Supernatural

Last week, Supernatural fans were shocked to discover that Ruby (Katie Cassidy) one of the controversial new female characters added for the third season, was actually a demon. Most people absolutely loved this twist, and tonight we get our first look at the other lady entering the lives of Sam and Dean, Bela (Lauren Cohan).

Will the gratifying twist last week make viewers more confident that maybe creator Eric Kripke knows exactly what he's doing and didn't just add in some chicks for sex appeal? Or does the awesome demon twist make fans even more eager to find out what Bela's secret is, setting the bar much higher than it should be? Tonight, we'll find out, and we'll also see one of the Winchester boys get lucky.

Tonight's Supernatural begins with a jailed Gordon telling Kubrick to find Sam, because that boy needs to die.  I'll admit to not knowing the mythology of this show as I'm a substitute recapper, but I'll assume this is important.

The Winchester lads are driving, debatiint the merits of Ruby the Demon.  Their dad's phone rings, and the man on the other end informs Sam (Jared Padalecki) of an unknown storage facility their dad was renting that was recently broken into outside of Buffalo.  They head to it and find Sam's old soccer trophy, Dean's first sawed-off shot gun.  and a bunch of land mines.  There's also some cursed boxes with binding spells on them, but one is missing.

Cut to a bunch of low-rent thugs who stole the box for some girl (gee, I wonder who that could be).  They decide to open the box and sell it independently, and after a lot of suspenseful, dramatic music, they open it to reveal...a rabbit's foot.  One guy, who was shot in the shoulder, picks it up and just then the super arrives, a former Army medic who offers to help,  "I guess it's your lucky day," he say.  The thugs then play some cards and realize the rabbit's foot really works, because there are royal flushes galore. 

The Winchesters break in, and when they try to take control, the thugs beat the crap out of them in a hilarious fight.  While getting choked, Sam picks up the rabbit's foot, and just then the tide turns and Sam goes into He-Man mode, knocking the thugs out.  With all the luck, Dean's first impulse is to buy his brother a bunch of scratch-off lottery tickets, and instantly they win $1,200.  Meanwhile, the previous holder of the rabbit's foot washes up, then trips on a beer bottle and falls backwards, right onto a meat fork which goes clean through his head.  Eww.

Sam calls up Bobby (it's Ellsworth from Deadwood!), and the old man lets him know this is some bad voodoo.  When you touch the rabbit's foot, it's yours and you get infinite luck.  If you lose it, then you're dead within a week.  Bobby goes off to work on fixing it, but Dean (Jensen Ackles) is only concerned about the $15,000 in scratch-ff winnings.  They go to eat and win free food for life as the millionth customers, after which the waitress hits on the taller, mop-headed, luckier Winchester.  Sam gets up to chase her and runs into a waiter.  That's not good luck.  The waitress is outside, removing her wig and pocketing the stolen rabbit's foot.  Meet Bela.  .

Kubrick and associate are getting hungry, and go on a website to find the nearest in a popular chain.  They happen to come across a photo of Sam and Dean getting their over-sized novelty check.  That's...convenient.

The Winchesters return to the thug to find out who he stole the box for.  Sam trips, as he does a lot this episode.  Jared Padalecki is either loving or hating this episode, depending on his love of performing pratfalls.  Bobby calls with a cure, but they need the foot.  The hot chick who stole it is someone Bobby knows named Bela Talbot, a grade-A thief.  While this conversation goes on, Sam gets something on his shoe and tries to wipe it off on a storm grate before the shoe falls in.  When Dean turns around, Sam, like a sad little boy, says "I lost my shoe."  Best line reading ever.

Bela is in Queens, and Dean gives chase, leaving bad luck Sam behind.  Bela and her British accent are chilling in a high tech apartment as she negotiates the expensive sale of the foot.   Someone has broken in, and when she goes to check, gun drawn, Dean traps her and points his own gun at her.  They talk, and Bela knows all about demonology, revealing that "a select clientele" pay big bucks for these trinkets and amulets.  She's a realist, saying "we're all going to Hell, might as well enjoy the ride."  Dean out-thieves the thief, stealing back the foot and taking off.

Sam tries to avoid dying, but the radiator in his hotel room spontaneously combusts.  He tries to put it out, but his sleeve catches fire, and he falls down, dragging the drapes with him to reveal Kubrick and friend, who get lucky again and tie up Sam.  Rather than kill Sam as per Gordon's instructions, they slap him around and interrogate him about opening the demon gate to Hell.  The theme this TV season is Rory Gilmore's old boyfriends being tied up and beaten, only, to the disappointment of Jared fans, he isn't as shirtless as Milo Ventimiglia was on Heroes.

Just in the nick of time, Dean runs in, and now that he has the foot, his luck helps him take down the bad guys, prompting him to say "I'm Batman."  It's not half as amusing as he thinks, and while I don't want to get in the middle of what I imagine is a huge debate among Supernatural fans, I'll pick Jared over Jensen any day of the week.

The Winchesters prepare to do the reversal of misfortune spell when Bela shows up to the cemetery, gun drawn, wanting to steal back the foot.   Though Dean has the luck, she shoots Sam in the shoulder and threatens to keep shotting unless she gets the foot back.  Dean cleverly obliges, throws the foot right into Bela's hand, making her quite upset because now she has no choice but to go along with its destruction.  Afterwards, Bela leaves, and as Dean excitedly goes to pull out his scratch-off winnings, he finds his pocket empty.  Because Bela is a thief.

Back in prison, where the episode began, Kubrick is now fully on board the "kill Sam" bandwagon because God spoke to him.  But first, Gordon tells him, he needs to be broken out of prison.  Isn't that a different show featuring a pair of pretty brothers?


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of the CW)