Supernatural: Feed Your Cravings

Grab your forks and knives people, because this Valentine’s Day Supernatural is feeding all kinds of cravings. Food? You got it. Alcohol? Okay! Blood and flesh? Why not?

The episode starts with the epitome of cheesy as a nerdy couple, Alice and Russell, conclude what seems to have been a good date. Very quickly they go from humble to horny. Appropriately relocated to the kitchen, they begin clawing at each other’s clothing, and in a weird turn of events, skin. Blood spatters and it is cannibalism at its finest. We shift from night to day and Sam arrives on the scene only to learn the couple have eaten each other to death. (I will not make innuendos. I will not make innuendos. I will not make innuendos…) Creepy factor: Russell was still chewing when his body was found. Gross!

In another part of town, two men are in an office working late on a project, one badgering the other about how “whipped” his wife has him. Said wife shows up angry, wondering where he’s been. The man’s colleague starts to tease again but there will be none of that! One bullet shot and he’s dead. Psycho alert! The couple embrace, reflecting on how there will always be something that keeps them apart. Those darned things like work, family, and sleep. But there’s one way to be together forever. And another two bite the dust…

Well now that things are weird, Sam and Dean decide to investigate the body parts of the psycho couple. It’s Valentine’s Day, or as Sam says Dean calls it “Unattached Drifter Christmas”, so Dean playfully pushes the detached heart toward his brother: “Be my valentine?” Silly Dean. (I’ll be your valentine!) Upon finding angelic markings on the heart, Dean calls Castiel for help and he appears. No, literally. Indeed they are angelic markings, he says. They turn out to be marks of union. Cupids, which are actually Cherubs leave them. “You mean the little flying fat kid in diapers?” Yes, Dean, that one. One must have gone rogue, Cas decides, so they go where anyone would go to find one – a restaurant. Dean suspiciously isn’t hungry whereas Cas is starved, but before he takes a bite he senses a Cupid.

Little known fact: cupid’s handshake is a hug. But no one likes it. He explains that he is just taking orders from Heaven. Apparently Heaven sets up certain couples to fulfill destines, i.e. Sam and Dean. As it turns out, it was not a cupid that was behind all the wackiness in the town. Back to square one. And another mysterious death pops up – man killed by Twinkie binge. That puts the stats at 8 suicides and 19 overdoses. Yikes!

After leaving the Twinkie man, Sam sniffs a demon and gets into a knife fight. He gains the suitcase the demon carried but unfortunately starts to crave demon blood. He brings the case back to Dean who utters the words of death before opening: “What’s the worst that could happen?” Don’t you know you never say that because then something bad WILL happen? I tell ya… After a blinding moment, Cas appears and tells them it was a human soul. He is now the angel with all the answers. The town is suffering from hunger. No wait, Famine, the horseman. His hunger seeps out and poisons the air with starvation for food, sex, attention, love, whatever anyone is craving at the moment and makes them “cuckoo for Coco Puffs”. (Love Dean’s witty one-liners.) When one is dead, he devours the souls of the victim. And Lucifer has sent demons to care for Famine until he is strong enough to march across the land.

Over in a bar we see our first glimpse of Famine – a weary old man who seems moments from death. Fitting, no? Since the demon Sam attacked lost the soul, Famine takes his. (Lost fans: Smokey is that you?!) Since Sam is too hungry for demon blood, they cuff him to the bathroom sink and put a closet in front of the door. Foiled again! Dean and Cas set out to find Famine and cut his ring off his finger. It worked for War, didn’t it? But why isn’t the hunger affecting Dean? “I’m well fed.” Show off. When Cas takes too long putting their plan to action, Dean follows only to get himself caught by the demon bodyguards.

Sam, meanwhile, fights against the cuffs to no avail. Luckily a few demons stop by to free him and he has himself a little snack. Then he takes a walk over to the bar to help his brother out. Before this though, Famine toys with Dean a little. With a touch of his hand to Dean’s chest, Famine discovers how broken Dean is inside. He can’t be compelled by Famine’s hunger because he is already dead inside. Luckily it’s Sam to the rescue. He uses his power to draw out the demons’ souls from Famine which consequently destroys him. Three cheers for Sam!

The episode concludes with Sam crying out for help in the other room, and Dean taking a walk outside to clear his head, and pray for help. As a girl whose tradition this particular holiday is to watch as much blood and gore as possible, I can honestly say my hunger has been satiated!

Season 5, Episode 14: My Bloody Valentine (Originally aired February 11, 2010)

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Thursdays at 9/8C on The CW

Photographs courtesy of The CW and Jack Rowand.