SUPERNATURAL: “The Mentalists” – RECAP

At long last I got an episode of Supernatural featuring a ghost hunt. I’ve been craving one of these ever since last season’s “Mannequin 3: The Reckoning”. However, after seven seasons it makes sense they wouldn’t do these ghost stories as often as I would like them to. They always follow the same structure; with the only difference between them is whatever emotional storylines the Winchester boys happen to be going through. So in a nutshell, Friday’s “The Mentalists” featured a vengeful spirit murdering innocent people. Sam and Dean think they have the case solved, only to discover they’ve made a crucial error and the killer ghost is still out there. Through a lot of luck they manage to finally burn her bones and save the day. You could copy and paste that description and use it for any ghost episode. The formula works, almost always providing a satisfactory hour of scares and tomfoolery. In the monster of the week category, the show did very well, but what about the emotional storyline?

After weeks of dragging it out, we finally get a conclusion to the “Dean killed Amy” kerfuffle. Last week, Sam discovered what Dean did and hit the road without his brother. The case brings the two back together after a week apart and tensions are high. During the investigation, a medium compels Dean (with a beyond-the-grave message from Ellen) to tell Sam what he’s been going through, and by the end of the episode he does. The trouble is, I didn’t buy it. Don’t get me wrong, Jensen Ackles sold the performance. In that moment Dean was being honest, but it didn’t mesh with what we’ve seen before. We are led to believe Dean’s sleepless nights and drinking were a product of his guilt over lying to Sam. He claims to not believe he did anything wrong by killing Amy.

If you recall, Amy was only killing people to save her dying son. They show made a big deal over that fact, so when Dean killed her it seemed incredibly brutal. Why set it up in such a way to make him look so heartless if he’s just going to turn around and not give a crap? We’re asked to believe Dean has trust issues because Castiel went off the reservation and that’s why he doesn’t feel guilty, but that’s hardly the way this whole situation looks from the outside. But you know what, at least that storyline is over and done with and we can move on to something more enjoyable and original.

Besides my little tiff with Dean’s guilt, there’s not a whole lot to say about “The Mentalists”. Aside from a quick mention of Sam and Dean’s cloning in last week’s episode, nothing about the Leviathan’s came up. The ghost stuff stayed true to formula, and because of that it was solid entertainment. I’m at a bit of a loss for this season of Supernatural. There doesn’t seem to be any clear path it’s going down. Previous seasons were quick to establish an overarching storyline (finding John Winchester, killing Yellow Eyes. Stopping the apocalypse, Sam’s soul), but I can’t say I get where this Leviathan bit is going. Sure, there’s a plot in that they exist and are trouble, but that’s it. We know next to nothing about anything and that is frustrating. I would like to know, and soon, where this season is going. Otherwise, I’d have to say Supernatural has lost its focus.