photo: cw
Frontierland
Original Air Date: Apr 22, 2011
Alyssa Silva – TwoCents Reviewer
alyssa@thetwocentscorp.com
If you are female and have a pulse, there was really only one reason to watch this episode: Dean Winchester as a cowboy. Never mind if he was wearing a blanket or a Stetson, that man could probably work a potatoe sack. Alas I also adore Supernatural for its plot, which has been decidedly patchy at times. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. The brothers travel back in time to Sunrise, Wyoming to retrieve something they believe will help them stop the Mother of All. And no, it isn’t the Colt.
Curious? Read on after the jump as I unravel the mystery!
We open with two men at the cliched High Noon stand-off, except this time one of them is Dean.
Pause for fangirl moment.
We are then fast-forwarded 150 years into the “present” time, where Sam leads Dean and Bobby to the Campbell library. It appears to be some kind of dark underground bunker that could easily serve as a makeshift panic room with a bit more work. Dean stumbles upon Samuel Colt’s diary to discover that the Mother can be killed with the ashes of a phoenix. Not River or Joaquim Dean. That mystical bird Dumbledore keeps in his office. Except this one can be found on March 5, 1861.
Cas pulls his time warp trick out of the bag and the brothers Winchester discover that the phoenix isn’t a bird, but a person named Finch who was hung the moment the boys walk into town. After reducing the judge and priest to ashes, Finch is now after the man who apparently raped and killed his wife. Sam arrives just in time from his mission to retrieve Samuel Colt (in this case the gun that can kill anything, but not the Mother of All…which is odd) to give Dean the Colt, which promptly reduces Finch to the ash they need. Unfortunately Cas pulls them out before they can bottle the phoenix weapon but fear not! Apparently Samuel Colt boxed the ashes and MAILED IT TO THE WINCHESTERS using the name and address sourced from the Blackberry Sam left behind in the past. I’m not even going to begin to comprehend this absurdity. What post office in their right mind would keep a package lying around for 150 years, and NOT dispose of it? But the Pony Express reference on the deliveryman was a nice touch I guess. Still…I won’t even bother.
Sam
No one seems alarmed that Sam remembered where the library was, considering the mental wall Death put up to keep Sam sane after his soulvention. Doesn’t this mean the wall is continuing to crack if Sam’s recalling locations he went to during the year he was soulless? Baby Winchester seems fine though, but this could very well be a stellar piece of acting. Or did the writers just simply forget about this small detail? What I have enjoyed most about Supernatural is its continuity so please don’t let Ryan Murphy Syndrome strike, I beg of you. Glee is enough.
What I also thought was interesting was Sam’s confrontation with Samuel Colt. Colt claimed that he had retired from hunting, that he wasn’t dealing with demons anymore. Sam told him that hunting wasn’t just something you could give up and ignore. It’s a job that consumes your life whole-heartedly. Juxtapose this against Season 1 Sam who claimed the exact opposite, and let’s all take a moment to appreciate character development.
Dean
Oh this man. Turns out Dean’s got a fetish for all things Wild West. I know that Jensen Ackles shares a similar passion so it was nice to see this translated into reel life. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments that this prompted – naming himself Clint Eastwood and Sam Walker, who is actually a Texas Ranger; being disappointed by the atmosphere in the Saloon and the girls hanging around there. Also he really enjoys posse. That is all I will say.
Castiel
Our favourite non-human, for me, was the focus of the show. Carrying on from last week’s episode, we discover that Castiel has been up to no good when his lieutenant Rachel accuses him of betraying the faith she and the rest of his followers have put into him. Is she referring to the soul war machine grab from last week (human souls are pure and a great energy boost, we learn this week), or is this something else? Whatever it is it’s enough for Rachel to want to kill Cas, who promptly ends up slaying his second-in-command.
His deception towards Bobby and the brothers continues, and I hope we get a reason as to why. Rachel mentioned that the boys only seemed to request Castiel’s presence when they needed something, an accusation which neither Dean or Sam ever fully deflected. More importantly, when Cas did come down in answer to Dean’s summons, he simply said “What do you need?” It almost appears as if while Cas does appreciate the humanity that Dean and Sam showed him, he’s slowly reverting back to Season 4 Castiel who carried out orders without regard to collateral damage. There is a Cas-centric episode coming up on May 6 that focuses exclusively on the war in Heaven so hopefully we’ll get our answers then.
What did you think of tonight’s episode? Are you eager to see the Winchesters and Bobby take the fight to Eve? Do you also see the shift in Castiel’s character? Should Supernatural do another Western-themed episode, or was once enough? Give me your TwoCents!
Next Week: Mommy Dearest
TheTwoCents 
Do you think Dean ever got his Posse Patrol T-shirt? (I was cracking up at that)
if he hasn’t, i fully support the mass production of one!
I’m so fascinated by Castiel’s story. It’s holding my attention like nothing else this season. I hope we get some answers! Dean and Cas looked gorgeous this episode too!
to me the war in heaven was just about the most interesting thing to happen this season (sorry mother of all…the devil himself kind of stole your thunder)! may 6 will hopefully satisfy us both!
dean and cas look that delectable all the time. what are you talking about?
I love it when we get to enjoy a ‘fun’ episode during times of traditional Supernatural darkness – and this episode did not disappoint!
Oh, Jensen. How amazing you are as Dean. What more can I say..?
I was SO disappointed that Sam and Dean failed to retrieve the ashes that I truly did not care about HOW Samuel Colt could possibly have posted it to them but simply let out a sigh of relief – phew!
Now on a last note: Cas what ARE you up to?!
i do enjoy the ‘fun’ episode like no other. but while ‘the french mistake’ was genius…it didn’t further the mythology. at least this one did. so i’m grateful!
Cas is up to no good. you can see it in his gorgeous face.
I enjoyed the episode because I love when they bring funny into it! But why would Grandpa Campbell have Samuel Colt’s journal? He had never heard of the gun until Dean told him about it the first time they met- back when Dean had his first time travel and explained it all to him.
I thought they messes up last week too when they didn’t explain the girls’ connection to the Titanic. That didn’t make sense. I am hopefull that it is all in the writers’ plan…that it will all be explained somewhere down the line.
Bottom line, all is forgiven because the show is just yummy!
oh i didn’t think of that. maybe gramps heard about the colt from dean and stumbled across the journal afterwards?
i mean, apparently samuel colt MAILED the phoenix ashes he collected 150 years ago to the winchesters. i think we’re meant to suspend our disbelief…
Such an iconic episode! I’m a little bit sad that we didn’t get to see Jensen ride since we know he’s a great horseman.
I’m used to the Supernatural continuity and mythology be a little wonky sometimes, I have faith!
i have more faith in the Supernatural writers than i do with the Glee ones. don’t worry.
I’m really intrigued by Cas’s story. I hope he doesn’t truly turn evil. He’s part of the boys family. But right now, he’s got the most interesting story going. It’s far better than the Mother of All thing.
I am thinking that Cas is willing to do whatever it takes to beat Raphael. When Cas takes this too far Dean will be the only one able to reason with him – I think we might see the writers playing with the Cas/Dean relationship.
Well at least I hope so because we ❤ Castiel!
i think the Balthazar reference to Dean/Castiel last week was gold!
i think maybe they should have ditched the mother of all storyline altogether and just focused on the war in heaven. that would have more meat on the bones considering its a direct result of season 5!