galathea | Review for 2x18 'Hollywood Babylon' (Reply)

So, they made it, my least favourite episode of the show so far. I know I am probably the only person who doesn’t care at all about this episode, even resent it a bit and I call this the 'The Girl In Question' effect - the completely wrong episode at the completely wrong place in the timeline of the story. I would have probably found this episode amusing, hadn’t it come at this point in the season, neglecting everything of dramatic development we had so far, it feels out of time, out of place and out of character.

Walter: "Look, you put your heart and soul into something .. and then they take it and they crap all over it!"

This quote *points above* comprises my feelings exactly! So, this may get a bit rant-y … sorry!

So comedy again: you know, I may not be the biggest fan ever of Tall Tales, but besides the sometimes abysmal humour of that episode, it had something that Hollywood Babylon missed: genuine and believable interaction between the brothers. Beneath all the exaggeration it was a story about two guys on the road, who are together 24/7 and grate on each other’s nerves sometimes. It was about their quirks and their frictions and I highly enjoyed that part of the episode. And although Tall Tales also followed one of the most dramatic episodes of the season so far, it managed to tell a story about the Winchesters and a hint of friction between them after Born Under A Bad Sign even made sense.

Now, I didn’t exactly expect the show to deal with the harsh emotional consequences for Sam, and by extension Dean, to the events of Heart right away, like Sam falling into a depression or Dean caring for his little brother in the aftermath of the execution. I know the show prefers to have a delayed fallout for events, and I am cool with that. However, I certainly didn’t expect a complete lack of continuity (and sorry, one throw-away line at the beginning of the episode simply doesn’t cut it) and a non-existent emotional connection between Sam and Dean either. Addionally, the show always made a point to at least reflect the internal struggles of the characters, with themselves or with each other, in the monster-of-the-week plotlines - that was always one of Supernatural's strongest traits of the standalone episodes - but Hollywood Babylon even completely missed out on that deeper layer of character exploration, reducing it to one of the most shallow episodes of the series so far.

Dean suggested a holiday before, namely in Croatoan, but that was before he spilled the secret, before he made the promise, before Sam was possessed and tried to kill him and before his brother lost his last shred of innocence. So, I really have a hard time actually buying that he's just completely carefree in this episode and acts like a 12 year old fan-boy. There isn’t even a hint of layering in the script or performance here. Dean falls completely flat as a character, as does Sam, who may at least display a subdued spirit, but still acts mostly normal.

Don’t get me wrong, Dean as a geeky horror-movie fan-boy is the most adorable thing ever, his appreciation for delicious free food is extremely cute and tells so much about the life on the road (remember his throw-away line about food in Simon Said) and the way he fits in as a PA in next to no time is great and shows his flexibility and competence. Dean is even known for his ability to live in the moment and enjoy the little pleasures that lie along the way to the fullest, so it’s not that he is depicted out of character in general here, just at this point in time!

Sam and Dean’s interaction in this episode is extremely limited and lacks any meaningful exchange, and if I expected at least one thing after Heart then it was a bit more focus on the brothers' storyline, instead of dropping it completely. Hollywood Babylon was a straight parody, instead of a character drama, and while poking fun at the film industry, pulling one in-joke after another and making fun of the show and its production process is not necessarily a bad premise for the show, the writers can’t simply insert an episode like that anywhere in the season. In the case of Hollywood Babylon character continuity and development were sacrificed for a joke, which inevitably throws some viewers off - or well, at least this viewer - because they feel that their investment in the story was betrayed.

This was also the first episode in the entire show, where I didn’t feel a real connection to and between Sam and Dean and given my infatuation with the boys that says a lot. If there ever was a point in time where I tought the boys would be closer than ever, then it was after Heart, but despite Sam’s obvious discomfort and moroseness, which is something Dean usually picks up and acts on, there wasn’t a single instance in this episode, where this was addressed between them, and I fail to recall an episode where that was ever the case so far.

I am usually all over movies or shows that deal with the movie business on a meta level, I really love that, but not at the expense of my characters. I’d have probably really enjoyed this episode after The Usual Suspects, just after they put some closure to the storyline of John’s death and before the whole 'secret' storyline, perfect place for a humorous, non-brother episode, but not now … nuh-uh! Hm, as I said, I am rant-y. *lol*

And I have to say it again here: I was very wary when Ben Edlund joined the writing staff and this episode confirms that. Nightshifter showed he can at least write action, but that episode didn’t have character stuff either and started off with a slight feeling of discontinuity as well. His ability to write humour is deeply tainted for me from his episodes on AtS anyway and obviously he can’t write meaningful interaction between characters that just underwent some really traumatic events.

Dean: "You know nothing about your cultural heritage, do you?"

Okay, now that’s been said, there are some scenes that I did enjoy in this episode, mainly the few instances we see the boys working together well, like Dean accurately shooting the ghosts when Sam just points into the general direction as he picks them up with his cellphone camera or when they do their salt’n burn this episode. I also love the banter between the guys when they search the cemetery or geeky latin!Sam making an appearance.

As already hinted at in Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, Dean is a walking encyclopaedia on horror-movies and I love that fact, since I imagine him watching every late night horror feature in some motel room while they were moving around from hunt to hunt. And not only does he know actors and crews but also rumoured behind-the-scenes supernatural occurrences, that’s so Dean! ♥

I was sad to see Gary Cole in such a small role, I hoped he had a bigger part in this episode. I had a thing for him when he played Jack 'Nighthawk' in the show Midnight Caller and it was great to see him again after so many years. I loved his lines, since they mostly mocked Supernatural itself. Too bad he kicked the bucket so soon! *lol*

Oh, and I loved the trailer for 'Hell Hazers II' with the footage from Scarecrow and Route666 .. fun stuff! :)

So, that’s all I have to say as a first impression on this episode. I suspect that I will like this episode better, if the season is finished and I can watch it in a different order, detached from the storyline as a simple standalone when I don’t want to get into the deep character stuff, but at the moment this episode proved to be a huge disappointment for me.