SPN "Sacrifice" review

So this review is going up a little later than normal, but there's a good reason for that - I flew back to PA on the day after the episode aired, and only got back to Oklahoma this evening. I was still able to watch the episode twice the night it aired, and then actually wrote this review during my third, fourth, and fifth times through (gotta do something while you're sitting in airports and on planes) I just couldn't stop rewatching, and every time I did, I noticed something else I wanted to talk about... So, just a warning - this is a long one... Enjoy.

Supernatural Season 8, Episode 23 - Sacrifice (season finale)

I think with this episode, it's appropriate to start with the ending, because it was the ending that totally blew my mind. My jaw literally dropped and I just stared at my computer screen in awe. I'm pretty sure it was one of the most incredible scenes in any Supernatural episode, ever. From the shots of the angels falling while their wings burned off, to the ones of Sam and Dean staring at the sky in horror, to Cas in that field with the streaks of light burning across the sky behind him, the entire thing was visually stunning. And when you combined that with the fact that this was a total game-changer for really the entire world, I was blown away.

It was something you might expect to see in fanfiction, not canon, but that just made it that much more of an unexpected twist. Castiel's grace being torn out - did NOT see that coming! And every single angel being cast out of heaven - nope, didn't see that coming either, not at all. And both of those things change everything.

Let's start with the angels. From what was said in the episode, it seems that they'll still have their power; they'll just be trapped on earth. And given what we know about angels, a lot of them are not very good guys (this may be the understatement of the year) Add to that the dissension in heaven for the last however many millennia, and having every angel suddenly restricted to the earthly realm seems like a really, really scary thing. Imagine thousands of angels suddenly duking it out in our world... If two archangels could destroy half the world when they fought, how much damage could happen now? The war in heaven just spilled out down to earth, and that doesn't sound good for humanity.

And the one angel that could pretty much be counted on to stand up for humanity is now suddenly powerless. I realize that this is the writers' way of dealing with the issue of having Cas with the Winchesters but not being able to solve all of their problems with a snap of his fingers. And I have to admit that I like the possibilities this opens up, at least as a short-term storyline. One thing that has gotten Cas into trouble over and over was attempting to fix things on his own, and now he can't. We've seen him struggle to interact with the human world briefly before, and now that he doesn't have another option, he's going to need the Winchesters more than ever. Which will completely change the dynamics of that relationship, and I love it when SPN explores relationships.

Okay, time to start going through the episode. There was so much to love this week - from tension to brotherly moments to just plain awesome special effects. The episode started out perfectly - Sheriff Mills having dinner with a blind date - Crowley! I was sitting there going, "Oh no, oh no, oh no..." And you just know that Sam and Dean can't lose anyone more, especially someone like Jodie Mills, who was not only someone they saved, but has also worked alongside them. So my skin was crawling as Crowley played her, and my heart was pounding as he started working his hex. The suspense was definitely there.

And when Crowley forced Sam and Dean to not only agree to his demands, but also to basically grovel, I hated him even more. I liked Dean's attitude though, refusing to simply give everything over to Crowley without getting anything in return. And also, his reasoning was awesome... "On the grounds that you're a douchebag and no douchebag should have that much power." Could not contain a snort of laughter at that. It didn't make terribly much sense for Crowley to agree to his demand, but I can think of a couple reasons why he might be okay with exchanging tablets - best guess is that he's more worried about the Winchesters completing the trials than he's letting on, and the angel tablet is of less use to him in the short-term. I have to admit to being a little confused that Dean had gone so quickly from refusing to give up to giving in almost completely, but I figured there had to be a plan in there somewhere (yes, spoiler-free meant I had no idea they wound up with Crowley held captive)

Having the exchange go down in Bobby's old salvage yard was a wonderful callback to the days when that was homebase, when Sam and Dean were working side by side with the old hunter, and with Castiel, and even with Crowley. And I got all choked up for a moment thinking of how much the Winchesters have lost since then. Show didn't let me stay emotional for too long though, because we jumped right in to Dean and Crowley verbally fencing. I always get a kick out of the absurdly long contract scroll too, and having Dean work his way through it reading under his breath while getting closer and closer to Crowley was pure brilliance. And those demonic handcuffs came in pretty handy - why didn't they use those on Abaddon?... Oh, right, she didn't have her hands attached.

I also have to admit to loving Dean finally getting to slug Crowley - the scumbag's had it coming for the longest time, and I was cheering Dean on. And also another wonderful line (and delivery) - "Your demon ass is going to be a mortal ass, pretty damn quick." Crowley's face when he realizes he walked right into their trap and is well and truly screwed - priceless.

After rewatching twice, I'm still not sure whether Sam and Dean's disagreement was staged for Crowley's sake, or was real. But I think the underlying anger and tension were real either way, and were a sign that things between them aren't as alright as they've seemed to be for the past couple episodes. Jensen actually talked about this at JIBcon, and basically said that Dean has temporarily set aside his anger over Sam not looking for him in order to focus on what's more important to him at this moment - getting Sam through the trials alive.

And now we come to the angel storyline. Can I just say - totally called Metratron having ulterior motives! I never thought he would reach so far as to empty heaven though - that totally threw me. His idea of revenge was pretty nasty, though he probably saw it as justice for chasing him from heaven so long ago. He's been living a self-imposed exile on earth, all alone with thousands of years to plot against heaven and let his hatred grow.

I wondered a bit about why he hadn't tried to do this sooner, but maybe he was worried that a unified heaven would hunt him down and stop him before he could succeed? If so, then the news he heard from the Winchesters about the division in heaven, the death of the archangels, and the existence of Castiel (who was prime material for manipulation) would have been a sign to him that now was the time to strike. Random thought: the Winchesters are really the pivot point around which the fate of earth, hell, and heaven turns, whether they intend to be or not. Should I just chalk that up to coincidence or is it destiny? Or maybe it's the consequences of free will - when you refuse to just give in to destiny, you do change the balance of things in the universe, for good or ill. That's actually a very interesting thought - I'll have to ponder that one some more over the summer...

There had also been a lot of discussion about how the so-called angel trials seemed to be off in some way, and that made sense immediately once we discovered those weren't the actual trials, but rather the ingredients for a bloody spell. Heart of a Nephilim, bow of a cupid, grace of an angel - sounds like the witches from Macbeth. And once again it's Castiel's actions that have harmed his home - his desire to do the right thing has repeatedly blinded him to consequences of his choices. Maybe it's a good thing that he's human now - he can do less damage without his angelic power. And maybe it's not good, because humankind needs an angelic protector now more than ever, even one who screws up while trying to save the world, because at least Castiel was trying to save it, which is more than can be said for any other angel out there.

On to another topic, I really feel bad for Kevin. Sure, he's no worse off than the Winchesters, but he had a normal life for a lot longer than they did. He wasn't raised in this world that's chock full of terrible things, and while he's adjusting remarkably well, it's gotta be incredibly hard. It shows, too, both in little things (his resigned "I don't have any friends" and the fact that he's started drinking), and in larger (his insistence that he's out, he's done, even when there are still tablets out there and battles in which he is an important player) But even though I felt bad for him, because there really is no "out" for him, it was good to see Castiel shake him up and get him back on track. The angel is right - he's a prophet, and that means that he's stuck in the middle of things, whether he likes it or not.

Shifting tracks, there weren't many humorous moments in this episode, but Castiel trying to play matchmaker was rather hysterical. He has no tact, none whatsoever... And the eventual outcome of the little side bit with the cupid was also entertaining, especially the look on Dean's face at the end... Jensen's ability to convey paragraphs' worth of meaning through his facial expressions never fails to amaze me. Also, Cas asking Dean, "You really think it's wise to be drinking on the job?" - I'm with Dean there - "What show you been watching?"

I apologize for this review jumping all over the place. There's so much in this episode that I want to mention, and the way that I write these (while rewatching the episode) tends to encourage disorganization, although it does work well to show the flow of my thoughts and reactions. With that said, we're going to jump again...

There's a lot to be said about the brothers' relationship in this episode. We get a good look at the tension that's still lingering between them (and that has really been festering and growing for five seasons now), especially as Dean straight up lists the things Sam has done that Dean feels are worthy of confession. "Ruby, killing Lilith, letting Lucifer out, losing your soul, not looking for me when I went to Purgatory..." It's obvious that Dean has been really hurt by these things, and that even when he's being Sam's loving big brother, these betrayals (at least in Dean's eyes) are never far from his mind. And it's also very clear that each of these things is something Sam regrets deeply, and the way he pulls away from Dean in response makes his hurt obvious also.

And that surfaces fully at the end of the episode, with both Sam and Dean showing rare emotional openness. Sam's confession that he believes his worst sin is letting Dean down over and over was heartbreaking. I can understand it, because Dean really has ripped into him over things. And while Dean is quick to bury things, I think Sam can see how much their relationship has changed, and knows that some large part of that is on him. Like Cas, Sam's always been trying to do the right thing but screwing it up, and he's seen that Dean has seemingly reached a limit of forgiveness with Castiel (at least based on their interactions last episode), so he probably can't help but wonder when Dean will reach his limit with him as well.

But Dean, in a rare moment of actually voicing his feelings, sets Sam straight. He's always going to choose Sam over anything or anyone else; no matter what Sam does, no matter how sideways things go, Sam could never do something that would make Dean stop loving him. Dean may suck at letting Sam know that most of the time, but all those little things he does for Sam - those are his way of showing how much he cares, and will always care. He might say the wrong thing a lot, and hold onto his anger more than he should, but this time around he says exactly the right thing to get through to Sam, puts aside his hurt long enough to show Sam the emotions that run underneath everything he does, and that drive who he is. For both of them, this is a conversation that has needed to happen for years, and maybe this will allow them to finally start to rebuild what they once had, rather than barely holding it together.

This episode also did a good job with the interactions between Dean and Castiel. One thing that had really irritated me was that Castiel was once again doing something drastic without bringing the Winchesters, and more specifically, Dean, in on what was going on. Cas needed to be rebuilding that trust rather than breaking it more, and though he may have come to Dean only because Metatron was taken, at least they're talking again now. And I do think that it made sense for Dean to go with Cas, because although Sam is Dean's top priority, Cas is also family, and Sam didn't need Dean at that moment, not like Cas did. I really wish Castiel had continued to listen to Dean though, rather than refusing to accept that he could be wrong. And Dean doesn't know that Metatron finished his spell without Cas' help, so he's got to be thinking that Cas didn't listen, again, and messed up royally, again. Which is true in a way, but not how Dean has to be seeing it as the episode ends. He doesn't know that his friend actually did choose rightly in the end, or that Cas is out there alone, powerless, and that's why he's not answering. Lots of material to be explored next season there...

The scenes between Sam and Crowley also deserve a mention, and not just because they were important to the completion of the third trial. It was very cool to watch Crowley changing slowly as the process started to work - Ryan Curtis pointed out on Twitter that even his accent changes slightly as the cure begins to take effect. And Crowley attempting to appeal to Sam by referencing Band of Brothers and some show that I didn't recognize but that sounded very soap-opera-like was highly amusing (especially as Crowley realized what he was doing and was almost as shocked as Sam was at what was coming out of his mouth...) These scenes also made it very clear that completing this trial was taking an enormous toll on Sam, and made it very easy to believe that completing the third trial would kill him.

And then of course you have the question of what the "ultimate sacrifice" really is. Is it being willing to die to close the gates of hell? Or is it being willing to let go of your quest for the sake of something more important - your family? We've seen over and over that both Sam and Dean are willing to give up their lives for others, both in specific situations (Sam jumping into the Cage to stop Lucifer, Dean selling his soul for Sam's life) and in their lives in general (you don't become a hunter without being okay with dying in order to save others) But maybe that isn't everything. Maybe that isn't the most important thing.

Given the choice that the brothers make in this episode, maybe there are times when you have to let go of saving the world in order to save the people closest to you. Sam's response when Dean tells him he'll die if he finishes the trials is typical Winchester - "So?" Dying for the world is nothing new. Living for each other really is. And Dean is right - they can still save the world, or at least make a difference, even without closing the gates of hell. But more importantly, they can both make it, and neither of them will have to live without the other. It's the ultimate sacrifice - giving up the very thing they've been fighting for all these years because there's something that means more in the end than saving the world. I think they made the right choice.

On a less philosophical level, this episode also featured a whole lot of incredible shots and visual effects. From the shot of Kevin putting the demon tablet back together, to some of the shots of the old church, to Sam's arms glowing as the trial neared completion, and the absolutely stunning last few minutes, this episode blew me away visually. It seriously felt more like a movie than a TV show... It was awesome.

And with that, I think I have finally covered everything I wanted to say. This was an amazing episode, and I'm really excited by all the possibilities it opened up for next season. Now I get to attempt to stay sane during the Hellatus without my weekly dose of Supernatural... Maybe I'll write up a few of my favorite episodes over the summer, just for fun... We'll have to see.

(screencaps from homeofthenutty.com and screencapped.net)