I’m doing one more before I go on vacation, because I know you guys love me and want it.

Supernatural - “Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie” Review:

I have nothing bad to say about this episode. This episode was perfect and everything I could ever want out of an episode of SPN. This episode was fantastic for so many reasons. The greatest thing being that it wasn’t just filler (really awesome filler,) it was an episode that addressed the relationship between Sam and Dean.

I think the fact that parents were the target in this episode is very important. The bad guy (Howard) said bullies, but the episode made it clear that the victims were parents. That’s interesting for a lot of reasons I’m sure, but the reason I found it interesting was because, between the two brothers, Sam turns into the target as well. Paralleling Sam with the parents is reflective of Sam’s role in Season 7. He’s the authoritative figure now. That’s clear early on with Sam being the primary FBI agent, but it becomes more obvious when he becomes the target of the next spell. And it’s pretty much driven home when Sam hands Dean the giant slinky. Sam is the parent now; Sam has taken on the role of taking care of Dean. Which is really confusing because they’re basically each other’s parents, brothers, and children now and it’s kind of like Inception but with relationships. Also, just an adorable side note, I can assure you that, even if it’s not shown, Dean’s going to treasure and love that slinky forever.

But guys, really, the slinky is so symbolic. It’s so symbolic of Dean’s inner child. It’s so symbolic of the fact that Sam is taking care of that child because, let’s face it, Dean was inside Plucky’s. He totally could have grabbed that slinky if he wanted to (and in the past, he might have,) but Sam was the one who got the slinky. Sam went out of his way to get the slinky knowing that Dean would like it. Sam is taking on the parental role.

Another thing to note is that Dean finally kills the bad guy. Except he doesn’t. Dean let’s him die, but he doesn’t really kill him. I don’t even think he intended to kill him, just stop the spell or teach him a lesson. The thing that gets me the most about Howard’s death, though, is how he died.

Howard drowns. Dean hasn’t been responsible for anyone’s death in a while and it says something to me that the death he is now responsible for involves water. Dean watches the guy drown and, based on the way Jensen Ackles portrayed it, he was horrified. I think he was too horrified to stop it because when I saw the guy drowning, my mind flashed to Castiel, and I think Dean’s did too. Dean didn’t make the guy drown, but he certainly didn’t stop it and it was the same with Cas. Even though Cas didn’t drown, he did die in the water, and Dean still ended up watching just as helplessly as he did with Howard. And I think that’s pretty important, even if nothing comes of it.

This episode really had everything that Season 7’s been missing so far. None of the other episodes even begin to compare in quality with this one because even if it didn’t center around the main story arc, it included the little moments that have been missing. Moments that are seemingly unnecessary, but speak volumes about the characters.

For instance, Dean and the slinky. That bit was comedic, but wasn’t random. It was addressed again at the end with Sam giving Dean the slinky he’d always wanted since he was a kid. Sam is giving Dean his childhood back. Moments like these, the seemingly small moments, are the important ones because they add the most important element to the show. They add the family element. They add the love element. They add that tiny bit of feeling that’s not despair and grief and “we’re together because that’s how it has to be.” Sam and Dean getting these moments is absolutely vital to the show and their relationship. And this episode gave them that.

This episode gave Dean and Sam the little moments. This episode gave Sam and Dean those miniscule moments that are seemingly small but add so much more to their relationship than any other scene I can think of from any other episode of this season. Because now they’re a team and we can actually see that. They’re bonding and growing and I really can’t express how amazing that is.

So, massive kudos to Daniel Loflin and Andrew Dabb who wrote this amazing episode.