Supernatural "The Hunter Games" Review: Free to Be You and Me (Part 2)

Supernatural S10E10: "The Hunter Games"

I think we can all agree it's possible that some sort of inherent Dean-ness was driving the antics of the Mark of Cain—after all, Cain himself lived with the Mark for years without going on a homicidal rampage every other week. Personally, I've been kicking around that theory ever since watching Demon Dean sing karaoke, which made Supernatural's acknowledgement of the possibility all the more satisfying.

It also makes for a nice, neat little parallel to the "Mark of Cain being Dean's version of demon blood" thing that's been going on for like a season and a half now. The beauty of the demon blood storyline way back when was that it forced Supernatural to take a brutally honest look at Sam Winchester. Up until that point, the brother's roles were clearly defined, with Sam being the goodie-goodie human puppy and Dean rocking the whole ne'er do well with a a heart of gold routine. Sure, Season 2 brought us the then-shocking concept of a Sam going darkside, but it was difficult to take very seriously until the demon blood came along.

We've seen examples of an out-of-control maniac Dean throughout the seasons: that gruesome vampire decapitation via table saw from Season 2 is a classic. Then there was Dean's time as a torturer in hell. And then there was the "purity" of purgatory. We've known for a long time what Dean's dark side is capable of, but as with the prophesied "evil Sam," there's always been some sort of an excuse. It was stress. It was Azazel. It was demon blood. It was Lucifer... and then it was just Sam and his rage and what happens when he loses control of that rage. In a way, the demon blood was an excuse, a conduit that allowed Sam to display the ugliness that'd been kept under wraps for so long.

The Mark of Cain is Dean's own special conduit for crazy. Dean has his own issues and his own darkness, and his armor has withstood the trials of the last several seasons—I don't want to say better than Sam's because I think that they're both equal in their struggles, but we also haven't had an entire storyline dedicated to Dean's dark side in a good long time-- Dean just hasn't really had the opportunity to examine his flaws on the level Sam has.

And really, that in itself is a Dean flaw that's been dabbled with off and on over the course of the series; from the crossroads deal that resurrected Sam after Cold Oak to the desperation that led to manipulating Sam into accepting Gadreel's possession. Dean sincerely buys into his "big brother/protector/hero" status. Castiel told Claire this week that "it's possible there's a little monster in all of us." Castiel is in the process of atoning for all of his "monstrous" actions. Sam has thought of himself as a monster for years. Dean, however, is the shiny hero. The good soldier. The selfless brother. In his mind, for the longest time, I think he was able to justify any monstrous actions as being driven by heroic necessity. From the crossroads, to hell, purgatory, the apocalypse, and Gadreel—the end justified the means. Dean didn't want to do the bad things, you see?

Except... maybe just a small part of him did.

It's Supernatural, where everyone's a little bit screwed up on a good day, and the idea of the Mark bringing out the worst in Dean is certainly a better story than the Mark infusing Dean with evilness as if it's one more ingredient in his signature cocktail of whiskey, beer, and angst, and manliness. As a longtime Supernatural fan who has, more than once, gotten really bored with the "Dean is a saint and everyone else sucks" sentiment, I love Supernatural totally owning this narrative. Dean is flawed and this season (and a good chunk of last season) has been an endless kegger where we all get drunk and stupid and roll around in the bad decision-making. I love it, which is good because as a whole, "The Hunter Games" was kind of... meh?

I didn't hate it. I feel like I say that a lot and it's got me thinking about the longevity of a series hat will seemingly live forever and what it means for our perception of what a "good" and "bad" episode entails as we go further and further along. I loved me some Stargate SG-1 back in the day, another series that was on television for pretty much ever, but when I think about the episodes that blew me away, they tend to come from earlier in the show's run. Not all of them, of course—Season 7's "Grace" was phenomenal and Season 10's "200" was good, but there's a lot of mush that blends together in the category of "this is stuff that happened but I couldn't tell you which episode it happened in," which is where the tnow-renewed-for-Season-11 Supernatural is starting to land. (I'm still totally pumped for Season 11, though!)

I want more of Cas and Claire because we haven't seen anything like that before. Dean mentoring Krissy had a very different dynamic, and Castiel's history with the Novak family makes his relationship with Krissy—and hers with him—something fascinating.

Dean's Mark of Cain stuff is always a good time.

Rowena and Crowley, though... while the banter is fun, the double-crossing and manipulation are predictable. Metatron being a douche about helping Dean and Sam ditch the Mark was predictable. Dean going postal on the Scribe of God was also predictable and not just because we saw it in the episode promo.

However, Dean stopping himself when cornered by Claire's newest batch of questionable "friends" was a pleasant surprise, and deeply satisfying. This entire season has been into the idea that everyone is a monster, and it's what you do with your monster tendencies that determines how human you are. Much of Supernatural as a series has embraced the idea that Dean's flaws have been forced upon him, that they aren't really his fault, and while that may be true to some extent (watching your mom get torched on the ceiling when you're four years old tends to mess a guy up, and being raised as the perfect soldier in your dad's paramilitary war against the supernatural doesn't help), it doesn't totally matter how Dean came into his negative traits, because they exist and they're his responsibility. And the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

CASE NOTES FROM CRAZYTOWN

– UGH CLAIRE AND CASTIEL ARE SO PRESH. <3

– Jensen Ackles' delivery of Dean's laundry list of crimes against Metatron made me all tingly. "...making Gadreel kill Kevin, using MY brother's hands." Somebody hold me.

– "The river shall end at the source." Thoughts? Probably something to do with Cain. Why hasn't anyone called him yet, anyway?