Review | 8x08 | Hunteri Heroici
Hunteri Heroici is Andrew Dabb’s first solo script for Supernatural. He usually collaborates with Daniel Loflin, his long-time writing partner, and I find it curious that they suspended their teamwork for this episode. Interestingly enough, I don’t think there are noticeable stylistic differences between Dabb’s work here and the scripts he wrote together with Loflin; maybe in their years as a writing team their individual styles amalgamated into one. Anyway, Hunteri Heroici is a mostly standalone episode that looks into the theme of escapism versus realism and how it pertains to Sam and Castiel’s stories in the past and present. Unfortunately, the episode also works with a rather wacky premise, and I think the resulting tonal shifts are somewhat detrimental to the overall effectiveness of the episode. Still, I liked the episode well enough. It is not terrible, but also not outstanding - so, basically, like most of the episodes this season.
Cartoon-style episodes, i.e. episodes in which cartoon-world physics are applied to a real-world scenario and/or live action characters are presented in animated form, have become somewhat of a popular trope in TV shows lately - Farscape, Fringe, Community or Eureka come to mind, for example - so it was only a matter of time until the Supernatural team would try their hands on one as well. Now, I have to admit that I am not exactly a fan of this particular trope, probably because I was never really into cartoons, not even as a child, but on occasion it does work for me, as for instance in Eureka’s Christmas episode Do You See What I See. Hunteri Heroici, however, gives me rather mixed feelings. On the one hand, I think the special effects in the episode are really well done - the beating heart in the teaser and the trick fight between Dean and Doctor Mahoney in particular stand out to me - and, taken by itself, the comedic scenes are very enjoyable. On the other hand, I feel that the constant tonal shifts, from absurd comedic moments to contemplative character moments and back, prevent either aspect of the episode from being truly effective. In that regard, the episode actually reminds me of Ben Edlund’s Wishful Thinking, as I have always felt that the brothers’ rather emotional storyline in that episode did not mesh well with the bizarre nature of the wishing-well plot. Overall, I think Hunteri Heroici would have worked a lot better for me, if the writers had settled for a straight forward comedy episode; they should have just embraced the absurd concept and run with it, like they did in The French Mistake or Clap Your Hands If You Believe.
Sam: "Look, it can be nice living in a dream world. It can be great. I know that. And you can hide and you can pretend all the crap out there doesn’t exist, but you can’t do it forever. Because, eventually, whatever it is you’re running from, it’ll find you. It’ll come along and it’ll punch you in the gut. And then - then you gotta wake up. Because if you don’t, then trying to keep that dream alive will destroy you. It will destroy everything."
Sam’s flashbacks in the episode give us further insight into the development of his life with Amelia, particularly into their domestic situation and Sam’s first meeting with Amelia’s father Stan. Apparently, the couple decided to move in together not long after they began their affair, but it is obvious that they are both not sure if they are moving too fast - and it shows. I mean, the fact that Amelia was too busy to take an active part in the move could be read as a sign of uncertainty on her part. And as for Sam, while he was clearly comfortable when he and Amelia were still living at the motel, he seems to feel incredibly out of place in their new home. He acts awkward, not only around Stan, but also around Amelia herself; his kisses look clumsy, his smiles are forced and his body language screams uneasiness. Of course, it does not help that Stan clearly disapproves of his daughter’s decision to play house with an almost stranger, and he has no qualms letting them feel it. He either ignores Sam's attempts at establishing a relationship or makes derisive comments. Still, I think Stan’s hostile behaviour is quite understandable. His daughter is in a fragile emotional state and Sam is not exactly the kind of boyfriend a father would choose for his daughter in this situation - a college drop-out with no prospects and obvious psychological problems of his own. It is only when Stan realises that Amelia is truly happy with Sam that he drops his judgmental attitude and makes an attempt to get to know Sam better, and from what little we see, I think Sam and Stan would eventually have gotten along like a house on fire.
However, the family get-together ends on a rather surprising note, when Amelia receives a phone call, informing her that her husband is alive, and I have to say, I did not see that one coming. I think this reveal opens up a row of new questions about the circumstances of Sam and Dean's reunion. I mean, in We Need To Talk About Kevin Sam left Amelia and drove up to Rufus’ old cabin where he met up with Dean, and at the time I assumed that Sam left because Dean managed to track him down and asked him to meet him there. However, if Don’s return was the trigger for Sam and Amelia’s break-up and Sam drove up to the cabin because he did not know where else to go, why was he not more surprised to find Dean there? And why was he so sure that Dean was, in fact, Dean and not an impostor of some kind? It really casts Sam and Dean’s reunion in the season opener in a completely new light. I also have to wonder if the fact that Don and Dean simultaneously returned to Amelia and Sam, respectively, is really a coincidence. The timing seems rather suspicious, and I ask myself if there is more to it than meets the eye.
I admit, these last couple of weeks I have not once seriously considered that Sam’s memories about Amelia might not be real, but Sam’s fervent speech about escaping into a dream world when life becomes too much, made me question the reliability of Sam’s memories for the first time - especially in light of the reveal about Dean’s erroneous memories just last episode. Of course, the dreamlike quality of the flashbacks gave cause for speculation about the reality of Sam’s memories right from the start, but the obvious parallels between Sam’s retreat into a civilian life with Amelia and Fred’s mental retreat into a cartoon world seem to substantiate those speculations further. Now, Sam is always incredibly vague when he talks about those first few months after Dean vanished, but from the little we do know it is obvious that he was incapable of coping with his loss in a level-headed manner. Only weeks prior to Dean’s disappearance Sam was terrified at the mere thought of losing Dean - the only person able to anchor him to reality - so the notion that Sam suffered from a mental breakdown when the unthinkable did happen does not seem too far-fetched in my opinion. In that context, there are two things worth noting about Sam’s flashbacks in Hunteri Heroici: Firstly, in the scene where Sam is doing the dishes with Stan, he starts to insistently rub the palm of his left hand at one point, a gesture very reminiscent of the time when he used pressure/pain on his left hand to dispel his hallucinations. Secondly, there is a strong emphasis on the fact that Sam and Amelia’s life is an utter mess, and that reminds me of Lucifer’s statement in Hello, Cruel World that Sam’s hallucinations have to be a mess or Sam would not believe that they were his life. All of this could indicate that Sam’s memories are not actually real - or, you know, it could simply mean that I read way too much into this.
While I would be thrilled beyond belief, if the writers would link Sam’s memories of his time with Amelia to his mental health problems in S7, the theory that Amelia herself is just one of Sam’s mental-break induced hallucinations is rather untenable. I mean, we know for a fact that Amelia is a real person, because she appears outside of Sam’s flashbacks, twice. First in the season opener, where Sam leaves her behind when he drives to Rufus’ cabin, and then again in Blood Brother, where Sam searches for information about Amelia on the internet. However, that does not necessarily exclude the possibility that Sam’s memories of his time with Amelia are unreliable. For example, it is possible that he knows her, but that the extent of their relationship is just a figment of his imagination. It is also possible that, just like Dean’s memories, Sam’s are sound for the most part and only a selective few of them are imaginary. And I still do not rule out the possibility that Naomi messed with Sam’s memories in order to protect her own agenda either. Of course, all this is pure speculation, and it is equally as possible that Sam’s story is exactly what it seems. Maybe Dean’s disappearance was just the last straw to break the camel’s back; maybe Sam simply could not cope with another stroke of fate and so he ran, until he found something to hold onto; maybe he needed to escape into the illusion of safety for a while in order to heal enough to make a start on looking for Dean, just like Dean needed to be with Lisa and Ben in order to go on with his life after Sam’s death. Admittedly, this last scenario appeals to me the least, even though I am able to rationalise Sam’s actions, but I still think we are far from knowing Sam’s whole story yet, so I hold out hope that a better explanation will come along eventually.
What else is noteworthy:
(1) You know, I start to wonder if maybe there is a rule that says Sam cannot be present when Dean and Castiel have a conversation. I mean, why does the heart-to-heart between Dean and Castiel have to take place while Sam is out and about, doing a significant part of the legwork for their case on his own? Similarly, last week Dean deliberately excluded Sam from his talk with Castiel for no discernible reason. After all, he already told Sam that he felt guilty for failing Castiel, so he had nothing to hide from him. Besides, if Sam had been present when Castiel showed Dean just how wrongly he remembered things between them, it would have given the brothers a starting point for a dialogue about similar misperceptions in their own relationship. Anyway, it is rather common that Sam, Dean and Castiel split up when they work together - with Dean & Castiel on one side and Sam on the other - and that undercuts the feeling that they are an actual team. Moreover, whenever Castiel is around, there is barely any interaction between Sam and Dean. With other characters, the writers seem perfectly capable of balancing the character dynamics. For example, when Bobby or Garth join the brothers on a hunt, it is never at the expense of quality time between Sam and Dean, and they usually interact with both brothers in equal measure. I really wished the writers would manage to do the same with Castiel as well, as it would make his presence a lot more enjoyable for me. That said, there is one thing I truly love about Castiel’s collaboration with Sam and Dean here, namely the way his cluelessness highlights Sam and Dean’s competence as hunters. Those moments at the morgue or during the witness interview, where Dean proudly points out Sam’s superior skills to Castiel, really warm my heart. ♥
(2) I know I have said it before, but I think it bears repeating: The complete lack of an actual reconciliation process between Castiel and Dean makes their current amiable interaction extremely frustrating to watch for me. I mean, we went from Dean angrily yelling at Castiel in Survival of The Fittest to Dean hugging Castiel in What’s Up, Tiger Mommy without any kind of adjustment period, and the fact that the writers simply returned Dean and Castiel’s relationship to the pre-S6 status without so much as a clarifying conversation between them irritates me to such a degree that scenes like the heart-to-heart between Dean and Castiel do nothing but aggravate me, regardless of their actual content. And little moments like Dean’s statement that he is thrilled to have Castiel back simply do not ring true for me under these circumstances. Overall, the writers went to great lengths to draw parallels between Sam and Castiel’s storylines, but where earning Dean’s forgiveness is concerned, Castiel seems to get preferential treatment for no discernible in-canon reason. The writers took shortcuts in the brothers’ relationship with Castiel before, but they really dropped the ball on this one. It seems to me like they want to have their cake and eat it, too. On the one hand, they do not want to let go of the character because he is a fan favourite, but on the other hand they cannot be bothered to actually give his storylines the attention they would need to make them work - and in the long run that is damaging not only to Castiel’s character, but also to Sam and Dean’s.
(3) The episode’s general theme of escaping into a dream world when facing reality seems too difficult to bear extends to Castiel as well. In Castiel’s case it is the inability of facing the devastation he caused in heaven, and he tries to escape by following in Sam and Dean’s footsteps and become a hunter. Now, while I do not doubt that Castiel genuinely wants to atone by helping people, it is clear that throwing himself into the hunt is also a means to get out of his own head for a while, and that is a very Winchester way of dealing with things. After all, Sam and Dean tend to throw themselves into the hunt as well, when they feel unable to confront their bigger issues. Of course, Castiel is just as out of place in the hunting world as Sam is in the normal world, not least because he simply does not seem to grasp the basic concept of human interaction, and in the end he takes a page from Sam’s book and realises that he has to stop running and confront his guilt head-on. Naturally, things are never easy and Castiel’s intention to return to heaven and make things right with his fellow angels is thwarted by Naomi, thus forcing him to make a new choice about what he wants to do with his life - and maybe that is an opportunity as well; an opportunity to truly define who he is, when he is not an emissary of heaven or Sam and Dean’s third wheel. By the way, I am a tad puzzled that rather than telling Castiel to return to Sam and Dean, Naomi tells him to do what he wants to do. What happened to Castiel spying on the brothers so he can report back to her?
(4) I admit, I am not a huge fan of John’s character, but I still find myself appreciative of the many references to John in this episode, mainly because I really like it when the show remembers its own history. I love the fact that Dean still uses John’s journal, even though he surely knows its contents by heart by now, and Castiel’s compliment regarding John’s writing is quite amusing, given that Dean complained about his father’s writing back in Asylum. I also love that Sam brings up John’s military background in an attempt to bond with Amelia’s father. Speaking of which, at first it struck me as rather odd that Sam would tell Stan the Impala was John’s car, because I believe both brothers have long come to think of the Impala as Dean’s. However, when Stan comments to Sam on the Impala, his general hostility up to that point has made Sam visibly uncomfortable around him, and since mentioning Dean would inevitably have steered the conversation towards Sam’s loss, it makes sense that he would choose to avoid the topic - he is simply not ready to show that kind of vulnerability around Stan at that point. Once the tension between them makes way for a more cordial relationship though, Sam brings up Dean on his own accord.
In conclusion: Like with so many episodes this season, I would not say that Hunteri Heroici is a bad episode, but it fails to engage me beyond the moments that pertain to Sam’s storyline. While the episode has some great character moments, they feel somewhat misplaced amidst the over-the-top humour - that is especially true for Sam’s flashbacks - and that affects my enjoyment to some degree. I think the cartoon-world premise has great comedic potential, and it would probably have worked fine for me if the writers had committed to the idea of a straightforward comedy episode, but this odd mix of the emotional and the absurd is just not particularly convincing to me. But well, I guess that has more to do with my own preferences and less with actual problems in the writing.
Cartoon-style episodes, i.e. episodes in which cartoon-world physics are applied to a real-world scenario and/or live action characters are presented in animated form, have become somewhat of a popular trope in TV shows lately - Farscape, Fringe, Community or Eureka come to mind, for example - so it was only a matter of time until the Supernatural team would try their hands on one as well. Now, I have to admit that I am not exactly a fan of this particular trope, probably because I was never really into cartoons, not even as a child, but on occasion it does work for me, as for instance in Eureka’s Christmas episode Do You See What I See. Hunteri Heroici, however, gives me rather mixed feelings. On the one hand, I think the special effects in the episode are really well done - the beating heart in the teaser and the trick fight between Dean and Doctor Mahoney in particular stand out to me - and, taken by itself, the comedic scenes are very enjoyable. On the other hand, I feel that the constant tonal shifts, from absurd comedic moments to contemplative character moments and back, prevent either aspect of the episode from being truly effective. In that regard, the episode actually reminds me of Ben Edlund’s Wishful Thinking, as I have always felt that the brothers’ rather emotional storyline in that episode did not mesh well with the bizarre nature of the wishing-well plot. Overall, I think Hunteri Heroici would have worked a lot better for me, if the writers had settled for a straight forward comedy episode; they should have just embraced the absurd concept and run with it, like they did in The French Mistake or Clap Your Hands If You Believe.
Sam: "Look, it can be nice living in a dream world. It can be great. I know that. And you can hide and you can pretend all the crap out there doesn’t exist, but you can’t do it forever. Because, eventually, whatever it is you’re running from, it’ll find you. It’ll come along and it’ll punch you in the gut. And then - then you gotta wake up. Because if you don’t, then trying to keep that dream alive will destroy you. It will destroy everything."
Sam’s flashbacks in the episode give us further insight into the development of his life with Amelia, particularly into their domestic situation and Sam’s first meeting with Amelia’s father Stan. Apparently, the couple decided to move in together not long after they began their affair, but it is obvious that they are both not sure if they are moving too fast - and it shows. I mean, the fact that Amelia was too busy to take an active part in the move could be read as a sign of uncertainty on her part. And as for Sam, while he was clearly comfortable when he and Amelia were still living at the motel, he seems to feel incredibly out of place in their new home. He acts awkward, not only around Stan, but also around Amelia herself; his kisses look clumsy, his smiles are forced and his body language screams uneasiness. Of course, it does not help that Stan clearly disapproves of his daughter’s decision to play house with an almost stranger, and he has no qualms letting them feel it. He either ignores Sam's attempts at establishing a relationship or makes derisive comments. Still, I think Stan’s hostile behaviour is quite understandable. His daughter is in a fragile emotional state and Sam is not exactly the kind of boyfriend a father would choose for his daughter in this situation - a college drop-out with no prospects and obvious psychological problems of his own. It is only when Stan realises that Amelia is truly happy with Sam that he drops his judgmental attitude and makes an attempt to get to know Sam better, and from what little we see, I think Sam and Stan would eventually have gotten along like a house on fire.
However, the family get-together ends on a rather surprising note, when Amelia receives a phone call, informing her that her husband is alive, and I have to say, I did not see that one coming. I think this reveal opens up a row of new questions about the circumstances of Sam and Dean's reunion. I mean, in We Need To Talk About Kevin Sam left Amelia and drove up to Rufus’ old cabin where he met up with Dean, and at the time I assumed that Sam left because Dean managed to track him down and asked him to meet him there. However, if Don’s return was the trigger for Sam and Amelia’s break-up and Sam drove up to the cabin because he did not know where else to go, why was he not more surprised to find Dean there? And why was he so sure that Dean was, in fact, Dean and not an impostor of some kind? It really casts Sam and Dean’s reunion in the season opener in a completely new light. I also have to wonder if the fact that Don and Dean simultaneously returned to Amelia and Sam, respectively, is really a coincidence. The timing seems rather suspicious, and I ask myself if there is more to it than meets the eye.
I admit, these last couple of weeks I have not once seriously considered that Sam’s memories about Amelia might not be real, but Sam’s fervent speech about escaping into a dream world when life becomes too much, made me question the reliability of Sam’s memories for the first time - especially in light of the reveal about Dean’s erroneous memories just last episode. Of course, the dreamlike quality of the flashbacks gave cause for speculation about the reality of Sam’s memories right from the start, but the obvious parallels between Sam’s retreat into a civilian life with Amelia and Fred’s mental retreat into a cartoon world seem to substantiate those speculations further. Now, Sam is always incredibly vague when he talks about those first few months after Dean vanished, but from the little we do know it is obvious that he was incapable of coping with his loss in a level-headed manner. Only weeks prior to Dean’s disappearance Sam was terrified at the mere thought of losing Dean - the only person able to anchor him to reality - so the notion that Sam suffered from a mental breakdown when the unthinkable did happen does not seem too far-fetched in my opinion. In that context, there are two things worth noting about Sam’s flashbacks in Hunteri Heroici: Firstly, in the scene where Sam is doing the dishes with Stan, he starts to insistently rub the palm of his left hand at one point, a gesture very reminiscent of the time when he used pressure/pain on his left hand to dispel his hallucinations. Secondly, there is a strong emphasis on the fact that Sam and Amelia’s life is an utter mess, and that reminds me of Lucifer’s statement in Hello, Cruel World that Sam’s hallucinations have to be a mess or Sam would not believe that they were his life. All of this could indicate that Sam’s memories are not actually real - or, you know, it could simply mean that I read way too much into this.
While I would be thrilled beyond belief, if the writers would link Sam’s memories of his time with Amelia to his mental health problems in S7, the theory that Amelia herself is just one of Sam’s mental-break induced hallucinations is rather untenable. I mean, we know for a fact that Amelia is a real person, because she appears outside of Sam’s flashbacks, twice. First in the season opener, where Sam leaves her behind when he drives to Rufus’ cabin, and then again in Blood Brother, where Sam searches for information about Amelia on the internet. However, that does not necessarily exclude the possibility that Sam’s memories of his time with Amelia are unreliable. For example, it is possible that he knows her, but that the extent of their relationship is just a figment of his imagination. It is also possible that, just like Dean’s memories, Sam’s are sound for the most part and only a selective few of them are imaginary. And I still do not rule out the possibility that Naomi messed with Sam’s memories in order to protect her own agenda either. Of course, all this is pure speculation, and it is equally as possible that Sam’s story is exactly what it seems. Maybe Dean’s disappearance was just the last straw to break the camel’s back; maybe Sam simply could not cope with another stroke of fate and so he ran, until he found something to hold onto; maybe he needed to escape into the illusion of safety for a while in order to heal enough to make a start on looking for Dean, just like Dean needed to be with Lisa and Ben in order to go on with his life after Sam’s death. Admittedly, this last scenario appeals to me the least, even though I am able to rationalise Sam’s actions, but I still think we are far from knowing Sam’s whole story yet, so I hold out hope that a better explanation will come along eventually.
What else is noteworthy:
(1) You know, I start to wonder if maybe there is a rule that says Sam cannot be present when Dean and Castiel have a conversation. I mean, why does the heart-to-heart between Dean and Castiel have to take place while Sam is out and about, doing a significant part of the legwork for their case on his own? Similarly, last week Dean deliberately excluded Sam from his talk with Castiel for no discernible reason. After all, he already told Sam that he felt guilty for failing Castiel, so he had nothing to hide from him. Besides, if Sam had been present when Castiel showed Dean just how wrongly he remembered things between them, it would have given the brothers a starting point for a dialogue about similar misperceptions in their own relationship. Anyway, it is rather common that Sam, Dean and Castiel split up when they work together - with Dean & Castiel on one side and Sam on the other - and that undercuts the feeling that they are an actual team. Moreover, whenever Castiel is around, there is barely any interaction between Sam and Dean. With other characters, the writers seem perfectly capable of balancing the character dynamics. For example, when Bobby or Garth join the brothers on a hunt, it is never at the expense of quality time between Sam and Dean, and they usually interact with both brothers in equal measure. I really wished the writers would manage to do the same with Castiel as well, as it would make his presence a lot more enjoyable for me. That said, there is one thing I truly love about Castiel’s collaboration with Sam and Dean here, namely the way his cluelessness highlights Sam and Dean’s competence as hunters. Those moments at the morgue or during the witness interview, where Dean proudly points out Sam’s superior skills to Castiel, really warm my heart. ♥
(2) I know I have said it before, but I think it bears repeating: The complete lack of an actual reconciliation process between Castiel and Dean makes their current amiable interaction extremely frustrating to watch for me. I mean, we went from Dean angrily yelling at Castiel in Survival of The Fittest to Dean hugging Castiel in What’s Up, Tiger Mommy without any kind of adjustment period, and the fact that the writers simply returned Dean and Castiel’s relationship to the pre-S6 status without so much as a clarifying conversation between them irritates me to such a degree that scenes like the heart-to-heart between Dean and Castiel do nothing but aggravate me, regardless of their actual content. And little moments like Dean’s statement that he is thrilled to have Castiel back simply do not ring true for me under these circumstances. Overall, the writers went to great lengths to draw parallels between Sam and Castiel’s storylines, but where earning Dean’s forgiveness is concerned, Castiel seems to get preferential treatment for no discernible in-canon reason. The writers took shortcuts in the brothers’ relationship with Castiel before, but they really dropped the ball on this one. It seems to me like they want to have their cake and eat it, too. On the one hand, they do not want to let go of the character because he is a fan favourite, but on the other hand they cannot be bothered to actually give his storylines the attention they would need to make them work - and in the long run that is damaging not only to Castiel’s character, but also to Sam and Dean’s.
(3) The episode’s general theme of escaping into a dream world when facing reality seems too difficult to bear extends to Castiel as well. In Castiel’s case it is the inability of facing the devastation he caused in heaven, and he tries to escape by following in Sam and Dean’s footsteps and become a hunter. Now, while I do not doubt that Castiel genuinely wants to atone by helping people, it is clear that throwing himself into the hunt is also a means to get out of his own head for a while, and that is a very Winchester way of dealing with things. After all, Sam and Dean tend to throw themselves into the hunt as well, when they feel unable to confront their bigger issues. Of course, Castiel is just as out of place in the hunting world as Sam is in the normal world, not least because he simply does not seem to grasp the basic concept of human interaction, and in the end he takes a page from Sam’s book and realises that he has to stop running and confront his guilt head-on. Naturally, things are never easy and Castiel’s intention to return to heaven and make things right with his fellow angels is thwarted by Naomi, thus forcing him to make a new choice about what he wants to do with his life - and maybe that is an opportunity as well; an opportunity to truly define who he is, when he is not an emissary of heaven or Sam and Dean’s third wheel. By the way, I am a tad puzzled that rather than telling Castiel to return to Sam and Dean, Naomi tells him to do what he wants to do. What happened to Castiel spying on the brothers so he can report back to her?
(4) I admit, I am not a huge fan of John’s character, but I still find myself appreciative of the many references to John in this episode, mainly because I really like it when the show remembers its own history. I love the fact that Dean still uses John’s journal, even though he surely knows its contents by heart by now, and Castiel’s compliment regarding John’s writing is quite amusing, given that Dean complained about his father’s writing back in Asylum. I also love that Sam brings up John’s military background in an attempt to bond with Amelia’s father. Speaking of which, at first it struck me as rather odd that Sam would tell Stan the Impala was John’s car, because I believe both brothers have long come to think of the Impala as Dean’s. However, when Stan comments to Sam on the Impala, his general hostility up to that point has made Sam visibly uncomfortable around him, and since mentioning Dean would inevitably have steered the conversation towards Sam’s loss, it makes sense that he would choose to avoid the topic - he is simply not ready to show that kind of vulnerability around Stan at that point. Once the tension between them makes way for a more cordial relationship though, Sam brings up Dean on his own accord.
In conclusion: Like with so many episodes this season, I would not say that Hunteri Heroici is a bad episode, but it fails to engage me beyond the moments that pertain to Sam’s storyline. While the episode has some great character moments, they feel somewhat misplaced amidst the over-the-top humour - that is especially true for Sam’s flashbacks - and that affects my enjoyment to some degree. I think the cartoon-world premise has great comedic potential, and it would probably have worked fine for me if the writers had committed to the idea of a straightforward comedy episode, but this odd mix of the emotional and the absurd is just not particularly convincing to me. But well, I guess that has more to do with my own preferences and less with actual problems in the writing.