A Sashurai’s Review: Supernatural – Season 9×23 (Open your eyes)

Sam and Dean’s climactic tale settles into season 9’s finale, “Do You Believe in Miracles?” Never to stray away from leaving the audience hanging, season ten promises to begin with a new perspective on how a favored character will exist…as a demon.

Unbeknownst to my original theory, Sam and Dean were not thrust into a brother versus brother battle to stamp the end of the show. Instead, Sam and Dean manage to set aside their woes and frustrations and deal with Metatron as they intended. While the new direction of the show leaves me excited at the development, I can’t help but wonder if my expectations for an angelic finale was raised too high. Let’s quickly recap.

Sam and Castiel force Dean into a holding cell at HQ and then search for Gadriel who fled after Dean’s vicious attack. Dean summons Crowley to break him out and steal the first blade. Meanwhile, Metatron tells his new angel followers that he’s going on a trip and will explain himself when he returns. He travels to Indiana and ressurects a woman who was hit by a truck. Everyone nearby witnesses the miracle and a video catching the moment is uploaded online.

Sam and Cas find Gadriel and heal him. Afterward they devise a plan to find and destroy the angel tablet which is giving Metatron his strength. Sam finds Dean in Indiana and the two track down Metatron, leaving aside their differences for the moment.

Gadriel pretends to capture Cas and is allowed entry into Metatron’s domain but are both soon captured and placed in an angelic prison. Cas tries to reason with Ingrid who has sided with Metatron, but she won’t trust him. Gadriel submits to his fate and carves a sign on his chest and then stabs himself. He ignites and destroys the prison, allowing Cas to escape. Gadriel’s sacrifice convinces Ingrid to ally with Cas again.

Dean and Sam prepare to face Metatron but then Dean knocks his brother out saying it’s not his fight. Dean finds Metatron, who is protected by homeless people who have seen his miraculous acts. They allow him entry and he finds Metatron sitting alone. After Metatron fails to get through to Dean about how God didn’t care about humanity, the two battle. Metatron easily has the upper hand while Cas searches Metatron’s office for the angel tablet. Sam recovers and searches for Dean, and only finds him just as Metatron stabs Dean in the chest with an angel knife.

Metatron returns to his office and finds Castiel and the broken tablet. Cas goads Metatron into revealing his agenda which the angels overhear. Together they capture Metatron and put him in the angel prison.

Sam tries to carry Dean away, but Dean is mortally wounded. He tells Sam that he’s proud of “us” and then collapses into Sam, who hugs and cries over the death of his brother. After returning Dean back to HQ, Sam summons Crowley to force him to save Dean. Crowley appears in Dean’s room and reveals that he kept a specific story about Cain from Dean. Cain killed himself with the first blade and became a demon because of the mark. He then places the blade in Dean’s hand and tells him to wake up. Dean’s eyes open and they are black.

 

All it took was seeing Crowley appear in Dean’s room and I understood what the last frame of the episode would be. It’s a fascinating idea to turn Dean into a demon. I’m not certain if this was speculated by the fanbase, but kudos to any who called it early. My money had always been on a brotherly fight, one to settle an age old problem. Considering the amount of hellish changes Sam has gone through over the years, I’d say it was high time Dean received more of that “special” treatment. In some ways I can see Dean having a new sense of fun with his transformation. But the priority question is, will he still be “Dean” Dean? Becoming a demon is no picnic and from dozens of examples in the past, humans that become demons rarely maintain any form of humanity. I like this new concept, it’s fresh and offers a new layer of Sam and Dean relationship SNAFU.

The finale’s plot, as a whole, wasn’t as impressive as I had imagined. I thought big and wanted epic, but realistically I can understand the scale would have been too much for a show like this to tell meaningfully. It was always meant to be Metatron versus Dean, one on one. It was no Samifer versus Dean (and by versus I mean Dean getting repeatedly punched in the face several times) but it was a nice throwback. Dean can really sell desperation when he’s being pummeled to a bloody pulp. As for Metatron, he talked big for a little guy and never had the “ultimate” plan that should have made everyone blink twice at being played. It turns out Metatron was played by Castiel and now suffers in prison because of it. Maybe that’s where I feel the biggest let down was. It could spring several topical debates about how Metatron inserted himself into humanity to show and gain their trust. He was his own mouthpiece believing the tune he sang about blaming God for how humanity turned out. In the end, he was an idealist who served his own means to establish a new monarchy in heaven. He believes in a good story, but wasn’t smart enough to make his own come true.

Gadriel’s sendoff felt appropriate given the context we’ve been given for his character throughout season 9. He was Metatron’s instrument and a shadow from Lucifer’s past. He was probably the last truly recognizable angel the audience could identify with after destroying so many others from our historical knowledge. He died wanting to be remembered for something better other than what he was always known for. Letting the devil in. It was noble and fitting, even if he’s still a jerk for killing Kevin.

Is Castiel on borrowed time? It’s a puzzling question because Castiel needs angelic grace to remain alive. If any other rogue angel messes with him, then you’d think it’s an easy solution, but realistically, Castiel isn’t that kind of desperate angel. He’ll try to find other ways and if not, he’ll quietly accept his fate. He said it himself, he just wants to be an angel, not a leader. We’ve been given a hint that season ten will also focus on Castiel’s dilemma. It could be a simple episode or a seasonal arc. Either way, I doubt he’ll meet any kind of true end.

My favorite scene was the final one. I hung on each of Crowley’s words as he mysteriously explained his hidden story to Dean about Cain’s suicide. Crowley is best when he’s living in passive moments like these. He can battle and crack jokes like the best of the bunch, but when he’s relaxed and serious, his scenes can shine. And it was good there was no music to get in the way of the scene, it added more and more revelation to the plot as Crowley neared Dean’s body. And when Dean’s blackened eyes open the scene is complete. I enjoyed the moment. Not because of the cruel twist of fate on Dean’s soul, but because it makes perfect sense. There was never any hint that Dean was going to try and get rid of the mark once Metatron and Abaddon were killed. Nobody even questioned the possibility of Dean dissolving the mark or passing it along to another. Cain never reappeared wanting the mark back. The only logical course was to complete his transformation into what Cain was and that meant becoming a demon. I’m hoping Dean’s new state will be a season wide arc and not a quick “Let’s get everything back to normal” during the premiere. This deserves to be fleshed out. Sam survived many arcs in awkward and imbalanced situations like Dean’s and could create many new creative outlets for new stories as the brothers face another challenge.

On a side note, there’s a slight sense of circular play at work here. In the beginning of the season Sam is turned into a vessel for an angel, while at the end, Dean becomes the form of a demon. It’s opposite but also strangely mirror-like. Just an observation.

Overall, the episode had a less than stellar plot, but a very strong finish. The angel plot had to be the one to settle in the finale, though I believe Abaddon was a stronger villain in general over Metatron. As charismatic as Metatron tried to be, I just never truly believed he had the ability to follow through with his plan. He tried to act smarter with his storytelling techniques but fell for his own ego. Sam and Dean hit on their usual beats and at the end you saw once more that in the veil of death, Sam and Dean are truly brothers and neither wants to see the other die. It’s Sam’s turn to try and save Dean, also adding to the circular dynamic introduced at the beginning when Dean saved Sam. I believe Sam will try and understand Dean’s new change but also try and undo it with any and every spell he can think of. All we have to go on is Crowley’s humanity and a loose way to purge a demon of it’s demony-ness. Let’s not rush to that quite yet, I want to see how Dean reacts. Will be become evil and sinister? Will Crowley try and manipulate Dean into his cause? How will Castiel treat Dean after this? I like the questions and the uncertainty. As a whole, season 9 was on par with season 7, but no better. Some stand-alone plots really shined, but the over arcing angel story was less interesting than the demon tales. Keep the demons coming, and put the angels on the backburner for season 10. We’ll carry on until this fall. Thanks for reading, everyone!

 

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A Sashurai’s Review: Supernatural – Season 9×11 (He who is worthy shall receive the mark of…wait, what?)

I’ll begin by saying I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Whether other fans agree or not, I’m not sure, but aside from Sam and Cas’s subplot, I praise the team for giving us a new twist on some old lore that further enhances Supernatural’s already rich background of demons and angels. Both brothers confronted and maintained their beliefs that the journeys they must contend with will be done so without the aid of the other. I’m not torn by this development. If anything, I’d like to continue seeing how they manage alone before their eventual reunion. One deals with the angel plot while the other suffers through the demon tale. Hopefully it all merges into a messy blood bath that opens the floodgates for endless seasons to come.

My only initial complaint was mentioned earlier in trying to give Sam equal screen time in the episode. The effort was genuine, but it felt too rigid for me to invest into. Sam’s suffering will always be the worst of the two only because much of Sam’s pain isn’t what he does freely but what he does when he’s not in control. Yet, in this episode, I wasn’t feeling his pain like I normally do. The growing plot with Dean was entirely too fascinating and when Cas drew in to reflect on his learning’s of humanity, I just wanted to get back to the demon storyline. Let’s get started.

(QUICK SUMMARY)

A flashback in Mississippi 1863 shows a small group of confederate soldiers held up in a cabin. A man arrives holding a bone-jaw blade and proceeds to kill the soldiers who are revealed to be demons.

In the present, Crowley finds Dean at a bar and convinces him to research his father’s journal in regards to the jaw-bone dagger that can kill a knight of hell. Dean tracks down an entry to a storage room where he finds a file about a demon that John and another hunter, Tara, tortured and killed, who referenced the blade before dying. Dean and Crowley find Tara at a shop and she reveals that she was working on a locator spell that could find the dagger but she was missing an ingredient. Crowley locates the ingredient and the spell directs Dean to Missouri where he and Crowley travel to and encounter a man at a farm who Crowley says is Cain, the father of murder.

Meanwhile at HQ, Cas researches and finds that Sam is carrying some of Gadriel’s grace that was left behind when Gadriel left Sam’s body. Sam finds notes detailing a theory and device that could extract grace from a vessel and offers to let Cas try it on him. Cas agrees but finds it difficult to complete the extraction as it causes Sam a lot of pain.

At the farm, Cain reveals that after he killed Abel, he became the first demon and slaughtered thousands before disappearing. Dean explains he’s hunting Abaddon and needs the blade to kill her. Cain tells Dean and Crowley to leave. Dean complies but returns after Cain left to search the house. Inside, he discovers a picture of a woman named Colette who is wearing a wedding ring similar to Cain’s. Cain finds them as demons arrive demanding Dean and Crowley be released to them. One of the demons had followed them after killing Tara.

Cain allows several demons to enter and face Dean to see what Dean is capable of and watches as Dean fights and kills three demons all with Ruby’s knife. Crowley faces and kills a single demon with an angel blade. Afterward, Cain reveals that he no longer possesses the jaw-bone blade and that his mark from Lucifer is what gives the blade the power to kill the knights of hell. He also reveals that Abel was speaking to Lucifer and Cain offered himself to Lucifer if Abel was allowed entry into heaven. Lucifer agreed so long as Cain killed Abel. After, Cain became a demon and created the knights of hell and slaughtered in the name of Lucifer, but Cain met Colette in the 19th century and swore to stop the killing. The knights of hell corner Colette and after Cain killed all but one, Abaddon had possessed Colette but escaped the body just as Cain tried to kill her. Colette died telling Cain he’s better than this and Cain retired from killing.

Cain explains that the blade is buried in the ocean and can transfer his mark to a worthy person. Dean agrees without knowing any of the consequences and the mark is switched. Cain helps Dean and Crowley escape as long as Dean agrees to kill Cain when the time comes. Cain then lures the remaining demons in and slaughters them. After reaching a safe distance Crowley says he’ll find the blade when Dean confirms that Crowley set the entire meeting up, pretending to be afraid and knowing a demon was following them. He strikes Crowley over Tara’s death and after Crowley leaves, he feels something from the mark and stares abroad.

Back at HQ, Cas stops his extraction and heals Sam, unable to let him suffer through any more of it. The locator spell doesn’t work and Cas reflects with Sam about learning of guilt and that being human taught him that angels can change. He then tells Sam that he’ll find Metatron himself.

(END SUMMARY)

It’s always fascinating to know that in the world of Supernatural, Lucifer’s influence spans across so many people affecting things on micro and macroscopic levels. I never thought I’d picture a sympathetic Cain in this story. Such a biblical character has been rooted in a dark light through countless other stories, but I thought SN’s attempt was very well done. The archetype of the tragic hero is one of my favorites and turning Cain into one felt more appropriate than turning him into a baddie even more bloodthirsty and evil than Abaddon. I say keep the true villain centered at Abaddon as planned. The only struggle I have with “redeeming love” is that the kind of connection an immortal has to make with a mortal who “forgives” and “loves unconditionally” is almost an unfathomable concept. It’s a love to aspire to and I’d like to see those kinds of developments over arcs and not “just accept it, it’s true love” short segments where we don’t have time to understand it. Was it more poetic that in the flashback we were treated to a confederate region? I suppose they could have picked any number of past events and location as the actual time held no specific significance to the plot. I half thought we were going to be treated with another appearance by Colt himself, but that was not to be.

Now that Dean has received the mark of Cain I’m very interested to see where this is going. Is it a death sentence? Will Dean be forced or destined to kill Sam, his own brother as Cain killed Abel? Seems a bit too dramatic and predictable, so we’ll see where they go with this. I like how Ruby’s knife had no effect on Cain. I think Alastair was the only other demon who was unaffected but my memory is a bit foggy on that. I know the SN team stated they’d never dive into the origin of that blade, but it’d be nice to know after 9 years what the hell is up with that weapon. At least we know it doesn’t predate or affect the first demon.

When Tara was introduced as another partner of John’s I almost groaned. The last thing I wanted to hear was some twisty moment where we come to find out Dean and Sam are only half brothers. I’d have shook my head a thousand times if that was the case. I think Tara’s death was their way of saying “Don’t worry, she’s not his mom.” So even though it sucks, I’m thankful they didn’t do something truly terrifying with Tara’s character. Her knee twitch to demonic presences was a nice touch though. My only gripe here is I was under the impression Dean had read that journal front to back a hundred times and through all the searching and storage units that Dean would have had some knowledge of Tara already given John’s shady past with pretty much every hunter he’s ever teamed with. It was good to see the journal make an appearance.

I was a bit divided on how I felt with Crowley’s set up of the entire episode. On the one hand I think Crowley continues to earn his place as the king of hell by doing things that Lucifer would do as well. Manipulation is the primary power of such a king and Crowley performed admirably. Yet, I felt some tinge of disappointment when all his fear to Cain was an act. I’ve found over the years that what gives an audience justification to be afraid or fearful is the belief in the characters that are showing that fear. We empathize and go along with some feelings and for Crowley to say “Yeah I was just kidding,” felt like it was a bit of a rob on that fearful presence that Cain “should” have had. Granted he had a much darker and prominent look in the flashback and you can only do so much when a man says he’s retired. Still, I liked Crowley’s subterfuge but I didn’t like it. It’s hard to describe my thoughts on it any other way.

Now onto Cas and Sam. Again, restating from earlier, I wasn’t into any of either character’s plight in this episode. It took such a backseat that I didn’t feel anything new or different with either character. I think it’s great that Cas realizes how being human taught him new values and feelings and I think when he told Sam that if he were a normal angel who never became human, he’d have gone through with the extraction with no sympathy at all. That part made the most sense and was good to reveal, although I do find it a little hard to believe wholeheartedly that Cas was or would have been indifferent to Sam’s suffering entirely. With the lack of grace proving ultimately useless, this subplot didn’t feel very justified to me. I didn’t need to know that Cas had reflections and understanding of humanity having returned to his angelic form. And I don’t really buy Sam’s refusal to let Dean back in the fold. The brotherly bond has stood the test of time too many times to really believe that both brothers don’t want to ask help from the other. I believe Dean can do that till the cows come home, but Sam isn’t so believable. I get that he’s super hurt from his experiences, but he’s more likely to be the one to get over it first than Dean, my theory anyway. Oh, one other thing. Not trying to nitpick how grace works but if Cas was able to retrieve grace from another angel/vessel to revitalize himself, what’s stopping him from taking the leftover grace from Sam? Would that kill Sam? Maybe I’m missing a key piece of Angel powers that I’m not getting.

Overall, I enjoyed the episode. They brought in new lore and a new character who has a place among the demon and angel war. In one episode, Cain proved to be a more valiant effort of an addition than Gadriel has in all his appearances, and I was on Gadriel’s side from the beginning. Maybe I’m still bitter over his turn to Metatron’s side. Still, I like tragic heroes and Cain fits the bill. So far, if I had to wager a guess on the finale, I’d say there’s an equal chance that the demon and angel war will finally spill over the other and force both sides to collide. Okay, that’s what I’d like to see, but my brain wants a huge budget out of this. What I really expect to see is somehow the angels returning to heaven and some threat contained with the closure of hell. Maybe it’s not permanent, but nothing ever really is. Will Abel make some kind of appearance in Sam’s plot? That’d be interesting to see. And bring back Bobby for another cameo, or Death. Yeah, more Death.

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