803: 'Heartache'
Written by Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming
Directed by Jensen Ackles
Synopsis:
After a series of brutal murders where the victims had their hearts torn
out, the Winchesters track down and locate the killer. However, they
soon realize that he's not the only killer and the others are still at
large.
Verdict: Well, it was all a bit too good to be true, wasn't it? After last
week's impressive 'What's Up, Tiger Mommy?' and Carver's solid season
opener, you might've been forgiven for hoping for more of the same; for
thinking that, perhaps, Supernatural was on the brink of doing the
unthinkable in sustaining an uphill trajectory in its eighth season.
Alas, no longer. It isn't that Buckner and Lemming's script is bad
exactly, it's just... lacking. Disappointing. A bit humdrum. Things
start out relatively well with a gruesome opening sequence and a
genuinely intriguing mystery, layered enough to keep you guessing
until, sadly, the exposition gets in the way. Around the
midpoint, Sam, Dean and then Betsie unleash a protracted brain-dump on
us all in a series of grossly talkative scenes that seriously deflate
the drama. Scriptwriting 101 dictates that showing is usually better
than telling, and this is oh so very true here. And to make matters
worse, the whole thing is just too ridiculous to be taken seriously; a
Mayan God who loves sports makes a deal, gets many more years, commits
suicide and then his organs are donated to a bunch of folk who start eating
hearts... I can barely type that without guffawing. Regrettably, the
episode loses all credibility and with it, any semblance of interest
once all the pieces are in place, and then it one-ups itself in the cringe-worthy stakes with that horrible moment where the stripper tells Dean
that she's going to deliberately remove his heart oh-so-very-slowly, just so that
Sam has enough time to save the day. Euck, guys, that's just bad
writing. A disappointing effort then, and one that loses another point
for the continued inanity of Sam's flashbacks. The dog, the birthday
cake, it's just too much! (4)
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