8X15 Man's Best Friend with Benefits Review

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Mahi

@-Mystery-

Stunner

+ 6

Posted: 12 years ago

Hey SPNers,

I'm so sorry but I'm unable to provide a written update... I'm currently involved with a few things that are taking up a lot of my time. But worry not, if you really want to know what happened in the episode, read this review, it's pretty good:

https://www.threeifbyspace.net/2013/02/supernatural-mans-best-friend-with-benefits-recapreview/

So Season 8 seems to be getting better and better. One excellent episode after another. This episode was no exception. We have seen witches before but mostly selfish ones causing trouble. It was nice to see an episode where we saw a warlock using those powers for good.

What I loved most is that after so many ups and downs my boys are finally on the same page. Their relationship is back to what it used to be - the easy banter, silly arguments. Love the way they were arguing in the beginning:

Dean: Wow, you know, of all the lameass things you've said, that's gotta be the lame-assiest.

Sam: I'm sorry, but I happen to think that Shemp was a funnier stooge than Curley.

Dean: Curley was a frickin' genius.

Sam: I always found Curley's work a bit obvious.

Dean: It's supposed to be obvious, man, they're stooges.

Also, loved the way Sam kinda teases Dean:

"Oh, by the way, gotta hand it to you, it's been 15 hours since Portia mentioned her night with James and not one beastie-yeti joke outta ya. And Dean looks proud."

Loved Dean's 'proud grin' when Sam said that. Dean's adorable!! His reaction to Portia talking about getting intimate with James was hilarious!!

"Understandable, you know... considering that you're a... well, that that he is... that's... (to Sam) a little help here? No?" 😆

Sam's "It's not that you don't trust me. It's that you can only trust you" hit a nerve. Of course, Dean's really concerned about Sammy's safety but it's also kinda true that he always volunteers first whenever something crucial's involved.

Sam and Dean now understand each other like they used to. I'm glad that Dean finally came around and said, "I trust you, Sammy." Loved that end of the episode.

Dean: It's possible I was wrong.

Sam: What? About James? Dude, we were both ready to gank the guy.

Dean: No, that's not what I meant. Back there, when Spencer had us, he screwed with my head. I saw Mom and she died... and some other crap.

Sam: Me too.

Dean: You know when I look back at what our family has been through, what everybody has been through, seeing all that pain... I realize that the only way we made it through it all is by hanging together. I trust you, Sammy, with this deal, locking those sons of bitches in the furnace once and for all... it's too important not to. So if you say you're good, then that's it. I'm with you a 100%.

Sam: I'm good.

I'm hugely concerned about what's happening to Sam though. Obviously the trials are going to be hard on him, both physically and mentally. In the end, blood drips down his mouth and he quickly wipes it. He's going to hide it from Dean... Not sure what's gonna happen when Dean finds out. He's finally trusting Sam a 100% and now this. Can't blame Sam either. Dean's already worried enough, he doesn't want him to fret more and insist on doing the tasks himself. Let's see what happens.

I have to say that it was a great episode! Can't wait for the next one!

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Frequent Posters

annihilation

@annihilation

Stunner

+ 3

Posted: 12 years ago

How do you manage to do that? Even before the sites are up with link to episodes, your review is already posted! 😳

Edit :

A really good episode, must say. Finally an episode where the witches could be called good, so the HP fanatic in me got happy. 😆 Also, I like the way Dean and Sam have started seeing things now, its no more the outright black and white philosophy. They are ready to give people a chance and take a shot for them if its really worth it. I obviously loved the end parts of it, just like you. 'Sammy, I trust you' sounded right from the heart and I am glad these two are being open now, instead of suppressing their anger, they're taking potshots at each other then and there. Saves the trouble of patching up, so good. :) The last bit though, Sam coughing up blood scared me, really bad. 😳 Looking forward to the next ones! 😳

P.S : Even though I am not a fan of the kinda of humor elements used, I will have to admit that Dean pulls it off, hilariously. 😆

Edited by herms_angel - 12 years ago

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Old UN iluvOriginals

@Almas.

Sparkler

+ 3

Posted: 12 years ago

This week's episode of Supernatural "Man's Best Friend With Benefits" was written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming and directed by John Showalter. It's pretty much a standalone monster of the week episode. The episode had a few good moments, but overall the pacing was a bit slow and uneven. The episode does touch on a few themes that have come up before, particularly that grey area between good and evil.

Dean (Jensen Ackles) is still concerned about Sam (Jared Padalecki) and the trials. It is a monster of the week episode, so there is a throwaway line about Kevin not even knowing what the next trial is. Dean tries to get Sam to let him tag him out, but Sam is determined to continue with the trials himself. He wants Dean to believe that he can complete the trials. Sam finally tells Dean "It's not that you don't trust me, it's that you can only trust you." Given the history between the brothers and Dean's recent experiences in Purgatory, this is fairly understandable.

During the climactic scene, when Spencer messes with their minds, Sam is consumed only with his own memories of Hell, while Dean flashes first to losing his mother and then turns to his own memories of Hell, but Dean's first thoughts are of letting down his family. This spurs him to tell Sam – using "Sammy" as he always does when his emotions are closest to the surface – that if Sam says he's good, Dean is with him 100%. Dean completely places his trust in Sam, and Sam returns that trust with a lie, that he is fine, which is underscored by his coughing up blood.

The first scene with the brothers actually underscores that their relationship is finally back on a more even keel for the moment as there is a classic scene with them arguing over the Three Stooges. They're in town because a cop they worked with on another case, James Frampton (Christian Campbell), texted to ask for their help. However, he's turned to witchcraft after his involvement with the brothers and it's actually his familiar, Portia (Mishael Morgan) who texted them. This episode opens up a whole new chapter on witches for the show as we've never seen familiars before. There is also a very active witch community that is flying under the radar. Spencer (Curtis Caravaggio) asks James "How do you reconcile what you are with what you do?" The witches live on the fringes of society much as the brothers do.

Portia explains to Dean that a familiar finds the master and they become inseparable. They share an unbreakable bond like a melding of souls, and they would die for each other. In many ways, this sounds like the bond between the brothers. It also sounds like the "profound bond" that Castiel has said he shares with Dean.

Once again, the brothers are faced with a "monster" who may not be a monster. Portia tells them that James has only used witchcraft for good. As they prepare the spell to kill him, Dean says that if they decide he has to die, they can't hesitate, and Sam responds that James wouldn't be the first "monster" they'd let go. Dean, however, makes an important distinction when he says that Benny and Kate (the werewolf from "Bitten") were forced into what they were while James has chosen to be a witch. Dean's "code" allows for them to live until they've proven they can't be trusted not to kill. That was Dean's reasoning with the Rugaru in season four and with Amy in season seven.

It turns out that James is being framed by Spencer who is jealous of James and Portia: he'd hoped Portia would choose him as her master. He accuses James of going all "Bella and Edward" and going against the code of the community. Twilight jokes will never cease to be funny on Supernatural. Some of the other humor in the episode was rather jarring. When Portia insists that Dean "lose the ignorant bigotry for two seconds" and give James a shot, Dean responds with "That was incredibly hot." Rather than the comedic effect that was intended, I found it simply took away from Portia's speech which I found unfortunate as the speech itself could have been significant. Having Sam then agree that it was hot just prolonged the agony. I also found that Dean trying to wrap his head around Portia having sex with James was also belabored to the point of ceasing to be funny and just being uncomfortable. The one scene that did work for me was the scene while they were waiting for Drexel and Dean asked what came first, the woman or the dog.

In the end, there were some important moments in the episode. The episode also picked up some of the themes we've seen before such as when is the line crossed between good and evil. Dean reaffirmed his commitment to family and the brothers would appear to be back on the same page for now, though that seems unlikely to last. I thought that Morgan's performance as the familiar was excellent. It would have been easy for her to go overboard with dog mannerisms, but she played it perfectly, and her devotion to James was completely believable. In many ways, her relationship with her master is much like Dean's with Sam – it's hardly a coincidence that Dean has been labelled as the "attack dog" previously.

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MannMeRamBasale

@DamRyeong

Stunner

+ 5

Posted: 12 years ago

i personally didn't like this episode much..

i mean it was ok ok...

bt i didn't get one thing...

it was blood oozing out from sam's mouth..why???

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Just call me Chhilt :)

@chhilt

Rocker

Posted: 12 years ago

Originally posted by: DeadDevil
i personally didn't like this episode much..
i mean it was ok ok...

bt i didn't get one thing...
it was blood oozing out from sam's mouth..why???

Being the person who is going to be completing the trials means that it's going to take a huge toll on Sam, both physically and mentally. As we saw when Sam did the spell after killing the hellhound, it's going to be pretty painful as well. The blood oozing out from his mouth (as I understood it) was that he's not well, because of choosing to be the one who's going to attempt the three trials.

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-Su-

@-Su-

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

I didn't really like the episode all that much, to be honest :(

The Impala convo at the end...I would've loved that if it wasn't for this episode on the whole

Didn't we establish the fact that Dean trusts Sam last episode? Why was there a need for more arguments and annoying dialogues? (Like the convo in which Sam tells Dean that he only trusts himself)

And the MOTW was just so-so and quite predictable. I cringed at some of the dialouges of the guest stars, like the Twilight reference, ughh >_<

The last bit made me really scared for Sammy though...Can't wait to see more of that and the trials! Move the mytharc people!

I'm hoping that since the brother rift is resolved (it was resolved last epi, in my opinion, but whatever), there won't be more fights for at least some time...until Dean finds out that Sam's hiding something of course

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lakshmi

@Ephemera

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 12 years ago

mahi dear awesome post!!

i myself on tight schedule so couldn't catch the episode...but from what i have read..am very very concerned about sam's health ...(both mental and physical..as just now his head is healed post lucifer possesion...) and dean's reaction and emotions when he comes to know his baby brother is suffereing so much😭

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Hahaha! As if I'm going to tell you that!

@rahmona_pakswe

Sparkler

+ 4

Posted: 12 years ago

Lately I have liked every episode and this one was no different.

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Mahi

@-Mystery-

Stunner

+ 6

Posted: 12 years ago

@Husna - Haha I just watch the episode on TV and usually am online too at the time so post right away.

I agree with you. So far we've only seen the witches in negative light, I'm glad that we finally saw the good side too. Sam coughing up blood broke my heart. I just hope he'll be okay... as it is his turn to "die" this season.

@Swati - Yeah.. there are many people who didn't like the episode. I have to say that I'm not a big fan of the kind of humor that they used in this episode but I liked the theme... that witches can be good.

@Su - Yeah.. I know many people who didn't like it much. I have to disagree about the Dean trusting Sam part you mentioned though. Dean was so convinced that he HAS to do the trials and just a few dialogues from Sam wouldn't change that. Yes, he gave Sam the spell but but he was reluctant. We could see that in the end... So I think it made sense for him to mention a time or two again that he should do it and then the conversation at the end... that if Sam's good then Dean's 100% with him. Sam really worried me too.. let's see what happens.

@L - Yes, they showed again that the trials are taking a physical toll on Sam and he's hiding it from Dean... Dean will be worried when he finds out. I'm scared for Sam.

@Rahmona - Me too!! I was a little disappointed at the beginning of this season but they've more than made up for that. The episodes after the hiatus have been excellent!

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-Su-

@-Su-

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#10

@ Mystery - I guess that makes sense, but it could have been shown in a better way- the brothers didn't feel very brotherly until the last conversation.

I guess I am so fed up of all the brother fighting from the first half of the season that i want them to just leave it behind already 🤔

Edited by -Su- - 12 years ago