Supernatural 7.09 – “How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters” Review

Episode: Supernatural 7.09 – “How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters”
Original Air Date: November 18, 201

Screencaps by spn-caps.

Supernatural fans were warned that this episode would take a left turn near the end and that the entire storyline would be unlike what anyone expected. Many of us did not give enough weight to the warning. I was numb after the ending of “How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters” and was holding back tears. I went into the episode expecting a fun hunt for the Jersey Devil and I got something completely different.

Starting off, we were tempted with the possibility that the boys and Bobby would take to the woods and hunt like actual non-supernatural hunters. We’ve rarely seen the boys and Bobby testing their tracking skills and we never got to see the Jersey Devil represented in Supernatural lore. Even Bobby wasn’t sure if the creature was more than fantasy, but something was killing people in the woods, so they took the case. And for a bit at the beginning it looked like it would be just a simple old-school hunt. But then the story turned and we were left to hang on for the ride.

There were clues early on that all was not as it seemed. There was a very strange scene in Biggerson’s when the waiter, Brandon, was lashing out, and that was soon joined by Dean’s orgasmic reveling over his Pepperjack Turducken Slammer. There are no throwaway scenes, so I knew that we’d get an explanation as to how this tied into the larger storyline soon. However, I was expecting it to be involved in the Jersey Devil case rather than the monster to be a falsity and the real cause to be a Leviathan plot. But you couldn’t expect the unbeatable monsters to stay out of the picture for long. They are building up a plan that will take down the entire world, much like the Croatoan virus was Lucifer’s endgame.

The Leviathans were dosing the meat of the Turducken and Dean, as well as the townspeople, got caught in the trap. The entire town was acting complacent even before Dean took his first bite, but when he did, he was hooked as well. We got to see a Dean who was stoned, who just didn’t care about anything or anyone around him. Sadly, it didn’t feel that out of character from where his mindset has always been. He’s an alcoholic, he’s depressed, he’s suicidal. Complacency was not a big leap for him. And I wish that detoxing from the Turducken was enough to wipe away his other problems, but it’s not. He’s still working on a thread, one that barely connects him to being present in his life. Bobby tried to get him to snap out of it, but I don’t know if it did any good. And with the way we were left at the end of this episode, I fear that his thread is going to snap soon.

I’m not saying I’m sad that we got to find out more about the Leviathan plan, and the big boss himself. We now know more about Richard Roman and who he was before the Leviathan took him over. He’s a billionaire who has been involved in large-scale corporate takeovers and has endeared himself to the country as a result. He could be in a very powerful political position if he wanted to be, he only has to ask. The Leviathans are using his status to entrench themselves in this world and it’s been advantageous. They have set themselves up to be a tremendous danger. Bobby uncovered their plan, but now he’s out of the game, so it will be up to the Winchesters to fight alone.

And now we must talk about Bobby. That was a shocking turn of events that took the entire audience by surprise. Yes, we had Bobby threatening Dean earlier in the episode “You die before me and I’ll kill you,” but it wasn’t supposed to be a threat that carried any weight in the next ten minutes. However, this would be the hard left turn we were warned about. As soon as Richard shot his weapon, I knew Bobby had been shot. I hoped he would just be clipped, a bullet wound to the arm or something, but I feared the worst. When Bobby didn’t answer the boys, my fear was building. Then Sam held up Bobby’s hat and we knew the truth. Bobby had been shot in the head. Maybe it was just a graze, maybe it was more serious, but all we know at the moment is that Bobby is unconscious in the back of the van with a head wound and his death is a real possibility.

Let’s push aside how devastated I would be to lose Bobby, because I would be. Let’s, instead, focus on how much harm it would do to the boys. We’ve already heard Dean, when he thought Bobby was dead inside his burned down house, threaten “I swear I am gonna strap my Beautiful Mind brother into the car and I’m gonna drive us off the pier.” And with his fragile mental state, I have no doubt that he will still do it. These boys have lost all the loved ones they’ve had and Bobby’s the only one left. To lose him would be the final breaking point for Dean, and with Sam relying so heavily on his brother at the moment, it would domino effect through both of them.

I can’t comprehend a world without Bobby. Over the years, I’ve come to accept that anyone not named Winchester is in the cross-hairs of death at any moment. However, Bobby’s been the rock that everyone’s relied on. We are now in danger of having that rock ripped away and we won’t know the outcome for two weeks. It’s going to be a rough Thanksgiving for Supernatural fans.

Rating: 5 / 5 Stars