REVIEW: Supernatural Season 7 Up to Now

I bet you are wondering where all the Supernatural recaps and reviews have been.  If I have issues with blogging, Supernatural is usually one I keep up on….typically because it’s on a Friday night and I can get to it on the weekend.  But I am sad to say that I can’t blame work for this one.  I hate to say it but Supernatural has stopped becoming must see TV for me.   That doesn’t mean I don’t love the show anymore.  It just means that I don’t feel it’s necessary to rush to discuss it because I don’t really know what to discuss anymore.

What made this show so great in the beginning was that the “monster of the week” either lined up with the over all story arc or complimented it in someway.  But the last two seasons seem to have lost their way.  I thought this season was off to a good start but it has gone downhill quickly.  And no, it’s not just because I’m angry at the fact that Bobby died for apparently no reason (which I am…fuming!)  It’s just another season of a “Big Bad” being introduced to us and then somewhat forgotten about.  It’s hard to take a story line seriously when you ignore it for several weeks at a time.  What makes it worse is the timing of the omission.  Only having three episodes since the early December break, we haven’t had a Leviathan centric episode since around Thanksgiving!

What would have made this whole Leviathan story stronger is if Bobby was killed by them earlier in the season.  If you planning to kill Bobby, then kill him early and have that be the reason the boys are going after these creatures.   Once you have fought Lucifer, God, all of Heaven and Hell, anything else seems manageable.  But if a supernatural entity was responsible for killing Bobby, then it gives the boys a purpose and the audience a rooting interest.  This season was pitched to us as the boys fighting a force like nothing they’ve ever seen.  Well how could something be more powerful than God and Lucifer?  But alright, I’ll suspend my disbelief.  I personally would have bought into this season more if it was pitched as the boys having a personal reason for fighting these monsters.  And that personal reason ended up being the death of Bobby.  When Bobby was killed, we were already introduced to these…things…and because it’s what the boys do, they are looking for ways to destroy them.  But wouldn’t it have been more powerful and engaging (if the writers were planning on killing Bobby regardless) if Bobby’s death drove the Winchesters this season?  I think so.  It also makes me wonder if Bobby won’t somehow reappear alive again.  Sam and Dean have died and come back so why not Bobby?   The only reason I feel it’s possible is because of the way Bobby’s death was handled…very quickly and as an after thought.  And if that’s not the case and the reason for Bobby’s death was to give darker layers to Dean, then I am crying foul.   Dean certainly didn’t need any darker layers dumped on top of him.  He was already in a pretty bad place blaming himself for what happened to Sam, what happened to Cas, impacting Lisa and Ben’s lives, not living up to his father’s expectations…I could go on and on.  The guilt and pain that Dean carries on his shoulders everyday is obvious.   And if you can’t see it, there is no better show of his grief and guilt than his ongoing battle with drinking.   That’s the one area of character development that the writers have done well with this season.   It makes sense that after years of seeing what they have seen and going through what they have gone through, that it would take a toll on you mental well-being and you would find way to cope with it through an escape mechanism…like alcohol.  If Dean and Sam just kept going about their days without any impact, it would be bogus.  So Dean using alcohol to drown his sorrows and guilt and use it to escape their insane life seems logical if not depressingly sad.   But how much more can they take?

And while we have spent much of the season seeing how everything has impacted Dean, what about Sam?  I’m sure Sam is also struggling with the death of Bobby.   Maybe not to the level Dean is but he loved Bobby every bit as much as Dean.   Also his issues with the wall coming down and seeing Lucifer in his head has vanished.  Although it will be revisited next week.  Even if the writers didn’t want to focus on this constantly, the least they could have done to show they haven’t completely ignored it, is seeing signs of Sam struggling here and there.  It feels like lately there have been seasons where we focus on Sam and seasons where we focus on Dean.  So far, this has been a Dean season.   Which I’m not complaining about!   But why can’t there be a balance between the two?    There used to be.  So what happened?

As for Bobby’s death, I can’t even begin to tell you how angry I am.  So in one season, the show has gotten rid of two of the most beloved characters in the history of the show in Castiel and Bobby.   Why?  Everyone fans knew and loved (depending on who you ask) is gone…John, Bobby, Cas, Rufus, Ellen, Jo.  Only Sheriff Mills remains and I don’t think you can lump her into the other group with the likes of Bobby and Cas.  And all I want to know is why?  If getting rid of Cas and Bobby has significant storyline or character implications (over and above making the boys more brooding) then ok, show me what that is.  So far I haven’t seen it.  Have you guys?   If I’m missing something please let me know.   And it can’t be to go after the Leviathan’s because they were doing that anyway because it’s their job.  So why is Bobby gone?  My husband and I always joked that if Bobby dies, we will stop watching the show.   Well that hasn’t happened obviously but we certainly aren’t as interested as we used to be.  Bobby grounded Dean and Sam.  When one or the other was going down a path that could hurt them, Bobby was the one to make sure it didn’t happen.  When the boys needed some semblance of a regular life, Bobby was the one to make sure it happened…even if it was just having beer and burgers to watch a football game.   Bobby tried to keep the boys sane in the most insane profession you could conjure up.  Now, he’s gone.   And for what exactly?   I have no idea.   And who is going to be that person for the boys now?  Sheriff Mills?  Yeah, not even close.  If the writers think Mills can replace Bobby, they are sadly mistaken.

Like I said, I still enjoy this show.  The 1944 episode was great.  Even last night’s episode was entertaining.  But that’s what Supernatural has become….a nice little entertaining show.  It’s a show where we follow the lives of these two men but that’s it.  Nothing more, nothing less.   That’s not good enough for me.   I want more and I have come to expect more because that is the standard the show set for itself back in the first season.  If all this show is going to be moving forward, is us going through Sam and Dean’s everyday lives, then I would rather the show end now.   But if the show thinks it can get back to the glory days of solid story telling and character development (and the character development is still strong in spurts) then I am still along for the ride.   But season 7 better get somewhere fast if Sera Gamble doesn’t want to lose me as a viewer forever.

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Supernatural “The Mentalists” S7 E7

This episode reminded me of one of the early episodes of Supernatural.  It was your basic “monster of the week” where Dean and Sam are using salt and iron and the burning of bones to ward of an evil spirit who is killing off psychics and mediums in the town of Lily Dale, which is know for being the biggest psychic community in the US.  I wonder if there really is such a town?  Not necessarily Lily Dale but the most psychic town in the US.  If someone knows, let me know.  Ultimately, the big reveal that came out this week (if you want to call it that) was that Dean and Sam actually talked about what’s been bugging Dean and why Sam reacted the way he did when he found out about Amy’s death.  I liked it and I didn’t.  Sometimes I think things can get resolved too easily on TV shows and this episode reminded me of one of those times.  However, when it comes to family and your BFFs, you tend to forgive a little easier that you would other people, so it was pretty realistic at the same time.   That’s why I liked it and didn’t at the same time.  I liked it more than I didn’t but I still had some issues with it.  But what I loved the most was how “back to basics” this episode was for Supernatural.  It reminded why I fell in love with this show in the first place…interesting cases, the dynamic brothers solving the crime and saving people while being charismatic and funny and kick ass.  It was awesome.  Don’t get me wrong, for 6+ seasons I have LOVED Supernatural.  Not so much last season but that’s already been discussed.  And as loyal reader Bruce always says and I agree with him, a “bad” episode of Supernatural is still better than a lot of the other crap that’s on TV.  But last night’s show was perfect in a lot of ways.  It was simple, it was interesting, and it had real heart when it came to Sam and Dean discussing their issues.  That formula ALWAYS works well for this show and I welcome it every week.

This week’s case took the boys to Lily Dale where psychics and mediums are being murdered after seeing the visions of their actual deaths.   Since last week ended with the boys going their separate ways (you knew that wasn’t going to last long) they both showed up in Lily Dale, separately.  Eventually they realize though, that it would make more sense for them to work the case together, so they do.  Turns out the killers were a pair of sisters..kind of.  Really only one of the sisters was doing the killings while the other sister was trying to warn people.  You see, there was one victim, whose friend Melanie is already working with Sam and Dean, who went to the boys to ask for help.  After looking at the video of the friend’s room where her “vision” happened, they see a ghost coming up behind her and placing her hands around her neck.  Naturally, Dean and Sam think this is the killer.  But not so fast.  When they find her bones and are about to burn them, she frantically shows up trying to tell them something but they don’t listen.  Her bones are burned and the friend is saved.  Or is she?   The boys leave town and the two girls plan a sleep over since they are both freaked out over what was happening.  Unfortunately, just when the clock strikes 2am (in her vision, that’s when she is killed) her vision starts to come to life and the other sister ghost shows up trying to kill her.  Melanie calls Sam and Dean to let them know what is going on and that’s when they realized they nuked the wrong sister and that the other ghost was there to warn them and the victims about her sister.  That’s why they were able to get the visions of their death before it happened.  She was trying to let them know what will happen to them.  So now they need to find the other sister’s bones.  Only one problem, the grave has the coffin in it, but the remains are gone.   Oops. After a little back tracking, Sam realizes that the pawnshop owner is the one with the bones and he is controlling whom the ghost kills.  Sam deals with him (by killing him) and takes the other sister’s bones and burns them.   Good thing too because her next victim was Melanie, and Melanie was about to join her grandmother in about 15 seconds if Sam didn’t burn those bones!  Dean and Melanie (who had a nice little chemistry going) said a sweet good-bye and then the boys were off on their next adventure.   But before that could happen…..they needed to have a little chat.

As we remember from last week, Sam walked off from Dean after he learned from a nasty little leviathan that Dean killed Amy.   Needless to say, Sam was pissed.  Understandably so.  What surprised me a little last week was how cavalier Dean was after Sam found out, especially since he had been carrying that guilt around about what happened.   Also, the way he reacted to Sam and defended himself about what happened also surprised me slightly since again, he seemed to feel so guilty about it.   It really reaffirms to me that what Dean was truly guilty about was her son witnessing her death and how Dean has now changed the course of that kid’s life in addition to beating himself up over what has happened to Castiel.

But Sam and Dean laid it out on the table this week and we got to the heart at what really bothered the other brother…ironically none of it really had anything to do with Amy’s death.  Sam was pissed that Dean lied to him…again…to protect him instead of telling him the truth.  And Dean was pissed that Sam was acting like “a little bitch.”   Dean explained his side, which was 100% correct, in that he killed Amy because she was dangerous.   Because of who she was, she had to go and because of Sam’s past with Amy, he couldn’t do it.  But if she were any other “monster” Sam would be 100% in Dean’s corner about eliminating her as a threat.  Sam conceded that point.  But Sam’s point to Dean is, stop keeping things from him and lying to him about it.  He’s a grown man and can deal with the truth, especially from his BFF.  Dean said he lied because of the fragile state Sam’s been in.   Now I have to admit, I don’t believe that.  You all know how much of a Dean person I am, but I don’t think that’s why he didn’t tell him and he used that as an excuse.  I just think it was a matter of Dean not wanting to tell Sam, because he knew he would be upset with him…that simple.  Sam asked him not to kill her, he did it anyway, so he didn’t want to tell Sam he went behind his back.  Maybe there was a small part of him that didn’t want to because of Sam’s fragile mental state, but it wasn’t the driving reason the way he made it out to be.  He’s still trying to justify his decision to Sam, which quite frankly, he already did in explaining why Amy had to die.   Ultimately it was a nice moment for the boys.  In the past, these things had a tendency to linger on and on but I like how the show nipped this in the bud quickly and in a way that made sense.  While I like the growth moment they had where they were able to talk about what was wrong and resolve it, when are they going to learn to stop keeping things from one another?   They both hate it when the other does it (and they both do it) and both have said they don’t need protection from the other.  SO STOP DOING IT!!!!   Yikes!  Dean even admitted that really that’s why he’s been walking around so guilty…because he was lying to Sam.  That’s what bothered him so much.  Well here’s a solution…don’t do it anymore!  Men.  I’m just glad all seems to be forgiven and they are back to working together to fight another day!

So what did you think of last night’s episode?  I thought it was great and I’m dying to know what’s happening with the “wedding”episode next week and who Mrs. Sam Winchester could possibly be.

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Supernatural “Shut Up, Dr. Phil” S7 E5

I didn’t even recognize James Marsters at first.  He looked like he aged 30 years since Buffy!  I know he was older than what he was playing on Buffy, but wow.  Maybe it was the dyed bleach blonde hair vs. his natural look that threw me.  But it took me a few times seeing him on-screen to realize that was Spike.   Maybe running on 10 hours of sleep for my entire week also had something to do with not seeing clearly!   Regardless, the much-anticipated Buffy reunion was last night’s Supernatural and it certainly didn’t disappoint.  I’ll talk briefly about the episode itself but I’m much more interested in the two things we learned last night (one I seem to be late to the party in realizing.)    But let’s bang out the recap first, shall we?

RECAP:

We are witness to what seem to be random yet very disturbing deaths…a young woman at a hair salon gets fried under the blower (makes me never want to get under one of those again) and a man in a port-a-pot gets killed with his own nail, right between the eyes…yikes!  At first, the only thing they have in common are an old coin that has shown up in every location.  Eventually we learn that they also have in common a real estate development deal that went bad.   One of the main parties involved in that deal, is Don Stark (special guest star James Marsters.)

The boys go to see Stark and we learn he and his wife Maggie (special guest star Charisma Carpenter) are having some problems and are currently separated.  Maggie believes Don is having an affair with his assistant.  Don admits to having a one night stand, but not with his assistant.  While Dean is talking with Don, Sam goes to use the “bathroom” and takes that time to investigate the house a bit more.  In a half empty closet, we discovers some materials that suggest witchcraft.  Now it’s all starting to make sense.  They leave the Stark residence and head to where Maggie is currently living.

Dean and Sam break in and find a “target” board of people Maggie is going after.  The boys notice that the next target is the assistant and quickly leave to get to her place.  But Maggie has already started the spell and while the assistant is baking cupcakes, she takes a bite and the next thing you know, little live hearts are in the cupcakes (gross) and she starts puking up copious amounts of blood and God knows what else.  As this is happening, the boys break in to save her.  Sam finds the hex coin in her kitchen and shoots the coin, breaking the curse.

Later that evening, Maggie is prepping with her friend Sue, for an art gala/auction.  Sue has always had Maggie’s back and has been a loyal friend to her.  I also think Sue wants a little more from Maggie than just friendship.  As Maggie is preparing her speech and yelling at the staff, she starts to notice the art work melting in front of her.  As this is happening and Maggie is freaking out, we flash to Don siting outside the event and we learn that he is also a witch.  The paintings are ruined and as Sue tries to comfort Maggie, a silver tray rises up and slashes threw her throat decapitating her.   Gruesome!  It’s now all our war between the Starks.

Back at the Stark’s mansion, they are fighting and Dean and Sam show up to kill them.  They aren’t having much luck because these are pretty powerful witches.   The spell they are trying to put on the witches isn’t working so they decide to do the next best thing….couples counseling!!!   And it worked.  Turns out that not only are these witches very old (the Medici and Columbus references should have made that obvious) but are very much in love with one another.   That’s why when it comes down to it, they can’t kill each other.  Basically, Sam and Dean counsel them to the point that Maggie no longer wants to kill Don and they make up.    Yeah!

Dean and Sam arrive back at their hotel and come to find an unwelcome guest in the most recent leviathan who has been tracking them down since the last episode.  It doesn’t look good for the boys when guess who shows up and saves them?   Spike!!!!!  He was coming to thank them for saving his life when he saw the leviathan and put him down without much effort.  He even asks the boys what the hell is that because he’s never seen anything like it.   They wrap him up in chains and are on their way to take him to Bobby’s.

REVIEW:

Like I said in the beginning, there were two learnings for me in this episode.  The first one being that Don Starks is a powerful enough witch to neutralize a leviathan.  Bobby, Sam, and Dean hadn’t had much luck with all the information and tricks they have learned over the years on stopping creatures in the past.   Nothing would work on these guys.  But Starks’ comes in and bam, leviathan down.  Was it because he is THAT powerful?   Is it something else we haven’t learned yet?  But it makes me think we haven’t seen the last of the Starks (which makes me very happy) and that they may come back into play to help Sam and Dean take these bastards down.   If we don’t see them again, maybe they can take what they have learned about the Starks and their power and come up with a solution.  Everything they have been researching so far, they have come up either empty or it hasn’t worked.   At least this is something that actually worked to some degree.  Even if they are only incapacitated for a little while.  It’s still more than Bobby and the boys have been able to do.   Plus it’s so early on in the season, we can’t find out how to get rid of these guys yet!

The second learning I had is that Dean is having a problem with alcohol and the weight of the world on his shoulders is getting heavier and heavier each week.   I read in another post on another site last week about Dean’s drinking problem.  I’ll be honest, I never noticed it before.  I’ve noticed plenty of other issues with Dean’s personality that we have discussed here, but the drinking wasn’t one of them.  I always noticed that he likes his booze, but not to an abusive level.   But I have to say, I noticed it big time this week.  Maybe because I was looking for it more closely, but it seems even the show was purposely trying to point it out with camera angles and of course Sam’s reaction to Dean’s imbibing.

Over the course of seven seasons, we’ve seen all different sides of Dean…the funny side, the kick ass side, the family side, the loner side, the asian porn loving side, the serious about his work side.    But there is one thing that has always been consistent about Dean (beside his hotness) and that is that Dean goes through his life with a very heavy heart and allows each and every decision he makes (whether good, bad, or indifferent) to define him.   After a while, that type of self burden will destroy you.   Whether it’s mentally, emotionally, physically, or a combination of all three, no one person can carry all that around forever.  And I think we are starting to see it catch up with Dean.

Think about this.  When was the last time Bobby and Sam were really worried about Dean for an extended period of time?   Probably not since Season Four when he came back from hell.  It’s always been Dean worrying and Sam and Bobby.   Now I know that Bobby will always worry and care about the boys, but he also realizes that they are grown men who can take care of themselves and live their life and they choose to live it…consequences and all.   That’s how Bobby lives his life and hopes people respect that about him.  So he respects Sam and Dean and their choices.  But ever since the start of Season Five, Dean has been in worry wort, protective mode when it comes to Sam and Bobby but more so Sam.   And yes, Dean has ALWAYS been protective of Sam because he is his older brother and Sam is his whole world.  But it’s different now and it has been for a while.

I would even say that starting with the middle of Season Four, after everyone realizes that Dean is ok from his return from hell, he and Sam start to spilt a bit…Dean is more connected with Castiel, Anna, and the angels while Sam is connected more to Ruby and the demons.  We eventually find out that Ruby used Sam the whole time to get to Lilith so she could open the final gate and let Lucifer out.  She got him hooked on demon blood and Sam became someone no one liked.   Ever since that point, Dean hasn’t really had a moment to stop worrying about Sam.  In Season Five, Sam wanted to make amends for siding with Ruby while Dean wants to take that burden off of him and find the solution himself for getting Lucifer back in his cage.   As a result of Lucifer being out, Lucifer wants to use Sam as a vessel to destroy the world.  That burden isn’t hanging over Sam as much as it is Dean because Dean, always needing to be the fixer, needs to find a way to prevent this from happening.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a burden hanging over Sam as well, but since they both handle these types of situations so differently and Dean is always so much harder on himself than Sam, it’s a completely different type of burden for Dean than for Sam.  Skipping ahead, not only can Dean not stop Lucifer’s plan (Lucifer takes over Sam AND Archangel Michael takes over half-brother Adam’s body) both Sam and Adam jump into the portal of hell and get trapped in Lucifer’s cage.  Talk about a devastating blow!   And we are still seeing the repercussions of what happened at the end of Season 5 today.

All of Season 6 was about Dean wanting to figure out what was going on with Sam and beating himself up because of what Sam is going through.  In Season 7, Sam’s wall is down and he is still fighting those inner demons (mainly one BIG demon in Lucifer.)    All Dean wants to do is figure out how to not have this brother feeling this way any more.   Add to that, he killed someone he felt was dangerous even after Sam asked him not to.  Compounding all that guilt, Amy’s son witness Dean murdering his mother.  I think that’s another big part of this weighing on Dean’s head.   Yes, he’s upset about what he did to Amy and going behind Sam’s back, but look at what he did to that little boy’s life.  Remember, if it wasn’t for the Azazel killing Mary Winchester, Dean wouldn’t be in this life because his father wouldn’t be in this life.  Same with Sam.  If Jessica isn’t killed the same way Mary was, Sam would be a lawyer in Ohio right now.  But this boy witnessed the killing of his mother and Dean knows, it will be that kid’s life mission to track him down and find him and kill him.  He will probably ruin his life in many ways because of what he will be tunnel visioned to do because of Dean.

So Dean has ALL this hanging over him.  And the one escapism he has right now, is booze.  Dean is not a sit down and talk about his feelings type of guy.   He just isn’t.   He’s a brooder.  Sam will talk until the cows come home and he is trying like hell to get Dean to open up because he sees him going down a dark path.   But not only will Dean not open, he can’t.  How can he talk about Amy and her son to Sam without risking destroying his relationship with him?  No wonder he’s drinking a 750ml of scotch a day!   It’s really sad to watch quite frankly.  But it’s so fascinating at the same time.  I am so curious to see where they take Dean and just how dark this storyline is going to get.

I think this is one of the dynamics that makes this show so great.  Yes it’s fun to watch them chase monsters and we love all the tongue in check moments and of course there is the strong mythology surrounding the show.  But this show is much deeper than that on so many levels.  With the main level being Sam and Dean and their relationship with one another.  And major credit goes to the strength of Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki and their acting chops and chemistry.  This show doesn’t work without them.

So what are your thoughts on Dean and his developing dark passenger (Dexter reference yeah!)  Are you as worried about him as I am or am I reading too much into this as usual?   Let me know!

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Supernatural “Defending Your Life” S7 E4

Supernatural is on fire this season.  After a mediocre S6, S7 is off to a strong start.   We have a clear-cut big bad (the Leviathans…although we don’t know who their boss is yet.)  We have our “monster of the week” episodes (which are starting to kick into gear now.)   And we have good, solid drama with the boys in Sam’s mental state and how they are handling it.  But there is still plenty of mystery and uncertainty surrounding the episodes, but it’s the good kind…who do the Leviathans report to and what is their end game?  What is going to happen with Sam?  How will he survive what is going on with his fragile mental state?  How will Dean and Sam’s relationship change when Sam learns (and you know he will) what Dean did to Amy?  How will Amy’s son factor back in?  Will it be this season or will it be down the road (my guess is a few seasons from now.)  When is Sam going to get a haircut?

In “Defending Your Life”, we see people getting chased down from their past and being murdered.   The first case is a man being chased and killed by a car (which was because he killed a young girl with his car 10 years prior.)  The second was a man being chased and killed by a dog because he ran an illegal dogfighting ring.  Can I just say, I love how there were two Michael Vick references in this story.  Do you think that had anything to do with the fact that Dean is a Cowboys fan in real life and would take any chance to take a shot at the Philadelphia Eagles QB?  Could be.  I’m an Eagles fan but I hate Michael Vick so I loved it.  So no one was really crying for these guys biting the big one.   The other case was a man who killed a couple when he was robbing a house 30 years ago.  But he had been in prison and seemed genuinely sorrowful for his actions.   Sam and Dean try to save him by putting him in a circle of salt but it wasn’t enough to save him.  And you knew that was going to happen.  He breaks the seal, takes off running, and the couple track him down and he’s a goner.

Turns out, the cause of all these murders is the Egyptian God, Osiris.  Osiris feeds off the guilt people are feeling about sins they have committed in the past, or perceived wrong doings that they can’t get past and are convinced are their fault.  Dean ends up at a bar drowning the sorrows of his guilt over Amy’s death with a bartender he plans to meet up with later.  We notice a man in a baseball hat siting off to the side and you can’t help but wonder if he’s behind all this.  He is.  It’s Osiris.  When Dean goes to meet bartender girl, he gets swiped by Osiris.  Sam just so happened to be looking for Dean and when he sees his cellphone on the ground with the dust of an abandoned mill, he knows where he has to go.

Sam tracks Dean and Osiris down and Dean is on trial for his life.  Sam tries to rationalize with Osiris but when that doesn’t work, he announces he will be Dean’s lawyer for the trial.  Osiris loves this idea and agrees.  Osiris tries bringing in witnesses and evidence that back the idea of Dean’s guilt but Sam is going to make this difficult.  He keep throwing out objection after objection with one objection sounding very official.  Both Dean and Osiris were impressed.  When Sam told Dean “I saw it on an episode of The Good Wife” I was cracking up.  It also reminded me that I am WAY behind on my The Good Wife posts, but I digress.  As much as Osiris was enjoying this little tete a tete with Sam, it wasn’t going to derail him of his objective…destroy Dean.   The first witness is none other than….Jo Harvell.  If you read any of my past Supernatural posts, you know I wasn’t a huge fan of Jo.  She kind of annoyed me (ducking to avoid sharp objects being hurled at me.)  I always loved Ellen, but Jo…I never got on board with her.   So I wasn’t so excited to see her return.  However, it made perfect sense.  If this whole exercise was regarding Dean’s inner guilt and turmoil, you have to include what happened with Jo and Ellen because Dean has never forgiven himself for that.  Dean is someone who holds on to everything.  He doesn’t let it go.  He let’s it fester inside him until he explodes or he just keeps letting it eat at him.   Jo tells Osiris that what happened wasn’t Dean’s fault nor was he the one that led her to a life of hunting.  Regardless of what Jo is telling Osiris, he knows that Dean carried that guilt with him still.  To prove it, he calls his second witness…Sam Winchester.

Sam gets on the stand and Osiris starts questioning him about how he got into the hunting life and what he was doing right before he became a hunter full-time.  The interesting part about each interrogation, is that as the person was speaking, we got flashbacks to those times.  While the flashbacks were great, it also gave a look inside Dean’s mind.  These weren’t just flashbacks we were seeing.  These were Dean’s memories of what was happening during the time Osiris is questioning the witnesses about.  These are his vivid memories that continue to haunt him.  Sam does everything he can to deny that’s it’s true, there are somethings he simply can’t deny.  After a while Osiris asks Dean what he wants to do and if he wants to keep fighting this….or should he bring on his last witness.  Now, Dean knows who the last witness is, Osiris knows, and we, the audience, knows.   But Sam has no idea.   To protect Sammy once again, Dean decides to take the punishment to absolve Sam of having to see the final witness.   Dean has a date with death….again.

Back in the hotel, Dean is waiting for his punishment at the hands of Jo.  Meanwhile, Sam is out trying to find a ram’s horn (I think it was a ram) to use to kill Osiris, because that is the only thing that will do it.  I completely forget why, but he finds one at a synagogue.  Back at the hotel, Jo is there and she tells Dean that she doesn’t want to do this but Osiris is making her so she has no choice.  She also tells him that he is holding onto to way too much (which he is) and that most of what he blames himself for, isn’t his fault (which is true.)  But you can tell Dean that until you are blue in the face.  If he thinks something is his fault, there is no changing that boy’s mind.  And he will punish himself for it.  Sam goes to the bar where Osiris has been plucking his victims and as he goes to grab another victim, Sam is there to stab with the horn and Osiris is zapped back to Ancient Egypt.  As Sam kills Osiris, Jo vanishes and Dean is once again saved.

The boys have their ubiquitous beer to recap the job and Sam asks Dean who the final witness was going to be.  Dean plays it well and tells him he has no idea.  They have a brief conversation about guilt and Dean asks Sam if he ever feels guilty over the things he has done.   Sam admits he does but he also admits that he finds ways to move on from it.  He can’t hang onto it because it doesn’t do him any good.  And for every bad thing he’s done, he tries to do something to make up for it.   Dean nods his head and the boys take off to find their next mission.

That’s really the big difference between Sam and Dean.  Sam can let things go easier than Dean can.  Sam certainly feels guilt and sadness but he doesn’t let him eat him up the way Dean does.  He finds outlets and positive ways to repent for his sins so that he can start to move on.  Dean, while also doing good to make up for his faults, can’t let it go.  No matter how much good he does, he still continues to beat himself up everyday for his mistakes…for wrongs he feels he caused.  It’s what will eventually doom his character.  Not from an appeal standpoint but from a mortal standpoint.  One of these days, Dean will push so hard, it will kill him.  It’s already happened but he’s been able to come back.  But one time, he’ll go to a point of no return.

I have to say that as much as I am intrigued by the Leviathan storyline, I was happy to have a break from it this week and have a straight “monster of the week” story.   But the new ongoing storyline I can’t wait to see play out is how Sam will react when he finds out Dean killed Amy.  I’m glad it didn’t happen this week.  I would have been pissed if it did because I think it’s too soon.  I would rather see it play out in a more shocking way and watch the fallout from that.

So what are you all thinking about the first four episodes of Season 7?  I am LOVING it!!!!  I feel like my Supernatural is back and I couldn’t be happier.  I want to hear your comments to let me know your thoughts!

 

Supernatural Season 7 Premiere Promo

“The Castiel you knew is gone.” You’re not kidding. Season 6 was certainly a disappointment for me. It wasn’t as strong as other seasons of Supernatural. I thought the story telling was disjointed and sporadic at times and there was no real clear-cut direction to the season. I hope going into Season 7, that changes.

Below is a brief clip. It doesn’t show much insight into the new season. You know what it does do? Get me ridiculously excited for the return of my favorite brothers on TV!!!!!

 

SEASON FINALE REVIEW: Supernatural “Let It Bleed” & “The Man Who Knew Too Much” S6 E21 & 22

Season 6 has finally wrapped and I am still trying to find the right way to recap my thoughts on this finale and the season as a whole.  If you read my blog, you know that I wasn’t a huge fan of this season.  I just felt there was little direction as to what the true end game was.   Usually when we start a season of Supernatural, the mission is clear..finding the yellow eyed demon that killed their mother and destroying him, saving Dean from having to go to hell (as a result of a deal he made with a cross roads demon to save Sam), stopping Lilith and preventing Lucifer from rising,  stop the apocalypse.  This season wasn’t so clear-cut.  At first it was figuring out who/what Sam is, then it was fighting Crowley in his quest for souls in Purgatory, then it was the Mother of All, and in the background was the war in Heaven.  Usually, one of those is the main arc for the season with the others contributing to the main arc or stand alone as side stories.   But it was never clear what the MAIN arc was.  It seems to me at this point, it was the war in Heaven all along with Castiel trying to find a way to stop Raphael from taking over and destroying the world.   Now why couldn’t that have been laid out to us earlier on in the season instead of waiting until episode 20 of 22 to tell us?   There still would have been mystery and intrigue as to what was going on and how Castiel was going to stop Raphael and how Crowley, Eve, the souls,and the Winchesters all tied in.   But instead, I watched this season very confused as to what I was supposed to care about.   Now maybe I’m a complete idiot (which is very likely) and should have seen all this coming a mile away, but I didn’t.   I knew Cas and Raph were at odds but I didn’t know why.  And the war in Heaven always seemed like an after thought.  So much for that being the case I guess.  Hence my season long frustration.  I talked with some people in the comments section about this.  While I think there were some great individual standout episodes this season (Frontierland is one of my all time favorite episodes), the episodes didn’t seem to mesh well into a season long success for me.  I kept saying that I had faith they would pull it together for the finale.  While it was pulled together, the result didn’t really have much impact for me the way it did in other seasons.

Let me touch on the one aspect that worked well before I get into the other stuff.  I like the way they handled Sam rebuilding his soul piece by piece.  I’m glad they didn’t forget about that since it was several episodes ago when Death gave Sam his soul back and put up the wall that he told him not to scratch it.  Castiel needed to find a way to distract Dean from trying to stop him, so he took down Sam’s wall, leaving him in a coma with Dean and Bobby unaware of how they can help him.  Cas promises to return to help Sam but with the decisions Cas has been making lately, Dean and Bobby aren’t so sure.  They get a lead on stopping Cas and Crowley but Dean doesn’t want to leave Sam.  He does because he knows that’s what Sam would want and leaves him a note and a gun (who doesn’t leave their love ones a gun when running out to do an errand I ask) letting him know where they are in case he wakes up. He wakes up alright but not before some crazy inner fighting that happens between him and a few other “Sams.”

In order for Sam to wake up and become COMPLETELY himself again, he needs to fight Soulless Sam and Hell Really Kicked the Shit Out of Me Sam.   Here’s my question though…and please tell me if you had the same question or if I am reading too much into this….was Sam fighting the other 2 portions of his soul to see who would be the dominate soul when this was all said and done?  So if Soulless Sam beat Sam and Hell Really Kicked the Shit Out of Me Sam, Soulless Sam is who we would get but he would have the memories of the other two?  So that’s why Sam had to fight them?  I always assumed that when the wall came down, it just meant that Sam remembered everything.  So I took what happened to mean that he had to fight his own inner demons to “win out” as the dominate soul and then absorb all their memories about what happened when he was each of those people.  Either way, it should be interesting to see how all this affects Sam going into Season 7 with all this knowledge about himself now.  But as weird as it was to figure out what the hell was going on in the early goings of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” I thought it was pretty cool how Sam regaining his full soul and complete memory went down.

Something I liked and didn’t like at the same time was what happened with Lisa and Ben.  When we started the season, Dean was living his new life with Lisa and Ben with Sam in hell (so he thought.)  By the end of the season, Lisa and Ben, literally don’t know who Dean is anymore and it’s safe to say they are gone from his life for good.  While I am glad the Lisa and Ben storyline looks to be over and done with, I’m not sure I like how it went down.   I heard on a podcast and I completely agree that wiping away Lisa and Ben’s memories really didn’t help them at all and in fact, may have put them in more danger.  Castiel felt horrible about what Crowley did to Lisa and Ben so Cas did two things….saved her life and wiped the memories of Lisa and Ben so they couldn’t remember Dean and everything surrounding him.   While I wouldn’t have a problem if they wanted to wipe their memories of her current boyfriend and his death and their kidnapping, they shouldn’t have wiped the memories away of Dean completely.  The monsters that come after Dean will still know that Lisa and Ben mean something to him whether they have their memories or not.  So instead of being able to use some of the tricks Dean taught them so they can protect themselves, they won’t know that anymore because their memories are gone.  And I understand that this was done more so to wrap up the Lisa and Ben storyline for Dean and not have it hang out there anymore, but it still doesn’t make sense.  I know I’m nitpicking and they ultimately accomplished what they wanted…ending the Lisa and Ben story.  I just think it could have been handled better because technically, they really aren’t out of his life because evil can still go after them because Dean will always care about them.   Having said all that, it was a sweet gesture for him to want to get their lives back to normal.  It was crushing for him but, in Dean’s mind, it was better for them that they don’t know him and they don’t know what’s out there.  And now they can move forward peacefully with their lives.  One can hope.

As for Castiel and his mission, I don’t know what to think.  I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, I’m not a Castiel fan.  I don’t hate the character, I just don’t have this overwhelming Castiel love that some people do.  I mean people go crazy for this guy and I don’t get it.  He’s a good character and over the last 2 seasons, I’ve liked the relationship he’s built with Sam and Dean.  But that’s it.  I think there have been much better characters on the show than Castiel (and much worse) but the heart of the show for me will always be Sam, Dean, and Bobby.  Not Castiel.  So his betrayal of Sam and Dean (if you want to even call it that) didn’t bother me as much because I always felt like as much as Castiel really likes the Winchesters, he would always put his love for God and the greater good, first.  As he should!  But this war in Heaven took it to a whole new level.  In fairness to Castiel, even though he made some questionable decisions that led him down a dark path, his goal was always to save the people.  Raphael wanted the apocalypse to happen and wipe out man kind so he can start all over again.  Castiel didn’t want that to happen.  You could argue, it’s because he cares about the Winchesters so much.  Before he met them, maybe he would have been on Raphael’s side and not cared so much.  But I doubt it.  That doesn’t seem to be who Cas is. But lately Cas showed many different sides to him so who knows at this point.  Deep down though, I think Castiel would have wanted to stop Raphael’s plan regardless of his connection with the Winchesters or not.   What I still don’t understand is why they are being so hard on Cas.  Both Sam and Dean have made deals with demons before to save someone they love and because they thought the end justified the means.  So why can’t they see that with Cas?  Cas is only working with Crowley so he can save Heaven from Raphael and therefore hundreds of millions of people.   But Castiel’s biggest problem and where I stop defending him is that he crossed too many lines in his quest for salvation.   And you have to wonder, at what point did this stop being about saving people and start being about a power trip for Castiel?   Because in my opinion, that’s what happened.

It started back in Frontierland when he had Balthazar unsink the Titanic to be able to kill more people who shouldn’t have lived (his justification) to get more souls.   Once he found out about the way to open the portal to Purgatory (the blood of a virgin, the blood of a creature from Purgatory, and some latin) he went on a murderous rampage.  He killed Ivy Crane and some virgin probably.  Then to distract Dean, he took down Sam’s wall.  Castiel was down right evil.  So right before our eyes, Castiel was becoming a darker and darker entity.  It could be because he felt alone and that everyone betrayed him.  Rachel was his lieutenant but she betrayed him (in his eyes because we don’t really know what happened.)  The Winchesters betrayed him by not being on his side and fighting against him. Balthazar betrayed him by going behind his back and telling the Winchesters about his plan so they could stop him.  And Raphael was never on his side.  It makes you wonder if anyone in Heaven was on Castiel’s side or did he become a rogue force.   From his standpoint, he had no one supporting him anymore so he was going to do whatever he though necessary to defeat Raphael.

Once Cas and Crowley had the blood and latin they needed they were ready to open the gate to Purgatory.  Only one problem, Cas doesn’t want Crowley around anymore so he hustles him away.  Crowley, being Crowley, does the only thing he can do….he now sides with Raphael to defeat Castiel.     When he shows up with Raph, he gives Cas the same ultimatum Cas gave him…flee or die.  So Cas flees but not before he swaps out the real blood for fake blood so Crowley and Raph can’t open the gate.  When he comes back to rub it in their faces, he tells him he opened the gate and now all the souls in Purgatory are inside of him making him one powerful son of  a bitch!   Crowley gets out of there real fast and Castiel kills Raphael with a snap his fingers.   Bobby and Dean are there to witness the whole thing and we are seeing a new Castiel.  Dean is shocked and tells him that they should get those souls out him so he doesn’t explode.  He refuses.  Meanwhile Sam has woken up and stumbles in with an angel sword and stabs Castiel.  It doesn’t work.  It’s because, according to Castiel, he is their new God.  If they chose not to believe in him or follow him, then they can all die.  Alrighty then!!!  This is right around the time the real God should show up and put Castiel in his place….and fast!!!!

I don’t know if Castiel can be redeemed at this point (I’m sure the writers will find a way) but I do know his relationship with the Winchesters will never be the same.  This is where I can finally empathize with Dean.  Once Castiel purposely took down Sam’s wall knowing what it could do to him so he could distract Dean, he would be dead to me.  I can’t see Dean or Sam forgiving that.   I don’t think I can.  Castiel may be at the point of no return.  And with all the power he now has with all the souls inside him, he becomes a very scary individual.

What does all this mean for Season 7?  Well, right off the bat the boys are going to have two things to deal with…first, Sam’s wall being down so now he remembers EVERYTHING and how that will affect him and second, Castiel walking around Heaven thinking he’s God but being a very powerful entity with lots of different sorts of souls inside him.  I don’t think the types of souls inside Castiel have any affect on his decision-making, I just think it makes him one very powerful pain in the ass.  First thing I hope for with Season 7 is a succinct, solid arc that is clear from the beginning to the viewers.  The second is that I hope is that the arc isn’t fixing Castiel.  That can be part of S7 but it better not be the main arc.  And third, continuing the individual monster hunts that build and connect to the main arc.   That’s what I want to see.  Overall, season 6 wasn’t my favorite.  In fact it was my least favorite.  But I still love the show and have a lot of faith in the story telling and the cast.    I already have lots of hope for Season 7.  And hey, every show is due a clunker of a season right?  Well now they have it out of their way and they can get back to what makes them great….solid, fascinating story telling with a stellar cast that can make you laugh or cry at the drop of demon blade.

 

QUICK REVIEW: Supernatural

I can’t believe I am about to say this, but I am so disappointed in the last two episodes of Supernatural.  So disappointed that I’m combining them into one quick review!!  But really, so disappointed that I am not even looking forward to the season finale this year like I have been in seasons past.  There are shows out there right now where I am jumping through my skin to get to the season finale…Castle, Bones, The Mentalist, The Good Wife, How I Met Your Mother, Survivor.  But this season, I could care less.  You know why?  I haven’t been given a reason to care.  I know I’m repeating myself but it really bugs me.    All other seasons, the episodes have built to a final showdown or confrontation between the Winchesters and whomever or whatever they were battling during that particular season.  This year has been so up and down with knowing what the real end game is and who the big bad is that I have lost interest.   First we thought it was Soulless Sam and what was going on with him.  Is he evil?  Is he not evil?  Does he play a part in all this?   Then there was Samuel and Crowley.  Crowley was looking for purgatory and he brought Samuel back to help him so we thought those were the bad guys.   Then there was Death’s role in this and the conversation he has with Dean about the souls and how the Winchesters mess with the natural order of things (that’s the one consistent theme of the season.)  Then the Mother of All, Eve, showed up so maybe she was the big baddie.  We got know her for about 5 minutes and then, dead.  Now Crowley is alive again so it’s back to him and his partner, Castiel.

While ALL this is going on, there was the war in Heaven.   I was frustrated with this before and now, after last week’s episode, I am even more frustrated about how this was handled all season.   If you read my Supernatural posts with any consistency, you will know that I have been asking about what is going on in Heaven and is it a big deal?   It must be a big deal because it’s been mentioned enough times but it can’t be that big of a deal because other than MENTIONING it, we haven’t LEARNED anything about it….until last week.   Turns out the war in Heaven is the impetus for everything we have been watching this season.   Really?   And the reason we haven’t learned more about it until now is?????   In all seriousness, why couldn’t the conversation between Castiel and Raphael happened in the middle of the season?   Was it because the writers wanted us to question Castiel’s motives and whether or not he turned bad?  Well that would be dumb on many levels.  Number One, people love Castiel.  There’s about as much of a chance of Castiel tuning “bad” as Sam.  It’s not happening.  He may make bad choices but it will always be for a good reason.  His heart will be in the right place.  Number Two, It wasn’t until the last couple of episodes that you started to wonder what the hell Castiel was doing anyway.  Then you give him his own episode to explain it and poof, bye-bye wonder.   Number Three, we just learned he was working with Crowley last week.  So in terms of Castiel working with the dark side, it never came to light until later.  So I think the Raphael/Castiel meeting could have happened months ago.   At least it would have given us SOME inkling as to what was going on in Heaven, why it was happening, and why it was so important to the arc of the season.    For those who don’t know, the brief run down is that Raphael still wants the apocalypse to take place and wipe out man kind to start over again.  Castiel doesn’t want that to happen and if he can keep Raphael from taking over while God and Michael are MIA, he can stop his plan.  It’s why he needs the souls and why he’s been working with Crowley to find purgatory.   He doesn’t have enough power to fight Raphael so he needs more power sources to do it.  Hence the hunt for souls and purgatory.

It’s also why Eve was brought in and was so pissed.  She has no problem with the natural order (there’s that theme again.)  Her children (Vampires, Werewolves, and such) kill some humans, humans kill some of them…it works.   But when Crowley was using hunters to wrangle up all the creatures and kill them in bulk quantities for their souls, she had an issue with that.  That’s why she came around…to put an end to that.  Unfortunately (or fortunately however you choose to look at that story line) she got killed by Dean before she could really get going.   It’s a shame because if it was handled the right way, she could have been a very formidable monster the boys would have to battle.  But she came and went so quickly, she was a waste in my mind.

My final gripe is the way the boys handled the news about Castiel.   Am I not mistaken that they are the pot calling the kettle black here?   How many times did either Sam or Dean have a secret that he didn’t share with the other brother or Bobby out of wanting to protect them?  For a while there it would happen once or twice a season.  So how exactly can they get on Castiel for not telling them what was going on?   And how could Sam, of all people, give him grief about working with a demon.   Does the name Ruby ring any bells to him?   I found this incredibly hypocritical of the boys.   The only interesting part that came out of that scene where they trapped him, was that we found out it was Castiel that brought Sam back, not Crowley.  But we don’t know why and we don’t know if it was intentional or by accident that his soul didn’t come with him.  Now that is something I am very curious to find out about!

No Supernatural this Friday but the 2 hour finale is going to be May 20th.  Are you excited about this year’s finale?  Or are you like me and kind of indifferent at this point?

 

REVIEW: Supernatural “Frontierland” S6 E18

This was probably one of my favorite episodes of the season.  But that’s part of the problem with Supernatural this season…lots of great individual episodes but the overall arc of the season is a mess.  I’m not even sure what the main arc is at this point.  But we have discussed that to death.  Frontierland got back to the root of why Supernatural is so great….the chemistry of Jensen and Jared, the humor, the wit, Bobby’s sarcasm, an interesting “monster” case, and of course Dean wearing a blanket…oh sorry, serape.

In an effort to try to come up with a way to kill Eve, they do some research in Samuel Colt’s journal.  They realize they need to get the charred ashes of a Phoenix.  Well doesn’t everyone have those lying around?  They have to go back to the late 1800s after seeing Colt’s journal entry about seeing a burning Phoenix.  I loved how excited Dean got over going back to the wild, wild west!  He went shopping and himself and Sam “outfits” so they could fit in.  Hence the serape.   The best part, is when he gets zapped to the past by Castiel, everyone makes fun of him over his blanket (after Bobby, Cas, and Sam already ripped him for it!)  He also gets teased about getting some real clothes if he is going to help out the locals in finding who is melting local police and judges.   They only have 24 hours for fear they could get lost in history. So they have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.

Turns out, a man was wrongfully accused of a crime he didn’t commit and he came back to kill (melt) the men who wronged him.  We also learn that he is the Phoenix.  Dean sets up to meet in a showdown while Sam is off to meet with Samuel to convince him to go with him so he can burn the Phoenix.  Sam meets Colt and tells him he is a hunter from the future.  Colt doesn’t believe him until Sam shows him his Blackberry.  Colt tells him he’s retired but offers to give Sam his colt in order to kill the Phoenix.

Sam rushes back to Dean with the colt and gives it to him to take out the Phoenix.  It works and the bullets from the colt burn him.  As Dean and Sam rush to get the ashes, they are zapped back to the future (unfortunately not in a DeLorean and not with the help of Doc Brown.)  They are so disappointed because they feel like they have failed.  However, while discussing their next move, someone knocks on the door.  A UPS guy is there with a package for Sam.  It’s a package from Samuel Colt!  Samuel left the package at the post office with strict instructions to have the packaged to delivered to Sam at that address on that date.  Sam wonders how Samuel knew his address as he pulls his doo-hickey (as Samuel called the Blackberry) out of the boxes along with a glass jar full of Phoenix ashes.  Nicely done Samuel!!!!  At least there is one Samuel on this show we can depend on!!!!

On the Castiel/War in Heaven front, when the boys originally summon Castiel to help them with going back to 1861 Wyoming, Rachel shows up instead.  She is Castiel’s lieutenant and she has had enough of the Winchesters asking for his help when he has a war he is fighting and they know it.  She gives them a verbal beat down as Castiel shows up to back her down.  Later, they meet up again and Rachel institutes another verbal beat down.  This time Castiel is the brunt of her angst.  She isn’t happy with his recent actions and thinks he is turning into the exact type of angel he is fighting against.  She then begins to fight him with their angels swords.  She wounds Castiel but he ends up killing her.  The problem is, he is injured to the point that he can’t bring the boys back on his own.  He needs to touch Bobby’s soul in order regain strength and get them back.  But it could kill Bobby.  I hate when they do this.  You know they aren’t going to kill Bobby so why bother going there?  Bobby allows the soul touching and Castiel is able to bring the boys back.

I guess you could say this episode moved some of the story arcs forward.  We learned that charred ashes can kill Eve.  Don’t you think that someone as powerful as her would have to have something stronger and more fierce than burned ashes as the reason for your demise?  I would think so.  It seems very pedestrian to me.  But since there has been such little build up to her, maybe it does make sense.  And based off the previews for tomorrow night, it looks like the boys finally meet face-to-face with Miss Eve.  We also learned that the souls are pretty powerful…no one everyone wants them.  But why?  Why does Raphael, Balthazar, or Castiel need or want souls?  It can’t just be for the war in Heaven can it?  Is it something bigger than that?  Death’s conversation with Dean mentioned how powerful the souls are.  Does he play a role in any of this?  Remember Death told Dean he was onto something in regards to the souls.  He said Dean will understand when he needs to but he should keep digging.  So what does Death know (or what did he know at that time) that we still don’t understand?   Because I’m as lost as Dean is.  This is probably the biggest story arc, at this point, that needs to be answered by the end of the season.   I also want to see how everything ties together.  Finally, I am really curious to see how Castiel’s questionable actions are going to come back to potentially harm his relationship with the Winchester Brothers.   He’s doing some bad stuff (we know about the killing of more people to get souls) but what specifically is he doing and why?   And why is he hiding it from Sam and Dean?

Lots to answer Sera.  Can you do it in 4 episodes?   We will see!

 

REVIEW: Supernatural “My Heart Will Go On” S6 E17

While I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, I have to admit that I am starting to get a little frustrated.  There are only 5 episodes left this season and I feel like there are so many questions out there that need to be solved and unless they are going to carry over to next season, I don’t know how they will all get answered in time without being rushed.  Does anyone else feel like that?  I certainly do.  I just feel like this war in Heaven and Eve are all tied into one another but I have no idea how or why and at this point of the season, we are no closer to finding out what the hell is going on.  The only thing that happened this week is we were introduced to Rory Gilmore’s Yale roommate, I mean Fate, and we learned that Castiel is going with “the end justifies the means” motto to win the war in Heaven.  I know people looooooooove Castiel, I’m not one of them.  I wouldn’t say I dislike Castiel, I guess I’m just indifferent to him and never understood the big fuss people made over his character.

This week highlighted a reversal of fate that had huge rippling effects on everyone involved.   You could tell there was something really weird going on when the boys weren’t driving the Impala and Bobby was married.  The most bittersweet moment of the episode was the person Bobby was married to…..Ellen!!!  I really miss Ellen.  She was awesome and kicked some serious ass.  But I was incredibly confused when I saw her again.   Happy as a clam but very confused.  But no one else seemed confused so I thought I missed something.  It wasn’t until the boys were researching a little unknown ship called the Titanic and came across one of the first mates (Mr. I. P. Freely) that it started to make sense.  Angel Balthazar was First Mate Freely and as it turns out, was responsible for UNsinking the Titanic.  This set off a chain reaction of the descendants of the survivors being killed off one by one by Fate.  It also changed the course of time where Ellen and Jo are still alive and Ellen is married to Bobby.  We soon realize that things need to go back to the way they were.  The big reason why?   Fate is seriously pissed off and if Castiel and Balthazar don’t go back and let the Titanic sink the way it was supposed to, then she will kill our Winchester boys.   See Fate is pissed because if angels can suddenly go back and undo events that have already happened, it will render her obsolete.  And Fate, does have a purpose in this world otherwise, God wouldn’t have created her.   So she strikes a deal that if they fix the Titanic mess and she and her sisters are left alone (meaning no one kills them), the Winchester boys are safe.   So that’s exactly what happens.

Now with this whole Titanic mess (like the pun), there was a pretty significant revelation.   Balthazar was not the angel behind the unsinking of the Titanic.  He actually was there to make sure it didn’t happen but he wasn’t the mastermind behind it….Castiel was.   Why?  Because by unsinking the Titanic and having all those passengers survive and therefore have offspring, would allow Fate to go and kill all those people who should have never been born to begin with and he would therefore have more souls to fight the war in Heaven.  Wow.  That’s pretty sinister don’t you think?    Let’s save 2,000 people so we can then kill 50,000 people for their souls!!!  And this is where my frustration really lies.  What the hell is going on in Heaven?  I know it’s a civil war but about what and why?   It’s very possible I am forgetting a big portion of the story (because my memory stinks) so if someone can fill me in, great!   All I remember is that because Michael and Lucifer are trapped in the cage in hell and God is kind of MIA right now, civil war has erupted.  But what are they fighting over?  It can’t be control of Heaven because regardless of where God is, Heaven is His.  I don’t think that’s negotiable.  So are some angels on the side of making sure God keeps control while the other angels are trying a Mutiny on the Bounty approach to take control?   I don’t know.  But I feel like the writers haven’t really cared so why should I?   This war in Heaven has only been brought up maybe 3 or 4 times this season.  And you would think if it is a really big deal, it would have been a little more front and center.   Now, it’s also very possible other things are happening that relate to the war in Heaven but we don’t know about it yet.  I guess what it comes down to is I don’t really care about this war in Heaven because I’m not 100% sure why I should care.

Before we move on to the Eve front, and there isn’t much there to discuss, I want to bring up another question I have.  Why do you need Fate if you have Death and the reapers?  Or is Fate a reaper of sorts?   To me Fate isn’t necessarily a reaper because your destiny doesn’t always have to do with death.  So I can see why you have Fate around, I’m just not sure why she was around in this episode (other than to introduce her to us.)  Remember when Dean made the deal with Death and he had to be a reaper for a day?  Remember during that day, he didn’t want to reap the young girl and that as a result of him not doing so, set off a chain reaction of other people dying whose time it wasn’t yet?   It was a lesson Death was trying to teach Dean that every time he and Sam upset the apple cart and save someone who’s time it was, someone else has to go in their place.   There is system to the universe which they constantly disrupt.  So even though they are saving these people’s lives every week, what they don’t realize is that someone else is dying in their place somewhere else.  Isn’t that sort of what happened with the Titanic?  Those people were saved and now other people are dying.  So wouldn’t the reapers take care of that?   Not Fate?  And if that isn’t the reaper’s job and it is Fate’s to correct, then shouldn’t we have met her sooner in the series due to all the people Dean and Sam saved who shouldn’t have been?  Maybe I’m over thinking it but that’s what I do!   I just find it strange that it wouldn’t have been a reaper to do what Fate was doing.  You would think it would be a partnership of sorts.

My final frustration is the Mother of All/Eve story.  I think she’s the big bad and we have met her once for 5 seconds and saw one of her minions (in the form of a nasty worm) when it was inside Bobby for a short time.   This is another entity where I have no idea what is going on.  She’s pissed off and wants to kill all the humans and replace them with all her people (vampires, werewolves, etc.)   Ok.   Why?   And why now?   Here is another “big” story that was really just introduced to us a few episodes ago and we only have 5 left to figure this all out.  However, of the two “big” storylines (Heaven and Eve) I would think Eve could transition over to next season and the war in Heaven would wrap up this season.  So if this is the set up for next year, I would be ok with that.  But if this is somehow to wrap up in 5 episodes and it isn’t executed well, I won’t be too happy.    So I am going with cautious optimism that this is the set up for a really big story and show down for next season.  But we’ll see.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am still loving Supernatural.  I just wish this season flowed a little better (from the major story arc standpoint.)   Some of the individual episodes have been fantastic!!  But I am not losing hope yet that the last 5 episodes will be epic…as they usually are!

 

REVIEW: Supernatural “And Then There Were None” S6 E16

I’m not going to lie.   This was not my favorite episode.  In fact I was a bit disappointed.   Not only did one of my favorite characters get killed but the way the Mother of All/Eve was reintroduced to us seemed a bit silly (having people running all over the cannery not trusting who was under her control.)   Not to mention, it seems people got killed in this episode for the sake of being killed.  I don’t know if that was the purpose but that is how it came across.  It was just a very odd episode.

This is the first time we have seen Mother Eve since the virgin episode.  I understand this is the scary big bad, but I’m not buying it.  I’m sorry but she is no Azazel (the Yellow-Eyed Demon) or Lucifer.  Maybe because there hasn’t been a whole lot of time dedicated to her up until this point but I’m not sold on her yet.  And we only have 6 episodes left.   I know there has been a build to this all season but we only got introduced to Mother Eve 4 episodes ago in “Like A Virgin.”  In my opinion, I think if she was going to be the big baddie, we should have been introduced to her, way sooner in the season than episode 12.

The quick version of what happened this week is simple.   Mother Eve sees a trucker at a gas station and shoots the nastiest looking worm you will ever see into his ear from her mouth.   Gross!  Then he goes home and kills his wife.  While investigating that, another man goes on a shooting rampage at a cannery and kills several people.  The shooter gets killed by the cops.  When Bobby goes down to investigate, he bumps into Rufus…..yeah!!!  They do a Supernatural autopsy and find some kind of thick black muck in the guy’s ear.  They’ve never seen (or smelled) anything like that before.  But they figure out the connection between the 2 killers is the cannery.  So all 4 go to the cannery to see what they can find out and guess who is already there?   Gwen and Samuel…..ugh.  There are no pleasantries exchanged (actually more death threats are levied) and Team Winchester starts to question Team Campbell about what they are doing there.  Samuel starts to explain what he knows about Mother Eve and that she hasn’t been around for over 10,000 years.   But she’s back and she’s really pissed off.   She is the Mother of all the creatures that roam the earth (Vamps, Lycans, Ghouls, etc.)  How does he know all that?  I have a lot of respect for Bobby.  Bobby has been around so long he has pretty much seen everything or if he hasn’t, he’s at least heard about it.  This Mother of All was something he knew nothing about and it wasn’t until he had the book made out of skin that he was able to figure out who she was and where she came from.   So how did Samuel know?  Why were he and Gwen at the cannery?  Is he still working for someone to try to get Mary back?  It makes no sense to me.  I don’t trust Samuel a lick and I think the man is up to no good.

Anyhoo, the 6 of them are now in the cannery and guess who is with them?  That nasty little creepy crawler that’s who.  It somehow gets into people’s ears when you are either alone or passed out.  First it attacks Dean since he was sent outside because they couldn’t get him to calm down around Samuel….really who could blame him.  After Gwen gets enlightened to the creep that Samuel is, she goes to talk to Dean who then shoots her in the stomach and takes off.  This starts a domino effect of the group running around in the episode always wondering who has the worm in his ear.  It also starts the domino effect of using this to kill off characters.  As a result, Samuel and Rufus are both killed.

Both deaths piss me off for different reasons.  First, Samuel’s death.  I wanted his death to come from Dean’s hands.  I felt completely gipped.   I knew Samuel would die at some point.  I just think it was complete crap that this is how it happened.  I was really looking forward to the showdown between Dean and Samuel and now we will never have it.  First, it seemed like Sam killed him.  Then he came back to life when Rufus stuck a cranial saw in his head, then Bobby throws him into a faulty outlet and he get electrocuted.  BORING!!!   I can’t believe that is how Samuel met his end.  After everything Dean has been through and after what that bastard did to him and Sam, Dean should have been the one to kill him.  It was wrong on so many levels.  Now let’s talk about Rufus’ death.  I was angry about this because it felt like he died for no reason other than upping the body count.  I really like Rufus and I was really interested in his back story with Bobby.  Now he’s gone.  You brought him back, just to kill him and it suited no purpose.  What was the point of that?  Was it to make me hate Mother Eve more because it didn’t work.  Having the big bad create a worm to do it’s dirty work doesn’t make me fear or hate her more.  It just frustrates me and makes me lose faith in where this storyline is going.

The only thing that came out of this episode was how Bobby and Rufus first met (but still no more insight into what happened in Omaha) and the fact that Mother Eve is here to kill every human and have her creatures ruling the earth over human kind.  Ok.  At this point I say, whatever.  I hate that I have that mentality right now but it’s true.  There are 6 episodes left.  This Mother story really has to start picking up steam and for me, “And Then There Were None” did nothing to advance this story or make it any more intriguing for me.   I have faith in the SN team but I’m not going to lie, I’m nervous about how this is going to play out.  For a final show before a 5 week hiatus, this episode really missed the mark.