Supernatural Review: 5 Ways ‘Red Meat’ Could Have Been Better
Based on this review’s title alone, I think it’s very clear that I am not a fan of “Red Meat.”
Supernatural tries its hand at heart-stopping drama but unfortunately, they fall incredibly short.
This episode comes on the heels of “Safe House,” an episode that was outright incredible, with exemplary direction and guest stars that longtime fans of the series know and love.
So why did this episode fall short? Let’s look at five things that could have changed my opinion of “Red Meat.”
Make This a Bottle Episode
In order to really amp up the tension of Sam being shot, the warning that Billie continues to give Dean with each of their meetings, and really just to increase the overall danger of being locked up with a werewolf, the characters should have stayed in the cabin. This could have opened the door up for a lot more moments of suspense. Seeing characters shift all over the place, especially with the injuries that they sustained, really takes the viewer out of the danger realm.
Silence is Golden
Nothing is more frightening and tense than the absence of noise. I may have been more inclined to worry about Sam’s mortality if the only soundtrack to the episode was his labored breathing, his painful grunts, and his anguished strain as he tried to save himself.
Cast a More Charismatic Villain if You Want Me to Believe A Main Character is Dead
This was really my biggest issue with the episode. That guy, I don’t even remember his name, was a total dud! He SUFFOCATED Sam? Really? The writers want us to believe that Sam Winchester, the guy who’s survived multiple trips to hell, zombie sickness, Yellow Eyes, having an angel take over his body, etc… is going to be taken down by THAT guy? Come on. Even if the music was gone and the episode was in a bottle, I couldn’t buy into those fabricated stakes. Had that guy been more menacing, creepy, or dangerous looking, I may have bought into it more. But a dude who basically stepped off the Hart of Dixie set is not going to be the one who ends Sam Winchester’s life. It’s just not happening.
Don’t Use Werewolves When Your Villain is God’s Sister
This is the sixth time we’ve had a werewolf story on Supernatural. Listen, when a show has been on for 11 Seasons, there’s bound to be some recycling. But man, I am tired of werewolf stories. Remember the Darkness? God’s sister? The Big Bad of the season? Why couldn’t Sam’s supposed death come at the hand of some circumstance surrounding her? Have the writers just given up on telling us anything about Amara anymore? I enjoy seeing Sam and Dean suffer consequences during a Monster of the Week story, I really do. But we’ve now had quite a few MOTW stories in a row, and no sight of Amara. Heck, we haven’t seen Casifer in while either. With so many other stories happening, there was a way to tie a more prominent villain to Sam’s death.
Go for the Big Brother Moment…At Least Give Us That
Dean unnecessarily killed himself to save Sam, which lead to a really disappointing conversation with Billie. Shouldn’t Dean have TOLD Sam that when asked directly what he did when he thought Sam was dead? Remember change and honesty? The brothers have been doing so well. Why backslide on that now? Dean absolutely SHOULD have said, “Yeah, I tried to save you. I did a stupid thing. Because I love you and I’ll always save you.” That would have been a far better ending for the brothers other than Dean’s, “I thought about redecorating your room…”
All in all, this one was disappointing for me. I look forward to seeing Amara, Casifer, and Crowley again. After “Red Meat,” I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to see Crowley more. That’s saying something.
What did you think of this episode of “Red Meat”? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Supernatural airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
Christine Laskodi
Christine is guilty of watching Hart of Dixie more times than the average human will in their lifetime. She's the host of Long Live the Hart: A Hart of Dixie Podcast (available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!) as well as co-host on The Shipping Room, a podcast devoted to television's greatest relationships. You can find some of her older television reviews at TV Fanatic and IGN. Christine eagerly anticipates every cheesy holiday movie that networks can throw at her, and current favorite shows include The Good Place, The Resident, Shark Tank, and All Rise.
5 comments
I think the biggest problem with this episode was that it was written by two writers with very different styles. When Carver stepped down from the writers room that left Thompson, Berens and Dabb to try and figure out how they were going to cover that empty slot. Berens script was taken over part way (maybe half way) through by Dabb so the Berens could write episode 22 (the ep that Dabb would have written). It started out high octane like a typical Berens script and then turned into a soapy melodrama like a typical Dabb script. It was disjointed and even though the director and actors did a good job they were fighting the drastic change in tempo of the writing.
In the beginning I thought that was how the episode was going to play out…in the cabin with flashbacks as to how they all got there. When it shifted to the clinic the whole thing fell apart. If we were supposed to feel some sort of compassion for the husband or the wife that all went out the window when he killed Sam and she covered for him. I could have cared less about their “sad” story.
And then to have Dean lie to Sam (again!) for really no reason brought the episode down to S9 level. It really could have been a great episode if it had been left to Berens. I understand why they had to make the changes but in a season where the show has been firing on all cylinders it is unfortunate that Carver stepped away and left the show in a pickle.
That’s all REALLY interesting information! I had no idea about any of that, and suddenly it makes the episode shift make sense. That seems really sloppy considering the big emotional payoff they were going for. And yeah. Come on Dean. Don’t lie to Sam anymore. We’re all over it. 🙂
I actually fast-forwarded through a lot of the episode. If this was a horror episode, it was lacking. If it was a brother episode, it was lacking too. I do love the actress playing the female half of that couple (from her Alpha days), but not enough to make me watch that entire ep without pushing the ffw button. And agreed on last week’s episode. I loved it. It was so nice seeing Bobby again. I still miss him.
I definitely understood what they were going for, it just didn’t translate for me, unfortunately. Did you read what Dakota said? That makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, it also spoiled what could have been a really impactful episode.
I did! We shouldn’t be able to see those writer switches though. What ends up on the screen should be, especially after all those years, a “perfect” episode of TV. Or at least an episode that makes sense and is entertaining.
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