• PDI Press

    PDI Press

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

    PDI Press
    January 16, 2022 1

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

    PDI Press
    January 15, 2022 3

    Featured

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    John E. Meredith
    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Marvel at the Movies
    • Muppets 101
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews

    Reviews

    Superman (2025)

    Movies
    July 10, 2025 51

    Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

    Movies
    June 26, 2025 8

    Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

    Movies
    June 8, 2025 13

    Featured

    Superman (2025)

    Nate Zoebl
    Movies
    July 10, 2025 51
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews

    Interviews

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397

    David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

    Interviews
    March 7, 2017 223

    Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

    Interviews
    September 29, 2016 8

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

    Interviews
    July 28, 2016 61

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

    Interviews
    July 27, 2016 3

    Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

    Interviews
    April 16, 2016 3

    Featured

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    The Final Girl
    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397
  • News

    News

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    News
    February 9, 2025 20

    “PATER NOSTER AND THE MISSION OF LIGHT” UNLEASHES TERRIFYING UNDERGROUND HORROR – A PSYCHEDELIC CULT MOVIE EXPERIENCE COMING SOON!

    News
    November 15, 2023 74

    Breaking Down The Upcoming DC Studios Slate

    Shot for Shot
    February 1, 2023

    Featured

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    Paul Brian McCoy
    News
    February 9, 2025 20
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Shop
Breaking
  • Superman (2025)
  • Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
  • Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
  • From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
    Home
    Reviews

    Supernatural 7.01 “Meet the New Boss”

    Paul Brian McCoy
    ReviewsTV
    September 30, 2011

    I’ve put off writing about this episode.

    You see, this is a show that’s in its seventh season. Nobody else on the site seems interested in it. I don’t know who’s actually watching out there. But goddammit, Supernatural is a show that week in and out impresses me with its devotion to telling a good story.

    And a good horror story, at that.

    This is not an easy task. Buffy did it for a while. Angel did it for not quite as long. Outside of that, I don’t know what other show to compare it to. Dark Shadows? Twin Peaks? Neither of those shows really compare, if only because they either weren’t trying to do the same sort of thing, or just flared brightly and then burnt out quickly. Being Human or the new The Fades over on the BBC are probably its closest analogs.

    Supernatural is the light-hearted, horribly tragic, horror adventure show you should have been watching all along.

    Meet the New Boss
    Supernatural began as a “Monster of the Week” kind of show. But even in the beginning, it had the seeds of greatness in its DNA.

    I’ll admit, I didn’t watch it back then. I thought it sounded derivative and didn’t give any props to the network upon which it aired. The CW was all about sexy teens and stupid bullshit.

    So I passed on it. Like a genius, I had done the same thing to Buffy, Angel, and even my beloved Farscape. All of which helps explain why I’m more lenient towards the premieres of shows these days.

    Then, three seasons later, I started listening to the rumblings. In Season Four, there was a plan amongst the demons to free Lucifer from Hell and begin Armageddon. Angels and demons were in play and the attractive young stars of this show, brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles), were center stage in stopping the end of the world.

    So I asked around and found a list of episodes from the first four seasons that would give me some background to go into Season Five when it was getting ready to air.

    And holy shit was I surprised.

    Meet the New Boss
    I was expecting something kind of silly with a hint of interesting, but I’ll be damned if what we had here wasn’t one of the best things I’d seen in the genre. Television is not a place where interesting and entertaining usually meet. You might get one, but not the other. Or at least, not consistently enough to make it worth your while.

    But here was a show that took its Mythology as seriously as The X-Files, but could also take the piss when necessary. This was a show that didn’t take itself so seriously that it couldn’t poke fun at itself, while at the same time delivering the upper echelon of horror stakes.

    I mean, we’re talking about a narrative world where God has abandoned us. Angels are working from an old plan and some of them are itching for the Apocalypse so they can get down to some good Old Fashioned demon smiting. Demons are itching to rise up and destroy everything.

    But some Angels (and some demons, maybe) don’t really want the End Times to kick off.

    And right in the middle are our boys, Sam and Dean Winchester. One of whom had spent some time in Hell, the other of whom was addicted to Demon Blood.

    These boys had issues.

    CROWLEY
    So I was hooked.

    This was the sort of show I wished I could have had a hand in creating.

    I don’t find that very often.

    Then it was over. Or so we thought.

    The Apocalypse was averted, barely. The boys had given their all, sacrificing Sam in order to save the world. And the creator of the show decided it was time to walk away.

    Only not really.

    The new showrunner last year, Sera Gamble, had been with the show for years already, and when they rebooted after what had seemed like the final season, there wasn’t a beat missed.

    In fact, we had a very interesting plot development: a civil war in Heaven, now that God was clearly not coming back and Destiny had been re-written. The angel who had been Sam and Dean’s partner in crime, Castiel (Misha Collins) was heading the fight for Free Will against the angels who wanted to burn it all down and start from scratch with a Firm Hand.

    Castiel, in desperation, teamed up with Crowley (Mark Sheppard), the new King of Hell, to find Purgatory, where the souls of dead monsters go. With those souls as fuel, Cas was able to end the war, destroy his enemies (and ours, really), and save the world.

    But it drove him mad, sort of.

    Season Six ended with Cas, full of souls, declaring himself the new God and demanding that Sam, Dean, and their good friend Bobby (Jim Beaver) bow down before him.

    That’s some serious shit.

    DEADANGELS
    So this first episode of Season Seven had a lot to live up to.

    And I’m here to tell you that it does so with ease.

    The threat of a wrathful God is about as big as threats get. Cas lets our boys live so long as they stay out of his way, and we are treated to some hilariously liberal moments as Cas/God smites those who lie, cheat, and steal in His name. But there’s an edge to it all.

    Yeah, we laugh (or I did, anyway) at the hypocritical fundamentalist preacher condemning Lady Gaga and homosexual marriage while carrying on himself. Cas/God punishes him and is righteous in doing so. He kills so many KKK members the organization has to disband.

    There’s a nice thrill to it all, especially if you lean Castiel’s way politically. But then it all goes off the rails. While smiting a very Michele Bachmann-esque politician, Castiel blacks out and wakes up to a horribly bloody scene of murder and carnage.

    He knows something’s wrong, but it takes Sam and Dean to make him realize just what the problem is.

    Well, Sam, Dean, and Death.

    Meet the New Boss
    Yeah, the boys call in Death (Julian Richings), the only being they know of older and more powerful (maybe) than God Himself. And Death lets them all know that Cas is no God. He’s a mutated angel, at best, and is quickly burning out on the monstrous souls from Purgatory.

    You see, God didn’t just set up Purgatory to banish the souls of monsters in general. It was the cage for the Old Ones. The Leviathans. The monsters that filled the void before our world and threatened to consume everything.

    And yes. That is a Lovecraftian reference we’re talking about.

    LEVIATHAN
    Leviathans are burning through Cas in order to run rampant in our reality.

    And with that, the ante is upped yet again.

    I’m not entirely sold on Misha Collins’ Leviathan act yet, but it’s early going. And the severity of the threat is just the sort of thing I’ve been dying to see the Winchesters take on.

    I have no idea what’s coming this season, having avoided as many spoilers as humanly possible, but after this opening salvo, I have to say that I’m on-board with whatever Gamble and Company bring to the table.

    This episode was, for me, one of the best yet. I give it a easy 4.5 and can’t wait to see where they take us this season.

    SOULRETURN
    If you’re interested in catching up, just send me an email and I’ll get you that list of early episodes. Then your best bet is to rent the whole seasons, starting with Season Four, and marathon your way through them. Yeah, it’ll take a while, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t worth the effort.

    This is the best horror/comedy/drama/tragedy/epic ever put on the TV screen. And it got that way by telling big stories with personable characters and not shying away from the repercussions of their actions.

    Well, most actions, anyway. There are an awful lot of casual murders that go on throughout the whole show, both by monsters and by humans. But this is a cold, edge-of-a-knife kind of world they’ve built up here, so I roll with it.

    (Visited 115 times, 1 visits today)

    Related

    Paul Brian McCoySupernatural

    FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
    Previous Fringe 4.01 “Neither Here Nor There”
    Next Boardwalk Empire 2.01 “21”
    monsterid
    Paul Brian McCoy
    Co-Founder / Editor-in-Chief / Dreamweaver
    Paul Brian McCoy is the Editor-in-Chief of Psycho Drive-In. His first novel, The Unraveling: Damaged Inc. Book One is available at Amazon US & UK, along with his collection of short stories, Coffee, Sex, & Creation (US & UK). He recently contributed the 1989 chapter to The American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s (US & UK). He also kicked off Comics Bulletin Books with Mondo Marvel Volumes One (US & UK) and Two (US & UK) and PDI Press with Marvel at the Movies: 1977-1998 (US & UK), Marvel at the Movies: Marvel Studios (US & UK), and Spoiler Warning: Hannibal Season 1 - An Unauthorized Critical Guide (US & UK). Paul is also unnaturally preoccupied with zombie films and sci-fi television. He can be found babbling on Twitter at @PBMcCoy.

    Related Posts

    The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 07: Superman (2025)

    Paul Brian McCoy
    The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    July 13, 2025 10

    The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 06: 28 Years Later

    Paul Brian McCoy
    The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    June 24, 2025 7

    Daily Top Ten

    • superman-headerSuperman (2025) by Nate Zoebl
    • 2001Lost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1960-69 by Scott Delahunt
    • men-in-blackLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1990-99 by Scott Delahunt
    • x-files-4-3-headerAll Binge… No Purge: The X-Files S4 Part Three by Rick Shingler
    • Luther-401-13 copyLuther 4.01 by Kelvin Green
    • carry-on-cleo-headerLost in Translation 458: Carry On Cleo (1964) by Scott Delahunt
    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • goldfinger-headerLost in Translation: The Bond Project – Goldfinger by Scott Delahunt
    • Chron RiddickRiddick Collection by Adam Barraclough
    • blame-netflix-headerBig Eyes Smart Mouth: Netflix’s BLAME! by Serdar Yegulalp
    400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

    Weekly Top Ten

    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • superman-headerSuperman (2025) by Nate Zoebl
    • babylon-5-blu-ray-04Babylon 5 Complete Series Blu-ray Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    • men-in-blackLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1990-99 by Scott Delahunt
    • 80s-headerLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1980-89 by Scott Delahunt
    • 2001Lost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1960-69 by Scott Delahunt
    • AT606-visionAdventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
    • star-wars-headerLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1970-79 by Scott Delahunt
    • a-knights-tale-06Lost in Translation 407: A Knight’s Tale (2001) by Scott Delahunt
    • mary-shelleys-frankenstein-headerEZMM 2024 Day 4: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) by Paul Brian McCoy

    psychodrivein

    We came here to chew bubblegum and write intelligent reviews and commentary on cult TV and movies! And we're all out of bubblegum!

    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 07: Superman (2025)

Join Paul and John on the Psycho Drive-In Podcast as they delve into the first official DC Universe live-action film release, Superman!
—
Listen to the boys at the link in our profile!

#PsychoDriveIn #PsychoDriveInPodcast #Podcast #Superman #JamesGunn #DavidCorenswet #RachelBrosnahan #NicholasHoult #DCU #DC
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 483: One More Trailer

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a period piece set in the 60s, around the time the comic was first published.
—
Read more of Scott’s article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #FantasticFour #FantasticFourFirstSteps #MarvelStudios #MCU
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Superman (2025 Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Superman (2025)

Superman is proof that the DC film universe might actually have the perfect person in charge of charting their cross-franchise courses.
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#Superman #JamesGunn #DavidCorenswet #RachelBrosnahan #NicholasHoult #DC #DCU
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 482: Examining Recent Trailers

Two new trailers dropped that are of interest to Lost in Translation: Spaceballs 2 and The Naked Gun!
—
Read more of Scott’s article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Spaceballs2 #TheNakedGun #Trailers
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Final Destinat Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES is a return to form for a franchise that never should have been on the brink of death.
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#FinalDestination #FinalDestinationBloodlines #AdamBStein #ZachLipovsky #KaitlynSantaJuana #TonyTodd
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S02E29 - File Card Focus: Big Boa
 
Greg and Jaren return to take a hard look at Cobra’s one-man trainer: Big Boa! 
—
Watch the @AnythingJoesPod gang at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes #GIJoe #Cobra #BigBoa #FileCardFocus
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast: 28 Years Later

Paul and John are back with a new PSYCHO DRIVE-IN PODCAST with a brand-new review of 28 YEARS LATER plus a look back at the franchise, its themes, its innovations, and its impact on the genre!
—
Listen to the guys at the link in our profile!

#ThePsychoDriveInPodcast #28YearsLater #28WeeksLater #28DaysLater #DannyBoyle #AlexGarland #AlfieWilliams
 #AaronTaylorJohnson #JodieComer #RalphFiennes
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: Backstock Blacksite - Night Specter (2008)

In Backstock Blacksite, we open the classified crates and dig deep into Greg’s personal G.I. Joe overflow closet, where extras, variants, and forgotten figures wait to be unearthed.
—
@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #GIJoeClassified #NightSpecter #BackstockBlacksite
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Predator: Kill Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

With Predator: Killer of Killers, Predator fans are feasting, baby!!
—
Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile!

#Predator #PredatorKillerOfKillers #KillerOfKillers #DanTrachtenberg #LindsayLaVanchy #DamienCHaas #LouisOzawa #RickGonzalez #MichaelBiehn #JoshuaWassung #MichoRobertRutare
    Follow on Instagram

    Look Who's Talking

    Shawn EH
    Shawn EH - 5/4/2025
    Thunderbolts* (2025)
    Yep, very well done; avoiding the big flashy battle that these heroes (can any of you fly?)...
    Ideonova
    Ideonova - 12/26/2024
    Page to Screen: F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep
    Not living up to the source material? What source material? The book is a predictable, at times...
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr. - 8/17/2024
    Cahiers du Horror 03: Frank Henenlotter and The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
    I need to see that again. Maybe make it a double feature with All of Me. Steve Martin is someone you...
    RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

    Archives

    Large_rectangle_336X280
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    Type to search or hit ESC to close
    See all results
    Username
    Password
    Remember Me
    Lost password?
    Create an account
    Username
    Email
    Cancel
    Enter username or email
    Cancel