Season 7; Episode 5: "Shut Up, Dr. Phil"

 

"Shut Up, Dr. Phil"

This week's big Buffy reunion on Supernatural features James Marsters and Charisma Carpenter as a very, very old married couple engaging in the most deadly marital spat of all-time. Luckily what Sam and Dean lack in the ability to properly thaw chicken feet they more than make up for in marriage counseling.

Dean's Internet search for "freaky accidents" leads the brothers to their latest case, and I guess that's as good a way as any to find one. People in a small town are being boiled alive in hot tubs and killed by floating nail guns, which isn't exactly normal. They quickly put the blame on a scorned wife (who also happens to be a witch) whose husband had an affair.

Enter Marsters and Carpenter as husband and wife Don and Maggie Stark, a pair of very old witches who are going through a bit of a rough patch. Despite a sad lack of Buffy references, the two do a remarkable job of making me forget about Spike and Cordelia. Marsters is a master of disguise and his sad-sack witch husband is so wonderful that I hope Supernatural finds a way to bring him back. Carpenter is once again playing the spoiled rich girl, though her vengeance is more similar to Kendall Casablancas from Veronica Mars than Cordelia Chase.

After plenty of bloodshed from both sides (she kills the woman he slept with, he kills her best friend who told her about the affair), the two meet up to hash out their problems, only to be interrupted by Sam and Dean who try to kill the witches. Their efforts fail, so instead they compromise and try to act as marriage counselors for the Starks.

The result is a brilliant and hilarious scene as Don and Maggie flick their magic at the boys, even sending a swarm of bees after Dean, while talking through their problems. Despite the fact that Maggie apparently slept with Christopher Columbus, they realize that after more than 800 years, they still love each other and can work through their problems. It's a happy ending, if by happy you mean two powerful, murderous witches are allowed to live.

The counseling session is a perfect opening for Sam to try and get Dean to open up about his feelings instead of using alcoholism to hide from them. Dean is haunted by the fact that his best friend (Cas) is dead, his brother's brain is broken and he killed Amy. But even when Sam gives him an opening, promising unconditional love, Dean still refuses to confess his real feelings. That boy is headed down a dark path.

This week also sees the LeviAssassin catch up to the boys, and just as he's about to kill them, Don Stark shows up to do a quick spell that magically paralyzes the Leviathan for a few days. At least now we know they can be incapacitated.

Quotes

Dean: And I'm still me, okay? So, so, you might see things different now. 

Call it a runner's high or some crap. But that doesn't mean that something's going on with me, okay?
Sam: Yeah, okay.
Dean: No, don't say "yeah, okay," like uses "duh" voice) "yeah, okay."
Sam: Yeah, okay.


Dean: It's kind of like Bewitched, you know. Don's Darren, doesn't even know it.

Lots of laughs until you cheat on your wife.
Sam: Witch reference? Really?
Dean: Dude. Nicole Kidman was in the remake. Redhead. Hello.


Jenny: There were tiny beating hearts in my cupcakes. There were hearts in my cupcakes. Hearts in my cupcakes. That's never happened before, hearts in my cupcakes!
Dean: Shall I slug her?
Sam: Give it a second.


Dean: Okay, uh, obviously you two are capable of wiping each other out. Right? But you haven't, huh? Which means that you two... you still value whatever it is you got. And--and you want to keep that dance going. Maybe it's punishment, maybe it's sick, messed-up, erotic, kinky, clamps-and-feathers kind of love...


Dean: Okay, uh, obviously you two are capable of wiping each other out. Right? But you haven't, huh? Which means that you two... you still value whatever it is you got. And--and you want to keep that dance going. Maybe it's punishment, maybe it's sick, messed-up, erotic, kinky, clamps-and-feathers kind of love...
Sam: Okay, okay, that's--that's going way too deep there, cowboy.


Dean: Sam, I am so very, very, very, very, very, very tired.
Sam: Dean, like it or not, the stuff you don't talk about doesn't just go away. It build up. 

Like whatever's eating at you right now...
Dean: There's always something eating at me. That's who I am. Something happens, 

I feel responsible. All right, uh, the Lindbergh Baby--that's on me. Unemployment--my bad.

My closing thoughts on: "Shut Up, Dr. Phil": I thought this was a hilarious episode, only the creators of Supernatural would make an episode of a pissed off female witch killing people because her husband cheated on her! haha. :) Although at the end we learned a valuable piece of information, that the Leviathans can be incapacitated for a short period of time if a witch is at hand.