TV REVIEW: Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 18 (Book of the Damned)!

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

EPISODE: "Book of the Damned"

THE PLOT: Charlie (Felicia Day) finds the book of the damned and tries to decipher it with the brothers while  Castiel (Misha Collins)and Metatron (Curtis Armstrong) search for Castiel's missing grace.

WARNING! SPOILERS BELOW!


Is that the Necronimicon?

THE DEALIO: This week’s SUPERNATURAL was a case (well for me anyways) of good ideas, solid and endearing acting making up for some uneven “force the plot in the direction it needs to go” kind of writing. One of the main strength of SUPERNATURAL, made quite evident in this 10th season, is that when all else fails, the main cast will always come through and make even the weakest of episode bearable. Now The Book of the Damned (Bound in flesh and written in blood – sounds familiar?) was far from a bad Supernatural episode, but it was definitely an average one that was elevated by the cast! 

Jared Padelecki got to shine by way of his heartfelt yap with Charlie (Felicia Day bitches) about WHY he keeps being a hunter. It was very touching. On his end Jensen Ackles got to man-dance during an exciting fight scene and more importantly got to be happy-go-lucky rock music loving Dean again, if not briefly. I esteemed those moments of levity and afters seeing a whole freaking season of Dean carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders – good mood Dean made me yearn for the Mark of Cain plot line to be done with. FREE DEAN already and let him get his well earned vacation (“sand between the toes”… loved that line) at the beginning of Season 11!


Those waffles looked so f-ing good!

Moreover, having Castiel and Metatron do the "buddy movie" routine was a blast and witnessing both actors (Misha Collins and Curtis Armstrong) bounce off each other so beautifully a treat! The same good vibes went down with Charlie back in the mix. Felicia's interaction with the boys always changes up and re-ignites the overall dynamic. NOTE: It was swell to see her interact with Castiel for the first time too! Speaking of Castiel, he finally got his grace and his wings back (cool scene that echoed his first appearance on the show) and I’m happy that the plot line is finally resolved.  I am sure that added turbo-Angel-boost will come in handy come the Season final! On that it did grate me that after all that the brothers have been through over the years and the amount of times them “hiding stuff from each other” has back-fired on them – they still did it here.

In this case it was Sam who lied to Dean about Metatron having the demon tablet (Why again????) and also tricked Dean in terms of the book of the damned. And to add insult to injury wound up meeting with Rowena (who he knows tried to kill Dean) for help (we all know how well that’s gonna go).That was as inane as Castiel not having his eyes locked on Metatron 27/7 during the library scene – another “duh move” in this week’s episode to serve the plot. I guess what I’m trying to say – sometimes when you lay down the same cards on the table too many times, the trick stops to work and I felt that was the case in this week’s show

On that Book for the Damned still made for a fun watch even if it wasn't an example of "the best" the series has to offer. The cast made it happen, the fights scenes were dope, the villains of the week (Southern Evil Boys) amusing and now the stage is set for the last stretch of the Season!  Two episodes to go!

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE EPISODE? COMMENT BELOW!

Source: Arrow in the Head

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