Television Review

Still from SUPERNATURAL - Time is on My Side.
© CW

Mania Grade: A
Episode: Time is on My Side
Starring: Joel Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Directed By: Charles Beeson
Written By: Sara Gamble

TV Review: SUPERNATURAL - Time is on My Side

By: Stephen Lackey
Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2008

What a mistake the producers made by not finding a way to utilize “Time is on My Side” by the Rolling Stones. There wasn’t any great rock music in this episode and that song would have been very appropriate. The song has been a creepy one ever since its use in Fallen, a film that starred Denzel Washington. So, if not using that song can be called a mistake, it’s just about the only one this episode made. There’s really only one more minor complaint and that’s regarding the secondary character Bella.

Questions were answered this week, a reoccurring character returns and questions about her get answered, and the monster of the week was a really scary one. At the beginning of the episode, it seemed like a typical monster of the week. In Sam’s mind this monster offered a potential escape for Dean from his upcoming deal with the devil. This monster has found a way to grant himself immortality. The only problem is when you live so long your body parts tend to wear out so you have to get replacements. Sam wants to get access to the spell or whatever it is the monster used to become immortal to give Dean more time to stay alive and figure out a way to get free of his deal.

Everything is going by the numbers for a monster of the week episode until Dean gets a call that informs him of Bella’s location. Dean is on another path now, wanting to get the Colt back. The Colt allows Sam and Dean to actually kill demons at any level of power. Dean wants to go to Hell fighting, maybe even killing the demon that owns his contract. So the two brothers actually split up with one going after the Colt and the other going after the monster. The desperation of the two brothers is extremely well executed in this episode. Same can’t imagine not having Dean around and Dean doesn’t want to leave Sam to hunt alone plus going to Hell doesn’t sound like much fun either. There approaches in this episode are opposite each other and these decisions fantastically represent the two characters personalities. Dean kicks ass and asks questions later while Sam tends to take the more intellectual approach. Dean is right in this particular situation though – death is preferable to becoming a monster.

There’s a lot of story happening in this episode and it all flies by at breakneck speed. What’s great here is that nothing gets convoluted, something that happens often on other series. When you have so many stories to tell though, something is going to get shortchanged. In the case of this episode, its Bella’s story that doesn’t get enough attention. After her first appearance this season, she quickly became a fan favorite but she never got much back-story. All of her back-story gets crammed into a scant few minutes in this episode just in time for the end of her story arc. Bella actually deserved more of a buildup for her character but the ultimate story in this episode is still riveting and a little moving.

By the end of the episode, the brothers seem to be focused on the mission they must complete to save Dean’s life. Most of the questions that hovered all season around the brothers have been answered. All that’s left are the questions about the demons that were first asked last season and have grown with the introduction of super-demon Lilith. This was the best episode of the series that’s aired in weeks, a must watch. Hard to believe considering this same writer/director team has been disappointing with their work on the series this season.

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Comments/Responses

ponyboy76 • May 13, 2008, 03:28am •

Well, while I agree with the grade and review of this particular episode, I absolutely disagree with your overall view of the show this season. The show this season has been 90 to 95% quality in my book. There has been one, maybe two slightly poor episodes. The writing has always been good on this show. Some episodes have just been better written than others.
This last episode was great and I`m glad to see that Bella got what she deserved. Granted she had a reason for having her parents killed, but the fact that she has no loyalties and only cares about herself, not to mention putting others and the Winchesters in danger just for cash, made me really dislike her. That being said, she was a really good character for the show, next to Ruby.
Billy Drago, as always puts on a chilling performance as the crazy, immortal doctor.Great ep.

Hobbs • May 13, 2008, 07:25am •

Stephen, right on. I agree with your thoughts of the season. I think they were running out of ideas that's why you started seeing movie rip off episodes. This episode was fantastic and I'm now looking forward to the season final this week. The rolling stones song would have been a nice touch and I'm sure a very expensive one. I hear the stones don't let their songs be used for cheap which is why you probably didn't have that song in a limited budget show.

jedi4sshield • May 13, 2008, 10:22am •

I have to disagree about the season not being quite to expectations. What you consider Rip-offs I consider borrowing ideas. For example, the Episode "Mystery Spot" which was loosely based on groundhog day. This was an awesome funny episode that had humor and awesome death scenes of Dean. Still they made this there own. Same with Ghost Facers, yeah weve seen these reality shows done to death about ghosts in the like but you have to admit the little extras Supernatural provide that Actually entertain. As for this episode I totally wanted Bela to pay the piper not because she was innocent but because she was a pain in the ass. I was hoping for maybe one more episode for dramatic reasons. It was quick and from what I heard painful, thats okay with me.

Jakester • May 13, 2008, 11:34am •

I think the show's been firing on all cylinders for the entire season.
I don't think we needed any more backstory on Bela than we got -- and the whole abusive family thing is certainly motivation enough for her not to trust anyone and, conesequently, to be a heartless bitch to Sam and Dean. Obviously, she did get what she deserved, but I'm bummed she won't be back next season, because she certainly was some tasty eye candy.

robkilledthepromqueen • May 13, 2008, 03:46pm •

it sucks that Bella is gone... i wanted Sam to actually get some action cause he did have that little daydream about her right before she stole the colt... and she was damn hot.

AzuLTaLoN • May 13, 2008, 08:55pm •

great episode and it was great to see bella get hers.

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TV Review: SUPERNATURAL - Time is on My Side

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