Okay, I'm done psychoanalyzing myself now. On to the actual review.
Supernatural Season 8, Episode 22 - Clip Show
First things first - from what I've seen on the web, the fandom was rather split in their reaction to the episode. There were those who loved it and were raving about how amazing it was, but there were also people who felt gypped, underwhelmed, and confused. Personal confession time - I fall into that part of the fandom that tries very hard to sit back and enjoy the ride, rather than picking things to pieces or sitting around going "But it could have been better..." So... I liked this episode. Was it as good as the last two were? Maybe not, but then again, the more times I watch it, the better I like it.
That's not to say I didn't like it the first time around. I was totally yelling at my screen at several points in the episode, got rather emotional during those last four minutes, and proceeded to totally lose it as the episode ended. But after I had a few minutes to recover, when it came time to decide whether I was going to rewatch it that night or not, I wasn't sure. I thought to myself, "Self, that felt a little disjointed. I'm not sure if I'll watch it again tonight." So I went and watched Arrow (best episode of their season right there, I think), and then, since it wasn't even 11:30pm yet, I thought, "What the heck; why not?" and gave Supernatural that second shot.
And the second time through all those emotions were still there (I even yelled at my screen again... yeah), and on top of that, it suddenly felt much more coherent to me. Why? Well, I had zero idea what was coming that first time through (no spoilers, not even the episode synopsis, remember?), so there was so much happening that it felt a little like riding The Phantom's Revenge for the first time... One crazy thing after another, one reveal on top of the next, leaving me breathless and actually a little overwhelmed. On the second viewing, I knew what to expect, and could therefore spend more time appreciating the dialogue and the way things came together. And I really liked it, even more so the second time through.
Yes, there was a lot packed into this episode. Yes, you could probably have taken out some of the filler episodes and spread out the main storyline over more of the season, but that makes it harder to attract viewers who want to jump in and out of shows, which is why it really isn't done anymore. And there's something to be said for having such a fast-paced episode like this. I think it really worked well as the setup to the finale - there's nothing like a crazy roller coaster ride of an episode to get your blood pumping before you fly off a cliff next week...
Alright, enough with the generalizations. Let's get down to the details.
The opening scene got me thoroughly confused and interested. They brought the guy from Wendigo back just to blow his head off? What's up with that? I did jump straight to the right conclusion - Crowley, somehow, for some reason, but I have to admit that I really liked that as an opening. It certainly grabbed my attention. Plus, I really like the whole 'death by blood splatter' thing...
Back to the bunker now, and while I love seeing Sam and Dean acting like brothers finally, I hate seeing Dean mad at Cas, even though it is completely justified. I get where he's coming from - Dean is all about loyalty to the people who are basically your family, and Cas has broken that trust over and over again. And coming on top of everything else that went down this year (Sam not even looking for him, Cas leaving him alone in Purgatory...), this latest betrayal is the worst. Dean told Cas he was family, that they needed him, that Dean needed him, and Cas turned around and walked away. The people we care about the most are the ones that can hurt us the most when they betray us, and when Dean admitted to Cas and to himself that the angel was family, he set himself up to get hurt even more when Cas turned his back yet again. Yes, Cas was trying to do the right thing, but so was Sam when he released Lucifer from the cage - good intentions paving the road to hell. And just like when Sam started the apocalypse, Dean can't take that betrayal, can't be around the one who let him down when he would have never let them down.
The end result of Dean pushing away the people who've let him down? Well, it's never good, is it? We saw in The End that it resulted in Sam becoming Lucifer, and now we see Castiel being (in my opinion) led astray by Metatron in Dean's absence. You'd think Cas would have learned by now to not do anything drastic without talking with the Winchesters first, but it's understandable, I guess. We know Cas wants to fix things, to atone for what he's done (much like Sam in season five), but he's all on his own (what with Dean refusing to talk to him), and why wouldn't he trust the angel who wrote the tablet he has been trying so hard to protect? Cas has really always needed someone to follow, whether it be God, Dean, or now Metatron - I think it's part of that whole angelic nature. Sure, Cas has learned the value of free will, but he's screwed things up royally every time he's tried to pursue that, and part of him probably just wants to be told what to do, how to fix the mess he's made.
And as the scribe of God, Metatron has a pretty high position when it comes to telling Cas what needs to be done. I kinda think he's driven by a hidden agenda though, and when it comes to angels, those are never good. I'm not sure exactly what Metatron is planning (maybe staging his own coup in heaven?), but I don't think this is going to end well for anyone, especially Castiel.
Okay, jumping to a totally different subject - the more we learn about the Men of Letters, the more I love them... Their whole classification system ("Class 5 Infernal Event"), the fact that they were out there tracking down and recording supernatural developments for posterity (is anyone else wondering what other interesting things they documented over the centuries?), their bunker - complete with map room, library, hot showers, a shooting range, and now a dungeon! Yeah, these guys were very cool. Random aside - Dean on having a dungeon - "Finally." How long has he been wanting one, and why? Or maybe I don't want to know the answer to that...
It might be just a little bit too handy that the Men of Letters happened to have a film of the priest who possibly holds the key to completing the third trial, but given the size and scope of their work, it's not that hard to believe. And I very much agreed with Dean upon seeing that film - "Well, that was weird. With three exclamation points." (I also loved how Jensen delivered that line, for some reason) I'm still not sure whether this whole ritual is going to turn out to actually be the real deal, but it was definitely an intriguing idea. And the whole "purified blood" thing, while maybe a bit heavy-handed, was still a really cool link-in to what's happening to Sam.
Speaking of, that scene in the church where Sam starts coughing up blood, and then Dean follows with that speech about how he knows Sam will be able to finish these trials? Killed me. He's trying so hard to believe that they'll finish this and then Sam will be okay again, and we've seen that over and over lately, but this had an added element that blew me away. It's rare that we get to see how proud Dean is of his kid brother (since he'd never actually admit that to Sam...), but that pride shone through right along with his concern, and I loved it. And Dean's right, Sam is one tough dude. If anyone can do this, he can - he's got the heart keep going, and he's got Dean to carry him when he can't find it in himself to go on.
Sometimes Dean's ideas suck though. Like piecing Abaddon back together - yeah, let's use a freaking Knight of Hell as our test case, rather than summoning some weak crossroads demon... really smart move there, guys. Although Crowley might have already told off all his demons and warned them to stay away from the Winchesters, so I guess Abaddon was at least guaranteed to show. She's plenty creepy too, though I don't like her nearly as much as I do Crowley. And that hand thing? So awesome, and so freaky. I'm willing to overlook some bad decisions on the part of the Winchesters (hey, they're under a lot of pressure here) when the result is freakiness like that.
On the subject of demons, let's talk about Crowley. The dude is an evil genius. Emphasis on both the evil and genius parts. And his twisted sense of humor never fails to make me grin. "666" calling, him opening the conversation with, "What are you wearing?", "sexting" Sam the address, complete with a little devil smiley - all trademark Crowley, and all awesome. But this episode he was much more than the snarky bad guy who's forever an annoyance to the Winchesters. This week, Crowley reminded us in the most shocking way possible that he is evil through and through. Killing off the people the Winchesters had saved is a terribly low blow, and the complete coldness with which Crowley gives them their ultimatum... well, it sent chills down my spine.
And we go from that to Castiel killing the Nephilim girl at Metatron's urging. Yes, she fights back, and in the end you could argue that Castiel stabs her in self defense, but he was planning to kill her in the first place, even as he apologized to her for what he was about to do. I know, I know, we can't have a fully functional Cas fighting side-by-side with Sam and Dean, and this did fit with his character (doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons...), but it kills me when a character I really like does something really awful.
On a lighter note, I think I'll mention here some random entertaining stuff from throughout the episode: Dean serving Sam junk food and old beer, and Sam's look of disgust. Guess he's gotten used to Dean's amazing cooking skills... Also, Cas shopping for items that might possibly get him back into Dean's good graces. Don't think that's gonna work, dude, although if you'd managed to get the pie it might have... And Metatron wishing he'd picked a better looking vessel - you're not gonna match Cas, man, not unless you'd chosen Dean Winchester, and he was kinda reserved for Michael at the time.
And now we come to the part of the episode that I am going to have a lot of trouble talking about, because it tore me apart emotionally. First we get a sweet exchange between Sarah and Sam, and she's right, he is more focused now, more confident. It's a difference we've seen even between Sam at the beginning of this season and Sam now, and while it's partly the trials, I think it's also the discovery of the Men of Letters, and even the fact that he chose Dean over Amelia. He really has grown up, and stopped trying to run away from who he is.
There's a sad smile in response to that (Sam's sad smile, but that same one was on my face...), and then it all goes to hell. This scene was brilliant - Crowley's monologue over top of everything, the sound from the room practically muted as Sam and Dean frantically tear the place apart, Sarah's desperate gasps the only thing you hear underneath Crowley's voice - everything combined to give a sense both of desperation and overarching evil. I stopped breathing myself at several points, it was that intense.
And then everything stops, and you know it's too late, but Crowley's voice goes on, driving home that despair the brothers are feeling because they couldn't stop him, couldn't save Sarah, won't be able to save all those others. "They're your life's work, and I'm going to rip it apart piece by piece, because I can... because you can't stop me... because when they're all gone, what will you have left?... You want to keep those people alive, I want complete and utter surrender. Your choice, my darlings..." The scene goes deathly silent, and you can see in Sam's eyes that utter despair, and then Dean's rage as he breaks, hurling the phone across the room. And in a brilliant piece of scripting, the phone shatters to reveal the hex bag, found too late to save Sarah. The emotions conveyed without words here are so strong, and you know that Crowley has found the perfect way to break them. So many evil things have tried, and they always thought that family was their weakness, but Crowley figured it out, and he's going to destroy them by destroying everything they've fought for.
Crowley's succeeding, too, because Sam is on the edge of breaking, and after all he's been through, all he's given to get to this point in the trials, he can't see a way out of what Crowley's doing, and he can't sit back and watch people die, so he's giving up. And that's why it could never be just Sam, because he needs Dean to keep him going, to keep him from being consumed by his emotions, just like Dean needs Sam to keep him from throwing his life away. They're stronger together, and Dean's right - they can win this. I don't know how, and this episode certainly ended on a tragic note, but they're the Winchesters, and if they don't give up, don't give in, Crowley doesn't stand a chance.
One last note: I live on a military base, and at 9pm every night, they play Taps over the base-wide PA system. So the last five minutes of this episode tore me apart, and then we end with a shot of Sam's face, his despair so clearly evident, cutting to black. And as the strings played that last note, as they faded out and the episode came to a heart-wrenching end, the first note of Taps sounded, and I lost it. Totally choked up, tears in my eyes, heart hurting for these fictional characters.
I know, it's just a show. But I love it, and I've come to love these characters, so the mark of a good episode is this: one that draws me in so strongly that it becomes more than a show in that moment, and I can't help but be swept away. Did this episode accomplish that? Yes, most definitely. And that makes it very good in my book.
(screencaps from homeofthenutty.com and screencapped.net)
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