Supernatural has a habit of falling off the week after a big episode and that trend continued with “Freaks and Geeks.” That’s not to say this episode was a bad hour of television. In fact, the return of Krissy Chambers and the story of her new family was fun to explore and felt like something the show hadn’t attempted before. There’s just a notable difference in intensity, emotion and execution when Supernatural does standalone episodes versus mythology episodes. “Freaks and Geeks” will end up being more significant than your typical one-off episode, thanks to Krissy being sure to make numerous return appearances. Which, given her performance in this episode, would be fine by me.
I was waiting for the Hook Man to show up.
Did anyone get flashbacks to Season 1’s “Hook Man” during the opening scene? When I saw two teenagers making out in an isolated area who were suddenly stalked by a maniac, it seemed like a place we've treaded before. When the guy got out of the car I expected the patented blood splatter on the window, so it was a nice twist to see that the maniac was the target and the teenagers were bait. This time around, the maniac was a vampire whose head-rolling end introduces us to Krissy’s friends, Josephine and Aidan. This trio was hunting a vampire’s nest that they believed killed their families.
Sam and Dean got involved when they arrived in town to investigate the vampire murders and see Krissy on security camera footage. After some initial hostility, the brothers journeyed back to the trio’s home base and were reunited with fellow hunter Victor, who took the kids under his wing after their families were killed. The Winchesters immediately demanded that Victor stop letting the kids hunt, as it was dangerous and they could have gotten killed. Victor refused, saying he was training the next generation of hunters to be faster, stronger and smarter.
So who is right? That's the real meat in this episode. I saw both sides of the issue, but I initially sided with Victor. He made some valid points about the current generation of hunters being crazy, alcoholic oddballs and specifically mentioned Martin, Garth and Bobby. That angered Dean but the man had a point – monsters aren’t going anywhere and the next generation of hunters will be better off if they are trained rather than dropped into the action with no experience. It was also hypocritical of Dean to deny Krissy the chance to hunt when he loves the lifestyle and knows that he would never leave it, even if he were given the opportunity. Dean is a lifer in the game, and in my opinion, to deny someone else the chance to willingly make that kind of difference in the world is wrong.
What a sick, sad little man.
Krissy, Aidan and Josephine’s new life with Victor seemed too good to be true and it was, as we found out that Victor had a vampire kill the trio’s families in order to motivate them to become hunters. It was a sadistic plan born in the mind of a twisted, lonely man. Krissy showed the ultimate restraint by not shooting Victor, but ask yourself this: What would Dean have done had Krissy pulled that trigger? I don’t think he would’ve shot Krissy, although we'll probably never know, as Krissy spared Victor only to have him pull a gun from his ankle holster and blow his brains out. This was my only major beef with the episode. Victor’s death was meant to be shocking but it lacked any sort of emotional punch. I’m not sure why I should care when the characters were so clearly nonplussed.
Regardless, I hope we get to see more of Krissy’s adventures in future seasons. She’s a tough female character – something this show seems to discard at the drop of a hat – and she has a great brother/sister dynamic with Dean. At one point, Victor asked Sam if he wanted kids; however, I think that question would best be directed at Dean, who’s been shown time and time again to be perfect father material. The happy ending that the brothers are working toward will hopefully include some lovely ladies and a chance at domestic bliss. Both Sam and Dean deserve a break.
But we know better, don’t we?
Line of the week
Dean: “Good talk. Nay – great talk! Very healthy.”
Next week on Supernatural
There are innocent souls in Hell?!
