Customer Reviews

On the Head of a Pin

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It's been a while this season since I saw an episode of this show that met the potential of the first few eps this season. This one, "On the Head of a Pin," finally did what a good episode should do: it developed the characters in meaningful ways and it moved the plot along in a direction that made me want to keep watching for the rest of the season.

The episode isn't perfect; I'm still blown away by how weak Castiel's character is made to look whenever he's engaged in a fight. Someone always has to save him--Dean, Sam, Anna--because he usually ends up about to get his soul scrambled by some nefarious character or other. Why? Why make him look so weak when he is one of the most engaging characters on the show? And there's still the whole issue of twisted logic that rears its ugly head and makes me wonder who's keeping track of stuff on this show. But oh, man--there are some really good things happening this year that require and deserve recognition.

First of all, and I've mentioned this before, Jensen Ackles has developed some acting chops that really stand out and make me want to keep watching even when the episodes aren't up to snuff. This young man could so easily get stuck in pretty-boy traps; he's remarkably easy on the eyes and his character has a kind of frat-boy playfulness that might match Ackles' own sense of humor and attitude, but he's got RANGE. He does funny, charming, wicked, sex-crazed, and anguished with skill and believability. But it's with the tortured part of Dean's character that Ackles really shines. You can see it in the line of his body when he's about to come apart emotionally; you can see it in the flaring of his nostrils as guilt and fear begin to rip at him. He plays Dean like a young man with a moral compass that's fierce and burned into his soul but whose own insecurities and self-doubt eat at that morality and make him vulnerable. Dean feels things intensely, and it's a real trick for Ackles to play him without coming across as wimpy, but the man does it, and he does it with skill and believability.

This episode takes Dean into territory that is meant to break him, and at eps' end, he certainly appears to be broken. I don't want to spoil the plot twists, so I'll say this and end: even broken and aching for absolution, Dean is a mesmerizing character because of Ackles' performance and his willingness to do whatever it takes to expose Dean's vulnerabilities and his anguish.

Sam's character gets developed a bit more, and we discover some things about him that are disturbing. I won't discuss that at length because it's a huge plot twist, and I don't want to ruin the surprise.

The whole issue of heaven and hell and angels (both fallen and not) gets developed a lot more here, and it's pretty fascinating to me because I find the whole thing thought-provoking.

All in all, and despite some plot probs and my quibbles about Castiel's character, this episode was superb.

Most especially, kudos to Mr. Ackles.