TVSquad

(S02E04) Zombies! I didn't think they were going in that direction based on the opening. Given the events that led up to Angela's death I thought we were looking at something more along the lines of the woman in white from "Pilot". She certainly had the wardrobe for it. I suppose since we've been down that road though, this was a better way to go. And in typical Supernatural fashion, Angela isn't your father's zombie.

She's fast. And as we learned, a bullet to the brain doesn't have much effect. I like that they have made their own rules for the dispatching of the various baddies in the world of the show. And nailing a zombie into its grave bed is a great way to kill them. What threw me off about Angela was the actress playing her. The Tivo description of the episode listed Summer Glau (Angel, Firefly) in the role, and her IMDB profile confirmed. But that wasn't Summer, it was Tamara Feldman. While it would have been fun to see Summer Glau, Tamara did a nice job as Angela, and gave me one more reason to track down a copy of Hatchet.

The story of Tamara's death and return tied in nicely to the ongoing story of Dean, and how he is coping, or not, with the death of his father. Whether it is warranted or not, Dean is feeling guilt because he realizes that John made a deal to save him. And that deal is why John died. It adds some complexity to Dean's insistence that things that are dead should stay dead.

I thought there was also an interesting echo of "Bloodlust" when Angela told Sam that she never asked to be brought back, and she was still a person inside. Fighting evil is a very grey occupation. It's good that the decision there went to Sam, and his immediate response of shooting Angela shows us that despite letting the vampires go, Sam still has very defined lines.

The mystery of the episode wasn't exactly a Holmesian conundrum. It was one mask away from being a Scooby Doo mystery. As soon as it was evident that someone had brought Angela back from the dead, it was pretty obvious that Neil (Christopher Jacot) was behind it. But the weak mystery didn't really detract that much from what was otherwise a solid episode.

I particularly liked Angela's death scene. Pretty gruesome for what was a rare death by natural causes on the show. The blood dripping onto the cell phone while we can still hear Matt talking was a nice touch. And the unseen murder of Matt was also very classic horror with the blood splashing across the screen.

There was some pretty good humor mixed in this week too. Dean walking in on Sam watching Casa Erotica 4 on the Skin channel and then saying "Awkward...." was funny. I also liked the line when he was asked if he had silver bullets, "Enough to make her rattle like a change purse."

The final side of the road scene was very good. They are taking their time getting through the loss of John. I'd say that it rings true, but I don't really have a reference point for how people cope when both of their parents are killed by a demon. So, I'll settle for calling it really well done drama. Jensen Ackles has impressed me with the more emotional scenes this year. He's grown a lot as an actor since Dark Angel.

Next week it looks like we are back to the ROADHOUSE, and getting more into just what is going on with Sam and his visions. Sounds like a good time.