Dead in the Water

Dead in the Water: A Fishy Tale

Now that Supernatural is settling into its pace and timeslot, I look forward to seeing what the crew and actors have to offer each week. This week was nothing like I expected. After last week’s out and out gung ho saga of Native American creatures and cannibalism in Colorado, I expected much the same again. I was, however, pleasantly surprised.

‘Dead in the Water’ was a much slower paced episode, and it certainly didn’t rely on action scenes to convey the show’s energy. Instead, it stuck to the good old fashioned, tried and tested formula of a ghost seeking revenge.

I can’t say as the bad guy turned out to be someone I didn’t expect, because I knew what was coming, possibly through watching too much mindless detective TV as a child. Still, the twist at the end when Dean brings the kid’s body from below the water really did trick me into thinking he was dead. That was a nice touch, and I hope to see similar twists in the show’s future episodes. From my experience, audiences liked to be proved wrong- especially when it turns a sad ending into a happy one.

The writing wasn’t exactly original, but I did like how we saw the other, softer side of Dean’s character. When Sam says ‘Who are you and what have you done with my brother?’ you just know Dean will have to respond, and that kind of rapport is fun. I think it’s one of the things I like about the show. Each week I see Jared and Jensen’s working relationship improve, and with it so do their performances. Indeed, in a recent online article the pair likened themselves to actual brothers after they ended up in a real-life bar brawl together.

Jared’s character, Sam, seemed a little quiet to me this week, or was it my imagination? Dean always seems to overpower his younger brother and usually gets to kiss the girl, and maybe it’s that overshadowing I’m seeing. Who knows?

The production side of things kept to the first two episodes standards, although there was less makeup and effects to actually see onscreen. Basically, ‘Dead in the Water’ relied more on atmosphere than actual fright value this week. For me, it worked just as well, if not better than previous stories.

The one thing I think the producers may have to reconsider is the ‘no story arcs’ idea they’ve been sticking to so far. Sometimes, people want to be teased into watching the next episode. They want to have some underlying puzzle to keep them interested. I’m not suggesting some deep involving plot that you need to catch every second of every episode for, but perhaps we need more of the Winchesters very own stalker entity that killed their mom? Or at least some clue or lead as to what their dad is up to, to whet our appetites? I’ll leave you to make your own conclusions….

Added: September 28th 2005
Reviewer: Dawn
Score: 4/5