CW's "Supernatural" Needs a Fresh Injection with "There Will Be Blood:" A Television Review

Director: Guy Bee.

Writer: Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin.

The stakes are high, and nearly everyone in Heaven and Hell is invested in seeing the Leviathans fall in "Supernatural’s" episode, “There Will Be Blood.” While those particular forces are doing nothing (to put themselves in danger), the Winchesters are doing everything. The brothers have a recipe to create a weapon that can kill the Old Ones, as they were once called. That also includes summoning up some old familiar faces from the roster and asking for a favour or two.

Crowley (Mark Sheppard) makes for a great return appearance, and Dick Roman (James Patrick Stuart) finally shines as the calculating villain that he is. In the opening act, he gives audiences a knowing look by breaking the fourth wall. Very rarely will this technique be praised, and it's a beautiful touch by director Guy Bee, before the series title splashes on screen.

When considering the number of months that have passed during this season, the Winchesters finally have the knowledge needed to defeat Roman. But their decision to simply storm the fort is not the best tactic. Sun Tsu can suggest a better strategy had the brothers decided to read the Art of War when they were stuck in what to do. They could have also read War and Peace too, but this latter book will not offer ideas in how to fight the Leviathans. Instead, they have to rely on a Sumerian-like tablet to give them the knowledge needed to defeat the monsters from Purgatory.

Sam and Dean could amusingly march around the walls of Roman’s estate in hopes that the fortifications will come tumbling down, or they could try to convince as many of their allies to infiltrate the business. They do have an unlikely ally; George, from "Out with the Old," may return in the finale. Without him, the brothers are not going to get far when they do decide to enter the citadel.

In the meantime, Bobby Singer is on the warpath. This new direction for the ghost is to be applauded, and for the scriptwriters, they have finally decided that a change in personality helps too. Ever since Singer’s change in attitude and his fall from grace by turning into a vengeful spirit, viewers do not hear him say “Balls” as often, and that’s heartily welcomed. One overdosed episode was enough.

And finally, all the loose ends are being tied up. Last season had the brothers discovering that the Alpha monsters (first in the line) have been captured and tortured to spill certain secrets, like their lineage. The purpose is still not quite clear, but it may suggest whose bones the Winchesters have to find if they are to kill Roman. Only a bone of a righteous mortal washed in the blood of a fallen angel, a fallen son and beasts can destroy a Leviathan.

At least the threads linking Dick Roman’s plans of how to control the world is revealed. He intends on fattening up the human population so the Old Ones can feast. At this point in the narrative, who cares? The Leviathans are shaping up to be nothing but sheepherders at this rate. In a broader perspective, they are nothing but hungry hippos with a very selective appetite. When they finally wipe out the human race, their food supply will be gone. Just where will they go next?

When the head of the beast is destroyed, the rest of his minions may not necessarily simply fall dead like those Droids from The Clone Wars. That is a cop out. The remaining forces will have to flee somewhere. They can go into hiding, head to South America or become hermits themselves.

Hopefully season eight, which is confirmed, will address cleaning up the mess created in this season. The chances of God descending upon the world to lock the rest of the Leviathans away is unlikely. There may be a magical spell to send them back from whence they came, and that may be in what the other tablet contains. Roman seems to have found another tablet, and he forced the Chosen One, Kevin Tran (Osric Chau), to translate it. It may be the key to how this season may end.

Chau is proving to be very likable as a very reluctant and scared prophet. Hopefully he will be a series regular. He can potentially be the new blood needed for this show to survive. To see the Winchesters become his guardians makes sense. While these three do not have to carry the next season, the relationship that will develop between the prophet to the boys is important.

While there is no end to the type of beasts the Winchesters can slay on a weekly basis, even after seven years, a change in direction is needed. The number of truly powerful monsters is decreasing. If there are indeed more tablets to be found, as the final few episodes suggest, hopefully one of them will summon forth the mother of all dragons to bring forth a cliffhanger that will make Supernatural interesting again.

This critic likes to see a new war on Earth with Marduk and Tiamat, the true oceanographic behemoth, taking center stage! Nearly every nation from the Classical Age has been exhausted, and to change ethnic regions for new ideas is highly recommended. That may be why Tran, an Asian-American, was chosen.

Overall: 7 out of 10.

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