Supernatural: Love Hurts Review

This Supernatural review contains spoilers.

Supernatural Season 11 Episode 12

Nothing like a good, gorey Supernatural to settle into the Valentines Day mood. This episode revisited some old themes and somehow found a way to tie Amara in again.

It looked like we were getting a rehashing of the shapeshifter monster. The shapeshifter has been used a little too much at this point, and I wouldn’t mind the writers retiring this trope for a while. At least this time it was slightly different: a Qareen. Similar idea, but with the added fun of a scavenger hunt for its disembodied heart to stab!

I didn’t expect it, but the cheated-on wife Melissa ended up being a favorite in the episode. She started out uptight, and clearly looked like the initial murderer, even though she was obviously at dinner with her husband. But when she came clean about dabbling in magic to lure back her straying husband, she garnered some sympathy from me. That moment when she approached her front door as Qareen-Dan insisted she open it really amped up the horror factor. The front door looked menacing in the wide shot. I was surprised when she approached the door that a fist didn’t come through and relieve her of her heart right then and there. Then later in the hotel, I thought the same would happen through the window. Man this show can make you paranoid. Melissa did not meet her untimely end in either place, and was able to make her contributions later against the so-called White Witch.

Dean was a bit of a heart-breaker. He was back to his old ways, wooing random women and having one night stands. “You don’t need to be Mr. Right,” he told Sam while clearly hungover, “You just need to be Mr. Right Now.” It was when he heard about the supposed “ironic werewolf” that he got back to work. What’s interesting is how this selfish Lady’s Man Dean was reversed as soon as he planted a kiss on Melissa, sacrificing himself so he could alleviate her of the curse. Dean, you might play at being the bad boy, but we all know you’re a softie at heart. Uh, maybe the wrong description there.

Witches never really make for a strong episode, in my opinion. Maybe I’m tired of them, or maybe it seems like they are re-introduced when we need something to explain why someone is cursed. This witch wasn’t the most evil we’ve met, although she did have the unique quality of a twisted sense of justice regarding unfaithful husbands.

When the Qareen turned its sights on Dean, it would have been a great moment to bring back a guest star from days gone bye. Maybe Jo or heck, how about Lisa? But, in keeping with this season’s theme, it had to be Amara. I’m kind of disappointed, because it was too obvious a choice, but I understand the decision. It needs to be reinforced that Dean and Amara have this fatalistic bond. It’s not quite love. It’s something uncanny and hard to figure that has Dean all twisted up with guilt. Sam at least has decent parting words about the subject, because we don’t get a Winchester Brother Battle Royale over the subject. So there’s that.

Not the greatest episode, but it had some really funny lines and moments, such as the Rock, Paper, Scissors part, and Dean’s selflessness really helped.