Supernatural 11.19 – “The Chitters”

(image via IGN)

Ah yes, monster of the week, please. If you’re new here, the following will be full of SPOILERS for the most recent episode of Supernatural, episode 11.19, titled “The Chitters”. You’ve been warned.

I don’t know about you, but I love me some Sam and Dean and Baby rolling down the road and prowling the woods. And that’s what we got this week. Baby purred along and so did this episode.

Oh my goodness I’m so distracted right now. Watching “Wendigo”. Bringing it old school.

OK, back on topic. “The Chitters” was classic Supernatural and when it’s done right, as this episode was, it is so, so good. Starting off as many great episodes do lately, we caught the Winchesters “relaxing” at home. And can I just take a distracted pause and say how great it is that they have a “home”? They deserve it.

Seriously, back on topic. I’m pretty sure the brothers at the beginning of the episode were supposed to make me think of Sam and Dean. Even if they weren’t, they did. So it really set the tone for me, thinking about little Sammy losing Dean in the middle of the woods. It was an automatic shortcut for the writers to make me feel bad about what happened to these kids, and it worked.

Fast forwarding to the now, some of my favorite bits of this episode were near the beginning. First of all, there was D (Kandyse McClure, Battlestar Galactica **no spoilers please, I haven’t finished it yet!!**), who is honestly just as beautiful and wonderful as ever. She plays nice and innocent so well, and I think she really pulled off the “I’m new here and I’m just trying to stay afloat” sheriff. But the interplay between Sam and Dean was what was really on point, here. Hahaha, there goes Dean, making up words for monsters again (“Junkless”? I’m with Sam on this one). Hahaha, there goes Sam, calling him an idiot. Aahahaaha good times. And we were treated to some really fabulous Winchester expressions.

Was I the only one who shouted at the TV when they decided to separate? Surely not.

So, I mentioned this elsewhere, and I’m going to bring it up here. When they met the new hunters, was anyone else surprised they weren’t immediately recognized? Sure it was a nice moment when New Hunter #1 (Cesar) said they had heard of Dean and thought he bit it a few years back. He should’ve asked which time they were thinking of. But I always kinda think most hunters ought to recognize them on sight. Aren’t they kind of like hunter celebrities, at this point? And, this is a bit off topic, but any monsters that don’t hear their names and immediately run the other way, like the demon in “Beyond the Mat”, are complete morons and deserve every bit of what’s coming to them.

Back to the story. I was a bit surprised that the new hunters were a couple, but it’s really neither here nor there. Just an interesting little side note, and a nice chance to again see that Sam and Dean are not biased or prejudiced, nor discriminatory, as we knew already. Just another reason to love them.

I have one point to make about one of my favorite moments in this episode, but I want to get to that last. Consider this a placeholder.

I really enjoyed the old sheriff. I thought his story was pretty good, and I really dug the vulnerability that the actor brought to the role. I was going to put in his name, but iMDb doesn’t seem to have it listed yet. I also need to give a shout out to the set department right here. The calcification on the kitchen sink was a spot-on small detail that could have been easily missed. Great detail, excellent dressing.

I know, I’m all over the place here. My transitions are garbage today, and I apologize. I’m usually much better at them, promise. At any rate, I hate it when the boys split up. Although, I did enjoy watching them both do what they’re best at. Sammy asking questions, shooting the puppy-dog eyes at folks, and Dean running through the woods hunting, killing monsters. It was fun to watch that part, but all I wanted the whole time was for Sam to get back.

And he finally did, and I said to myself, “No way! Is that the “Wendigo” set?” As you saw up there, I was watching “Wendigo” when I began writing this. And I have to say, I think the outside really was the same set. The inside was more spacious and better lit, but I swear that was the same exterior. What a throwback.

One more sidetrack, speaking of throwbacks, I love all the throwback music. I think the music has been genius these last couple of seasons. They have brought back some of my favorite background tunes from the first couple seasons, thrown a little bit of spice on them, put them in a mixer sometimes, and shook out some really nice stuff. It’s been both new and old, and a great way to tie these seasons back to the earlier ones, without stepping backwards in the storytelling.

All right, back to that placeholder. My favorite moment in the episode came when Dean and Cesar were riding in Baby together, talking about revenge. When Cesar asked if Dean knew any hunter who’d ever gotten his revenge, who among us did not picture Dean shooting Yellow Eyes, while the ghost of his Dad held on?

And who among us didn’t smile at the thought, just the way Dean did? But then Cesar went on to say that they’re never fixed. And with an even bigger smile, Dean agreed. It’s a really nice thing to watch him come so far, and to be so self-aware that he can admit there is no amount of killing monsters that will ever make him better. That smile was beautiful, strong, brittle, and priceless. Sometimes I forget to notice just how much Jensen and Jared kill it. They really do. All the time. Even when the plot is going sideways, they remain true to Sam and Dean through and through. I think it’s one of the things that has helped the show survive so far. We really have two of the best leads in the business.

At any rate, who didn’t see that Buffalo Head Nickel coming up again?

Do you really think hunters can ever just retire?

And who is just DYING for next week???