User blog comment:Rafe Adler/"Stranger in a Strange Land" Discussion/@comment-25589722-20181013095313

Well let’s be honest here: It’s not what it could have been! For me personally the whole alternative universe thing isn’t entirely bad (I mean it has its roots all the way back to season six and “The French Mistake”) but it’s executed in the most-fan-fiction way possible. With all the dead characters we know from our universe coming back by simply being exchanged with their alternative counterparts. This is a cheap and extremely lazy way to catch on the nostalgia. I mean I’m happy for Jensen being able to play someone else on the show, besides Dean, but still... this AU-Michael sounds like a fart out idea of a fan writing a sloppy fan fiction. I just can’t get used to this character and now having him as sort of a big bad in the 14th season is depressing. Also the acting of Jensen, which can be breathtakingly good at times, but when it comes to Michael, it just feels forced. And don’t get me started on Sister Jo... No acting skills whatsoever. But maybe it’s just the script which is, well bad! Oh and this AU-Bobby... Happy to see Jim Beaver back but unfortunately in a story under the control of Andrew Dabb.

The premiere episode on its own had so many flaws and although they’re trying to keep it interesting with showing us how angels can see other angels (which took away our beloved imagination towards this – and I count that as a big mistake) this “power” is immediately contradicted with Castiel not being able to see the demons, who are at the bar with this Crowley wannabe. Oh and this “Crowley 2.0” (a shame of even using the Name “Crowley” on this character) was sounding more like one of those rude salesmen I have to deal with in my job. This dude being a demon? No real evil charisma. Just bragging about being alive for 600 years and riding with Genghis Khan, and burning half the world is just pathetic. Also the name... there are so much powerful and famous demons out there that Fans wanted to see in the show like, I don’t Baal or Belial or Adramelech. But no, there’s the mighty Kipling... I honestly cringed at the name. Anyway, then instead of ending it all as the so powerful demon he brags about being, it all turns into a bar fight, a really bad and ridiculously choreographed bar fight! And when the temporarily leader is dead all the demons smoke out because... well, it’s Sam Winchester against them, who’s announcing that there will be no new King of Hell? I mean come on! Okay it’s a Winchester but exactly now should be the time where the demons could actually gather together and fight the brothers back! Team Free Will is now weakened without Dean and being distracted by the thought of finding and rescuing him. Those demons ever heard of tactics? But hey gonna give them cudos, they were able to capture an angel like Cass but sure loose to a bunch of humans... genius!

Yeah where to go next? Aaa Nick... happy to have Pellegrino around but surviving what happened in the season 13 finale to his vessel and to Lucifer? Again garbage idea! Simply there to keep Pellegrino for probably some half-baked plot later in the season and also a way of hinting that AU-Michael can be killed and Dean is able to survive. I mean there were flames coming out of Nick’s eyes and all this energy from within should have teared this vessel apart. And since when is Nick even alive? Okay Crowley set up this meat suite in season 12 but the guy sitting on this chair waiting for Lucifer’s essence or grace, looked pretty dead. Also why bringing the vessel and Nick’s soul back? Crowley only wanted a meat suit to trap Lucifer in it. So where does Nick come from? And don’t start with saying: “Yeah it’s just Lucifer pretending”. Within this new established lore in the Dabb Era it could be possible due to the Nephilim grace that Lucifer stole from Jack and maybe it rescued him and he now only has to... well, I don’t know... recharge? An then Lucifer will be back. Now this would make some sort of sense and Lucifer certainly deserves a better death and closure then this “fight” or whatever that was in “Let The Good Times Roll”. But it would further ruin this finale and also reaching a peak in reviving dead characters.

Meanwhile I’m really thinking of giving this season a pass or at least until I hear some good critics popping up, because Dabb is ruining Supernatural for me and like a comment I have once read here on the wiki: “Dabb is just throwing stuff at us and seeing what sticks.” Something in that sense at least. And well, I think that’s a true statement. So much stuff to discover in our world with all the mythology apart from this milked angel and demon plots, but he chooses to go even further and also make the idea about parallel universes into a big story arc. Again, it could have been something great but the way all of this is handled and portrayed... ugh... Every time something interesting appears it’s either left behind like for example the Shedim or it turns into sloppy executed plot like the alternative universe or this Wayward Sister thing. Which I think is a good idea when you really think about it, but again executed terribly! I can’t believe I would ever despise a new season of Supernatural but that was the case for the 14th one and I have to say, I wasn't expecting much but still was utterly disappointment in the shear amount of bad writing, bad camera work, bad acting and so on...

Now these are my thoughts so far. If there is some sort of confusion on my part towards the happenings in the episode, please let me be aware of that. I don’t usually write anything when it comes to feedback for an episode and especially not in English cause it’s not my native language and you have surely found grammar mistakes, but hey.. forgive me :)