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- Review: Supernatural -- “Jus In Bello”
Review: Supernatural -- “Jus In Bello”
- By Gillian Carr
- Published 02/27/2008
- Supernatural
-
Rating:




Wow, what an episode to end with!
Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) are still hunting for Bela (Lauren Cohan) and the Colt, which she had stolen from them the last time they met. They’re searching one of her hotel rooms, when the phone rings. It’s Bela on the line, and in the following conversation between her and Dean, we find out two things. One, she may have another reason for stealing the Colt other than selling it to the highest bidder and two, she sold them out to the FBI.
Yes, it looks like the Winchesters are headed to maximum security, and this time, Agent Victor Henriksen, from “Nightshifter” and “Folsom Prison Blues”, is taking every precaution to keep them from escaping. There’s a great scene here where he stands outside their cell, exchanging snarky banter with Dean. Despite a brave face, both Dean and Sam know that it’ll take a miracle to bust them out of this predicament.
While I wouldn’t call it a miracle, as the night progresses it seems that the Winchesters aren’t going back to orange uniforms and bars yet. It turns out demons have even infiltrated the FBI as Henriksen’s possessed boss tries to off the boys, in the process wounding Dean in the shoulder. The demon is fouled by Sam’s quick thinking and memorization of the exorcism text, but before he’s expelled back to hell, he smirks and tells Sam that the others are coming.
And now we get to the heart of the episode- an army of demons descending on the police station. Whose army? The new demon rising out of the west, called Lilith, or so we’re informed by Ruby (Katie Cassidy), who slaughters her way into the station after the demons surround it.
Sam and Dean, along with Henriksen (who undergoes a change of heart after he’s possessed and then exorcised by Sam), Nancy, the sweet, religious secretary, and another cop are the only non-possessed people around. The Winchesters give the others amulets that prevent demonic possession and we find out that Sam and Dean have matching tattoos that do the same thing, a smart move considering the events of last season’s ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’.
After finding out the Colt is gone, Ruby tells them the only way to get out of the situation is to perform a spell that will kill every demon (including Ruby herself) within a certain distance. Problem is, the spell requires the heart of a virgin. Despite Dean’s disbelief, there is a virgin in the group. I have to say, it would’ve been a cool twist if the virgin hadn’t been Catholic Nancy, but I guess you can’t have everything.
Nancy
In the end, they end up going with Dean’s plan, which has them trapping the possessed humans inside the station, and then performing a mass exorcism via loudspeaker. Good idea on Dean’s part, even though the rock-salt rounds they use to defend themselves probably hurt like hell for the possessed people. But at least they end up alive.
It seems the episode will end with an upbeat ending as the plan works. And now with Henriksen knowing the truth, he’s not about the send the Winchesters to jail, so he can say they conveniently ‘died’ in the attack.
Unfortunately, one of the demons isn’t trapped and manages to escape back to Lilith… who appears at the police station in the form of a little girl. What is it with this show and creepy little girls? Are there never any creepy little boys? Anyway, Lilith’s eyes turn cloudy, and she blows up the station, killing everyone inside, including Nancy and Agent Henriksen. NOOO!
I don’t know, I absolutely loved this episode up until the last five minutes. But after that… I feel that killing off Henriksen was short-sighted on the part of the writers. When he and Dean were talking and comparing stories during the siege, you could see Victor Henriksen’s possible future. FBI agent-turned-hunter, that would’ve been interesting to see play out in the show, and he could’ve been an ally for the Winchesters. Charles Malik Whitfield did a great job portraying Victor Henriksen and it’s too bad we won’t be seeing him again.
How about when Ruby shows up to berate Sam and Dean for not following her plan? I think she still has her own mission and is trying to manipulate the boys’ feelings of guilt over not being able to stop Lilith. She wants them to be more ruthless, telling them that if they had gone with her plan, less people would’ve died. I don’t think that’s necessarily the case, as the FBI-demon, after he was exorcised would’ve informed Lilith that the Winchesters were still alive, and she’d have still have turned up.
When Supernatural comes back in April with new episodes, it will interesting to see if Sam and Dean are more likely to listen to Ruby’s plans now and whether they'll start using more ruthless strategies to fight the coming 'war'.
Supernatural 3x12, "Jus in
Writer: Sera Gamble
Director: Philip Sgriccia
Guest Stars: Charles Malik Whitfield, Steven Groves, Amy Garcia
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