Review for 7x07 'The Mentalists'

[galathea]

The Mentalists by first time Supernatural writers Ben Blacker and Ben Acker is an enjoyable standalone episode in the vein of the first seasons – not unlike Shut Up, Dr. Phil, but considerably better written. The case file mostly serves as a backdrop for the resolution to Sam and Dean’s falling out from last week, and while it may not be the perfect wrap-up to the Amy storyline, it at least takes the characters in the right direction. Now, there are some minor issues that give me reason to worry, and I think the episode uncovers only some of the layers of a very complex situation, but I am pretty confident that this is just the first step on the brothers’ road towards healing. There is more to come, or so I hope. Overall there is some satisfying development for Sam and Dean’s relationship, and the episode leaves them (and the audience) in a good place, emotionally, so I am quite content.



Oh, how I love a good old-fashioned ghost hunt. Sam and Dean’s return to normal case files is actually one of the many reasons why I love the current season so much. So far even the leviathans are ultimately just a (smarter, tougher, less predictable) variation of a monster of the week, and I like that. Now, it’s not that there haven’t been ordinary case files in the last three seasons, but they have largely been overshadowed by the bigger events of the apocalypse and the angelic war. Even Sam and Dean remarked on occasion that they miss the simplicity and instant gratification of a normal monster hunt. Personally, I find case files so satisfying, because the brothers can resolve them with the tools of their trade, and usually they are competent at it. This is what they have been raised to do – saving people, hunting things, the family business – and it shows them as the knowledgeable, resourceful and caring people they are. Monster of the week episodes don’t pitch Sam and Dean against forces that outmatch them on a cosmic scale, and they don’t need horsemen or (arch)angels to hand them the means to do their job or save them from tricky situations. I also love that Sam and Dean’s conflicts this season are grounded in human drama. For once they do not worry about terrible destinies that might bring on the end of the world or whether one of them is evil or not. As I said before, it feels more personal and intimate than in earlier seasons. I always felt that the show lost that when it went 'epic', and it feels good to have it back. I know that things can never be as they were back in S1 or S2 – too much has happened to and between the brothers – but currently the writers successfully capture the spirit of the earlier seasons for me, just with older, more mature and more damaged characters, and I think that is all I could hope for.

Now onto the episode …

I am usually not a fan of tense interaction between Sam and Dean, but there are some aspects that I find enjoyable about the brothers’ dynamics in The Mentalists. Most of all, I love how much Dean misses Sam, and not just as his hunting partner, but as his brother and friend. Nothing illustrates that more clearly than the little moment in Grandma Goldy’s house, where Dean makes a joke and then looks up, obviously expecting Sam to stand there and roll his eyes at him, only to realise that his brother is not with him. Like Dean had just forgotten for a moment that he is alone. So it’s not surprising that when Dean happens to run into Sam, he is so relieved to see him, that he just ignores Sam’s stand-offish demeanour and leaps into a non-stop ramble about the case, as if he is afraid that Sam will just stand up and leave, the moment he stops talking. Furthermore, once they work together, Dean tries several times to get Sam to react to his jokes or say something not case related, and he is frustrated every single time his brother ignores him. Dean knows that Sam has every right to be angry with him, but he just cannot bear Sam being so distant, and I find that touching. However, I am equally pleased that Sam does not allow his brother to joke his way out of the corner. He is hurt, and Dean acting as if nothing has happened seems to imply that he does not care, which of course only fuels Sam’s anger. And yet he agrees to work the case with Dean, which shows that he is at least at a point where he can tolerate his company. In the end, this theme comes full circle in the final scenes of the episode, when Dean is being Dean and Sam can barely suppress a grin – and Dean visibly lights up at the sight of his brother smiling. It’s just heart-warming to watch. ♥

Dean: "You’re pissed. Okay? And you got a right."
Sam: "Yeah, damn straight."
Dean: "But enough is enough."
Sam: "Says who? Look, I’ll work this damn case. But you lied to me. And you killed my friend."

So, let’s take a look at Sam and Dean’s heated first argument. First off, I know that Dean is frustrated about Sam giving him the cold shoulder and that he is afraid to lose Sam again once the case is over, but I think Dean’s aggressive tone during their argument is uncalled for, and I wished he had approached Sam in a more sympathetic manner. After all, he is in the wrong here, maybe not about Amy, but about lying to Sam. However, the fact that Dean initiates a dialogue with his brother and openly voices his feelings and motivations is such a significant progress for him, that I am willing to overlook my discomfort with his tone. That being said, I love that Dean opens the conversation with the emphatic assurance that Sam has every right to be mad at him, because that tells me that he at least respects his brother’s feelings, even if he does not like how Sam expresses them. I also love Dean’s statement that he killed Amy because he felt a familial obligation to do what Sam could not; it reveals that at least part of his motivation has been about sparing Sam a burden. It is very in character for Dean to feel that he needs to make the hard decisions, so Sam doesn’t have to. Of course Dean knows from recent experience that sometimes you cannot bring yourself to kill someone no matter how dangerous they are – he could not kill his sociopathic, soulless brother, after all – but still, I think overall Dean inaccurately projects his own feelings onto Sam here. I mean, between the two of them, Sam actually proved to be capable of killing someone he deeply cares about if it is required of him, namely when he killed Madison in Heart. Sam’s choice regarding Amy was not only about his feelings for her though, but about his personal beliefs and I think that’s an aspect Dean has yet to understand.

Overall there is only one part of Dean’s little speech that actually worries me, and that is when he talks about Sam’s breakdown and how it motivated him to lie about Amy until he was sure that the incident had been a one-off occurrence. Now, several weeks have passed since Sam had his mental meltdown and, at least outwardly, his condition has improved by leaps and bounds – and yet Dean did not show the slightest inclination to tell Sam about Amy these last couple of episodes. So, I cannot help but wonder what it will take for Dean to truly believe that Sam is doing better. It is obvious that Sam’s breakdown unsettled Dean to a great degree, but still, he seems to have an exceptionally hard time getting past the incident, even if we take his general trust issues and his depression into consideration. More importantly though, by admitting that he only would have told Sam the truth about Amy if Sam’s mental health had proved to be stable, Dean basically tells Sam that, in order to keep Dean’s trust and honesty, he cannot show any instability/vulnerability around him, and I find that troubling. I know that Dean just thinks he is protecting Sam by keeping burdensome things from him, but ultimately he punishes Sam for his condition. A condition Sam took on for Dean, mind you, and I wished Dean would commend his brother for doing so well, instead of lashing out at him the way he does in their argument here. Of course Dean’s aggression comes from a place of fear – and not without good reason, after all, we know from Slash Fiction that Sam still fights hallucinations on a daily basis – but I worry about what will happen when Sam slips up one day.

Sam: "Just be honest with me. How are those the actions of someone who knows they did the right thing."
Dean: "You want me to be honest?"
Sam: "Yeah."
Dean: "I went with my gut. And that felt right. I didn’t trust her, Sam. Course, ever since Cas, I’m having a hard time trusting anybody. And as far as how I’ve been acting. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I don’t like lying to you. You know, doesn’t feel right."

Unsurprisingly, I love the final conversation between the brothers. I am proud of Sam for being the bigger man and approaching Dean with forgiveness and understanding, even though at that point Dean has neither apologised nor shown remorse for lying to him. Sam has grown up, and I think part of that growth entails that he no longer holds onto his anger like he used to in the past. He knows for a fact that Dean has been hurting these last couple of weeks, and so he decides to show compassion instead of further punishing his brother for his transgression of his trust. ♥ And once Sam drops his hostile behaviour, Dean follows suit and opens up to him, which is what Sam wanted all along. I love that Dean confirms a lot of my initial speculations where his motivation for killing Amy is concerned, namely that he had been utterly unable to trust her – as opposed to not trusting Sam – and needed to make sure that she would not be able to hurt someone else. He also acknowledges that he has a hard time trusting anyone, ever since Castiel betrayed them, and of course that affects his relationship with Sam as well, even though it has nothing to do with Sam, personally. I am glad that Sam does not leave it there though and also calls Dean out on his drinking and sleeping problems, thus pushing Dean to talk more openly about his worrisome personal problems. Dean admitting that lying to Sam feels wrong is probably my favourite part of their conversation, and I love that he finally concedes that he is not fine, that he has been climbing the walls these last couple of weeks, which is a feeling Sam can easily relate to of course. And just like that they find common ground. ♥

As for the Amy issue: I think it is important to note that Sam does not say that Dean was right to kill Amy; he says that Dean was right when he claimed that Sam would have killed Amy, had he not known her. There is a subtle, but crucial difference between those two statements in my opinion. The first is a statement about the validity of Dean’s moral judgment, whereas the second is a statement about the validity of Dean’s assessment of Sam’s choices. Fact is, Sam had been ready to kill Amy – childhood friend or not – when he first tracked her down, and if she had not knocked him out, he would have killed her there and then. It was only when Amy presented him with her son and reminded him of their shared past that Sam was swayed into letting her go. Now, I still maintain that, from a moral perspective, Sam’s decision was just as valid as Dean’s. However, there is no doubt that Sam’s first instinct when he heard about Amy’s murder spree was exactly the same as Dean’s – namely to kill her, just like he would kill any other monster that crosses a line like that – and I think that’s the foundation for Sam’s understanding of Dean’s actions. Moreover, when Sam confronts Jimmy, the necromancer, he makes the snap decision to kill him, despite the fact that he is human. Sam knows that Jimmy will kill again should the right circumstances come along – Jimmy’s spiteful tirade leaves no doubt about that – and so he does not hesitate to put him down. I think in that moment Sam gets, on a very visceral level, why Dean killed Amy and that is an additional factor in his decision to let go of his anger. That does not necessarily mean that Sam agrees with Dean’s choice to kill Amy, just that he understands why Dean did it.

Anyway, once the air between them is cleared, Sam and Dean both smile again, and it is obvious that a burden is lifted from Dean’s shoulders. With the lie that stood between him and Sam out of the way, Dean can finally reconnect with his brother, and while their conversation may only have scratched the surface of Dean’s problems, opening up to Sam gives him just enough relief from his guilt to feel more optimistic again. Moreover, none of Dean’s fears have come true. The truth about Amy did not trigger a relapse for Sam and it did not irreparably damage their relationship. Instead of rejection, he finds forgiveness and understanding, which in turn will hopefully enable him to trust that there is one solid thing in his life that he can build on – and that is his brother. Furthermore, over the course of the episode Dean also forms a real connection with Melanie, and for once he gets to actually save someone he cares about, which should also bolster his good spirits. Dean does not even drink as excessively in this episode as he did in the ones that preceded it, which just goes to show how much lying to Sam exacerbated that particular problem. All in all, it has been a good day for Dean, and he needed one of those badly. Of course, we have only seen the tip of the iceberg so far, but still, it is a first step in the right direction, and I have every hope that the writers intend to keep Sam and Dean on this path.

Lastly, some general thoughts about the resolution to the Amy storyline: First off, I know some fans think that Sam and Dean should have parted ways for longer, but I am pretty sure that this is one of the longest intervals the brothers have ever deliberately spent apart. Their separations in Scarecrow, Hunted, Time Is On My Side and Lucifer Rising only lasted a couple of days and we know that when the brothers reunite in The End, only a week or two have passed. This is just the first time that the entirety of their separation takes place off screen, and I think that throws some fans off balance. Now, the conflict regarding Amy is the first major disagreement between Sam and Dean ever since they rebuilt their relationship in S6, and it hits them while they are both caught up in a deep personal crisis. The last time that happened was in S4, and back then they have not only been unable to carry each other through their individual crisis, but every argument/conflict also tore them further apart. This time around they still fight and lie on occasion, but when it really counts, they are there for each other, and their relationship comes out of the conflict intact, not least because they want it to. I also love that while Sam and Dean both stand their ground, they both give a little as well – Sam concedes that Dean has a point and forgives him; Dean opens up to Sam and makes a first step towards trusting someone again. In the end, it is not about being wrong or right, but about understanding and accepting each other’s position even if they do not agree. And that is a vital part of a mature, functioning relationship. ♥

That all being said, however, I think the way the writers resolve the brothers’ conflict does not quite do the moral complexity of the Amy storyline justice. While I fully expected Dean to be remorseless about killing Amy – after all, Defending Your Life clearly showed that Dean’s feelings of guilt have been about lying to Sam and not about Amy herself – I really wished Dean had acknowledged on some level that maybe things have not been quite as black and white as he thought. Sam at least concedes that Dean has a point, and I wanted Dean to admit that maybe Sam’s point of view is not entirely wrong either. I am not convinced that Dean truly understands that a good part of Sam's motivation was rooted in his belief that being a monster does not equal being evil and that people have always the potential to make the right choices. Sam's decision to let Amy go might have been too lenient, but Dean's decision to kill her has been too harsh. If Amy had been human, she would have been punished for her crimes, but she would not have been put to death. As it is, there was no absolute right or wrong in my opinion. Furthermore, while Sam makes clear that he is mainly hurt about Dean lying to him, I wished he would also have pointed out that it is hard for him to build on someone who does not seem to have any faith in him. Dean withdrawing his trust just when he had offered himself as Sam’s stone number one is aggrieving and, as I said before, I wished Dean would show some appreciation of how well Sam is handling his condition. Last but not least, I wished Dean had apologised for lying to Sam, especially since he always resents it when Sam is lying to him, but I guess I will just have to take Dean’s concession that lying to Sam does not feel right as an apology of sorts.

What else is noteworthy:

(1) I have to say that I am very impressed with the excellent continuity between Slash Fiction and The Mentalists. I mean, not even two weeks have passed since Sam and Dean’s mug-shots have been all over the news as America’s most wanted serial killers, and I would have been very annoyed if things had just gone back to normal at this point. However, the brothers not only use new aliases – even though they seem to just have switched from rock musicians to movie characters, instead of heeding Frank’s advice to use ordinary names like Tom and John Smith – but they also still travel in 'borrowed' cars; the Impala is obviously still stored somewhere safe. Moreover, I love that a woman just randomly recognises the brothers as those serial killers from the news and forces them to quickly defuse her suspicions. Something like that was bound to happen sooner or later, after all. The writers are not always this good where continuity between episodes is concerned, so kudos to Ben Blacker and Ben Acker.

(2) There have been a lot of delightful shout-outs to recurring/one-off characters of past seasons, of course the psychic ones first and foremost, like Missouri or Pamela, but also others, like the Campbells or Ellen, who can apparently knock some sense into Dean even from beyond the grave. ♥ Now, one would think that at some point either Sam or Dean would have mentioned that Sam had once been psychic as well – Dean used to love making jokes about that fact, after all – so it is curious that it never comes up, and I wonder if the brothers feel that that particular chapter of their past is still too raw to jest about it. Anyway, I love the overall quirkiness of Lily Dale, and I like that its inhabitants are actually a mix of frauds and genuine psychics. The fact that everyone – the museum curator, Jimmy, Melanie, Nikolai, the spoon bender and his acquaintance – just reads the brothers in passing amuses me greatly.

In conclusion: The Mentalists swiftly resolves the main points of conflict between Sam and Dean, and I am happy that the writers decided not to drag their issues out over several episodes. While parts of the resolution do not live up to my expectations, I do appreciate the fact that it gives Dean the much needed positive impetus I anticipated. As for the rest, I just hope that the writers intend to further explore the brothers’ storylines and don’t deem Sam’s hallucinations or Dean’s depression finished now. Only time will tell, I guess.

Comments

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Hey, a review for an episode we've actually already discussed in detail. That doesn't happen so much any more! *hugs*

Intimate will always win out over epic for me. I just wish more showrunners were able to grasp that because they all seem to feel the need to go epic. I'm just glad this show has found its way back to its roots and its heart - and hope it can maintain that now.

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Stupid busy RL interfering with fannish matters! /sighs

Well, sometimes epic can be good. I mean, Game of Thrones is pretty epic and I love that about the show, but then it has been part of the show's concept from day one. For Supernatural the focus on the characters and the family drama has always been its main strength though, so yeah, it's good to have that back.

And, awwwww, cute icon! ♥

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

It varies from show to show - if epic is part of the concept, then fine. It's when a show swings from one to the other that it jars - as it did with SN, big time. Shows should always remember their roots!

And yeah, I had a bit of a re-shuffle in the icon dept, deleted a bunch that I never used and uploaded a few I'd found in my travels online, to represent some of the other shows I like. And since I'm having a Who binge at the moment...*G*

...what is up with LJ this afternoon? It keeps crashing on me!

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

LJ is unstable for me as well. One minute it works fine, the next I only get error messages. /sigh

[shang-yiet.livejournal.com]

You said exactly what bothered me about the last scene. I did not like how one-sided it was. Sam's feelings for Amy and Dean killing her were never the point. It was the lying and the effect it had on Sam. I wish that scene had been more balanced. I think the writers forgot Sam has his own trust issues.

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Well, I can always comfort myself with the fact that Sam is actually the bigger man in the brothers' conflict. I mean, in the last couple of episodes, Sam clearly saw that Dean was depressed and that something weighed on him, and now that he understands what it was, he decides to forgive Dean because his brother needs to be forgiven - it's an act of compassion. Besides, Dean has forgiven Sam transgressions plenty of times. I do wish Dean had shown more remorse about lying to Sam, but well, it is what it is.