Supernatural Season 14 Episode 4 review: Mint Condition

This week on Supernatural we not only get a good old fashioned monster of the week episode, we get a Halloween themed one as well!

Well, what a breath of fresh air this episode of Supernatural was. After weeks of going back and forth between so many different plot points and trying to keep up with a multitude of characters, we were back to just Sam and Dean. And I didn’t realize how much I missed this until this week.

I love our secondary characters, I really do, but I kind of wish we would have more episodes like this, just the boys in the Impala, hunting monsters. And I’m really hoping after we take care of Michael, maybe we can return to that formula. At least for a little while.

But I digress. Let’s talk about what worked in this latest episode.

“Our life is a scary movie”

We open the show at a collector’s shop, and with who we will come to know as Stuart stealing Panthro from Thundercats. Stuart brings Panthro home and Panthro attack’s Stuart. Hello possessed toy, I’m already one hundred percent in on this story.

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Dean is in his room watching the horror movie marathon and eating all the snacks. Sam comes into his room to check on him since he’s mostly been locked in his room for the last week. Dean has a pretty good point when he mentions that one of the reasons he’s in there is because his house is full of strangers.

Which is fair. The bunker is pretty full.

Sam entices Dean out of his room with Stuart’s story of Panthro coming to life and attacking him. He’s excited and ready to go deal with toys coming to life.

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“We don’t eat that much candy”

It’s Halloween when Sam and Dean arrive to start investigating Stuart’s mishap. First, they show up at the store posed as insurance agents. At the collector store, they talk to Samantha and Dirk and learn that Stuart was not a great person. They also take note of the giant lifesize replica of Hatchet Man.

Sam and Dean head to Stuart’s mom’s house where Stuart is now living. Stuart blows them off saying that he made the whole story up and then kicks them out of his house. In the car, Sam and Dean remind us all of Sam’s hatred of Halloween, but Sam still won’t tell Dean why. They’re interrupted by Stuart running out of the house gravely injured.

Sam stays with Stuart while Dean runs into the house to investigate. And narrowly misses getting sliced and diced (see what I did there?) by a flying chainsaw.

“Own personal Willy Wonka”

After following Stuart to the hospital, Sam and Dean split up. Dean stays at the hospital, and  Sam goes to investigate who would want Stuart dead.

At the hospital, Dirk is hanging around keeping an eye on his friend. Dean comes and talks to him, and the two bond over their shared love of the All Saints Day movies. Dean admits that his love of horror movies is because it’s nice to watch something where he knows the bad guy is going to lose.

At the collector store, Sam talks to Samantha who reveals that the owner of the shop, Jordan, passed away from cancer recently. He left the store to Samantha and Dirk, but not Stuart, whom he had fired, and Samantha had rehired. We have motive. And then everything turns cold, and in a move that everyone predicted, Hatchet Man becomes the new possessed item, locking both the Sam’s inside the store, so he could go kill Stuart.

“It’s time to slice and dice”

Back at the hospital, Dean and Dirk are having a grand old time watching movies and snacking. Then Sam calls Dean to tell him that Hatchet Man is coming to the hospital. And Dean is just a little too excited about this. He puts Dirk and Stuart in a salt circle and grabs an ax, ready to face his favorite slasher movie villain.

Of course, Dirk doesn’t stay in the circle, and he ends up finding Hatchet Man first. And then what proceeds is probably my favorite scene in the whole episode. The security guards in the hospital are watching All Saint’s Day III on their television, and the scene with the girl running away from Hatchet Man in a hospital mirrors exactly Dirk running away from Hatchet Man in the hospital. It is brilliantly filmed and I just loved every second of it.

We interrupt your article to talk about the hilarious addition of the fake trailer for the fake slasher movie. It was a brilliant addition. And it added to the episode. Now back to your regular review.

Of course, they end up in the morgue, and of course, Hatchet Man is already there. Dean gets to fight Hatchet Man and has way too much fun doing it. Just when Hatchet Man seems to have the upper hand, Sam and Samantha get there, and they tell him to throw them the keychain, which was Jordan’s. Sam burns the keychain and no more Jordan.

“Just like that”

And just like that, everything is over, and we bid farewell to Samantha and Dirk. And then we get an old-fashioned brother moment in the Impala.

Dean knows that Sam wanted to get him out of his room to get him out of his funk, and it worked. Sam tells Dean he needs to stop hiding in his room. He also tells Dean that no one blames him for what he did. He did the right thing to say yes to Michael, and can’t blame himself for everything that happened after.

Finally, Dean is able to get out of Sam why he hates Halloween. It has to do with sixth grade, a cute girl, bobbing for apples and puking. Dean laughs and says next year they’re going to do Halloween right, and dress up in matching costumes. And I’m going to hold you to that, show. Next year I want to see Sam and Dean dressed up as a famous duo.

Finally, like any great horror movie, the stinger sets up for a sequel.

Performer of the week

I’m giving it jointly to Jared and Jensen this week. I couldn’t choose, and the people I normally ask to help break ties haven’t watched the episode yet, so I’m keeping it a tie. Especially since this was such a great brother episode, it only makes sense I award this to both brothers.

We got to see them lighthearted and playing off each other. And then we still got our tender brother moment at the end. The recipe for the perfect episode.

What did you think? Did you like the return of the classic Supernatural episode? What famous pair would you like to see Sam and Dean dress up as? Let us know in the comments below!

Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW