The ladies of Supernatural are usually one of two things: sexy and in need of saving or sexy and about to be dead. There are always exceptions to the rule, but it’s been pretty consistent over the show’s ten-year run, and subsequently Supernatural’s treatment of women has long been a point of contention.
The sunshine and rainbows personality of Donna contrasted well with Jody’s straight-shooting, take no prisoners attitude, and their developing friendship after their initial rocky start was where the real strength of the episode lay. There was a real sense of women supporting each other, not only when confronted by sexist, patronising men, but also while sleuthing for clues and working on the case. Shows frequently use female solidarity only when their characters are commiserating over men, so to see this support in a professional arena was an appreciated touch from writers Jenny Klien and Phil Sgriccia.
While the buddy-cop duo of Donna and Jody held the episode together and worked well as a character study, the story itself felt weak and its characters wasted. Donna’s ex-husband disappeared half-way through the story, when a nice bit of mortal peril at the hands of this week’s monsters would have felt like just desserts, and the young deputy at the retreat appeared to change personality in a rather inconsistent way before dropping out of the episode.
While the episode was mostly a light piece of fun, it did see the further exploration of monsters and their choices, as the vampires tracked down a defector who had chosen to stop killing and live off bagged blood. What makes someone a monster – their choices or their DNA – has been a recurring theme this season, and paves the way for the mid-season finale next week, where we are sure to see Dean’s Mark of Cain time-bomb finally reach a head.
Hibbing 911 ultimately maintains the recent improvement in quality that Supernatural has been striving for, despite the weaker points of its plotting; with a little bit of tweaking it would have served well as a backdoor pilot for the Jody and Donna show. For now, this episode remains a tantalising glimpse of what could be, if only The Powers That Be would sit up and pay attention.