EPISODE: "Halt & Catch Fire"
THE PLOT: A vengeful ghost travels around via wi-fi signals and gets payback on college kids that wronged it. Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padelecki) put their "Mark of Cain" problem aside to ghost-bust this one!
WARNING! SPOILERS BELOW!
Investigating… Mulder and Scully style!
THE DEALIO: Halt & Catch Fire was another monster of the week episode, one that didn’t fare as well as last week’s “About a Boy” in terms of originality and superior writing but that was still engaging none the less. It was what I like to call a fluff piece; entertaining yet vaccuous and not too ambitious as it stuck very close to the token "monster of the week" Supernatural mold. Remember when Supermatural did THE X-FILES doo? This epsiode did and tried its best to go back to that.
On the upside Halt & Catch Fire had an endearing old school feel to it when it came to its story structure (a ghost killing peeps – we have to find out who and why), some of its plot turns and elements. I mean when’s the last time you remember seeing Dean (Jensen Ackles) whipping out the good old salt to keep a bitter ghost at bay? Exactly. Retro baby. RETRO! Moreover the kills were directed with flair. They gunned out solid build-ups and impactful payoffs; think FINAL DESTINATION. I have to to admit it, two "boo scares" actually worked on me…. I hopped off my couch like a frog with a firecracker up its cracker. Don't tell anybody though… I got a rep ya know.
Hmmm…. I wonder if she has anything to do with the ghost killings… (sarcasm)…
Humor was also on hand by way of “Dean foaming at the mouth for co-eds” while at the college, the generation gap between Gen X and the current one and “Dean’s ineptness with technology” (maybe he was a bit too clueless in this episode for the sakes of laughs). Finally we got some cool movie references (Christine being my fav one), a potent “Dean knows best” speech (how to do deal with the skeletons in one's closet) that hit the spot (your advice didn't go deaf ears Dean) and an earnest end "bromance" back and forth between Dean and Sam (Jared Padelecki) that kind of took me aback. Don't "give up" Dean! Don't do it bro!
On the downside; the mystery at hand was fairly see through, kind of stupid (Hot chick having a relationship with a wi-fi ghost? Yeah right…) and was unveiled in a bland fashion. I also thought the makeup on the ghost looked f-ing ridiculous. Every time our wi-fi specter popped up, the episode would lose the intensity and creepy factor it had worked so hard on building up to become silly. Finally, the manner in which the poltergeist was dispatched was ridiculous and I didn’t fully buy it either. So that's all you need to exorcise a ghost nd send his ass to the light? "Face Time"? Come on. It was a bit far fetched taking into account the KILL path the ghost was on.
When all was said and done though, sure, I had an okay time with Halt & Catch Fire. I jumped, I smiled and I was never bored. But it won't be one for the Supernatural Episode Hall of Fame that's for sure! Done! Am I being too hard on this one? Stab your thoughts below! See ya next week hunters!
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE EPISODE? COMMENT BELOW!