“not with a bang, but a whimper.”<\/a> “In My Time of Dying” is this perfect little snow globe world of an episode, which takes place mostly in one setting, with scene after scene after scene of talking people, talking, talking, talking, and gigantic beautiful faces filling the screen, and soft dark shadows, and soft whispered voices, plus tears, plus Venetian blinds, plus family drama and also, you know, enormous metaphysical and existential questions about life and death and the borderland in-between. After Season 1 wrapped up, with some major thrilling standoffs and a car crash and an exorcism, Season 2 starts off melancholy, quiet. It has room to breathe. There are a lot of pauses, and silence, and thoughtful moments where nobody speaks. Kripke structured a beautiful episode to open Season 2. It starts with a gasp of breath, and ends with a death. And yes, the demon finally shows himself. And drops a few bread-crumbs of intrigue that will pay out over the course of Season 2. We’re shown a lot here, but the really important stuff is still in the shadows. It’s an intriguing way to go for the season opener. They could have decided to keep up the pace, and have it be a kind of race to the finish. A less-confident show might have gone that way. But “In My Time of Dying” is elegiac and melancholy and troubled. It hides more than it reveals. <\/p>\nThe title, of course, is taken from Led Zeppelin’s almost 13-minute howl of pain and fear and longing. It is a plea. It is a request. The lyrics are perfect for the episode, cracking it open like a walnut. <\/p>\n
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