Supernatural 'Southern Comfort': Garth Is The New Bobby

I have to say that is has to be the best Garth episode out of all the episodes he has appeared in. Not only that, but Southern Comfort brings Supernatural back to high point of where it is meant to be by bringing the already building tension and creating even more. The whole episode was great (with the exception of the Sam/Amelia scenes) as Southern Comfort picks up a couple days after Blood Brother. Throw Garth into the mix, and its a whole lot of fun.

So we see the Winchesters back on the road and have stopped at the gas station to get some things. That is when Dean gets word of a case about a wife running her husband over. Although Sam is still clearly angry about Dean's new friend and demands that Dean tells him whats going on. Southern Comfort didn't spend hours dancing around this issue but went at it head on in the very beginning. Cause Dean flat out tells Sam that Benny saved his life and is his friend. Moving on, Sam and Dean head to the crime scene and find Garth on the scene. Not only that, but Garth has taken up Bobby's duties. He's the new Bobby. It is very amusing to see Garth trying to act like Bobby, which in a way makes us miss Bobby a bit more (RIP Bobby).

So working with Garth, they figure that they are dealing with a avenging spirit of sorts. To be precise, a specter. The three begin working, although Garth begins to see the tension between the boys as they constantly separate themselves from each other. In between this, we get several flashbacks to Sam's year and his relationship with Amelia is getting serious. Not sure why, but I feel that is moved a little too fast. Amelia reveals to Sam that she was married and that her husband died while on active duty in Afghanistan. She is similar to Sam yes, but unfortunately, there is no chemistry between the two. This doesn't mean I hate Amelia. Now back to the present, where they eventually figure out what the specter has attached to SPOILER after a nice montage with Soundgraden's "Fell on Black Days" and its forced on Dean. This leads us to where Dean pulls a gun on Sam while angrily telling him, that Sam didn't look for him while he was in Purgatory. While under the influence Dean listed all of Sam's bad choices, and knowing he couldn't talk his brother out of it, Sam attacked Dean. As we all know, ghosts are more powerful, thus causing Dean to fling Sam across the room.

I didn't expect much from Southern Comfort, but I'm glad to say I was wrong and absolutely loved it. I loved Garth even more as he was coming into his own version of Bobby. Whether it was telling the Winchesters what to do, or getting the drop on Dean. Garth is what made this episode awesome (despite the fact that he killed the Tooth Fairy) and has finally grown on me. I also can seriously believe that Garth is not affected by the coin, and that is credit to the writers (and DJ Qualls) who have written Garth this way. Southern Comfort gets extra point for the amount of awesome faces made by the actors. What made Southern Comfort win a place in my heart was the brother conflict as the tension that has been growing between the two boys came to it's breaking point. This causes Sam and Dean to fight each and Garth having to stand in between them to stop. I love that Supernatural didn't make the brother make up right away at the end, but instead, more tension was created.

There is just really one thing about Southern Comfort I didn't like, or rather what it made me realize. I found the Sam/Amelia relationship really bland, and lacked chemistry. As I mentioned above, I don't hate Amelia, but there is something that just making them not connect like they were meant to. I did like the little scene between them though in Heartache, but that was mostly because of the meaning it had to Sam. So Supernatural, do something to make it work, cause right now it's not.

I don't know how many times I'm going to say it this year, but I'm excited for next episode. Supernatural just keeps bringing its game to the plate and making this season so awesome. It doesn't feel like its been done before, but something new. I also hope we get to see Garth again, or be mentioned somewhere in the season. Next week fan favorites return with A Little Slice of Kevin.