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By: Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder
**Spoilers**
If you have not yet watched this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.
Lunchlady!Dean... *snort*
When I was initially going into this episode I expected something funny and a little gross (a mixture Supernatural does surprisingly well) but I wasn't expecting to get Dean in a hairnet or Sam being a personal trainer in a tank top. That was a nice surprise.
Basically what we have here is Supernatural's take on the Doctor Who episode Partners in Crime. Someone is taking advantage of society's obsession with dieting and weight loss for their own ends. And that's pretty much it. Short of a continuation to the brotherly conflict, The Purge didn't really add anything to the Season 9 arc at all. It's that time where the plot grinds to a halt and we get some standalone episodes.
Not that this episode is bad. Filler standalone episodes don't have to be bad. In fact, I don't think that Supernatural has ever done a truly BAD episode. It just wasn't as funny as I expected. But hey...we still got Dean in a hairnet!
Favourite Moments & Random Thoughts:
- The opening with the hotdog eating contest nearly made me barf. There's just something gross about stuffing as many of those nasty things into your mouth as possible...
- Hotdog-Guy-Who-Just-Deflated had a 'Bacon Makes Everything Better' license plate? Ha! Priceless!
- You know. I think this is the first episode where we actually got to see Dean's sacred realm (the Batcave's kitchen) in person. I like it. It's got a fridge and clean tiles and a coffee machine. It's so nice that Sam and Dean finally have a home of sorts to go back to. Shame they're still sniping at each other, though.
- I get where Sam is coming from, really I do. After his experiences with demon blood and with Lucifer and all the awful stuff that went down when he had no soul, Sam really has a thing about being in control of his body and his mind. And for Dean to let an angel into him (to trick him into saying yes) is kind of like the ultimate betrayal after all of the problems they have had with the heavenly hosts. Maybe Sam could have forgiven Dean's breaching of his trust and wishes if Ezekiel/Gadreel had really just wanted to heal him...but now Kevin is dead and no matter what Crowley will say, Sam clearly carries some guilt over that.
- And yet I don't fault Dean either. Ever since age four it has been drilled into his head "take care of Sammy, look after your brother, protect Sam". So is it any wonder that Dean's first thought in any emergency is how he can save his brother from what he perceives is a threat? I don't deny that some of the reason he saved Sam was for selfish reasons (let's face it - few people can honestly say that their actions are selfless) but he honestly thought that he was saving Sammy from something dangerous. Dean has now seen both of the options in the afterlife (Heaven and Hell) and, due to his experiences, doesn't really trust either. He very much feels that he can only trust his family...which at the moment consists of Sam, Charlie, and Castiel. To Dean family is everything...and he clings to the small group he has left like a drowning man. It may not be healthy and it may not always be right, but that's just the way Dean is and he believes he is doing the right thing.
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- Anyway, enough philosophy attempts about fictional characters! Can we just cheer ourselves up for a moment by appreciating Dean eating a doughnut and getting a powdered sugar mustache?
- I was waiting for Sam to make a comment about Dean's needing to get a room for that doughnut and himself. Guess Sam is really taking the whole 'keep each other at arm's length' thing seriously. I don't like this.
- I really like that sheriff. She's funny and personable and seems like someone you could kick back and have a good chat with. I was so glad that she survived the episode!
- So apparently eating contests are big things in certain parts of America? I never knew that. Guess you learn something new every day. Most of them didn't sound so bad, though I'm getting a bit nauseous just thinking about the deep fried butter and thinking that I certainly wouldn't want a trophy that said I scarfed twenty pounds of shrimp in three minutes...but whatever floats your boat, I guess.
- Lettuce stretches your stomach? Ha! Dean's distrust of salads will never not be funny. It's probably because they made his little brother taller than him...
- The gypsy red-herring made me laugh a bit, mostly because of Sam and Dean's facial expressions when she was explaining about having the affair with Frank (the rather large fellow who got deflated) because she wanted a bit of 'give'.
- I laughed REALLY hard during the advertisement for the Canyon Valley center. Not because of the idea (folk trying desperately to get into shape and lose weight isn't really a laughing matter) but because of the perfection with which they parodied those exact type of ads. From the serene music to the gratuitous shots of fruit bowls and pristine counter-tops, I could totally see this being used as a legitimate commercial. It reminds me of the Dick Roman endorsements from Season 7.
- Whenever Sam and Dean are applying to be personal trainers, the thought suddenly hit me that they probably do know something about workouts. Aside from the fact that we know soulless!Sam put himself through a pretty tough regimen every morning, it's been said more than once that John brought his boys up as soldiers...training their bodies and instructing their minds every day. They definitely are certified in 'making people sweat'.
- Dean must be happy to be back in the field working as a team with Sam, because he went a wee bit overboard with his whole inspirational interview there. No wonder they gave the 'interact with people' job to Sam!
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- And, *ahem*, it did give us Sam in a tank top...doing yoga.
- He's actually a pretty good teacher. I wonder which girlfriend it was who taught him and if she's actually still alive. Was it Jessica, perhaps?
- And OH! UERGH! YUCK! Cupping is nasty! And they made us watch! If that's something you do or like to have done to you, that's fine, but I don't think I want those things anywhere near my body. Like ever. It looks painful (not soothing) and somehow I don't think the benefits are worth the welts. I'll go on a juice fast and soak my feet in mineral water for a week, thanks.
- I'm ESPECIALLY not having it done (or going to a spa...ever) after watching this episode. Although, I'm not entirely certain how she was sucking out the fat without breaking the skin and getting a bunch of blood too. Guess it must work along the same logic as the Adipose births....
- Ew. Just...ew.
- Now that I am done being traumatized by the age-old technique of cupping, let's talk about what everyone really remembers about this episode: lunchlady!Dean and his hairnet.
- Aside from the fact that I wouldn't want him working in my kitchen (he licked a spoon and stuck it back in the bowl), Dean is also not cut out to work with food that he isn't allowed to eat. So he promptly steals some of that dubious looking salted caramel pudding, of course.
- I wouldn't touch that stuff with a twenty foot pole.
- The looks on the students' faces when Sam tells them how long they have to hold the pose,! To be fair, 5 minutes is an outrageous amount of time to try and hold a pose like that. Even 30 seconds feels like absolute torture whenever you're not used to doing it.
- I love Dean hiding away from Alonso in a little pantry closet to eat his contraband pudding. I just knew something bad was going to happen.
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- So, thus far in the show, Dean has been killed by a taco, stoned by a sandwich, and now knocked out by pudding. Maybe he should listen to Sam and start eating salads...
- I also want to know how Dean knew what roofies look like just from that one glance. Somehow I don't buy his explanation about bathtubs and kidneys.
- Sheriff Donna is an amazing character (she and Jody should get together for a chat sometime...) and I really love the way she freely laughs at herself and is willing to see the funny side of past problems. There are some things in life that you just have to laugh at or else you'll scream out a sob.
- So Alonso, the suspicious jerk from the kitchen, is Martiza's brother? This whole reveal just reminded me of Soo Lin's story from The Blind Banker.
- It's nice to see a 'monster' that honestly isn't hurting anyone (unless you count those welts) and it's obvious that Larry and Martiza loved each other. I liked how they came up with a solution for her unique diet and turned it into something that would honestly help people. It's a shame Alonso went nuts and killed Larry.
- I'm still trying to decide if they really were starving Alonso to keep him in line or if he was just such a glutton that anything other than chowing down to over-saturation seemed like a fast.
- And as I said earlier, the climax just fell a little flat for me. There was nothing really wrong with it (a fistfight by flashlight is usually good for the suspense) but I just couldn't feel concerned that either Sam or Dean was really in danger from a parasite who lives off of cellulite. Especially whenever Sam was still wearing his trainer's clothes!
- The episode ends with Sam and Dean letting Martiza go and then having a rather telling discussion back in the bunker kitchen:
Dean: "You know, Sam, I saved your hide back there. And I saved your hide at that church... And the hospital. I may not think things all the way through. Okay? But what I do, I do because it's the right thing. I'd do it again."
Sam: "And that...is the problem. You think you're my savior, my brother, the hero. You swoop in, and even when you mess up, you think what you're doing is worth it because you've convinced yourself you're doing more good than bad... But you're not. I mean, Kevin's dead, Crowley's in the wind. We're no closer to beating this angel thing. Please tell me, what is the upside of me being alive?"
Dean: "You kidding me? You and me...fighting the good fight together."
That sums up the brotherly situation better than I ever could. I'm a bit torn about this whole affair, to be honest. On the one hand I wish that Sam and Dean would just get over themselves (or that the writers would) and that the brotherly bickering could be over for just a little while. But at the same time, I understand that good drama takes time and that you can't just resolve an issue like this lickity split without sacrificing quality. Which is why, after the way the last season was resolved and concluded, they shouldn't have pushed for inner-fraternal tension for the season's conflict.
I don't know. This episode wasn't terrible and it definitely had its moments, but it felt like a lot of filler and one step forward, two steps back type of stuff. It wasn't as weird as I expected it to be and, while I enjoyed lunchlady!Dean and yoga!Sam a lot, I didn't really get all that many laughs out of the experience. The brotherly conflict wasn't resolved, the season arc wasn't advanced, and the only thing we got out of it was a new type of monster (now en route to Peru). With that in mind, I would say that The Purge rates at about a 3/5. It wasn't awful, but it definitely isn't some of Supernatural's best work.
What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently
- You know. I think this is the first episode where we actually got to see Dean's sacred realm (the Batcave's kitchen) in person. I like it. It's got a fridge and clean tiles and a coffee machine. It's so nice that Sam and Dean finally have a home of sorts to go back to. Shame they're still sniping at each other, though.
- I get where Sam is coming from, really I do. After his experiences with demon blood and with Lucifer and all the awful stuff that went down when he had no soul, Sam really has a thing about being in control of his body and his mind. And for Dean to let an angel into him (to trick him into saying yes) is kind of like the ultimate betrayal after all of the problems they have had with the heavenly hosts. Maybe Sam could have forgiven Dean's breaching of his trust and wishes if Ezekiel/Gadreel had really just wanted to heal him...but now Kevin is dead and no matter what Crowley will say, Sam clearly carries some guilt over that.- And yet I don't fault Dean either. Ever since age four it has been drilled into his head "take care of Sammy, look after your brother, protect Sam". So is it any wonder that Dean's first thought in any emergency is how he can save his brother from what he perceives is a threat? I don't deny that some of the reason he saved Sam was for selfish reasons (let's face it - few people can honestly say that their actions are selfless) but he honestly thought that he was saving Sammy from something dangerous. Dean has now seen both of the options in the afterlife (Heaven and Hell) and, due to his experiences, doesn't really trust either. He very much feels that he can only trust his family...which at the moment consists of Sam, Charlie, and Castiel. To Dean family is everything...and he clings to the small group he has left like a drowning man. It may not be healthy and it may not always be right, but that's just the way Dean is and he believes he is doing the right thing.
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- Anyway, enough philosophy attempts about fictional characters! Can we just cheer ourselves up for a moment by appreciating Dean eating a doughnut and getting a powdered sugar mustache?
- I was waiting for Sam to make a comment about Dean's needing to get a room for that doughnut and himself. Guess Sam is really taking the whole 'keep each other at arm's length' thing seriously. I don't like this.
- I really like that sheriff. She's funny and personable and seems like someone you could kick back and have a good chat with. I was so glad that she survived the episode!
- So apparently eating contests are big things in certain parts of America? I never knew that. Guess you learn something new every day. Most of them didn't sound so bad, though I'm getting a bit nauseous just thinking about the deep fried butter and thinking that I certainly wouldn't want a trophy that said I scarfed twenty pounds of shrimp in three minutes...but whatever floats your boat, I guess.
- Lettuce stretches your stomach? Ha! Dean's distrust of salads will never not be funny. It's probably because they made his little brother taller than him...
- The gypsy red-herring made me laugh a bit, mostly because of Sam and Dean's facial expressions when she was explaining about having the affair with Frank (the rather large fellow who got deflated) because she wanted a bit of 'give'.
- I laughed REALLY hard during the advertisement for the Canyon Valley center. Not because of the idea (folk trying desperately to get into shape and lose weight isn't really a laughing matter) but because of the perfection with which they parodied those exact type of ads. From the serene music to the gratuitous shots of fruit bowls and pristine counter-tops, I could totally see this being used as a legitimate commercial. It reminds me of the Dick Roman endorsements from Season 7.
- Whenever Sam and Dean are applying to be personal trainers, the thought suddenly hit me that they probably do know something about workouts. Aside from the fact that we know soulless!Sam put himself through a pretty tough regimen every morning, it's been said more than once that John brought his boys up as soldiers...training their bodies and instructing their minds every day. They definitely are certified in 'making people sweat'.
- Dean must be happy to be back in the field working as a team with Sam, because he went a wee bit overboard with his whole inspirational interview there. No wonder they gave the 'interact with people' job to Sam!
.jpg)
- And, *ahem*, it did give us Sam in a tank top...doing yoga.
- He's actually a pretty good teacher. I wonder which girlfriend it was who taught him and if she's actually still alive. Was it Jessica, perhaps?
- And OH! UERGH! YUCK! Cupping is nasty! And they made us watch! If that's something you do or like to have done to you, that's fine, but I don't think I want those things anywhere near my body. Like ever. It looks painful (not soothing) and somehow I don't think the benefits are worth the welts. I'll go on a juice fast and soak my feet in mineral water for a week, thanks.
- I'm ESPECIALLY not having it done (or going to a spa...ever) after watching this episode. Although, I'm not entirely certain how she was sucking out the fat without breaking the skin and getting a bunch of blood too. Guess it must work along the same logic as the Adipose births....
- Ew. Just...ew.
- Now that I am done being traumatized by the age-old technique of cupping, let's talk about what everyone really remembers about this episode: lunchlady!Dean and his hairnet.
- Aside from the fact that I wouldn't want him working in my kitchen (he licked a spoon and stuck it back in the bowl), Dean is also not cut out to work with food that he isn't allowed to eat. So he promptly steals some of that dubious looking salted caramel pudding, of course.
- I wouldn't touch that stuff with a twenty foot pole.
- The looks on the students' faces when Sam tells them how long they have to hold the pose,! To be fair, 5 minutes is an outrageous amount of time to try and hold a pose like that. Even 30 seconds feels like absolute torture whenever you're not used to doing it.
- I love Dean hiding away from Alonso in a little pantry closet to eat his contraband pudding. I just knew something bad was going to happen.
.jpg)
- So, thus far in the show, Dean has been killed by a taco, stoned by a sandwich, and now knocked out by pudding. Maybe he should listen to Sam and start eating salads...
- I also want to know how Dean knew what roofies look like just from that one glance. Somehow I don't buy his explanation about bathtubs and kidneys.
- Sheriff Donna is an amazing character (she and Jody should get together for a chat sometime...) and I really love the way she freely laughs at herself and is willing to see the funny side of past problems. There are some things in life that you just have to laugh at or else you'll scream out a sob.- So Alonso, the suspicious jerk from the kitchen, is Martiza's brother? This whole reveal just reminded me of Soo Lin's story from The Blind Banker.
- It's nice to see a 'monster' that honestly isn't hurting anyone (unless you count those welts) and it's obvious that Larry and Martiza loved each other. I liked how they came up with a solution for her unique diet and turned it into something that would honestly help people. It's a shame Alonso went nuts and killed Larry.
- I'm still trying to decide if they really were starving Alonso to keep him in line or if he was just such a glutton that anything other than chowing down to over-saturation seemed like a fast.
- And as I said earlier, the climax just fell a little flat for me. There was nothing really wrong with it (a fistfight by flashlight is usually good for the suspense) but I just couldn't feel concerned that either Sam or Dean was really in danger from a parasite who lives off of cellulite. Especially whenever Sam was still wearing his trainer's clothes!
- The episode ends with Sam and Dean letting Martiza go and then having a rather telling discussion back in the bunker kitchen:
Dean: "You know, Sam, I saved your hide back there. And I saved your hide at that church... And the hospital. I may not think things all the way through. Okay? But what I do, I do because it's the right thing. I'd do it again."
Sam: "And that...is the problem. You think you're my savior, my brother, the hero. You swoop in, and even when you mess up, you think what you're doing is worth it because you've convinced yourself you're doing more good than bad... But you're not. I mean, Kevin's dead, Crowley's in the wind. We're no closer to beating this angel thing. Please tell me, what is the upside of me being alive?"
Dean: "You kidding me? You and me...fighting the good fight together."
That sums up the brotherly situation better than I ever could. I'm a bit torn about this whole affair, to be honest. On the one hand I wish that Sam and Dean would just get over themselves (or that the writers would) and that the brotherly bickering could be over for just a little while. But at the same time, I understand that good drama takes time and that you can't just resolve an issue like this lickity split without sacrificing quality. Which is why, after the way the last season was resolved and concluded, they shouldn't have pushed for inner-fraternal tension for the season's conflict.
I don't know. This episode wasn't terrible and it definitely had its moments, but it felt like a lot of filler and one step forward, two steps back type of stuff. It wasn't as weird as I expected it to be and, while I enjoyed lunchlady!Dean and yoga!Sam a lot, I didn't really get all that many laughs out of the experience. The brotherly conflict wasn't resolved, the season arc wasn't advanced, and the only thing we got out of it was a new type of monster (now en route to Peru). With that in mind, I would say that The Purge rates at about a 3/5. It wasn't awful, but it definitely isn't some of Supernatural's best work.
What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently
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