TV Review: Supernatural Episode 1.10

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

From WB: Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) investigate an abandoned sanitarium and discover that when the hospital was open, the patients held a revolt against the cruel and unusual punishments inflicted by the head doctor. While the brothers search the premises for four lost college students, the tortured spirits cause them to go insane, turning Dean against Sam.

My Rating: 3 out of 4

This week's episode titled Asylum finds the Winchester brothers sent off on a case by what appears to be there father, when a mysterious text message comes through on Dean's cell phone containing coordinates. Even though Sam is reluctant to go, Dean is adamant that they do once he researches the case. Turns out a cop killed his wife and then himself following a call to the Asylum. This occurrence is what opens tonight's episode. We see the man shoot his wife, and we also see him venturing through the Asylum with his partner.

The brothers head off to the town the Asylum is located, immediately jumping in and trying to find out what they have on their hands here. The Asylum definitely has a checkered past, and several deaths occurred at the location. The spirits are obviously still in residence.  The brothers venture into the asylum during the light of day, and they do pick up some weird readings. They joke around a bit about Sam's newly discovered ESP powers. However, Sam is adamant he just feels things from time to time, and it isn't that big of a deal.

Things are also a bit sketchy when it comes to their dad. Dean thinks their father wants them to investigate the Asylum because he sent them there. He might even possibly end up joining them there. Sam feels they are in the wrong place, and they need to be looking for their dad. After some heated words, they find some new evidence, and decide they want to learn more about one of the doctor's from the facility and more about what happened in the asylum's south wing.

In order to do this, Sam goes into see a psychiatrist that is related to the doctor, posing as a patient. Instead of talking about himself, he tries to pump the man for information, and he is successful. He learns there was a riot in the south wing, and several people died. Some bodies were never discovered. They decide to return to the asylum that night. However, they aren't the only ones that idea.

We jump to the asylum, and a young couple has just entered. Apparently walking through a creepy haunted mental asylum is his idea of an ideal date. The date isn't amused, but she sticks with him for a bit - that is until he goes somewhere she doesn't want to, and he leaves her. He does get some payback He meets up with a spirit he thinks is his girlfriend and she lands a big kiss on him.

Soon after Dean and Sam arrive, they have their own encounter with one of the asylum spirits. Sam notices the ghost isn't trying to harm him, but Dean has sent her on her way by then anyway. They found the girlfriend, and then separate to find her boyfriend. Sam finds him, and he is unharmed as well. Just a bit grossed out by the kiss he shared. After the girlfriend has her own encounter, the four try to leave the asylum, but they discover they are locked in by one of the spirits. They definitely do not want them to leave. In order to get out, Sam and Dean must find out which spirit is holding them hostage and dispatch them.

Sam figures the ghosts are trying to tell them something, and the ghost that encounters Kat tells her a room number, 137. The brothers think this room might lead them to the solution of getting out of there. The group separates, and Dean goes to find the room. While Sam is with the others, he gets a call, and it seems it is from Dean. He goes off to find Dean, but Dean shows up back where the couple is waiting.

Sam was tricked, and he encounters the spirit causes all the evil happenings in the asylum. He somehow possesses Sam, and when he Sam finds him, they have a show down. Sam says some things, and we have even more development of the brother's relationship and the problems in it. After Dean handles Sam, he goes about finding the doctor's body and destroying it. Once that is done, and they are free to go, and Sam is fine. Sam does apologize for what he says, but we know that is how he feels. The episode ends with another surprise twist - a call from their father.

A good episode, but not really all that scary in my mind. This episode helped us develop the characters and their relationship more than anything else. I really enjoy this show a great deal, and it keeps getting stronger with each week. I can't wait to see if it was their father that called. We'll have to wait a couple of weeks though it looks like; the WB is airing a movie next week in Supernatural's time slot.