One of the best things Supernatural does from time to time is seamlessly blend the ongoing arc with an effective monster of the week episode; “Hunteri Heroici” was just that. With Kevin safely with Garth, and Castiel back in the game, loose ends needed to be tied up in order to protect the balance of a show jam-packed with mythological beings that could in fact ruin the credibility of the series. Without overdoing the humor or being too obvious with the approach, this episode was fresh and of course, looney.
As with everyone else, I was expecting a Trickster as Gabriel was never a true one and to this day, we had not encountered a true one. I was jumping up and down in my seat hoping we’d see what a real Trickster was capable of and most importantly, how completely psychotic his personality was. Already there were bursting hearts, floating people, and of course asteroid anvils taken straight from classic cartoons making the entire town seem strangely alive. It also helped that the feel of the episode was very similar to “Changing Channels” back in season 5: an episode I’m sure Supernatural fans will remember.
When the cause of the looney was revealed to be an old man with a serious case of schizophrenia, my heart dropped a few notches simply because it seemed almost too easy. We had encountered psychics before on the show, but never to this extent where reality itself was being warped. I’m not sure how I felt about having such a powerful human on the show as it undermined much of what made angels, demons, and leviathans so otherworldy. True Castiel eventually worked some magic and proved the greater powers that an angel has, but to know a human could turn guns into toys without the use of demon blood was unsettling. I expect to see Fred again in future episodes.
What I don’t get is how the doctor was able to use Fred’s powers for his personal gain. It seemed to me that everything that was happening was pure randomness. How would he even know to use the black holes to gain access to the bank vaults? He said he was “working long enough to understand the crazy” or whatever, but with all the nonsense going on in the immediate surroundings, I doubt the doctor could have determined exactly how or what could go wrong. Just a minor nitpick on my part.
For once, Sam made a speech that wasn’t full of whines and hatred for how messed up his life had become. His speech this time had actual meaning that not only affected Fred, but Castiel as well. His own experiences with Amelia – we’ll focus on that later – came to the forefront and what came out of his mouth was genuine feeling. It was a nice touch especially with the colorful background changes.
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