Supernatural 5.07 – The Curious Case of Dean Winchester

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Supernatural is back after a week off and while it was a pretty simple episode, it had a nice message and a surprisingly touching ending.

This week, especially considering it’s the end of the world, was tame. No supreme evil, no scary demonic kids, just… a witch. A “manwitch” in fact, according to Dean.

Though the brothers probably have some big picture stuff to take care of, as always family comes first. And while they didn’t know it at first, this job Bobby sent them on really was for him.

Bobby just hasn’t been the same since being paralyzed. And we found out why. He hates being useless, he’d rather die than be some old man in a wheelchair. So when he found out he may have a chance at, basically and literally, getting back the bounce in his step, he sent the boys to find out more about it.

And that led to meeting Patrick, a witch that runs a poker game that gambles years of life instead of cash. Men and women could win and enjoy the life of a 25 year old or lose and die of old age.

Bobby beat Dean to the punch and already went and lost 25 years. Dean goes in to win the years back, and cashes in 25 years for Bobby. But he’s got to ’em back for himself, instead he turns into “John McCain.”

This leads us to fun “old” jokes between the three idjits before it gets serious when Patrick’s right hand girl and love, Lia who (for what appears to be a personal reason) helps them by giving them the reverse spell. It’s up to Sam to get Patrick’s DNA and for that to happen, he’s got to stall, grab the toothpick he seems to always have in his mouth and let the two old guys do their work.

Before he gets to play though, Patrick is in the middle of a game with an older gentlemen (Hash? Ash?), to whom he deliberately folds to just so he could live to see his granddaughter’s Bat Mitzvah. A little bit of foreshadowing on Patrick’s character.

The man-witch is smart, but contrary to Dean and Bobby’s belief, Sam may actually know more about poker than they thought. Or he’s just lucky. Patrick, who hates cheaters, tells Sam only he decides when the game’s over. Sam then puts it all in. Patrick has a conscience, thinking Sam is just desperate, but Sam goes all or nothing.

Patrick lays down his cards, it’s three aces. But wait… as the girlfriend is crying, Sam shocks them both with four fours. Sam’s won Dean’s years back.

With Dean and Bobby back to their real ages, Patrick and Lia are left alone and we find out their story. Patrick, the man-witch has a heart. He gave the old man 13 years earlier and now we see he genuinely loves this girl, but she can’t live this life anymore. She opens the locket she’s been holding tight and it turns out to be a picture of her daughter… as an older woman. “I buried my daughter, and she looked like this” she says pointing to the picture of the older woman, “It’s not natural.” He’s heartbroken, but he gives her her wish. He wins the hand, she was all in and she sits there, aged before his eyes until she’s cold and stiff.

As if that wasn’t MaGMC*-ish already, we get another one with Dean and Bobby having a heart to heart about being a family and being important.

I loved the episode, if for the fact that it was different from the usual blood and guts and showed that Supernatural can do without from time to time and still give a solid, enjoyable episode. Definitely a stand-alone episode, but a good one and very fresh.


Oh, and in the case of “You look familiar…” our guest stars tonight included Kyle XY’s brother he never knew he had Hal Ozsan and White Collar‘s blue-eyed star Matt Bomer’s love in ABC’s late, great Traveler Pascale Hutton.

And Grandpa Dean was played by Chad Everett.



Oh and I miss Bobby’s trademark “idjit/ijit” at the boys…
Dean: “By the way, how you doin?”
Bobby: “Doin?”
Dean: “Yeah, you know, just in general.”
Bobby: “Oh… you mean mah leeggs Well, I’m just weepin in my Haagen Daas, idjit!”


*MaMGC – Make a Grown Man Cry moments, referring to those television moments that, well… make a grown man cry

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