Three and a Half Torches (Out of Five)
Warning: This review contains spoilers for the “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” episode of Supernatural.
I can’t believe Supernatural hasn’t done zombies until now. (Or have they? I confess I didn’t do an exhaustive search.)
But as Bobby says, “There are zombies, and then there are zombies.”
These aren’t your usual zombies. They’re the good guys. Well, at least for a while.
Nice misdirection in the opening scene, btw. Yeah, the first zombie on screen kills someone, but it turns out that he only did it in retribution, because the guy had killed him five years before.
Of course, the reason for the zombies involves the coming Apocalypse, and Revelation’s prediction that the dead will rise.
But again, as Bobby says, who’s to say that means the risen dead are evil? Bobby’s resurrected, pie-baking wife seems nice enough. What a concept: a zombie with a (complicated) point-of-view.
Soon we realize we’ve got something of an Awakenings situation going on — the first zombie to rise is also the first to go bad — in more ways than one. Sadly, the dead get a bad case of zombie-related munchies before finally dying.
Still, apart from the semi-clever set-up, the episode lacks, well, bite. The second half turns into an homage to various zombie movies, which is all well and good, but let’s face it: every zombie movie or TV show for the last ten years has been an homage to zombie films.
Easily the best parts of the episode involved Bobby’s touching relationship with his risen wife. He’ll do anything to keep her “alive,” in part because he was the reason she died in the first place (he killed her when she was possessed).
At first, he thinks she doesn’t remember all that, but she does and is just keeping quiet so Bobby doesn’t feel bad. Like I said, a zombie with a complicated point-of-view.
In the end, though, I gotta say: Supernatural, we expect a little more from you, especially when it comes to an old monster classic like zombies.
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The show has done zombies before–well, one. In the episode “Children shouldn’t play with Dead things” from Season 2, the bad guy raised the zombie girl he loved. (this is otherwise known as the episode where Jared broke his hand and thus had to wear a cast for most of the rest of the season!)
Yeah, sadly an “eh” episode.
I think what I liked best about the episode is Bobby’s line at the end: “She was the love of my life. How many times do I have to kill her?”
Overall, I’m meh about the episode. I’m not fond of zombies as a trope–not too much new done. Though, the idea that Death is coming for Bobby to get him out of the game should ratchet up the stakes a bit.