Review | 8x19 | Taxi Driver
Apr. 24th, 2013 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
galatheaI know I am terribly late with this review, but better late than never, right? I admit, I deliberately postponed this review time and again, mainly because I knew right away that thinking about Taxi Driver would be way worse than just watching it. I will concede that the premise of the episode is fraught with potential, but the mediocre writing of Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner just squanders all that potential away. They delivered a script that is not only riddled with continuity and characterisation issues, but also unbelievably careless in its treatment of past mythology. So I apologise in advance that this is more or less a (very lengthy) listing of all the reasons why Taxi Driver really misses its mark.
In many ways, Taxi Driver reminds me of the biggest let-down of the past season, namely The Born-Again Identity. Both episodes suffer from the time constraints that come with the attempt to fit a complex A-plot and several B-plots into a single episode, which unsurprisingly results in a scattered focus, a need for narrative short-cuts and a lack of depth, especially where the exploration of the emotional ramifications of the plot for the characters is concerned. Quite frankly, it would have made considerably more sense to spread the storyline of the second trial out over several episodes, so the writers could have given it the attention and care it deserved. As it is, Sam’s journey into hell to retrieve Bobby’s soul is reduced to a cheap by-the-numbers plot that competes for screen time with Benny’s final farewell, Kevin’s deteriorating mental health, Naomi’s attempt to win Dean over and Crowley’s shenanigans. It is all rather frustrating! Of course, it does not help that the episode was given to Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming of all people, two writers who can barely draft a decent monster-of-the-week plot, let alone deliver a nuanced characterisation. Buckner and Ross-Leming somehow manage to trivialise Taxi Driver’s emotionally complex storyline and undermine vital parts of past canon in the process. For the life of me, I cannot understand why this duo is allowed to write an important mythology episode like this. Either the Powers-That-Be are completely blind to the weaknesses of this writing team or they simply do not care – and neither inspires much confidence.
Sam: "You know, wouldn't it be a lot easier just to tell us how to enter hell uninvited?"
Demon: "It’s a secret."
Dean: "We promise we won't tell anyone."
Over the past couple of years, I have grown somewhat accustomed to the fact that, for reasons of convenience, the writers sometimes ignore, change or contradict past canon, and often I do not even blame them. Supernatural’s canon is vast and complex, and I can understand that it is almost impossible to keep track of every little detail of the mythology. However, I think it should not be that hard to at least preserve the basic integrity of the mythology and take the characters' history into consideration when drafting a script. But apparently the writers are intent on proving me wrong. See, in Taxi Driver Sam is entrusted with the task of saving Bobby's soul from hell, and to anyone with a basic understanding of the Winchesters’ history the enormity of that task would immediately be obvious. I mean, John Winchester was tormented in hell, and his escape was only made possible by Azazel’s plan to open a devil’s gate for his demon army. Dean Winchester was tortured in hell and numerous angels gave their lives to save him. Sam Winchester suffered in hell’s very own cage for Lucifer, and Death himself had to intervene on his behalf. So, for Sam and Dean, the second trial ties in with a lot of emotionally complex situations, and that should show in the way they approach said trial, but it never really does. They treat Sam's trip to hell like any other ordinary hunt. Moreover, in the past seven seasons the show primarily highlighted two main facets of hell: Firstly, hell is the worst place imaginable; it is a place so dire that it twists souls into something evil and so terrifying that even demons desperately want to escape it. Secondly, it is almost impossible for a soul to get out of hell, and it requires an immense power to be able to access hell and set a soul free. These aspects of hell are so well established that it is virtually impossible to modify them without retroactively affecting vital parts of the mythology, and yet the writers went ahead and messed with the hell mythology anyway, with the predictable result that past canon was undermined in the process.
Let us look back to S4, for example. At the time, Sam desperately tried everything in his power to find a way to save Dean from hell. And I mean he tried everything - from devil’s gates to demon deals and whatever else was available to him - and still came up empty. I have no doubt that he was not reluctant to use torture on the demons that fell into his hands either, so if there had been a secret way to enter hell uninvited, Sam surely would have forced that information out of some poor demon at some point. He can be scary that way, especially when Dean’s life is on the line. Moreover, the fact that, ultimately, an entire legion of angels needed to lay siege on hell in order to rescue Dean supported the view that it was impossible for Sam to achieve that very goal on his own. In Taxi Driver, however, Sam and Dean 'acquire' the information that reapers can smuggle people in and out of hell (and purgatory) from a crossroads demon in about three minutes flat. And, once in hell, Sam just fetches Bobby's soul and walks out again, easy as anything. So, basically, the episode not only implies that, back in S4, Sam was just too stupid or not committed enough to acquire the information he needed to save Dean, but also that it would have been a walk in the park for him to do so, and that completely undermines the tragedy of Sam’s story in S4. Not to mention that the episode also implies that it would have been equally easy for Sam to save Dean from purgatory, if he had only bothered to look for him.
Similarly, in S6 it was firmly established that nobody has ever been able to find purgatory, so when Castiel and Crowley set out to harvest its souls, they had to start from scratch. They had no idea where it is located – other than hell-adjacent, that is – or how to access it; they only knew that monsters originate from purgatory, which is why they tortured alpha monsters for information. Apparently, Crowley suffered from a bout of amnesia, though, because if we were to believe the crossroads demon in Taxi Driver, the reapers’ ability to cross between dimensions has been common, if well-guarded knowledge in hell all along. Moreover, the conversation between Ajay and Crowley suggests that Crowley has known the reaper (and the services he offers) for a long time and yet it seems that it never occurred to him to try and exploit the reaper's unique abilities for his own ends. Obviously, he rather preferred fruitlessly torturing alphas for two years. Right! The thing is, all these issues could have easily been avoided if the demon tablet or the Batcave had provided Sam and Dean with a way to enter hell (and purgatory). After all, those two sources of supernatural knowledge have been lost for a very long time, so their contents could not have been known to anyone. It would have preserved the integrity of Sam and Crowley's story in S4 and S6, respectively, and still provided the means to tell the story of the second trial.
Then there is the problematic portrayal of hell and purgatory. In The Man Who Would Be King it was established that Crowley had remodelled hell into an endless waiting line, because the masochistic inclinations of hell’s 'inmates' had made plain old physical torture inefficient. However, that is not what we see in Taxi Driver. Either Crowley decided at some point it would be a good idea to once again redesign hell – this time into a cheap 'haunted house' knock-off for some inexplicable reason – or, more likely, the writers simply could not be bothered with continuity. In any case, this version of hell is not only not terrifying, but it also does not seem to pose any kind of threat to Sam. He meets no opposition during his exploration of hell and does not seem particularly intimidated or worried by the fact that he is in hell in the first place. Really, judging by Sam's experience of hell, one has to wonder why people fear it at all; it completely undercuts the horror hell is supposed to represent. Similarly, Sam never seems to be in any real danger in purgatory either. He barely encounters any monsters and the few monsters that do attack him are easily dispatched. Sam’s version of purgatory stands in stark contrast to Dean’s version, however. I mean, when Dean arrived in purgatory, he was almost immediately surrounded by monsters, and there was no doubt that his life was in grave danger. Moreover, the flashbacks at the beginning of S8 supported the impression that Dean’s year in purgatory was a non-stop fight for survival – an impression that is now challenged by Sam’s carefree stroll through purgatory and thus damages Dean’s entire purgatory arc. Overall, the portrayal of hell and purgatory in Taxi Driver makes light of the danger and terror those places represent, and thus undercuts established mythology.
All in all, I have no doubt that, unless a scene presents a straightforward contradiction of past canon, it is possible to make all kinds of rationalisation attempts for every canonically dubious moment in Taxi Driver. I mean, we can argue, for example, that it took an entire legion of angels to rescue Dean’s soul from hell because he was imprisoned and heavily guarded somewhere in the inaccessible depths of the pit, while Bobby was simply not important enough to receive the same 'VIP treatment' and hence was easily sprung from his cell. Similarly, we can claim that Sam was able to pass through purgatory undetected because he did not have an angel as a companion, whose presence attracted all kinds of nasty critters. However, that is not the point. The point is that going to hell – or purgatory for that matter – should never look easy, it should never look cheap and the emotional consequences for the characters should never be brushed aside. Hell and purgatory are not just any places; they have been crucial to the brothers’ emotional development and hence expanding their mythology needs to be handled with care. Besides, I am really tired of doing the writers’ work for them by constantly trying to reconcile past and present canon. I just wished they would show more concern about the integrity of the show’s narrative in the first place.
Dean: "You heard the guy. Bobby's in hell. We're gonna spring him. "
Sam: "We've gone over this, Dean. I have to do the trials solo."
Dean: "This is Bobby we're talking about, Sam. Now let's face it, you have not exactly been up to full speed lately, okay? We got one shot at this. We can't miss."
Sam: "I'm not gonna miss."
I admit, I find the Sam-and-Dean dynamic in Taxi Driver rather disconcerting, mainly because the emotional ramifications of Sam’s trip to hell do not seem to register with either brother at any point in the episode. At the very least, one would expect for Sam and Dean to acknowledge their traumatic history with hell in some shape or form, but it is never even mentioned between them. I mean, it broke Sam in mind and spirit when all his determination and resourcefulness failed to provide him with the means to save his brother from hell, and now that he is basically handed the means to rescue a soul from hell on a silver platter, he does not even seem to make a connection between both of these events; it is as if that vital part of his own history never even happened. Similarly, both brothers are perfectly aware that it took an entire legion of angels to break Dean out of hell, and yet it does not even seem to occur to either of them that, even if Sam makes it into hell, he may still not be able to actually reach Bobby’s location. Sure, Dean is concerned that Sam’s trial-related illness may prove to be a hindrance to the success of the mission, but beyond that he does not seem to see any problems with his brother’s trip to hell, and neither does Sam. They both act entirely casual about it.
Take the brothers’ argument about Dean accompanying Sam to hell, for example. Sam is about to embark on a journey to the place that represents both brothers’ worst nightmares, and Dean’s main concern is that Sam might screw up Bobby’s rescue? Really? He is not afraid that Sam might not make it back? Or that the trip to hell will trigger traumatic memories of Sam’s time in the cage? Or that Crowley is just waiting for this chance to get his hands on Sam? There are dozens of nightmarish scenarios that could go through Dean’s head in that moment, but all he worries about is failing Bobby? That seems like a rather cold reaction. Moreover, once Sam is on his way, Dean does not seem to be particularly worried either. He takes care of Kevin, gives out friendly advice and seems more bummed out about losing his pie than about (potentially) losing his brother. Now, if Dean’s carefree demeanour had at some point been revealed as a desperate attempt to keep his 'game face' on, this characterisation could have worked, but it does not come off like that at all. He seems genuinely unconcerned about Sam’s well-being, up until the point where Ajay turns up dead; only then he goes into a worried frenzy. Quite frankly, it baffles me that the writers let this opportunity for truly meaningful, emotionally engaging brotherly moments go to waste.
In hindsight, there is one other thing that bothers me about Sam and Dean’s aforementioned conversation, namely Sam’s insistence that, in order to successfully complete the second trial, he has to rescue Bobby on his own and hence cannot allow Dean to accompany him to hell. At first glance, it may make perfect sense for Sam to argue in this manner; he completed the first trial on his own as well, after all. However, at that point the brothers are already about to call on Ajay’s services for the access to hell/purgatory, so doing the trial completely on his own is no longer an option anyway. Moreover, to actually bring his quest to completion, Sam relies on the help of other people as well. I mean, without Benny’s sacrifice, Sam and Bobby would have been stuck in purgatory and without Naomi’s interference on the Winchesters’ behalf, Crowley would have sent Bobby’s soul right back to hell. All in all, the second trial is a massive team effort anyway, so I really do not see how bringing Dean along would have hurt Sam’s cause, as long as he was the one carrying Bobby out of hell/purgatory. With that in mind, I cannot help but wonder where Sam has to draw the line in terms of outside help, before the trial does not count as his own achievement anymore. As far as I remember, Kevin never explicitly told the brothers that whoever undertakes the trials cannot accept some help along the way, though, so I think there should be enough leeway to include Dean in the next trial.
Bobby: "Sam? I'm sorry, Sam, but you're the 200th Sam I've seen today. That's how they screw with me. Just endless Sams and Deans, all wearing the same black eyes. Wait a minute. What the hell are you doing here? Please don't tell me it's what I think it is."
Sam: "No, no, no, Bobby, I'm good. I'm here to get you. You don't belong here, Bobby. And we're getting you out."
I admit, when I first read spoilers about Bobby’s appearance in Taxi Driver, I was pretty excited, mainly because a (temporary) reunion between the brothers and their fatherly friend had the potential to be an emotional highlight of the season for me. However, implausible plotting and sloppy characterisation undermine almost every scene involving Bobby, and I find that immensely frustrating. It starts with the fact that, when Sam finds Bobby in his cell, which is conveniently located right around the corner from where Sam enters hell, he tries to prove his identity to Bobby by recounting some of his friend’s well-kept secrets – and Bobby almost instantly accepts Sam’s 'proof' as valid. I mean, really? It has been well established that demons can read minds, so Sam’s knowledge of Bobby’s secrets proves absolutely nothing. There is a reason why the whole silver/holy water/borax ritual is a standard procedure when someone comes back from the dead; mere words are just not enough to establish someone’s true identity. And given that, all this time, the demons dangled false hope in form of Sam and Dean doppelgangers in front of Bobby, one would expect him to be much more suspicious of Sam. Now, if Bobby’s hasty acceptance of Sam’s realness had been framed as the acceptance of a broken man who allowed himself to wallow in the comfort of an illusion for a little while, the scene would have worked well; it would even have added a layer of tragedy to Sam and Bobby’s reunion. However, Bobby appears to be perfectly lucid, and his reaction to Sam is clearly genuine.
A similar problem crops up in the scene where Sam and Bobby encounter one of Sam’s demonic doppelgangers. Bobby barely hesitates before he kills 'Sam', even though he has no way of knowing which Sam is real, and I just have a hard time believing that Bobby would risk Sam’s life on a fifty-fifty chance, especially if he is convinced that Sam is his ticket out of hell. Again, if Bobby’s rash decision had been framed as the decision of a desperate man who believed that his rescue from hell was just another deception designed to torture him with false hope, this scene would have worked, but it does not come off like that at all. Bobby seems perfectly aware and oriented. And while we are on the subject of Bobby’s mental state: How is it that, after all this time in hell, Bobby is still his old self? I mean, Dean spent four months in hell and he came out a broken man; Sam spent eighteen months in the cage and his mind was unable to cope with the experience; Bobby spends two years in hell and he is – grumpy? Now, I do think there is a crucial difference between the brothers’ time in hell and Bobby’s. The torture Sam and Dean suffered at the hands of Lucifer and Alistair, respectively, was specially tailored to break them in mind and spirit; it was relentless, purposeful and personal. Bobby, on the other hand, was just one soul in many, and it does not seem like Crowley insisted on special treatment for him, so it makes sense for Bobby to be less damaged by his experience than Sam and Dean. However, the fact that Bobby looks barely worse for wear and seems more bored and annoyed than anything completely undermines the horror of hell, and I find that aggravating.
In any case, of all the things, large and small, that bother me in Taxi Driver, Sam’s conversation with Bobby during their leisurely stroll through purgatory – I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it comes off as exactly that – probably bothers me the most, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, Bobby suggesting to Sam that the brothers should try to find a way to bring him back from the dead feels incredibly out of character to me. The Bobby I know would never ask that of Sam and Dean, not least because he knows first-hand that violating the natural order always comes at a terrible price. He not only witnessed the far-reaching consequences of Sam and Dean’s inability to accept each other’s mortality, but also experienced those consequences himself, when he made the decision to become a spirit. He may have stayed with the best intentions, namely to lend Sam and Dean his continuous support, but he quickly lost himself and turned against those he loved most. If anything, his unsettling experiences as a spirit taught him to accept his death and let go of his ties to the world. "When it's your time – go," Bobby told the brothers in his final farewell in Survival of the Fittest, and there is little doubt that he was at peace with his decision to move on. Personally, I thought it was a satisfying resolution to Bobby’s arc in S7, so I am frustrated that the writers undercut said resolution now by regressing the character in this fashion.
Secondly, Bobby reprimanding Sam for not looking for Dean when he was in purgatory annoyed me to no end, not so much because it is out of character, but because once again Sam is not allowed to make his case. Why do the writers bring this topic up again, if they do not use it to add something substantial to Sam’s story? They could have used this opportunity to finally allow Sam to explain his choices in the aftermath of Dean’s disappearance in no uncertain terms, thus retroactively repairing some of the damage they did to Sam’s character in the first half of the season. But instead they just put the same nonsensical excuse about a mutual agreement in Sam’s mouth – a line that already did not work in the season opener. Sam and Dean never agreed not to look for each other should one of them disappear and, quite frankly, it would be a rather impractical agreement in their line of work – a point easily made by episodes like Time after Time, Ghostfacers or The Benders. However, I think it is possible to argue that the brothers had an unspoken agreement to not bring each other back from the dead, and S8 suggested on several occasions that Sam genuinely thought Dean had died in the blast that killed Dick Roman. So why not just outright confirm that here and lay the subject to rest? No matter how unlikely I may find the notion that Sam would just right away accept that Dean is dead, it is still a somewhat passable characterisation; Sam assuming Dean survived and not even looking into the possibility of saving him because of a non-agreement is not, though, and I am incredibly frustrated that the writers still do not seem to think that there is anything wrong with their approach to Sam’s story this season.
Lastly, one general thought about Bobby’s storyline in Taxi Driver: The second trial stipulates that an innocent soul has to be rescued from hell, and I cannot help but wonder what exactly constitutes as innocent in this context. Can Bobby’s soul still be considered innocent, given his personal history? I mean, Bobby murdered his father in cold blood, for one thing. Sure, there have been extenuating circumstances, but still. Back in Appointment In Samarra Balthazar told Sam that the act of patricide will damage his soulless shell to the point that it is rendered uninhabitable for his soul, and if patricide has such a destructive effect on a soulless vessel, I dread to think what it would do to the soul itself. Moreover, like many in his profession, Bobby tortured and killed many innocent possession victims, one of them his wife, and when his own time came, he made the choice to defy the natural order and become a spirit, a state in which he violated an innocent woman and almost killed his surrogate son. All of this had to leave a mark on Bobby’s soul. Of course, I still consider him a good man, but he has not exactly been guilt-free, not in life or in death. So, does 'innocent' merely imply that, overall, Bobby’s good actions outweigh the bad? And what about other spirits? So far the show refused to give a definitive answer to the question what happens to spirits when their remains are destroyed, but Taxi Driver seems to suggest that their souls are released to heaven. Does that also apply to spirits who cruelly murder countless innocent people in their confusion and anger? Or do those go to hell? I really wished we had more clarity on this part of the mythology.
Benny: "Hey, he's your brother. I say let's do this."
Dean: "I owe you."
Benny: "Oh, you don't owe me nothing. Truth is, I could use a break from all this."
Dean: "It really been that tough?"
Benny: "I'm not a good fit, Dean. Not with vampires and, for sure, not with the humans. I don't belong. And after a while that starts to wear on you."
One of the few scenes in Taxi Driver that really work for me is Dean’s final encounter with Benny, and I think it stands out because, unlike most other scenes in the episode, it allows the characters to pause for a minute and contemplate the magnitude of what they are about to do, namely sacrificing one life for another. Now, the fact that Benny readily agrees with Dean’s request to end his life, just so he can help Sam escape from purgatory, does not exactly come as a surprise. I mean, ever since Benny returned topside, everything he valued about his new lease on life in the first place has slowly been stripped away – his lover Andrea betrayed him, his granddaughter Elisabeth was safer without him in her life, and his friend Dean turned him away to salvage his relationship with Sam. Basically, Benny has nothing left to live for, and by sacrificing himself for Dean’s brother, he can at least give this failed attempt at a new life meaning. Dean’s guilt and sorrow at choosing Sam over Benny for the second time is tangible, and yet he does it anyway, because the alternative, i.e. losing Sam, is just unthinkable. However, it is still probably one of the darkest things Dean has ever done for his brother, and there is no doubt that killing Benny will haunt him for a very long time. If there is one good thing to come from Benny’s death it is that Sam is finally able to admit that he misjudged the vampire, and instead of giving his brother grief for not burning Benny’s body, he can offer his support and understanding. It may be too little, too late, but it is something.
That being said, I feel that, in a way, Benny's death has been one of the most unsettling deaths of the show. Not because I was more invested in Benny than in any of the other recurring characters that died over the years, but because I find the writers' treatment of Benny appalling. Normally, we see recurring characters enter Sam and Dean’s life, we see them grow into their friends and family and eventually they become casualties of the never-ending war the brothers wage on the supernatural. I may not be happy about the writers’ habit to kill the recurring characters off, but at least they usually treat those characters with respect. Benny, however, was never treated like a real character in the first place; it seems to me that he was specifically designed to heap further pain and guilt on Dean. I mean, the writers did not even make an effort to show us how Benny and Dean became friends; they just claimed their friendship into existence, and the only reason it worked at all is because Ty Olsson and Jensen did their level best to sell us on the characters' feelings for each other. Ultimately, the writers simply used Benny as a tool; first to drive a (completely contrived) wedge between Sam and Dean and then to add to Dean’s guilt issues. I do not think the writers have ever treated a character as callously as Benny. Well, maybe Adam, but that's about it.
What else is noteworthy:
(1) Out of all the subplots in the episode, I probably enjoyed Kevin’s storyline the most, and the fact that I find a comparatively minor storyline emotionally more engaging than Sam and Dean’s really says it all. Anyway, basically Kevin’s storyline in Taxi Driver picks up where Trial and Error left off, namely with Kevin exhausted and on the edge of a nervous breakdown, especially since he started to hear Crowley in his head. I admit, the brothers’ reaction to Kevin’s admission surprised me negatively. I mean, why would Sam and Dean of all people just dismiss Kevin’s claim of hearing Crowley as simple paranoia? Azazel and Lucifer talked to Sam in his dreams, and both brothers know for a fact that angels are able to talk to their vessels, so Kevin’s claim is not that far-fetched. On the contrary, Kevin’s admission should set off Sam and Dean’s alarm bells. After all, Kevin is vital to their mission, so whatever is happening to him – no matter if imaginary or real – should be their priority. To be honest, I find Sam and Dean’s lack of compassion for Kevin’s situation here rather unsettling. They have been where Kevin is now – alone, desperate, the weight of the world on his shoulders and at the end of his rope – so they should be able to relate to him. Actually, the brothers should long have offered Kevin refuge at the Batcave. He would have been able to feel entirely safe there, and Sam and Dean would have been able to keep an eye on him and prevent him from doing something rash – like taking off without protection. But I guess it is too late for that now.
(2) Ajay, the rogue reaper who helps Sam to cross over into purgatory, is such a blatant plot device that the writers do not even bother following the well-established reaper lore, let alone giving the character an agency of his own. Ajay barely puts up any resistance when the brothers approach him with their request, even though he explicitly mentions that gate-crashing a Winchester into hell is a severe transgression. It is obvious that he will face serious consequences if he is found out, and yet he does it anyway for an unspecified reward sometime in the future. There is really no comprehensible in-canon reason for him to comply with Sam and Dean’s demands. As for the reaper lore, in In My Time Of Dying it was firmly established that reapers can only be seen by the dead and the dying, and every subsequent episode featuring reapers reinforced that rule, so the fact that Sam and Dean are able to just openly approach Ajay in the streets is a clear violation of canon. Also, why does Crowley kill Ajay with an angel sword? In Death Takes a Holiday Alistair needed to acquire Death’s sickle, specifically, to be able to kill reapers. While it was never explicitly ruled out that reapers can be killed with an angel sword as well, it still stands to reason that Alistair would have used one, if it had been a viable option. The demons battled many angels during the breaking of the seals, so it would have been much easier for Alistair to obtain an angel sword than Death’s sickle.
(3) I know some fans find it odd that, upon entering purgatory, Sam is unable to differentiate it from hell, but that is one of the few things that actually make sense to me. Sam was held in Lucifer’s cage, and while the cage is indeed located in hell – Death tells Dean in Appointment in Samarra that he is going to hell to fetch Sam's soul – it is a hermetically sealed mystical prison within the depth of hell that even most demons do not know about. The demon Casey told Dean in Sin City that most of demonkind believes Lucifer to be a myth, so they clearly have no clue that the cage exists, and Azazel had to perform a particularly gruesome blood ritual outside of hell, just to establish rudimentary communications with Lucifer, so the cage is clearly not a normal part of hell. Therefore, Sam would simply not know what hell looks like based on his experience in the cage.
In conclusion: Taxi Driver is one of those dissatisfactory episodes that fail miserably to adequately translate the potential of their premise into a convincing narrative. The episode could have been a true Supernatural classic, emotionally and intellectually engaging, but instead it turned out to be a mediocre mishmash of half-baked storylines. What I find especially disheartening, though, is that an episode like Taxi Driver illustrates quite clearly that the problems with the writing this season are of such a fundamental nature that there is no reason to assume that S9 will considerably improve. The writers seem to lack the most basic respect and/or understanding for past canon, and their disregard for continuity and consistent characterisation is deeply troubling. Sorry, that I am so negative, but I find the overall decline of quality in Supernatural really frustrating at the moment.
By the way, with this review the collective word count of my writings on Supernatural passes the 500.000 words mark! You know, I am actually quite proud of this achievement. Oh, and one more thing, I will not be able to write a review for tonight’s episode. It’s my godson’s confirmation this weekend, so I will be leaving for my sister’s tomorrow. I will probably stay for a week or so, and that will leave me with no time to review the episode before the next one airs. I hope to catch up on it during the summer hiatus though.
In many ways, Taxi Driver reminds me of the biggest let-down of the past season, namely The Born-Again Identity. Both episodes suffer from the time constraints that come with the attempt to fit a complex A-plot and several B-plots into a single episode, which unsurprisingly results in a scattered focus, a need for narrative short-cuts and a lack of depth, especially where the exploration of the emotional ramifications of the plot for the characters is concerned. Quite frankly, it would have made considerably more sense to spread the storyline of the second trial out over several episodes, so the writers could have given it the attention and care it deserved. As it is, Sam’s journey into hell to retrieve Bobby’s soul is reduced to a cheap by-the-numbers plot that competes for screen time with Benny’s final farewell, Kevin’s deteriorating mental health, Naomi’s attempt to win Dean over and Crowley’s shenanigans. It is all rather frustrating! Of course, it does not help that the episode was given to Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming of all people, two writers who can barely draft a decent monster-of-the-week plot, let alone deliver a nuanced characterisation. Buckner and Ross-Leming somehow manage to trivialise Taxi Driver’s emotionally complex storyline and undermine vital parts of past canon in the process. For the life of me, I cannot understand why this duo is allowed to write an important mythology episode like this. Either the Powers-That-Be are completely blind to the weaknesses of this writing team or they simply do not care – and neither inspires much confidence.
Sam: "You know, wouldn't it be a lot easier just to tell us how to enter hell uninvited?"
Demon: "It’s a secret."
Dean: "We promise we won't tell anyone."
Over the past couple of years, I have grown somewhat accustomed to the fact that, for reasons of convenience, the writers sometimes ignore, change or contradict past canon, and often I do not even blame them. Supernatural’s canon is vast and complex, and I can understand that it is almost impossible to keep track of every little detail of the mythology. However, I think it should not be that hard to at least preserve the basic integrity of the mythology and take the characters' history into consideration when drafting a script. But apparently the writers are intent on proving me wrong. See, in Taxi Driver Sam is entrusted with the task of saving Bobby's soul from hell, and to anyone with a basic understanding of the Winchesters’ history the enormity of that task would immediately be obvious. I mean, John Winchester was tormented in hell, and his escape was only made possible by Azazel’s plan to open a devil’s gate for his demon army. Dean Winchester was tortured in hell and numerous angels gave their lives to save him. Sam Winchester suffered in hell’s very own cage for Lucifer, and Death himself had to intervene on his behalf. So, for Sam and Dean, the second trial ties in with a lot of emotionally complex situations, and that should show in the way they approach said trial, but it never really does. They treat Sam's trip to hell like any other ordinary hunt. Moreover, in the past seven seasons the show primarily highlighted two main facets of hell: Firstly, hell is the worst place imaginable; it is a place so dire that it twists souls into something evil and so terrifying that even demons desperately want to escape it. Secondly, it is almost impossible for a soul to get out of hell, and it requires an immense power to be able to access hell and set a soul free. These aspects of hell are so well established that it is virtually impossible to modify them without retroactively affecting vital parts of the mythology, and yet the writers went ahead and messed with the hell mythology anyway, with the predictable result that past canon was undermined in the process.
Let us look back to S4, for example. At the time, Sam desperately tried everything in his power to find a way to save Dean from hell. And I mean he tried everything - from devil’s gates to demon deals and whatever else was available to him - and still came up empty. I have no doubt that he was not reluctant to use torture on the demons that fell into his hands either, so if there had been a secret way to enter hell uninvited, Sam surely would have forced that information out of some poor demon at some point. He can be scary that way, especially when Dean’s life is on the line. Moreover, the fact that, ultimately, an entire legion of angels needed to lay siege on hell in order to rescue Dean supported the view that it was impossible for Sam to achieve that very goal on his own. In Taxi Driver, however, Sam and Dean 'acquire' the information that reapers can smuggle people in and out of hell (and purgatory) from a crossroads demon in about three minutes flat. And, once in hell, Sam just fetches Bobby's soul and walks out again, easy as anything. So, basically, the episode not only implies that, back in S4, Sam was just too stupid or not committed enough to acquire the information he needed to save Dean, but also that it would have been a walk in the park for him to do so, and that completely undermines the tragedy of Sam’s story in S4. Not to mention that the episode also implies that it would have been equally easy for Sam to save Dean from purgatory, if he had only bothered to look for him.
Similarly, in S6 it was firmly established that nobody has ever been able to find purgatory, so when Castiel and Crowley set out to harvest its souls, they had to start from scratch. They had no idea where it is located – other than hell-adjacent, that is – or how to access it; they only knew that monsters originate from purgatory, which is why they tortured alpha monsters for information. Apparently, Crowley suffered from a bout of amnesia, though, because if we were to believe the crossroads demon in Taxi Driver, the reapers’ ability to cross between dimensions has been common, if well-guarded knowledge in hell all along. Moreover, the conversation between Ajay and Crowley suggests that Crowley has known the reaper (and the services he offers) for a long time and yet it seems that it never occurred to him to try and exploit the reaper's unique abilities for his own ends. Obviously, he rather preferred fruitlessly torturing alphas for two years. Right! The thing is, all these issues could have easily been avoided if the demon tablet or the Batcave had provided Sam and Dean with a way to enter hell (and purgatory). After all, those two sources of supernatural knowledge have been lost for a very long time, so their contents could not have been known to anyone. It would have preserved the integrity of Sam and Crowley's story in S4 and S6, respectively, and still provided the means to tell the story of the second trial.
Then there is the problematic portrayal of hell and purgatory. In The Man Who Would Be King it was established that Crowley had remodelled hell into an endless waiting line, because the masochistic inclinations of hell’s 'inmates' had made plain old physical torture inefficient. However, that is not what we see in Taxi Driver. Either Crowley decided at some point it would be a good idea to once again redesign hell – this time into a cheap 'haunted house' knock-off for some inexplicable reason – or, more likely, the writers simply could not be bothered with continuity. In any case, this version of hell is not only not terrifying, but it also does not seem to pose any kind of threat to Sam. He meets no opposition during his exploration of hell and does not seem particularly intimidated or worried by the fact that he is in hell in the first place. Really, judging by Sam's experience of hell, one has to wonder why people fear it at all; it completely undercuts the horror hell is supposed to represent. Similarly, Sam never seems to be in any real danger in purgatory either. He barely encounters any monsters and the few monsters that do attack him are easily dispatched. Sam’s version of purgatory stands in stark contrast to Dean’s version, however. I mean, when Dean arrived in purgatory, he was almost immediately surrounded by monsters, and there was no doubt that his life was in grave danger. Moreover, the flashbacks at the beginning of S8 supported the impression that Dean’s year in purgatory was a non-stop fight for survival – an impression that is now challenged by Sam’s carefree stroll through purgatory and thus damages Dean’s entire purgatory arc. Overall, the portrayal of hell and purgatory in Taxi Driver makes light of the danger and terror those places represent, and thus undercuts established mythology.
All in all, I have no doubt that, unless a scene presents a straightforward contradiction of past canon, it is possible to make all kinds of rationalisation attempts for every canonically dubious moment in Taxi Driver. I mean, we can argue, for example, that it took an entire legion of angels to rescue Dean’s soul from hell because he was imprisoned and heavily guarded somewhere in the inaccessible depths of the pit, while Bobby was simply not important enough to receive the same 'VIP treatment' and hence was easily sprung from his cell. Similarly, we can claim that Sam was able to pass through purgatory undetected because he did not have an angel as a companion, whose presence attracted all kinds of nasty critters. However, that is not the point. The point is that going to hell – or purgatory for that matter – should never look easy, it should never look cheap and the emotional consequences for the characters should never be brushed aside. Hell and purgatory are not just any places; they have been crucial to the brothers’ emotional development and hence expanding their mythology needs to be handled with care. Besides, I am really tired of doing the writers’ work for them by constantly trying to reconcile past and present canon. I just wished they would show more concern about the integrity of the show’s narrative in the first place.
Dean: "You heard the guy. Bobby's in hell. We're gonna spring him. "
Sam: "We've gone over this, Dean. I have to do the trials solo."
Dean: "This is Bobby we're talking about, Sam. Now let's face it, you have not exactly been up to full speed lately, okay? We got one shot at this. We can't miss."
Sam: "I'm not gonna miss."
I admit, I find the Sam-and-Dean dynamic in Taxi Driver rather disconcerting, mainly because the emotional ramifications of Sam’s trip to hell do not seem to register with either brother at any point in the episode. At the very least, one would expect for Sam and Dean to acknowledge their traumatic history with hell in some shape or form, but it is never even mentioned between them. I mean, it broke Sam in mind and spirit when all his determination and resourcefulness failed to provide him with the means to save his brother from hell, and now that he is basically handed the means to rescue a soul from hell on a silver platter, he does not even seem to make a connection between both of these events; it is as if that vital part of his own history never even happened. Similarly, both brothers are perfectly aware that it took an entire legion of angels to break Dean out of hell, and yet it does not even seem to occur to either of them that, even if Sam makes it into hell, he may still not be able to actually reach Bobby’s location. Sure, Dean is concerned that Sam’s trial-related illness may prove to be a hindrance to the success of the mission, but beyond that he does not seem to see any problems with his brother’s trip to hell, and neither does Sam. They both act entirely casual about it.
Take the brothers’ argument about Dean accompanying Sam to hell, for example. Sam is about to embark on a journey to the place that represents both brothers’ worst nightmares, and Dean’s main concern is that Sam might screw up Bobby’s rescue? Really? He is not afraid that Sam might not make it back? Or that the trip to hell will trigger traumatic memories of Sam’s time in the cage? Or that Crowley is just waiting for this chance to get his hands on Sam? There are dozens of nightmarish scenarios that could go through Dean’s head in that moment, but all he worries about is failing Bobby? That seems like a rather cold reaction. Moreover, once Sam is on his way, Dean does not seem to be particularly worried either. He takes care of Kevin, gives out friendly advice and seems more bummed out about losing his pie than about (potentially) losing his brother. Now, if Dean’s carefree demeanour had at some point been revealed as a desperate attempt to keep his 'game face' on, this characterisation could have worked, but it does not come off like that at all. He seems genuinely unconcerned about Sam’s well-being, up until the point where Ajay turns up dead; only then he goes into a worried frenzy. Quite frankly, it baffles me that the writers let this opportunity for truly meaningful, emotionally engaging brotherly moments go to waste.
In hindsight, there is one other thing that bothers me about Sam and Dean’s aforementioned conversation, namely Sam’s insistence that, in order to successfully complete the second trial, he has to rescue Bobby on his own and hence cannot allow Dean to accompany him to hell. At first glance, it may make perfect sense for Sam to argue in this manner; he completed the first trial on his own as well, after all. However, at that point the brothers are already about to call on Ajay’s services for the access to hell/purgatory, so doing the trial completely on his own is no longer an option anyway. Moreover, to actually bring his quest to completion, Sam relies on the help of other people as well. I mean, without Benny’s sacrifice, Sam and Bobby would have been stuck in purgatory and without Naomi’s interference on the Winchesters’ behalf, Crowley would have sent Bobby’s soul right back to hell. All in all, the second trial is a massive team effort anyway, so I really do not see how bringing Dean along would have hurt Sam’s cause, as long as he was the one carrying Bobby out of hell/purgatory. With that in mind, I cannot help but wonder where Sam has to draw the line in terms of outside help, before the trial does not count as his own achievement anymore. As far as I remember, Kevin never explicitly told the brothers that whoever undertakes the trials cannot accept some help along the way, though, so I think there should be enough leeway to include Dean in the next trial.
Bobby: "Sam? I'm sorry, Sam, but you're the 200th Sam I've seen today. That's how they screw with me. Just endless Sams and Deans, all wearing the same black eyes. Wait a minute. What the hell are you doing here? Please don't tell me it's what I think it is."
Sam: "No, no, no, Bobby, I'm good. I'm here to get you. You don't belong here, Bobby. And we're getting you out."
I admit, when I first read spoilers about Bobby’s appearance in Taxi Driver, I was pretty excited, mainly because a (temporary) reunion between the brothers and their fatherly friend had the potential to be an emotional highlight of the season for me. However, implausible plotting and sloppy characterisation undermine almost every scene involving Bobby, and I find that immensely frustrating. It starts with the fact that, when Sam finds Bobby in his cell, which is conveniently located right around the corner from where Sam enters hell, he tries to prove his identity to Bobby by recounting some of his friend’s well-kept secrets – and Bobby almost instantly accepts Sam’s 'proof' as valid. I mean, really? It has been well established that demons can read minds, so Sam’s knowledge of Bobby’s secrets proves absolutely nothing. There is a reason why the whole silver/holy water/borax ritual is a standard procedure when someone comes back from the dead; mere words are just not enough to establish someone’s true identity. And given that, all this time, the demons dangled false hope in form of Sam and Dean doppelgangers in front of Bobby, one would expect him to be much more suspicious of Sam. Now, if Bobby’s hasty acceptance of Sam’s realness had been framed as the acceptance of a broken man who allowed himself to wallow in the comfort of an illusion for a little while, the scene would have worked well; it would even have added a layer of tragedy to Sam and Bobby’s reunion. However, Bobby appears to be perfectly lucid, and his reaction to Sam is clearly genuine.
A similar problem crops up in the scene where Sam and Bobby encounter one of Sam’s demonic doppelgangers. Bobby barely hesitates before he kills 'Sam', even though he has no way of knowing which Sam is real, and I just have a hard time believing that Bobby would risk Sam’s life on a fifty-fifty chance, especially if he is convinced that Sam is his ticket out of hell. Again, if Bobby’s rash decision had been framed as the decision of a desperate man who believed that his rescue from hell was just another deception designed to torture him with false hope, this scene would have worked, but it does not come off like that at all. Bobby seems perfectly aware and oriented. And while we are on the subject of Bobby’s mental state: How is it that, after all this time in hell, Bobby is still his old self? I mean, Dean spent four months in hell and he came out a broken man; Sam spent eighteen months in the cage and his mind was unable to cope with the experience; Bobby spends two years in hell and he is – grumpy? Now, I do think there is a crucial difference between the brothers’ time in hell and Bobby’s. The torture Sam and Dean suffered at the hands of Lucifer and Alistair, respectively, was specially tailored to break them in mind and spirit; it was relentless, purposeful and personal. Bobby, on the other hand, was just one soul in many, and it does not seem like Crowley insisted on special treatment for him, so it makes sense for Bobby to be less damaged by his experience than Sam and Dean. However, the fact that Bobby looks barely worse for wear and seems more bored and annoyed than anything completely undermines the horror of hell, and I find that aggravating.
In any case, of all the things, large and small, that bother me in Taxi Driver, Sam’s conversation with Bobby during their leisurely stroll through purgatory – I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it comes off as exactly that – probably bothers me the most, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, Bobby suggesting to Sam that the brothers should try to find a way to bring him back from the dead feels incredibly out of character to me. The Bobby I know would never ask that of Sam and Dean, not least because he knows first-hand that violating the natural order always comes at a terrible price. He not only witnessed the far-reaching consequences of Sam and Dean’s inability to accept each other’s mortality, but also experienced those consequences himself, when he made the decision to become a spirit. He may have stayed with the best intentions, namely to lend Sam and Dean his continuous support, but he quickly lost himself and turned against those he loved most. If anything, his unsettling experiences as a spirit taught him to accept his death and let go of his ties to the world. "When it's your time – go," Bobby told the brothers in his final farewell in Survival of the Fittest, and there is little doubt that he was at peace with his decision to move on. Personally, I thought it was a satisfying resolution to Bobby’s arc in S7, so I am frustrated that the writers undercut said resolution now by regressing the character in this fashion.
Secondly, Bobby reprimanding Sam for not looking for Dean when he was in purgatory annoyed me to no end, not so much because it is out of character, but because once again Sam is not allowed to make his case. Why do the writers bring this topic up again, if they do not use it to add something substantial to Sam’s story? They could have used this opportunity to finally allow Sam to explain his choices in the aftermath of Dean’s disappearance in no uncertain terms, thus retroactively repairing some of the damage they did to Sam’s character in the first half of the season. But instead they just put the same nonsensical excuse about a mutual agreement in Sam’s mouth – a line that already did not work in the season opener. Sam and Dean never agreed not to look for each other should one of them disappear and, quite frankly, it would be a rather impractical agreement in their line of work – a point easily made by episodes like Time after Time, Ghostfacers or The Benders. However, I think it is possible to argue that the brothers had an unspoken agreement to not bring each other back from the dead, and S8 suggested on several occasions that Sam genuinely thought Dean had died in the blast that killed Dick Roman. So why not just outright confirm that here and lay the subject to rest? No matter how unlikely I may find the notion that Sam would just right away accept that Dean is dead, it is still a somewhat passable characterisation; Sam assuming Dean survived and not even looking into the possibility of saving him because of a non-agreement is not, though, and I am incredibly frustrated that the writers still do not seem to think that there is anything wrong with their approach to Sam’s story this season.
Lastly, one general thought about Bobby’s storyline in Taxi Driver: The second trial stipulates that an innocent soul has to be rescued from hell, and I cannot help but wonder what exactly constitutes as innocent in this context. Can Bobby’s soul still be considered innocent, given his personal history? I mean, Bobby murdered his father in cold blood, for one thing. Sure, there have been extenuating circumstances, but still. Back in Appointment In Samarra Balthazar told Sam that the act of patricide will damage his soulless shell to the point that it is rendered uninhabitable for his soul, and if patricide has such a destructive effect on a soulless vessel, I dread to think what it would do to the soul itself. Moreover, like many in his profession, Bobby tortured and killed many innocent possession victims, one of them his wife, and when his own time came, he made the choice to defy the natural order and become a spirit, a state in which he violated an innocent woman and almost killed his surrogate son. All of this had to leave a mark on Bobby’s soul. Of course, I still consider him a good man, but he has not exactly been guilt-free, not in life or in death. So, does 'innocent' merely imply that, overall, Bobby’s good actions outweigh the bad? And what about other spirits? So far the show refused to give a definitive answer to the question what happens to spirits when their remains are destroyed, but Taxi Driver seems to suggest that their souls are released to heaven. Does that also apply to spirits who cruelly murder countless innocent people in their confusion and anger? Or do those go to hell? I really wished we had more clarity on this part of the mythology.
Benny: "Hey, he's your brother. I say let's do this."
Dean: "I owe you."
Benny: "Oh, you don't owe me nothing. Truth is, I could use a break from all this."
Dean: "It really been that tough?"
Benny: "I'm not a good fit, Dean. Not with vampires and, for sure, not with the humans. I don't belong. And after a while that starts to wear on you."
One of the few scenes in Taxi Driver that really work for me is Dean’s final encounter with Benny, and I think it stands out because, unlike most other scenes in the episode, it allows the characters to pause for a minute and contemplate the magnitude of what they are about to do, namely sacrificing one life for another. Now, the fact that Benny readily agrees with Dean’s request to end his life, just so he can help Sam escape from purgatory, does not exactly come as a surprise. I mean, ever since Benny returned topside, everything he valued about his new lease on life in the first place has slowly been stripped away – his lover Andrea betrayed him, his granddaughter Elisabeth was safer without him in her life, and his friend Dean turned him away to salvage his relationship with Sam. Basically, Benny has nothing left to live for, and by sacrificing himself for Dean’s brother, he can at least give this failed attempt at a new life meaning. Dean’s guilt and sorrow at choosing Sam over Benny for the second time is tangible, and yet he does it anyway, because the alternative, i.e. losing Sam, is just unthinkable. However, it is still probably one of the darkest things Dean has ever done for his brother, and there is no doubt that killing Benny will haunt him for a very long time. If there is one good thing to come from Benny’s death it is that Sam is finally able to admit that he misjudged the vampire, and instead of giving his brother grief for not burning Benny’s body, he can offer his support and understanding. It may be too little, too late, but it is something.
That being said, I feel that, in a way, Benny's death has been one of the most unsettling deaths of the show. Not because I was more invested in Benny than in any of the other recurring characters that died over the years, but because I find the writers' treatment of Benny appalling. Normally, we see recurring characters enter Sam and Dean’s life, we see them grow into their friends and family and eventually they become casualties of the never-ending war the brothers wage on the supernatural. I may not be happy about the writers’ habit to kill the recurring characters off, but at least they usually treat those characters with respect. Benny, however, was never treated like a real character in the first place; it seems to me that he was specifically designed to heap further pain and guilt on Dean. I mean, the writers did not even make an effort to show us how Benny and Dean became friends; they just claimed their friendship into existence, and the only reason it worked at all is because Ty Olsson and Jensen did their level best to sell us on the characters' feelings for each other. Ultimately, the writers simply used Benny as a tool; first to drive a (completely contrived) wedge between Sam and Dean and then to add to Dean’s guilt issues. I do not think the writers have ever treated a character as callously as Benny. Well, maybe Adam, but that's about it.
What else is noteworthy:
(1) Out of all the subplots in the episode, I probably enjoyed Kevin’s storyline the most, and the fact that I find a comparatively minor storyline emotionally more engaging than Sam and Dean’s really says it all. Anyway, basically Kevin’s storyline in Taxi Driver picks up where Trial and Error left off, namely with Kevin exhausted and on the edge of a nervous breakdown, especially since he started to hear Crowley in his head. I admit, the brothers’ reaction to Kevin’s admission surprised me negatively. I mean, why would Sam and Dean of all people just dismiss Kevin’s claim of hearing Crowley as simple paranoia? Azazel and Lucifer talked to Sam in his dreams, and both brothers know for a fact that angels are able to talk to their vessels, so Kevin’s claim is not that far-fetched. On the contrary, Kevin’s admission should set off Sam and Dean’s alarm bells. After all, Kevin is vital to their mission, so whatever is happening to him – no matter if imaginary or real – should be their priority. To be honest, I find Sam and Dean’s lack of compassion for Kevin’s situation here rather unsettling. They have been where Kevin is now – alone, desperate, the weight of the world on his shoulders and at the end of his rope – so they should be able to relate to him. Actually, the brothers should long have offered Kevin refuge at the Batcave. He would have been able to feel entirely safe there, and Sam and Dean would have been able to keep an eye on him and prevent him from doing something rash – like taking off without protection. But I guess it is too late for that now.
(2) Ajay, the rogue reaper who helps Sam to cross over into purgatory, is such a blatant plot device that the writers do not even bother following the well-established reaper lore, let alone giving the character an agency of his own. Ajay barely puts up any resistance when the brothers approach him with their request, even though he explicitly mentions that gate-crashing a Winchester into hell is a severe transgression. It is obvious that he will face serious consequences if he is found out, and yet he does it anyway for an unspecified reward sometime in the future. There is really no comprehensible in-canon reason for him to comply with Sam and Dean’s demands. As for the reaper lore, in In My Time Of Dying it was firmly established that reapers can only be seen by the dead and the dying, and every subsequent episode featuring reapers reinforced that rule, so the fact that Sam and Dean are able to just openly approach Ajay in the streets is a clear violation of canon. Also, why does Crowley kill Ajay with an angel sword? In Death Takes a Holiday Alistair needed to acquire Death’s sickle, specifically, to be able to kill reapers. While it was never explicitly ruled out that reapers can be killed with an angel sword as well, it still stands to reason that Alistair would have used one, if it had been a viable option. The demons battled many angels during the breaking of the seals, so it would have been much easier for Alistair to obtain an angel sword than Death’s sickle.
(3) I know some fans find it odd that, upon entering purgatory, Sam is unable to differentiate it from hell, but that is one of the few things that actually make sense to me. Sam was held in Lucifer’s cage, and while the cage is indeed located in hell – Death tells Dean in Appointment in Samarra that he is going to hell to fetch Sam's soul – it is a hermetically sealed mystical prison within the depth of hell that even most demons do not know about. The demon Casey told Dean in Sin City that most of demonkind believes Lucifer to be a myth, so they clearly have no clue that the cage exists, and Azazel had to perform a particularly gruesome blood ritual outside of hell, just to establish rudimentary communications with Lucifer, so the cage is clearly not a normal part of hell. Therefore, Sam would simply not know what hell looks like based on his experience in the cage.
In conclusion: Taxi Driver is one of those dissatisfactory episodes that fail miserably to adequately translate the potential of their premise into a convincing narrative. The episode could have been a true Supernatural classic, emotionally and intellectually engaging, but instead it turned out to be a mediocre mishmash of half-baked storylines. What I find especially disheartening, though, is that an episode like Taxi Driver illustrates quite clearly that the problems with the writing this season are of such a fundamental nature that there is no reason to assume that S9 will considerably improve. The writers seem to lack the most basic respect and/or understanding for past canon, and their disregard for continuity and consistent characterisation is deeply troubling. Sorry, that I am so negative, but I find the overall decline of quality in Supernatural really frustrating at the moment.
By the way, with this review the collective word count of my writings on Supernatural passes the 500.000 words mark! You know, I am actually quite proud of this achievement. Oh, and one more thing, I will not be able to write a review for tonight’s episode. It’s my godson’s confirmation this weekend, so I will be leaving for my sister’s tomorrow. I will probably stay for a week or so, and that will leave me with no time to review the episode before the next one airs. I hope to catch up on it during the summer hiatus though.
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no subject
Date: 2013-04-25 02:58 am (UTC)I find this bit of lazy scriptwriting unforgivable. Some problems may not have been the writers' fault. If they were forced to include numerous subplots then that fault lies with Carver or the writing team generally. But sticking the instructions on the tablet (I prefer the Bat Cave idea, but the search for answers would have been yet another subplot to deal with) would not only have resolved an ugly plot hole, it would have allowed them to cut the summoning/interrogation scenes, thus freeing up several minutes that could have been far better used.
I cannot fathom why, when dealing with such a massive, complex storyline, a writer would choose to weigh it down with unnecessary nonsense.
He takes care of Kevin, gives out friendly advice and seems more bummed out about losing his pie than about (potentially) losing his brother.
That was one of the strangest scenes in the whole piece. Until it ended, I was convinced it was a hallucination. I was all ready for Dean to morph into Crowley, or for his eyes to go black. I even thought they might be using this as a thematic connection to Sam's hallucinations of Dean when he was mad. But ... no.
The oddest thing about it is that it changes gears immediately after by having Dean panic when Naomi mentions that Sam went through purgatory. I don't understand that either. Certainly Dean has every reason to fear purgatory ... but he has every reason to fear hell, too, so why would he be perfectly calm until the latter is mentioned?
I admit, when I first read spoilers about Bobby’s appearance in Taxi Driver, I was pretty excited, mainly because a (temporary) reunion between the brothers and their fatherly friend had the potential to be an emotional highlight of the season for me.
I love Bobby, but I can't say I'm happy with his use here. It seems far too convenient that Sam and Dean should be handed a sympathetic soul to rescue just when they need one, when there has not been one iota of foreshadowing that Bobby might be in hell.
And it seems weird to me that there would not be. I have trouble believing that Crowley would send Bobby to hell 'just because'. His previous designs on the Winchesters or their friends were all about giving himself leverage. And I got the impression that, occasional bouts of enmity aside, Crowley rather liked Bobby. They're both smart men, and they enjoyed the battle of wits.
Surely if Crowley had Bobby in hell, he should have been holding that over Sam and Dean's heads since the season opener?
Does that also apply to spirits who cruelly murder countless innocent people in their confusion and anger? Or do those go to hell? I really wished we had more clarity on this part of the mythology.
Honestly, I'd be happier with less clarity. I rather liked the ambiguity. Sam and Dean burn ghosts' bones because that's the best way they know to protect the living, but they don't know whether they are helping or harming the spirits themselves. It puts an extra layer of tension in ghost stories, where they sometimes get it wrong and burn a helpful ghost. If they're just packing the nice ones off to heaven then ... that just retroactively took the pathos out of a dozen or so episodes.
Ajay, the rogue reaper who helps Sam to cross over into purgatory, is such a blatant plot device that the writers do not even bother following the well-established reaper lore, let alone giving the character an agency of his own.
I was so disappointed in Ajay. I wanted a ferryman like you wouldn't believe. I had my heart set on a taxi drive into hell, along the smouldering equivalent of heaven's axis mundi and over the darkened waters of the Styx. But, well, that's what I get for having hopes, I suppose.
By the way, with this review the collective word count of my writings on Supernatural passes the 500.000 words mark! You know, I am actually quite proud of this achievement.
Congratulations. That is quite an achievement, and your reviews are so interesting. I always look forward to them.
no subject
Date: 2013-04-25 10:27 am (UTC)Ha, me neither. It baffles me really because the demon tablet/batcave are by far the more obvious choice than rogue reapers. It's like the writers went out of their way to make the story extra illogical and non-canon compliant.
The oddest thing about it is that it changes gears immediately after by having Dean panic when Naomi mentions that Sam went through purgatory. I don't understand that either.
Yeah, I think this goes hand in hand with the fact that Ross-Leming/Buckner made no effort whatsoever throughout the whole script to refer to any pre-S8 events. It's like the Winchesters' past history with hell has been erased completely. So of course Dean is nervous about purgatory, because that is part of the limited canon these writers tap into, everything beyond that is one black hole. /sigh
I have trouble believing that Crowley would send Bobby to hell 'just because'.
Tell me about it. Crowley's reasoning makes no sense to me either. Bobby killed demons so he has to go to hell? Really? That reasoning basically applies to every hunter, so why single Bobby out? If he had imprisoned Bobby so he could use him against the Winchesters, now that would have made sense. You just never know when a little leverage may come in handy. But no, this was clearly one of those 'Crowley does things because he is EVIL and not because he has well-thought out plans' moments of S8.
That is quite an achievement, and your reviews are so interesting. I always look forward to them.
Thank you! :) That means a lot coming from you. *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2013-04-26 04:43 pm (UTC)Ross-Leming is married to Singer. That, I think, is why a catastrophically bad writing team has been given four episodes, one a major mytharc episode, this season.
no subject
Date: 2013-04-28 10:20 am (UTC)I know that Ross-Leming is Bob Singer's wife, but I always thought that Singer has enough integrity to put the story first. Apparently I am too naive, though. :(