 Oh, well, I guess we're ripping off the Band-Aid hard this time. Ooh, that's a hot mug, guys! Hey guys, this is my review for episode 2 of Supernatural Season 6, Two and a Half Men. And this is the episode that kind of rips off the Band-Aid. It starts a trope of solving issues at the beginning of each season. And it does try its best if kind of stumbles along the way to make up for the very lackluster opening that was the previous episode. This episode finds Dean and Lisa and Ben have moved, whereas Sam is trying to figure out what's going on with these baby abductions, which all leads to the alpha shapeshifter. We find out a little bit more about why Grandpa is back and kind of an eluding mystery as to what they are up to because they don't try to kill the alpha, they try to capture it. I have to say that this episode is actually pretty good. Not only is the horror element very on display, it's very good. I've never seen shapeshifters so scary in my opinion, not only from the lady who just steals the kid at the grocery store to the patality of the cold open, even if it doesn't kind of make sense that she's looking at the door and no one's in there and then all of a sudden she just gets pulled out from under the bed. I think that was just a... I don't know. I'm going to just say that was a gimmick scare because it still doesn't make sense and they don't explain it at all. And then when the alpha does come to that stronghold at the end, these special effects are very much on display. Probably my favorite bit is when Sam comes up to the door to think about leaving and then he, as the shapeshifter comes up to the door, rips it off and they both have that confrontation. That's pretty good. That's very good double effect for a television show, even better I would say than the end from season five because this is full on dual interaction. But this episode does also have its faults. Dean's whole ideology of what to do with his baby is kind of trying to tie into this fatherly aspect of himself. But the problem is that the interactions between him and grandpa Winchester's crew is kind of cringy. There's just this unnecessary tension between them all. Sure, there is this mystery of why they are back and Dean says like, I seem to be the only one who cares about that. You are also starting to see different aspects of Sam that are kind of bleeding through. There's a little bit of a difference. He doesn't have that humanitarian aspect that is quite common with his character and that is obviously alluding to things that we will learn later on. The part that really bugs me in terms of writing is Lisa. This is some garbage writing. You are made of stupid. There is no way that any realistic person thinks this would work. They had to figure out how to get rid of this issue being Dean having to constantly go back to Lisa and Ben. Not only is that aspect going to get repetitive with him being overly protective, but it also is going to chew up screen time for every episode as well as it also has to bring these cast members in all the time. And as we know, the boys are always the main guys. That is how the show was able to keep going as long as it was because they were the only two main characters. Yeah, the dialogue at the end with this whole you go off and do your thing and you come and visit us when you can just come back in one piece of the bullshit. That's not how relationships work, people. This is doomed right from the start. You have a poison in your mind and the fact that you can't see it makes me so sad. When they're having the conversation, do you think we could make it work? Everyone, and I mean probably everyone, was off to the side going, that ain't gonna work. So aside from that really kind of poorly written aspect, I would actually say that this episode does a very good job of stepping the game up from the previous the lackluster completely boring as balls opener. It lays down the intrigue of what is going on in this season. It has a little bit of a looting mystery as to why Sam is the way he is. It's starting to lay those little pebbles, those little crackers to figure out what's going on there. The mystery phone call that grandpa Winchester has at the end, that is a really cool little aspect as well. But in the end, I'm gonna give this episode a 5 out of 7. I was actually quite impressed. At first I almost had it at a 6, but then when that conversation happened at the end, I was like, oh yes, I remember this bullshit. And like I said, I kind of feel this is the beginning of that trope of Supernatural where if they introduced an issue or some sort of predicament at the end of a season, it is quite quickly solved at the beginning of the next one. Now obviously, Dean coming back from the dead from season 3 to season 4 could be an example, but that was perned into the story. This one is just getting rid of an issue, which is Lisa and Ben. But now that I've said my thoughts, I asked you guys what your thoughts were about this episode, so let's read those off now. I'm unhesitant to say that Two and a Half Men is my second favorite shapeshifter episode. It already explores one of the saving graces of the season, and that's the introduction of the alpha monsters. At least one thing can be said about season 6. It maintains the horror that feel that Eric Kripke established in seasons 1 to 5. The humor is on point. Watching Dean struggle and wrestling with his normal life and hunting life was good writing to me, honestly. Lisa understanding Dean's dilemma really makes her a great partner. No, I'm stopping right there, Joe. This is not how a relationship works. Her whole, you can go and, you know, come when you see us in general. I'm sorry, that's not how a relationship works. In my opinion, I don't see how anything could be viable. And also, I'm not trying to say I'm a relationship guru here, but I could see the writing on the wall. And I was 20 at the time when this episode came out, and I was not well-versed in relationships, but I was just like, that's a bad fucking idea. So when I first watched the show, I knew that season 5 was supposed to be the last. I was open to the idea of the show continuing because at this point there isn't enough lore in the Bible to explore and expand the show. So again, I was open to a less epic, but still a good adaptation of the lore, and I got then a Jeremy Carver's era. With Sarah Gamble, however, something clearly went wrong. She had this very kind of weird, hard-to-explain style with her shows, but here it just feels off. And that's all I have to say about these first three episodes. The pacing, the tone are all over the place, and even though Jeremy Carver eventually managed to justify the continuation, every time I watched the show and go from season 5 to season 6, it's so painfully forced that they tried to justify this season. Season 6 is the bad bit forever. Supernatural. Now, I will agree with you. There is some issues with this season. I feel that this beginning is rough. The beginning is so fucking rough, but it does get better as I will see, as we'll see as we go on. I love Shape Shisters on the show because they have been the best monsters, probably mainly due to the storylines that they were in. Now, what I don't like about this episode is just something baffling. I don't know why the alpha didn't kill Dean. Unfortunately, it was pretty clear that the writers didn't have a strong sense of where they were going. You only ever meet two of these creatures and that doesn't really work. I think they should have had limited the alpha idea to one monster type. I feel the opposite for you, their cookie. I think that maybe they should have delved more into it because as we'll see, we only find two of the alphas and technically the mother of all. Two and a half minutes is an okay episode. I like the baby shape shifter but I also like the moment when the baby shifts. We'd never seen that before. My only issue with the episode of the Campbells never got really into any of these characters. What a waste of Mitch. I found their scene so dreary and dull and plus I didn't care for any of them. Overall, the episode is mad and can be skipped. Yeah, I will say that the fact that you've got X-Files alumni in this episode and it just this season and they kind of just waste him. He's going to get wasted further and further as the show goes on. I enjoyed this episode immediately. It's not especially strong episode but I like some of the background around the monsters, Dean's story as Sam's reflection on how he can't avoid turning into John to protect his family and one of the things I like about the first half of the season was building the mystery, distrust, and suspicion throughout each episode. Granddaddy, shifty behavior. Sam not acting quite right. All these things prepare you for an unsettling and uncomfortable journey never knowing who you can trust or what exactly is going on. For me, this episode was a great improvement to the premiere that was just boring because this is the fun monster of the week episode with a tie-in to the start of the season at the arc at the end. I really like the idea of adding more powerful alpha monsters but I wish we would have seen more over the course of the season rather than the two we actually got to see. The thing I just like the most about this episode is the way that they use a digital effect to show the shape-shift or shift. Now, admittedly, I understand that this is an alpha. He's supposed to be changing. I think that he shouldn't have changed the clothes he was wearing. I think they should have just changed the body because the clothes changing just feels a little bit awkward to me. Definitely not a great episode and the only thing I liked about it is Dean being conflicted with the life he has now with Lisa and Ben and the life he has walked away from as a hunter. I really love Dean and Sam taking care of the child. It was interesting that a baby is named after John and Bobby and sucks that they weren't able to do this with Jack in season 13. Well, Jack was a baby in that season. Alright guys, thank you so much. Now we're going to go on to episode 3 so make sure to give me your comments about season 6 episode 3 in the comments below and I will read those off in the next review. I hope you're doing well. See you guys next time.