Robert Berens has written a total of 3 episodes for Supernatural, and those three are some of the ones I've enjoyed the most this season. Berens is a very talented writer, and if it were up to me, I'd have him write a lot more.
Remember the old Supernatural days when the monsters actually felt like a threat? Well, I for one had almost forgotten what that was like. This season, the "monster-of-the-week" episodes have not been to my liking, because it seems like many of the writers don't know how to have a single-episode story (that also includes pieces of the overall plot) without making it a mess of rehashed dialogue that just reiterates everything that happened the previous week. This is where Robert Berens really excels at his writing. He does not do that. He doesn't treat the season's plot and his episode as two different stories. You can see the places where the plot peeks through without making Sam or Dean just blurt out a summary of the season's conflicts.
"Alex Annie Alexis Ann" is a single-story episode that involves a nest of vampires and Sheriff Jody Mills. I love Jody, and she is one of the few strong female characters that is still alive and doesn't come across as baggage or a damsel needing to be saved. What I was worried about was whether the plot involving vampires would hold my interest. Back in season 1, vampires were first introduced to the show and were written as menacing, soulless monsters that cared about their meal more than the life of the person they were drinking from. Since then, several different writers have tried to take the idea of vampires one step further, trying to create more of a story by making a more complex plot, such as trying to make the vampires seem more human or misunderstood. And, with the exception of Benny from season 8, I haven't really been all that interested in the vampire episodes since season 1. Robert Berens, being the great writer that he is, made me actually excited about a vampire episode.
It's a very simple plot, and that's what makes it work so well. We don't need to bring in "bigger and better" enemies every week, because eventually the mega-strong villains just stop being much of a threat. When Supernatural brought in a whole group of Greek gods back in season 8, was that cool? Yes. Was I worried about Sam or Dean? Nope. And why is that? Because at a point, it feels like the writers try too hard to one- up the last villain, when in all honesty, some of the most thought- provoking and creative stories come from the most simple plots. These vampires weren't some uber-vampires from the darkest pits of hell or anything spectacular like that, they were just a group of normal Supernatural vampires... and they were fantastic!
I actually cared about the characters that were introduced, I cared about what I was watching, and at a point I was actually concerned for several peoples' wellbeing. These vampires didn't have some ulterior motive, they were, for the most part, just a blood-thirsty and crafty group of monsters that sort of reminded me of a mix between season 1 vampires and the Benders family(you all remember them!). It was nice and refreshing to see Sam and Dean actually hunt like they used to.
Sam and Dean were great to watch. Yes, they've had some issues this season, and at no point did they seem to have forgiven each other, but it was subtle enough that it didn't interfere with the plot at hand. I didn't have them screaming "we have brotherly issues!" in my face, and I also didn't have them reminding me for the millionth time that "Metatron and the angels are the purpose of this season!" Not everything has to be about angels and the war.
Jody was probably the highlight of this episode. Kim Rhodes did an amazing job! Also a very big round of applause to all of the side- characters who brought so much to the episode.
Robert Berens knows how to make the characters seem real. The dialogue traded between people never feels forced or fake, and their actions never seem unrealistic. I loved this episode, and I can say without a doubt that it was one of the best (if not THE best) single-episode plot we've had all season. I sincerely hope that Berens writes more episodes in the future.
Remember the old Supernatural days when the monsters actually felt like a threat? Well, I for one had almost forgotten what that was like. This season, the "monster-of-the-week" episodes have not been to my liking, because it seems like many of the writers don't know how to have a single-episode story (that also includes pieces of the overall plot) without making it a mess of rehashed dialogue that just reiterates everything that happened the previous week. This is where Robert Berens really excels at his writing. He does not do that. He doesn't treat the season's plot and his episode as two different stories. You can see the places where the plot peeks through without making Sam or Dean just blurt out a summary of the season's conflicts.
"Alex Annie Alexis Ann" is a single-story episode that involves a nest of vampires and Sheriff Jody Mills. I love Jody, and she is one of the few strong female characters that is still alive and doesn't come across as baggage or a damsel needing to be saved. What I was worried about was whether the plot involving vampires would hold my interest. Back in season 1, vampires were first introduced to the show and were written as menacing, soulless monsters that cared about their meal more than the life of the person they were drinking from. Since then, several different writers have tried to take the idea of vampires one step further, trying to create more of a story by making a more complex plot, such as trying to make the vampires seem more human or misunderstood. And, with the exception of Benny from season 8, I haven't really been all that interested in the vampire episodes since season 1. Robert Berens, being the great writer that he is, made me actually excited about a vampire episode.
It's a very simple plot, and that's what makes it work so well. We don't need to bring in "bigger and better" enemies every week, because eventually the mega-strong villains just stop being much of a threat. When Supernatural brought in a whole group of Greek gods back in season 8, was that cool? Yes. Was I worried about Sam or Dean? Nope. And why is that? Because at a point, it feels like the writers try too hard to one- up the last villain, when in all honesty, some of the most thought- provoking and creative stories come from the most simple plots. These vampires weren't some uber-vampires from the darkest pits of hell or anything spectacular like that, they were just a group of normal Supernatural vampires... and they were fantastic!
I actually cared about the characters that were introduced, I cared about what I was watching, and at a point I was actually concerned for several peoples' wellbeing. These vampires didn't have some ulterior motive, they were, for the most part, just a blood-thirsty and crafty group of monsters that sort of reminded me of a mix between season 1 vampires and the Benders family(you all remember them!). It was nice and refreshing to see Sam and Dean actually hunt like they used to.
Sam and Dean were great to watch. Yes, they've had some issues this season, and at no point did they seem to have forgiven each other, but it was subtle enough that it didn't interfere with the plot at hand. I didn't have them screaming "we have brotherly issues!" in my face, and I also didn't have them reminding me for the millionth time that "Metatron and the angels are the purpose of this season!" Not everything has to be about angels and the war.
Jody was probably the highlight of this episode. Kim Rhodes did an amazing job! Also a very big round of applause to all of the side- characters who brought so much to the episode.
Robert Berens knows how to make the characters seem real. The dialogue traded between people never feels forced or fake, and their actions never seem unrealistic. I loved this episode, and I can say without a doubt that it was one of the best (if not THE best) single-episode plot we've had all season. I sincerely hope that Berens writes more episodes in the future.
