode an excellent episode is an insult to Supernatural episodes that were actually excellent. It was a crappy episode. Accept it. They can't all be good.

You said it. Everything you just said were my thoughts exactly. I think 7.0 is too much, maybe 3.0 or 4.0 would be generous at best.

It started off good for the first 5 minutes but then it started skydiving.

Another thing I didn't like was make Death human-like in terms of feelings. Why would Death, one of the bloody horsemen, feel anything for the lives he takes - something he has done forever? It just felt tacky and killed much of the coolness and respect I had for Death.

 

[moonknightbliss]

what a 7, it should be a 9, ign trippin

 

[legacyAccount]

why a 7, more like a nine, new patheDICK low for the editor

 

[Duff999]

This review was way too affected by a few minor plot devices. Yes everyone knows that Sam isn't going to actually kill Bobby. Yes it would have been better if Dean manned up and just did Death's job but obviously that episode would have been absurd and out of character.

I thought they handled the back and forth between Dean and Death really well. I like the casual nature that Death has. He's an all-powerful indestructible being and he doesn't need bold statements or a frightening presence to be assured of that fact. He knows it and he oozes the confidence in a way that everyone else knows it too. Dean was a little more sarcastic this time around but Death called him on it.

 

[Abe-]

complete side thing here but is it just me or does death always seem to be eating, by the bye death wasn't like the other horsemen, he was bound to that role. he clearly says he and god dont know who is older

 

[spockjenkins42]

You let trivialities affect your opinion of the episode. How often do you think a major character is jeopardy is REALLY going to die? And why wouldn't Dean balk at killing the girl, or anyone? He knew what he signed up for, but he's still Dean; a good man with a conscience. Anything else would have been out of character.

 

[hawkeye_82]

I also don't agree with the review. It was by no means one of the strongest episodes but it was still very entertaining. I was also disappointed that Dean acted in a very immature way when he was Death. The whole "I don't want to kill the girl" and then seeing the consequenses of that could have been resolved by just having the reaper explain what would have happened. I do like in opposite of others here that Death feels the weight that comes with his job. People seem to think Death need to be a mean ass killing machine while I see him as a keeper of the natural order. In one way he's the one who gives balance and order to the world. I really like the way they make him in this show! Anyways. It could at least been an 8-8.5 score for this and I'm really psyched to see how Sam will act after he's gotten his soul back. I'm glad they didn't dag out the "search for Sam's soul"-plot over the whole season.

 

[DavidW01]

I disagree, I really dug this episode. Some powerful stuff taking over the role of death, perhaps Dean gains a little insight as to how big a thing it is to switch places with someone or to get dead loved ones back by any means necessary. A month and a half break though, yikes.

 

[Adgriagn]

Death has only been in two episodes, but is easily one of my favorite characters. I just figured Death helped restore Sam's soul because as much trouble as the boys have been to him (all the resurrections), Dean did help him out, and he did clean up the mess he made. Maybe Dean has actually grown on Death. But I doubt he'd admit it.

 

[NovaAJ08]

While I know I risk sounded high handed and arrogant, I nevertheless feel like the reviewer missed the point. He barely glosses over (or sometimes completely omits) important parts of the episode, and obviously misrepresents others.

First, while Dean was testy with Death a couple times, he was like that in the pizza parlor last season too (and is like that with everyone frankly), and when Death would snap back at him, Dean very visibly crawled back into his shell. I didn't think they did any damage to Death's status in this episode.

Second, we are not supposed to get anymore incite into the "natural order of things" than Dean is bc Dean is performing a job the full gravity of which he doesn't understand (or we understand), which was the entire point. No one can understand why the natural order is the way it is, you're just supposed to follow the rules. As far as the consequences go, while it could be assumed they will be bad, you can't assume that Dean should have just "known" that other people were going to die as a result. You sound like the stupid AT&T commercial that says if her text had gone through faster, she would have bumped into the ballet instructor where the exact opposite could have easily happened. The same goes here where the consequence could have been that no one would have died. Here, the audience has more perspective than Dean bc it's foreseeable to us that the writers would throw in a plot twist (unless you're arguing that Dean's life just sucks and he should just expect that something bad will happen no matter what).

Third, if Dean taking the ring off seemed easy, it was only because it occurred after just 3 people died, rather than because it was out of character for Dean. I thought it was actually very consistent with Dean's character that he either, A) Reacted before thinking it through in order to save a life in danger right in front of him, which he later regrets, or B) Thought that he would simply have to find another way (as he always seems to) to get Sam's soul back. I agree it happened too quickly in the episode because Dean was only Death for all of 25 minutes, and I thought they should have explored that a little more.

The problem that I had with the "patricide" segment wasn't that I didn't expect Bobby to die (remember, Crowley wasn't expected to die last week either) but rather was the fact that Bobby being his "father" was a bit of a convenient explanation (there have been a lot of those this season, e.g. burning demon bones to kill them). This isn't "Sam", and I neither view this as being Sam, nor are any of us supposed to. This Sam could kill Bobby, and once he got his soul back, I wouldn't blame him. Did you hold a grudge against Dean when we found out he had been torturing souls for 10 years in hell?

I liked the episode, and Death's talk about the "value" of souls now gives new incite into why everyone is looking for Purgatory (it's like a soul buffet)

 

[Trembledust]

I agree basically with NovaAJ08 comments. The review itself I felt was way too condemning. Honestly this is one of the better episodes this season. The fact that Dean easily removed the ring is characteristic of the character. I would expect him to do that so no surprise therefor me however I do agree with some that say they could of stretched the time Dean was "Death". On the Bobby / Sam part of the story again...I wouldn't have been too surprised that Sam did kill Bobby as Sam is not really Sam w/o his soul. He is a cold logical being with no conscience. Not a stretch to think he would kill Bobby without a second thought. Good point @ Crowley. I don't think anyone expected him to die but the did. So again Bobby dying while little shocking wouldn't be totally unexpected. Dean acting snippy with Death a little more now then he did before is kind of expected. The char probably felt a little more confident about confronting Death for a second time as the first time Death actually helped him and as such he was a bit more relaxed and fell back into his usual persona. U still did see Dean humble himself a few times when he did cross the line with Death. My take on why Death got Sam's soul back seems to be that something is going on and Death feels Dean and Sam are the only ones to figure it out and /or stop it before the "natural order of things" gets even more out of wack. Death was gonna get Sam's soul back, but Dean needed to see death in death's preception. It almost definatley has something to do with what Death said Dean and Sam need to figure out. That's my theory. And yea happy that they mentioned Adam in this episode. Again not surprising Dean chose Sam over Adam because seriously...who did u think he would chose? The brother he has grown up with and has been on numerous missions on or the new found younger brother that he found about only after Adam was dead and spent little time with. Come on lol. I almost thought Death would bring both Sam and Adam back. Maybe he did but we just don't know it yet. Never know. Maybe watever Dean and Sam have to face may require all of the Winchester kin including possibly their grandfather. Im just saying.

 

[legacyAccount]

Ok i dont want to sound like a dick but i gotta get this off my chest.
I have read something like 4 different comments with people using the word incite.....the word is INSIGHT!! As in a better sight into things. "This gives better insight into Deans motives"
Incite means to rile some one up or get them angry. "Racist cops helped incite the LA riots"
I know this had nothing to do with the review(I agreed he missed the larger point) but being an English teacher I had to point it out.

 

[moogle_mom]

Ok i dont want to sound like a dick but i gotta get this off my chest.
I have read something like 4 different comments with people using the word incite.....the word is INSIGHT!! As in a better sight into things. "This gives better insight into Deans motives"
Incite means to rile some one up or get them angry. "Racist cops helped incite the LA riots"
I know this had nothing to do with the review(I agreed he missed the larger point) but being an English teacher I had to point it out.

I understand the frustration with egregious grammatical and spelling errors, but I don't see any point to you complaining. You didn't capitalize your I, forgot the apostrophe in don't, forgot the comma after dick, again didn't capitalize I, included an unnecessary ellipse with extra periods, used a sentence fragment, forgot the apostrophe in Dean's, didn't include a necessary space between review and the open parentheses, forgot a comma between the close parentheses and but, and forgot the comma after teacher. I'm assuming that you teach at a public school.

I rather liked the episode. It seemed to me that Death wanted Dean to learn a lesson, and that was the purpose of the bet. Dean learned his lesson and tried to clean the mess he created.

 

[sifth]

I rather liked this episode as well. The scenes between Dean and Death were handled very well and battle between Sam and Bobby was very few. I rather enjoyed seeing Bobby use all of his gadgets to out wit Sam

 

[big200]

loved this one but Dean got to leave Sam alone let him be its his life. thats all i got

 

[legacyAccount]

OK moogle you got me on all the mistakes I made, you are very clever.
I had just read a bunch of comments where incite was used and in me defense I was drunk at the time...
But what is that with the public school comment? Yeah I teach at public school but why is that a bad thing? I'm damn proud of my work and wouldn't work any where else.

 

[legacyAccount]

Oh I just read your profile and saw that you are american...It makes sense.

 

[Dredgon]

Children, children, settle down, we're all adults here...

 

[AlonditeMX]

Wow, really? The best episode of the season -by far- only gets a 7.0?

 

[Potomo]

I thought the twist of the episode was going to be that Sam would be a few moments away from killing Bobby and then Dean, as Death, would have to choose between Bobby's life or Sam's soul.

To bad that didn't happen. It would have been much more interesting.