March 2025 Supernatural Viewing Diary Season 11, working backwards

Working my way backwards …

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 2 “Form and Void” (2015; d. Phil Sgriccia)
Starting with Robert Mitchum’s “love hate” knuckles monologue from Night of the Hunter? I love this so much. I am so glad to be out of the foggy nothingness that was season 12-15. Because I am watching backwards I do not know why Castiel has red eyes and is being held hostage by two angels who look like they could be in a 90s teen comedy. What I love: real world locations. The car out in the world, Dean driving 40 miles this way and that. The empty town. Again, they’d already done this with Croatoan but it feels fresh, the way they’re doing it, and really eerie. No Rowena. I can’t tell you what a relief it is. She has her supporters. This is nothing against her as a person or as an actress. She’s clearly talented. But she – and the bunker – broke the show. And so I cannot abide her. Just watch any episode pre-Rowena and it is instantly obvious what having her around did. Back in the day they knew they had to “power down” Castiel somehow because he was apparently so powerful he could wrap up any episode in 5 minutes. They were smart: they muffled his power, they clipped his wings, because they prioritized the story structure as established. With Rowena, they said, “Fuck it, we need her magic to get the boys out of every scrape under the sun.” She was catastrophic to the DNA of the show. Final thought: the use of “Sugar Shack” – and when they use it – is psychotic and awesome. Sam’s journey in this episode might be one of the butchest things I’ve ever seen.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 3 “The Bad Seed” (2015; d. Jensen Ackles)
I spoke too soon. The episode opens with Rowena. There’s still a lot of Hell and Heaven stuff here but I don’t mind it as much because the balance clearly tips towards the brothers. They’re pushing it though. Watch Jensen’s wink and bright smile in the interrogation room after he says, “And I have a fake badge.” I do not know how he does it. So this feels more like what we get in the later seasons, an entire episode devoted to the seasonal arc – so we have an angel and a demon having a drink together and complaining about their bosses, like some low-rent Glengarry Glen Ross. There’s Crowley trying (and failing) to groom wee Amara. There are multiple boring demons. Rowena is a big factor. Castiel. Metatron. Jesus, the Heaven and Hell stuff is just so tedious. And there’s so MUCH of it. I do want to point out that the emotional arc of the season – i.e. Dean’s submission to Amara – has already begun, and it’s suggested in Jensen’s behavior – he’s playing it even if he doesn’t have text to suggest it. This is what a good actor does. The story is IN him. He IS the story – whether it’s focused on him or not. (This is what Samantha Smith could not do. I don’t think she even knew she should be doing that.) And so Rowena senses he’s changed and looks at him with curiosity and concern. That’s all we need to keep the EMOTIONAL thruline of the season intact – instead of just getting bogged down with nondescript angels and demons and thinking that’s the most important thing. This – it is THIS – that the next four seasons totally forgot how to do.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 4 “Baby” (2015; d. Thomas J. Wright)
It’s a masterpiece. That such a genius episode – genius in conception and execution – would come so late in the game series-wise – 11 years in and they come up with something that seems so obvious – an entire episode inside the Impala, from the point of VIEW of the Impala – and yet they had never done before … just warmed my soul at the time, and warms my soul still. I just put it together that the items left in the Impala – Piper’s hair pin and the joyriders’ Hello Kitty purse complete with handful of pennies – were left there by women. Maybe not deliberate but random women saving them – without even knowing they were doing it – is a pretty nice touch.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 5 “Thin Lizzie” (2015; d. Rashaad Ernesto Green)
This is an object lesson in what they used to do so well. There’s your basic case: axe murders in the vicinity of Lizzie Borden’s ancestral home. The brothers on the road. Quirky eccentric characters, played by character actors (meaning: good. Not young, not too pretty). Some humor. It’s a case. But then Amara suddenly enters into it and suddenly there is the larger arc: the show isn’t straining to include it. It was there in Baby too. So the threat and ingrigue of Amara grows episode by episode. And watching this again, watching how Jensen plays this … it’s fascinating and DIFFERENT from how he plays other “a-ha we’re on the trail of the Big Bad” moments. He’s more unnerved by it. he’s more drawn to it, it’s beyond his control. And of course he’s lying to Sam about it. Jensen is playing this strong disturbing pull and he does it for a whole entire season. It’s riveting.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 6 “Our Little World” (2015; d. John F. Showalter)
There are so many fist fights in this one. I always lose the plot when it comes to angels/demons battling it out. I just don’t care. Crowley helps but once Crowley’s Boredom Arc began in Season 10 it never really ended. This is a crime against one of the most consistently entertaining side characters in the whole thing. The scene between Dean and 14-year-old Amara … I kind of can’t believe they actually went for it.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 7 “Plush” (2015; d. Tim Andrew)
This is okay. A little rambly and top-heavy. The family in question and the little kid isn’t central enough, at least not with the third act revelation. I might be missing something. Again, though, considering whaat I just went through watching season 12-15, it’s such a relief to have your basic monster mystery.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 8 “Just My Imagination” (2015; d. Richard Speight Jr.)
One of my go-to episodes if I need a little comfort. I may very well have watched this single episode more than any other episode. It’s perfect.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 9 “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (2015; d. Robert Singer)
I think this might be first intentional re-watch of Season 11, so it’s more obvious to me where this whole thing is going. I was so taken up by Dean’s helpless swooning throughout season 11 – I missed the ulterior motive. I was also distracted by Emily Swallow’s rather fabulous modern-interpretive-dance movements.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 10 “The Devil in the Details” (2016; d. Thomas J. Wright)
Here’s my take. The show is stronger when the brothers and their conflicts are central. What a shock. When the show started splitting off into side plots with side characters – and yes this includes Castiel – something essential and unique was lost. So we have a long fight with Crowley and Rowena (the beginning of their incredibly boring season=long arc of bickering), we have Castiel wandering in the woods with some random angel, we have Dean running around mostly by himself, and we have Sam in the cage with Lucifer – and the first two just cannot compete with the second two. We only get tiny chunks of each at a time. We’re starting to see the little cracks – in this episode and the last one – that will become gigantic fissures by next season, which grow until the whole thing is a void. Andrew Dabb wrote this one and you can see his tendencies. Some good stuff with Sam and Lucifer, and memory lane – and I like how the doorway to hell is in the back of a machinist’s shop in some small town. And the blue light in the cage was stunning.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 11 “Into the Mystic” (2016; d. John Badham)
Another late-season fave. I find it strangely soothing. And it has one of my favorite final-shots-of-tormented-Dean in that vast cannon. I think the final shot of The Purge is my favorite – it’s GRIM – but this … again, broken record: we haven’t seen THIS Dean before, and it was so exciting having something new to explore literally 11 years in.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 12 “Don’t You Forget About Me” (2016; d. Stefan Pleszczynski)
The creature-monologue here should win the prize for the longest in the history of the series. Swear to God it’s over 10 minutes. This whole found-family thing was soured by the Wayward Sisters thing later on, and Claire became more and more of a flat character, with more and more makeup on with each passing episode. (She makes a crack here about Alex spending an hour in front of the mirror every day when Alex isn’t the one wearing pounds of makeup and with long luxurious golden curls. But never mind.) I forget though … this is pre-Wayward. So it doesn’t have the WEIGHT to it it had later. Jody is adorable, and the dinner scene is a classic.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 13 “Love Hurts” (2016; d. Phil Sgriccia)
Really dig this one. Another object lesson in how to have it all: You have a pretty cool monster case- plus a truly weird motel room (it’s … gigantic? there’s a … tire theme?) and then swoosh Amara comes into it, and you never saw it coming, looping the single episode into the larger arc. It’s beautifully constructed.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 14 “The Vessel” (2016; d. John Badham)
I really love this episode: the premise is so out-there and ridiculous but somehow it escapes being STUPID like the later seasons, with all the alternate worlds and flashes of light, etc. There is a sense of gravitas, a sense of the stakes – not for Dean, but for the men (and woman) on the vessel. It was unexpectedly moving. Plus: the CASTING was excellent. Every single person in that submarine was perfectly cast, and they actually felt like they were from the past. They all looked real. Nobody was too pretty. Side note: the sidelining of Mark Sheppard is now complete, and here comes the humiliation rituals. Considering that bridges were somehow burned, this feels personal and I really do not like it.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 15 “Beyond the Mat” (2016; d. Jerry Wanek)
The pace is glacial. The Castiel/Lucifer/Crowley standoff is endless.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 16 “Safe House” (2016; d. Jerry Wanek)
Such a unique concept for a case. They really had to think this one out, and figure out the “rules”. And, amazingly, it was completely comprehensible. Also it was such a great way to let us “see” Bobby and Rufus again WITHOUT having to create a whole alternate world where the OTHER Bobby lives.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 17 “Red Meat” (2016; d. Nina Lopez-Corrado)
A superb episode. Maybe the best in the season. First-time director made a splash.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 18 “Hell’s Angel” (2016; d. Phil Sgriccia)
Moving towards the end of Season 11, I begin to feel the dread. “Red Meat” was the last oasis before the desert. We’re coming up on “Don’t Call Me Shurley” and the final three episodes where you could just feel the entire season – and show disintegrate. Endless scenes in corporate Heaven. Endless scenes in some hell warehouse with Rowena and Amara. After “Red Meat” it’s quite a shift. Cas as Lucifer is … a problem. It’s gone on too long. It’s effective in like “Into the Mystic”, when Dean confides in him about the irresistible attraction he feels to Amara – and he thinks he’s talking to Cas. There are a couple of moments like this and it’s good, it’s really the only reason why Castiel should “be” Lucifer (story-wise): how it affects Sam and Dean. But no, instead we get endless scenes of Castiel smirking in some heavenly boardroom for three episodes in a row. What was going on with Dean’s hair in this episode.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 19 “The Chitters” (2016; d. Eduardo Sanchez)
It’s certainly progress when a 16-year-old can be Sheriff of a small town. I really like “Ganja Girl” – she managed to create a real character and her scene with Dean was funny. Andy Maton, who plays the old tormented guy out in the woods, gives an Oscar-winning 5 minute performance that left me wrung dry.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 20 “Don’t Call Me Shurley” (2016; d. Robert Singer)
The genesis of everything that went wrong. I will not forgive the retconning of the amulet, which already – already – had SO MUCH MEANING to … “the faithful” (oh God). Don’t put more meaning onto it. We wanted the amulet to show up again. But like this? No! It was such a travesty I actually blocked it out as it was happening. So now fucking fake-Chuck-God was responsible for the amulet – which had so much meaning between the brothers for their OWN reasons? Now it was placed in the story by the Divine? Thanks I fucking hate it.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 21 “All in the Family” (2016; d. Thomas J. Wright)
“The planets. Why are they round?” I heard that line come out of Sam’s mouth and red alarm bells twirled declaring Defcon One. For a second I thought Sam was possessed by a demon. The sinister bad nature of the show’s downfall is manifest in even the smaller moments: like giving the beloved Kevin Tran a happy ending and then taking it back two seasons later. I keep thinking back to the radical choices Sera Gamble made in her role as showrunner in Season 7. There was a deconstruction going on, a stripping away of the layers of familiarity/comfort: thrusting the brothers into unknown territory, and denying the fans the satisfaction of the familiar. But that was done with purpose and without hostility to the fans. It’s hard to describe. It just felt different. I LIKE when the Winchesters world is shook up. I LIKE when new elements come in and disturb the pattern. Like the Darkness. Like Amelia. I feel like I am the only person who actually appreciates Amelia, not in terms of whether she is likable or not (this is usually the response I get when I even try to discuss this: “she’s just so RUDE” etc). I don’t CARE whether or not she is likable, I don’t CARE that she’s “rude”, I don’t even care that she puts lime slices down the drain and who the fuck does that. (I do care that her sequences are filmed in a yellow-ish polluted tinge, rather than golden: the ugliest the show has ever been). Why I appreciate Amelia is her function in the story and how she REVEALS stuff about Sam. I don’t know how many times I have to say this. People are just mad that she’s rude and Sam chose her over looking for Dean. But I appreciate her because of that: it throws a wrench in what was expected and to me it made sense. What also made sense is the way the character was conceived: her bluntness, her awkwardness, her total messiness. Sam had the perfect girl. The cookie-baking hottie. Being drawn to someone like Amelia shows us where HE’S at. They didn’t try to present this as like some great love story. They positioned it as two damaged people basically hiding out with each other. No questions asked. It felt very realistic. If she were some perfect girl, madly in love with him, the damaged man, it would have been gross and cliched. This actually felt like … well, yeah, this is how it sometimes goes when you’re hurting. You find other people who are hurting. Someone in Sam’s state would find comfort in being with someone who’s just as much of a mess as he is, and won’t expect him to be some perfect guy. I digress, but like I said: I like when the story takes me unexpected places. Dean’s depression in Season 9. Sam’s willingness to say “No” to how Dean operates, throwing Dean back on himself. The sheer MISERY of Dean in Season 9 was glorious and represented actual GROWTH in the brothers’ relationship. I loved that the show was willing to make US uncomfortable in order to tell the story they wanted to tell. But what happened here – and through the next four seasons – isn’t that. The deconstruction wasn’t deconstruction. It was destruction. Not only did they rip the fabric of the show in the present, they ripped the fabric in the past – so we were forced to incorporate their new bogus interpretation, which basically ruined our own memories. Ugh, it’s still a travesty and it’s wild to watch the series backwards and watch what was destroyed be put back together in season 11, only to be destroyed in episode 20. We couldn’t come back from it. So about THIS episode: Sam fanboying out about God was the first clue that this new team really didn’t understand the show.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 22 “We Happy Few” (2016; d. John Badham)
So many people just standing around. You can change the camera angles all you want, it doesn’t matter. It’s still just a bunch of people standing there listening as one person goes on and on talking. Nobody read this and thought “This blows”? The biggest moment – Sam deciding to take on the Mark – happens off-screen and warrants just a 30-second exchange between Sam and Dean. Appalling.

Supernatural, Season 11, episode 23 “Alpha and Omega” (2016; d. Phil Sgriccia)
Men of Letters enter. And we know how catastrophic they would be. Ugh. This is REALLY depressing. “You were right to let Lucifer ride shotgun. You stepped up. You helped. You’re a brother.” Random monologue from Dean that made no sense. Castiel was RIGHT to let Lucifer ride shotgun? Dean thinks that?