Supernatural: Jus In Bello
(S03E12) There’s no way that Kripke and the team over at Supernatural HQ could have foreseen the strike, only completing 12 episodes, and an extended break after episode 12. Had they been able to do that though, it’s hard to imagine a better send off as we head into the break than what we saw in “Jus In Bello.” The return of Henricksen and the introduction of Lilith made for a great mid (3/4) season intermission.
Let’s get started with our old pal, Special Agent Victor Henricksen (Charles Malik Whitfield, The Guardian). I’ve been looking forward to his eventual return for some time now. I love the continuity of it all. It’s always good when shows pick up those lingering threads and pay them off. Equally important though, I really like the way that Henricksen interacts with the boys. He had some choice lines as he described them to the ill-fated Sheriff Dodd. In Henricksen’s world, Sam and Dean are Hannibal Lecter and his half-wit little brother, two Satan worshiping nutbag killers. I particularly liked Nancy’s (Aimee Garcia, Greetings From Tuscon!) reaction to that last bit. It went a long way to sell her character later in the show.
But I’ve gone and gotten this cart ahead of the horse now. We have to talk about how the boys found themselves at the feet of Henricksen. Lovely Bela. Increasingly, she is becoming the Lucy to Sam and Dean’s Charlie Brown. How many times will it take before they realize, “Yep, she’s going to pull the football away again!” I’m still operating under the assumption that at some point Bela is going to have a breakthrough of sorts and join the team. I just hope that at some point before that the boys get to take her down about 18 pegs, and really relish in that fact. She really has it coming.
Unlike Ruby, who does seem to be genuinely invested in helping Sam. To what ends? That’s still a little murky. I thought her plan for sacrificing the virgin and vaporizing every demon within a mile was an interesting twist, especially given that it would kill her as well. I have a little trouble with her conclusion that it would have ultimately been better than Dean’s mass exorcism gambit though. There’s no guarantee that Lilith just wouldn’t have shown up at the police station later and done the same thing. It was going to be a crappy outcome either way.
The real telling bit of it was the revelation to Dean that Sam had been keeping things from him. Just a little more tension that their relationship doesn’t need. We also got yet another look at the continuing flip-flopping of the boys morals as Sam was ready to go with Ruby’s plan while Dean was up in arms about not harming an innocent.
As to the siege itself, thumbs up all around from me. Henricksen being possessed was something I didn’t see coming. Director Groves (Peter DeLuise) was pretty obvious, but I figured that Henricksen would come around and realize that he needed Sam and Dean to help him get out of this jam when he came face to face with a couple of black eyed demons. As it all played out, I couldn’t help being reminded of the classic John Carpenter film, Assault on Precinct 13. Demons instead of gangs and Dean goes to the car for weapons and amulets instead of trying to hotwire it and go for help, but the basics are there.
Getting to the bigger picture, I’m still a little undecided on Lilith. I’m glad that they paid off the hints from earlier so quickly, especially given the upcoming break. And I thought Ruby revealing that the new big bad is a she, and she wants Sam’s intestines on a stick, was a great moment. The part I am undecided on is did it have to be a little girl? Maybe it’s just a holdover of my disappointment with Blade: The Series, but I got a distinctly Charlotte feel from that brief introduction. Ultimately, I’ll probably come around, but I’m not completely sold on little Lilith at this point.
The only other complaint I really have this week would be the death of Henricksen. Yeah, it sucked that Nancy died, but there was mileage to be gained for just how bad Lilith really is there. And I didn’t have any hopes or expectations that Nancy would be hanging around for a return engagement, unless it was maybe to do some celebrating in the back of the Impala. Henricksen on the other hand, he could have made for a great recurring character. We got the whole story of how he came to be a hunter right there. Given his speech to Dean before it all went down, it really looks like he would have fully committed to this new life. And wouldn’t a friendly connection in the FBI be a handy one to have? I guess we can take some small measure of solace in the fact that at least the boys did appear on the casualty list. When the news report came on my worry was that they were going to be fingered for another string of killings.
All things considered, another great episode. The flash-forward and the Oceanic Six have certainly breathed new life into Lost, and there is no way Supernatural is going to beat it in the ratings battle. For me though, Supernatural is in the middle of the best season for any returning show. Cross your fingers for that Saturn award.
So, that’ll do it for a bit. As of now, it looks like the boys will be back with four new episodes starting on April 24th. That means our season three arc is probably going to be a little rushed compared to what was planned going in. With four episodes to wrap things up though, it should work out just fine.
Brought To You By …
A new column here at TV, where we talk about all of the things you’re missing when you hit fast forward on your DVRs.
I thought I’d kick off the very first Brought To You By…column by talking about yesterday’s Super Bowl ads (apparently there was also a game of some sort played…). USA Today did their annual ranking of the best and worst of the ads, having a bunch of viewers watch the ads with meters and give an opinion on the good and the bad, and for some reason Bud got the top spot, the way they do every single year. It must be that the people who vote on these things like horses, wacky comedy, or they’re all drunk (on Budweiser). The company got three of the top ten slots, and number one went to the spot where the dog trained the horse, accompanied by the Rocky theme. It’s bad enough that Bud seems to win over viewers every year, but this dog/horse ad wasn’t even the best of the Bud ads yesterday!
Anyway, I have my own thoughts on the best and worst, and I’ll list them after the jump.
Best
1. Coca-Cola/Dueling Balloons: Maybe I just have a soft spot for giant balloons based on cartoon characters, but I thought it was really funny to have Underdog and Stewie fight for a Coke in the skies over NY. And then Charlie Brown gets the bottle!
2. Pepsi/Justin Timberlake: Most of the time, commercials that feature celebs pushing soda just aren’t funny, but this one was actually clever and well done. Timberlake really has a second career making short films involving his penis.
3. Fed-Ex/Pigeons: I kinda knew where this one was going, but it didn’t make the images of giant pigeons creating havoc any less funny. This is what Cloverfield should have been like.
4. Bud Light/Wine and Cheese: This was the best beer ad of the night. The pacing and the editing are really well done, and the closing line of “Goin’ on a cheese run” is perfect.
5. Planters/Unibrow: I had no idea what was going on in this ad at first, but then it turned into one of those “wow, this is so creepy and odd it’s really funny” things. Good use of music too.
Worst
1. Anything by SalesGenie.com: They’ve been advertising in the game for the past couple of years, and no one knows, understands, or cares what they do. Something to do with sales leads? Gah.
2. SoBe Lizards: This one seemed to go on forever, and my roommate and I just looked at each other and said “what the f**k is going on?” Dancing to “Thriller?” There were a few ads this year from water companies, and all of them made me want to drink Coke.
3. Under Armour: I don’t get these commercials. They seem to want to empower athletes to want to be better (by wearing clothing), but to me they just reinforce what I hate about sports.
4. Lifesilk: What do you get when you put Marilyn Monroe, Shakira, and Madonna together? The most boring commercial in the world. What exactly are women supposed to get from this ad, that they can get hair like those stars by using Sunsilk? The text at the end that encourages viewers to visit their site and share their story just confuses me. Share my story about hair? (By the way, Madonna reportedly got $10 million for this, Shakira $2.5 million.)
5. Bridgestone/Richard Simmons: Come on, admit it, you would have liked this ad better if they actually ran Simmons down.
Coca-Cola: “Dueling Parade Balloons”
On a cool Thanksgiving morning old (Underdog) and new (Stewie from Family Guy) parade balloons battle it out for a inflatable bottle of Coca-Cola. As they cross the skyline of New York City fists fly and heads are butted. But, in the end, neither is the one who claims the prize. That honor goes to the honorable Charlie Brown, who seems to have finally won something in his life.
This was a cute and gentle commercial by Cola-Cola, which rarely disappoints when it comes to Super Bowl ads. I never realized that the Underdog and Stewie Thanksgiving Day balloons had such angry looks on their faces. That was an advantage in this commercial as we saw the two balloons battling it out. I enjoyed when Underdog slammed Stewie against the building. Nice job overall.
Arrested Development movie rumors
Talks of a potential movie featuring the dysfunctional Bluth family first started even before the show’s finale aired. However, nothing really officially had been done about it until recently. This past week, rumors of an Arrested Development feature movie have resumed but, this time, it is the cast talking!
Kristin Dos Santos from E! Online confirms that the cast members were asked by the show’s producers if they would be willing to star in the motion picture. AD’s leading man, Jason Bateman, confirmed to the gossip columnist that preliminary talks had begun. Elsewhere, Jeffrey Tambor admitted on the Ron and Fez Show on XM Radio that he was approached by Ron Howard to see if he was willing to reprise his role(s).
Dos Santos’ sources also revealed that no script has been written yet but that creator Mitch Hurwitz has a good idea of what he wants the movie to be like. Supposedly, Universal is interested in the feature and all cast members seem to have agreed to reprise their roles.
Being a huge fan of Arrested Development, I sure hope this movie happens. This one-of-a-kind comedy not only featured an amazing cast but also was cleverly written and contained tons of easter eggs. I hope the movie includes and/or mentions the Alliance of Magicians, Charlie Brown, Dr. Fünke’s 100% Natural Good-Time Family-Band Solution, Steve Holt, “no touching,” never nudes, Hot Cops, etc.
Rest assured that TV will keep you updated on the movie’s development and, if/when it starts shooting, spoilers.