By: Robbie Thompson
**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.
CHAAAAAAAARLIE!
She's got a nice little Smeagol-Gollum thing going in this episode. Or an The Enemy Within Kirk-trip. I wasn't sure how I would feel about dark!Charlie (sometimes taking beloved characters in angles like this doesn't pay off) but really I needn't have worried. Not only is the evil twin/good twin trope a staple of genre shows, but Charlie is back and more fun than ever. She's really developing into a delightful, three-dimensional character and I'm excited to see what they do with her in the future.
Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:
- Dean made egg white omelets. His obsession with cooking will never not be endearing to me. I can just see him sitting with Sam's laptop, watching Julia Child and taking copious amounts of notes.
- "This is crap. As soon as we get rid of this demon tramp stamp, I'm back on the booze, burgers, and more booze." I just love that Dean is on a health-food kick. Did he make seaweed shakes for the two of them?!
- I really feel like they're handling Dean and the MoC better this season. It feels like more of a threat and Dean just feels more like Dean in that he's desperate to get rid of it and to fix his mistakes.
- I still don't understand why suddenly weapons other than the Blade are triggering the Mark, though. Explain, writers! EXPLAIN!
- "You mean our Charlie tortured someone? Yea high, wouldn't hurt a hobbit, practically sparkles?"
- Celeste Middleton. Well...looks like we know Charlie's real name now.
- Dean being grossed out over his kale sandwich just made me laugh, but that was quickly dampened by Sam reading Charlie's file. It just sort of drove home the idea that, while we may look at the Winchesters and even at Charlie and laugh at the bad glamour of their lives, it isn't all that glamorous. It's not all noble suffering or heroics. It seriously messes a person up.
- Felicia Day plays a deliciously bad dark!Charlie, though. I appreciate the fact that they're pushing her character in a whole new direction, what with her going Black Widow on Dean for a while there. It keeps things interesting. She still had the presence of mind to call Sam and Dean "Rocket and Groot" though and I'm not sure if Dean being taken down by dark!Charlie was a good choice, character-wise. Still...I guess we could make the argument that he was trying not to hurt her.
- evil!Charlie slashed Baby's tires. Dean is going to KILL her! On a side note, Baby is taking a lot of abuse this season, isn't she?
- So Charlie made a Deal with the Wizard of Oz. Charlie, Charlie, Charlie...you should know better than that. Deals NEVER turn out the way you want them to. I do find it interesting that the Deal resulted in a type of Extreme Jekyll and Hyde thing.
- At least Charlie is taking responsibility for her actions.
- And we get some Charlie & Sam bonding this episode. YAY! This has been sorely lacking for a while, but it's just too cute. Sam's already a pretty decent hacker, but Charlie giving him a lesson in the type of extreme hacking that she specializes in is just too adorable for words.
- Unfortunately, Dean's still trying to fight off both an alcohol addiction and the effects of the Mark. I was hoping to God that he wouldn't relapse whenever they were in that bar and, for once, my prayers were heard.
- "Hey, dudes? Secrets are bad..." Thank you, Charlie! It's about time somebody on this show started to come clean!
- Sam's incredibly understanding about dark!Charlie. I wonder if that is because he spent about a year without a soul and so he understands better about being separated from a part of yourself.
- I love Dean on a health food kick. Seriously. It's just too funny; probably the most fun I've had with Dean's character since the turned-into-a-dog episode. (It also reminds me of It's A Terrible Life where Dean Smith was a connoisseur of salads.) The scene where he's eating almonds and listening to a self-help relaxation tape was a nice touch too.
- Dean used the alias of 'Mr. Presley'. Hahahahaha!
- "You Winchester boys and your talk. Blah blah blah repressed feelings, blah blah blah passive aggression..."
- I knew. I KNEW whenever Dean agreed to let dark!Charlie talk to the man who killed her parents that it was a bad choice. This is the dark, bad side of Charlie. They've literally been split into a tangible dual personality. light!Charlie can't do anything bad without rationalizing it away and dark!Charlie can't do anything good that lasts.
- It's interesting that Sam was hanging out with light!Charlie while Dean was having talks with dark!Charlie. Intentional parallel to something or just a coincidence?
- "The six keys from Oz were forged from Oz steel. They can only be fixed in that magical realm." Oh...so we're getting a one ring to rule them all type of deal, are we? Okay. I can totally live with that.
- Sooo...the Wizard came through a portal and tied Sam up with glow-stick bracelets. Huh.
- This episode had a tremendous climax. The fight between Dean and dark!Charlie was electrified and the tension was really amped up by the fact that every blow Dean lands on her is also felt by her other half. Not to mention the fact that Sam is bound hand and foot and he and the other Charlie are being menaced by the Not-So-Wonderful Wizard of Oz who is trying to choke Sam using an Emperor Palpatine move.
- Though, I have to say, Emperor Palpatine was a better actor...
- And why is Sam always being strangled?!
- I was guessing that, maybe to put herself back together again, Charlie would have to pull an anti-horcrux type thing where both sides of her felt genuine remorse. I was wrong, but whatever. It was still pretty cool to see the two sides of Charlie's psyche talk face to face and then meld back together. I'm not entirely sure what caused it, but I'm pretty sure they're saying that because Charlie killed the Wizard, all of his spellwork was undone.
- And Charlie had her arm broken. Again.
I'll admit that this episode made me cry a bit at the ending. I really have grown attached to Charlie and the relationship she shares with the Winchesters. It just breaks my heart to see the guilt that floods Dean every time he looks at her broken arm, though. Because this time, it really was his fault. He popped off that season and made a deal with a demon that now is making him hurt everybody that he loves. But now he's remorseful and he's working to fix it. And he's got Sam Winchester, expert hacker Charlie, AND Castiel the Angel of the Lord to help him if only he'll let them. This episode was great. It had fantasy elements and really delved into the psyche of Charlie while also showcasing both Sam and Dean. There was no angel melodrama, the story was feelsy and great, and the dialogue snapped with wit and emotion. There's No Place Like Home is a 5/5.
What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?
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