Supernatural 8.02: "What's Up Tiger Mommy" Review

            “What’s Up Tiger Mommy” is not going down in history as my favorite Supernatural episode, but when it was good, it was very, very good. It was written by Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin who are not my favorite writers for the show: I tend to find them a bit uneven. I adored parts of the episode – especially the scenes in Purgatory – but there were plot points that felt a little thin to me. The humor in the episode didn’t flow as seamlessly as it usually does. John Showalter, on the other hand, brought his usual deft touch to the direction, and Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Ty Olsson, and Jared Padalecki delivered subtle and memorable performances. Osric Chau is quickly proving himself to be a solid, dependable actor.

            Did anyone else recognize an old face from season one? From the episode “Faith” to be exact? Alex Diakun played the Reaper in “Faith” and played the virgin-killer in this episode! His scenes with Sam and Thor’s hammer were fantastic and Padalecki once again demonstrated his great comic timing.

           

            Lauren Tom took a little while to grow on me. There’s no question that she had some of the best lines in the episode: “What? Like it’s my first tattoo?” And she is wonderful in the scene where she bargains her soul for her son’s life. This scene is nicely foreshadowed by the earlier scene when Sam and Dean are trying to get her to stay safe from Crowley and she insists it’s not her soul she’s worried about. I also enjoyed the scene in which she bests Lyle, the pawn broker. And her right hook to Crowley was an instant classic. However, I felt some of the earlier scenes were a bit over-played. I do hope we will see her again because I’d like to see her settle into the role a little more.

            Mark A. Sheppard as Crowley was his usual acerbic best, and we learned something in this episode that I think will prove to be pretty important going forward. Crowley is still just a crossroads demon at heart! While he possessed Mrs Tran, her eyes flashed red and when he smoked out of her it was red smoke! I’m really wondering if this might prove significant in defeating him at some point. One of the biggest plot problems at this point, however, is why Crowley doesn’t just kill the Winchesters. He had ample opportunity to do so, and they do pose a significant threat. It’s possible that as Crowley says Plutus has restricted his power, but after Plutus is killed, it would seem possible for Crowley to break their necks at least...

            I’m really liking the interplay between the brothers. In many ways it feels like a return to the earlier relationship so many fans said they wanted – and which I was ready to move on from – with the kind of character development that I was looking for. Sam is the brainiac we’ve come to expect: intuitively coming up with a way to keep a demon inside its host by simply saying the exorcism backwards, and coming up with the answer to Mrs Tran’s math question even before Kevin can. Padalecki is delivering a great performance subtly reacting to Dean’s actions and reactions. He’s concerned, but quietly and empathetically so. Crowley’s parting shot that everyone that comes in contact with the Winchesters dies bloody is a direct hit to Dean’s greatest insecurity and Sam knows it. The final scene has Sam trying to convince his brother otherwise, but at this point Sam only has his brother’s old insecurity to go on as Sam doesn’t know about what happened in Purgatory.

            For me, the most interesting action took place in Purgatory. Ackles delivers his usual excellent performance, subtly showing Dean’s difficulty in re-integrating and his impatience with having to be “civilized.” The interrogation scene in the jail is nicely paralleled with Dean and Benny interrogating a monster in Purgatory. Once again, the FX and makeup teams do an amazing job creating a new monster for the Supernatural world. I’m not sure if this was a Leviathan of some kind or something completely different. Dean is clearly becoming impatient with Sam’s quiet probing and suddenly loses it, grabbing the guy with his tie around his throat and pressing the knife against his throat. The camera cuts between Dean’s intense face in Purgatory and the jail holding cell are punctuated by Sam’s insistent cries of “Dean!” to get his attention. In Purgatory, even Benny seems impressed at the brutal lengths Dean will go to. Dean is certainly seemingly enjoying the “purity” of Purgatory, and I wondered how much of what he drew on there was linked to his 40 years in Hell at the tutelage of Alistair.

            I was curious at the beginning of the episode when Dean was so eager to banish all the demons and retire to a beach that he didn’t even want to go protect Mrs. Tran. He doesn’t seem to want to stop hunting any time to soon, so why would he seem to suggest that? Perhaps it was only meant for Kevin to be able to retire, or does Dean have other plans?

            When Samandriel asks Dean about what happened to Cas, he suggests that Castiel is not without friends still in Heaven, and his comment that Castiel’s problem was having too much heart foreshadows why Cas seemingly abandoned Dean in Purgatory: to protect Dean. Dean’s discomfort is poignant and leads into our first glimpse of Castiel in Purgatory. The cinematography and the desaturated colors of Purgatory strike me every time. If Dean looks bad in Purgatory, however, Cas looks even worse. Nothing hurts Dean more than thinking he’s been abandoned, but every fan had to be satisfied by the reunion and especially the hug. Misha Collins is outstanding in this scene. He’s back to being more like the angel we knew in season five. Dean’s declaration that he’s not leaving him touches Castiel and Collins is able to portray this clearly with a simple twitch of one eye. I’m going to be very interested to see how the relationship between the three plays out. Benny is already protective of Dean and is defensive on meeting Castiel, who he calls ‘Hot Wings’ (love it!), for leaving Dean when they first got to Purgatory. I’ll be interested to see if Benny’s ultimate motivation here is that he doesn’t want anything to endanger his own escape from Purgatory or if he’s becoming protective of Dean as the two rely increasingly on each other. Regardless, Olsson also turns in a nuanced performance and I can’t wait to see more scenes between these three.

            We are seeing an increasingly ruthless Dean. He’s the consummate hunter. Sam is disturbed by Mrs. Tran having to give up her soul, but Dean thinks they got off easy as it means they’ll be able to banish all the demons. The last straw for Kevin is that Dean was going to kill Mrs Tran, and Sam is appalled that Dean was going to do it. For his own part, Dean appears to believe that he is, as Crowley says, a death sentence to those around him. I’m sure there is more to the final scene when it appears that Dean has abandoned Cas to his fate.

           

            And finally, a shout out to the FX team, set designers, location managers and makeup artists who make it so easy to believe that the supernatural and Purgatory exist because they make it all seem so real on what we know is a pretty thin budget. The show looks good, but it always supports and reinforces the story. I’m very, very excited for next week’s episode which sees Jensen Ackles return to the director’s chair.

            I’m really curious to know what people are thinking about the story so far. Did Dean abandon Cas? Is Sam going to be able to keep Dean in line? What did you think of Mrs Tran? What did you think about Crowley’s eyes turning red?