Supernatural hits new heights as it mirrors reality.
“The French Mistake” is chock full of “in jokes” as Dean and Sam are transported through a trans-dimensional window into the ultra-reality of their real life alter-egos, JP & JA.
Gen Padalecki was awesome in a cameo of an actress and wife whilst Misha Collins showed how utterly brilliant he is at sending himself up and jumping from character to character without pause or regard for image! He’s especially great in his last “Misha” part — and naturally chooses to ham it up as the moment called for.
Jensen and Jared, AKA Dean and Sam, portraying themselves as Jensen and Jared brought a whole new peak to the performances — acting badly in the “scenes” from the other dimension — whilst being macho and complaining about make-up.
Dean’s horror at his beloved Impala being a prop was tangible whilst Jared (Sam) made the art of looking bemused seem easy! The menace coming from a “keeper of the weapons of heaven” was nicely under/over played too. All credit to everyone who appeared as themselves in this episode because it shows how much they care about their show and how seriously they take themselves… not a bit judging from Sera’s telephone call.
Kripke off in a cabin (sounds like Chuck) writing his latest pilot — well played again not by Kripke, but nicely done just the same. Cliff (J&J bodyguard) was absolutely awesome. The whole driving his charges about and the correction of his name (as if it happens regularly) by Sam (Jared) was hilarious, especially given the aping the actors themselves were doing with their real lives. Yes, this gets confusing I know!
All in all Part One was fantastic (Balthazar showing up, with some great exposition) and sending them through the dimensional portal into the alternate reality “them” was inspiring, as was the return journey where we meet Raphael’s new meat suit — a woman this time. Balthazar shows up nicely to bring the episode full circle, and so begins Part Two of the episode. Seemingly unintimidated by the Arc Angel and with just cause — he and Castiel were duping Raphael and now it seems for the moment at least they have him at bay (her) which just reflects the irony of this episode even more.
Balthazar (Sebastian Roche), who excellently compliments the cast (a job the casting people of the show do so well), appears to be extremely adept and an ally to Castiel in a way that perhaps one would have expected Anna to be before she went RoboAngel dark side.
Misha Collins should be mentioned again here for his amazing performance and the amount of acting he is capable of doing with expressions alone. He conveys so much with his eyes that you get the feeling that when the show gets renewed, Misha might be an even bigger part of the cast since he and the brilliant Jared-Jensen dynamic seem to elevate each other with their performances and presence.
All in all, a brilliant episode, and my compliments to everyone involved, from the stunt coordinator to the crew, cast, and to those who are willing to show they are capable of laughing at themselves as well as with the fans about how wacky we can be!
Some stats and info about Supernatural, “Slash Fiction”
TV SHOW – Supernatural
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 6, Episode 15
AIRED ON – February 25th, 2011
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – CW/Netflix
GENRE – Drama, Teen Dramas, Horror, Fantasy
CREATED BY – Eric Kripke
CAST – Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Mark Sheppard, Jim Beaver, Alexander Calvert, Mark Pellegrino, Samantha Smith, Ruth Connell
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.