What's it about?
When several people kill themselves under strange circumstances, Sam and Dean discover that they were driven insane by the Goddess of Truth, who forced them to tell the truth against their will. However, when the brothers track down the goddess Veritas, she uses her powers on Dean.
Review
I'm a week behind so bare with me as I catch up - this is what I get for having had a holiday. I'm aware that I've been rather vocal this season about my disappointment in 'Supernatural' but sadly that will only continue with this episode.
This episode feels very much like somebody sat at the writers table and said 'okay so we need a quick method of getting to the bottom of what's wrong with Sam... I know... everybody is forced to tell the truth!' and okay it's not quite as simple as that that's still the basic premise at the heart of this episode.
It has its strong points, the gruesome fight that ends the episode will lead us nicely in to the next episode and further derivative plot development towards the reveal of what is truly wrong with Sam (don't read the next week blurb if you don't want to know if like me you haven't seen the next episode yet). There is also some good comedy moments which generally involve Dean chatting to Bobby over the phone.
Week-by-week it gets harder to sugar coat the fact that 'Supernatural' has just lost its spark. Clearly the loss of original creator Eric Kripkie has had a much bigger impact on the show than expected and unfortunately it's taking far longer than it should for the show to re-find its direction.
It shouldn't have taken us six weeks to get to this point in the story and that has perhaps been the biggest downfall for the show so far. The Dean of early seasons in the show would not have waited this long to eventually find out what was wrong with his brother, the fact that he found out by accident is also not something that I believe the character would have originally stood for.
The basic premise of this show was always the relationship between these two. In the beginning they weren't close and through the work they carried out and the strong pull of their family they came together and that bond between them was the heart of the show and it worked well to counterbalance the horror elements.
Now we've lost that bond almost completely and it doesn't feel as if it is the fault of the story or of the actors. At the end of the previous season Dean was grieving for the loss of his brother who gave his life to save the world yet now he's beating him to a bloody pulp to purely try and make the guy feel.
Yes you could argue that we are seeing a seriously low point in their lives where they've been driven so far apart that all that is left is violence but in the context of the episodes so far this season all I see is a serious lack of emotion... ironic considering the direction of the next episode.
What I've not mentioned in my reviews thus far is perhaps the biggest strong point the show is currently featuring which is the strong continuity in cinematography and sound design. This show has a well defined look and sound which is instantly recognisable as 'Supernatural' and which helps to stand this show above others in its genre which pale in both look and sound.
It's often the case that genre shows win awards for their sound design or their makeup and 'Supernatural' should be no different because whilst the writing is lacking in zest the rest of the show is flourishing in the opportunities it is given each week.
We can only sit back and see where the recent developments in story take us for the rest of the season, I keep saying it but I'm not giving up... yet.
Next week...
Dean enlists Castiel's help to find out what's wrong with Sam, who is tied up for safety. Sam reveals that he doesn't sleep ever since he came back, and feels no emotions but does feel pain. Castiel discovers Sam has no soul.
Overall
Story 2.0
Character 2.5
Scares 2.5
Overall 2.5
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