Supernatural Season 12 Episode 7: Rock Never Dies Review

This Supernatural review contains spoilers.

Supernatural: Season 12, Episode 7

I’ve been remarkably surprised with Supernatural‘s run in Season 12 thus far. There was one I didn’t care as much for, but otherwise the story and direction has overall been great. I applaud the writers, the actors…everyone including the folks in set design and visual effects for keeping this season surprisingly fresh. I shouldn’t be surprised then that the episode prior to the mid-season finale might feel a little…flat.

There were some good elements, and I’d like to highlight those first. The major one is the theme Lucifer harps on about obsession. Like a true rock god, he wants a devoted following, and he’s not impressed with the supposed Satanists (read: dumb boys with nothing better to do) who think they worship the Devil. Lucifer’s identity poses an issue for him, so he embraces being Vince Vincente.

We see the utmost extreme of that obsession with the groupie Roseleen. She goes to such lengths as cutting Vince’s full name into her chest and, we assume, pulling out a tooth. Lucifer quickly bores of the obsessed types and decides to fill a mystery venue with new blood. It’s all about gaining followers. He plays upon the human need to put something above themselves, hopeless distraction addicts that they are.

Near the end we hear that Lucy’s upset that God/Chuck abandoned him again, even after apologizing for being an absent Father. I guess that explains why Lucy’s back raising heck but it didn’t feel like enough. To throw all that Judeo-Christian baggage aside, Lucifer embraces being something new. That’s about where the character development ends.

There are some lighthearted moments that interject some fun into the mix. Dean being bested by Mary via Words with Friends was a cute start to the Winchester’s story, and Castiel yelling “Hey Ass-butt!” brought back all those classic Cass lines from the olden days, when Cass was still learning how to work a cell phone. The forced buddy cop routine between Cass and Crowley was still enjoyable, as well as Crowley’s insistence that he owns LA. Not surprised there.

So why didn’t I think this episode was awesome? I didn’t like the lack of direction with Lucifer’s motives. Maybe that’s supposed to make him feel more dangerous, but to me it feels like a lack of story arc for our main villain of the season. I hope that changes soon, perhaps revealed during the mid-season finale. This episode also felt cheap – I don’t know how to explain it, but I really noticed how empty it was by mid-episode. Maybe that’s just the soulless design of LA. Thanks a lot, Crowley.

I’m also upset that we didn’t get more Vince Vincente. This episode felt like the buildup of a theme of obsession and how Lucifer would regain his strength, but ended up being a dead end. Maybe Rick Springfield had a short window in which to film his scenes. If that’s the case, I salute his Lucifer portrayal as fantastic and wish we had some more.

Well, the story arc could use some bolstering, but other than that we had a fun little ride here in “Rock Never Dies.” 

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