Supernatural Review: Season 1 Episode 18 "Something Wicked This Way Comes"

By: Daniel Knauf

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

        Flashbacks. Lots and lots of flashbacks. This is the first episode to really delve into the childhoods of Sam and Dean and is simply overflowing with the Dean being adorable and Sammy putting the cuteness factor right through the roof. I mean the younger versions of them, obviously...

         Right.                    

             This episode shines with charm and heart. It is definitely one that is worth multiple re-watches, not just because of the wonderful acting and interesting mythology, but because of the story as well. I really liked Michael (the kid, not the angel...we're not quite that far yet) and felt that he had a lot of great personality. The scenes where he's ribbing Dean and giving him lip never fail to make me laugh and, in the end, he was a hero in his own way whenever he offered to put his own life on the line for a chance to save his younger brother. The parallels between him and Dean were obvious (made even more so by the many flashbacks) but he never felt like a stock character just there to make a point. It also helps that the child actor actually had some acting chops.

        Also...I can't be the only person to feel the overwhelming need to break out into a rousing chorus "Double, double, toil and trouble!" whenever I read the title to this episode! Am I...?

Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- The opening with the kid reciting the classic bedtime prayer was very sweetly done. Understated and not at all saccharine, but changing over to creepy the minute that bony, groping hand appeared at the window. Ugh...suddenly I feel the need to go salt my windowsills and trim away all branches!

- That being said, it is really interesting the way the silhouette of the hand materializes from among those branches. Not only are all the shots with the shadows and billowing curtains absolutely perfect to set the mood, but is also leaves us uncertain as to what exactly this creature is. And come on! What kid hasn't been scared by a bizarre-looking branch shadow at some point in their life or another? 

- And that, boys and girls, is why you should never turn your back on an open window or door...

- This week the boys are headed to Fitchburg, Wisconsin for their case.

- "I'm the oldest...which means I'm always right." Thanks for that, Dean. I'm going to try that on my brother next time we have a discussion.

- Sam is a regular old Sherlock Holmes in this episode, what with his observations about the playground. 

- Dean made a doctor's badge for Sam that says 'Bikini Inspector'?! O...kay. That is awfully funny. (Dean also has a point about Sam really needing to flash - *snort* - the ID. Sam's haircut makes him look like a really tall twelve-year-old.)

- I really love the musical selections in this episode. Everything from the awesome classic rock to the piano that plays for the kids to the oboe and string theme that is for Dean's flashbacks just heightens the mood and perfectly blends into each scene.

- It's cool too how they tied this case into something that happened when Sam and Dean were younger. IT's a good way of giving us the back-story of our two main characters without a lot of tedious exposition. The flashbacks were led into pretty smoothly too. Not a lot of awkward close-ups to transition and the triggers seemed pretty non-forced as well. 

- The flashbacks are why I love John Winchester so very much. I feel like in later seasons we have forgotten just how much he loved Sam and Dean, despite his many mistakes. He loved them and he protected them and he tried to teach them how to protect themselves and each other in the cruel world that they were all thrust into. I look at the scenes where he's running through the drills with Dean and I don't see a father favoring one son over the other True maybe he isn't all mushy gushy chick-flick-moment the feels away...but plenty of men are like that.

JDM does a great job with the part too. It can't have been an easy role...

- The kid who plays young Dean does a really good job too. There's a lot of really good child actors in this episode.

- The show that young Sam is watching is Thundercats.

- Michael (again...the kid, not the angel) is a lot of fun. He just gives constant lip to Dean from the very first line he says and never lets up on his witty quips for one moment. This is nicely tempered, though, by the fact that he clearly loves his little brother (clear parallels drawn between him and Dean) and that he is respectful to his mother.

- We also learn, though another flashback, that for all Sam's excitement over salads he has a secret weakness for Lucky Charms.

- Turns out the creature that's been putting the kids in comas and burning handprints into their windowsills is called a Shtriga. Now I had never heard of this particular creature before but apparently it's a type of witch from Albanian folklore that drains the life-force of children to feed. Found this interesting quote on Wikipedia: "...according to legend, only the shtriga herself could cure those she had drained (often by spitting in their mouths), and those who were not cured inevitably sickened and died." Eww...

- They figure that it's probably that creepy old woman with the inverted crucifix on her wall that Dean saw, so they head out to kill her. "When we were at the hospital, I saw someone. An old woman." "An old person, huh? At the hospital?" Dean was not prepared for that level of snark from Sam.

- He's also probably wondering why he ever let Sam buy that purple dog shirt. Seriously. Where did they get that thing? I think even MACKLEMORE would be appalled if they left a thrift shop with that! And we know that they probably bought it recently, because most of Sam's clothes would have burnt in his apartment. What possessed him???

- The scene with Sam and Dean and the old woman (who is not the witch...that would have been too easy) is a mood whiplash from tense to awkward to hilarious in about three minutes flat. I feel a little bit bad for laughing, but it was just so funny!

- But the mood whiplashes yet again whenever we find out that Michael's little brother is sick and Sam and Dean instantly jump in to help the mother and elder brother out. Dean drives the mother to the hospital while Sam stays with Michael and looks up some more information on the case. He discovers that the doctor in charge of the case is actually the creature and calls Dean right away. I kept waiting for Dean to do something stupid (it's obvious he takes this case very seriously) like tackle the doctor then and there...but he didn't.

- Wait...if a Shtriga is invulnerable except whenever they're feeding...why did Sam and Dean go after the old woman at the hospital? They couldn't kill her if she wasn't feeding (if she had been the witch).

- The piano motif in the score for this episode reminds me very much of the music from Star Trek Into Darkness.

- I thought it was a little bit unorthodox for Dean to use Michael as bait for the Shtriga...but I have to say it was handled really well. Sam and Dean made sure to clue him in on the process and include him in everything, making sure that he had all the tools and the warnings he needed to have a chance of surviving.

- One thing I really love about this episode is the way it delves into Dean's psyche and motivations. We see how, as a kid, he messed up and almost got Sam killed. Not only does it show Dean's more vulnerable side and remind us that even the Winchesters aren't perfect, but it also indicates some of just what makes him tick and what shaped him as a kid. Very important for fleshing out characters' back-stories

- Dean and Michael have a moment...

- The Shtriga has hands that remind me of a Dementor.

- I have to say, the young actors they found to play Sam and Dean really look enough like Jared and Jensen to pull it off. Props to the casting director for that one!

- So Michael agrees to play the bait, Sam and Dean come in guns blazing, the Shtriga goes after Sam, and Dean manages to finally right his mistake and kills the thing before it can kill Sam. Michael then is reunited with his mother and we learn that all the afflicted kids are going to be okay. Just this once everybody lives...except for the Shtriga.

         This was really Dean's episode. Up until this point the narrative has been pretty evenly split between the brothers, with a bit more of an emphasis put on Sam, so it was nice to both see a bit more of Dean's mind and to see the boys' childhood. The case was a bit strange in places (especially in the old woman red herring) but overall holds up to repeated viewings quite well. Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 4/5.

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?