This episode Jack
dies…
That’s pretty much
the opening scene - and I give special kudos to Castiel telling Dean to get
back to Jack’s bedside because Jack needs support and this really can’t be all
about Dean for five seconds.
So we have lots of
grieving. And it’s really sad and these actors have spent the best part of a
decade perfecting their angsty sad faces. It’s what they do. And of course,
especially with us supporting fully the idea that Jack has three dads, they
needed to have this dramatic grief. Which is so well done.
But.
But… I’m not feeling
it? I mean, do I care about Jack? Does anyone care about Jack? Have we actually
built up Jack into someone we all care about? I’m not the only one here right?
So after we lose half
of the episode to dramatic, well acted grief, of course we realise death
totally doesn’t exist in this world. Sam points out to Dean that they never
ever give up on the dead (which is
something I think we could explore more) and he’s looked for a solution
Enter Lily
Sunder. So back in season
12 Lily was a woman who had a nephilim child who was killed by angels so she
went on a rampage using angel magic (powered by her soul) to kill those angels
and living for an unnaturally long time to do it. She’s now much older since
she’s not using that magic any more. But by using that Jack could be reborn and
keep his body going using a shred of his soul
Dean is really against this because he’s super stubborn and doesn’t like her. But Sam points out they actually always do these half-arsed desperate deals. Which is true. Dean points out that they usually bite them in the arse. Which is also true
But can they really
not take the chance?
Dean confronts Lily -
what’s the catch. Why did she stop using the magic and allow herself age. She
points out her dead daughter is in heaven and, with only a shred of her soul
left, she could go to heaven to be with her. Which is nice but she did all that
angel killing stuff which means she’s probably not that welcome up in heaven.
So she wants the Winchesters to guarantee her passage to heaven.
So, apparently they
can do this by summoning Anubis. Because this show is always deeply deeply
problematic when it comes to non-christian religions. Apparently when god went
away, the angels recruit Anubis to be their judge of the dead because of course
the ancient Egyptian deity could certainly just step into this role
So they summon him
and he does his test and oopsie, Lily’s going to hell, sorry. They decide to
lock him up until he agrees to change it to which Anubis calmly informs them
that, no, actually, it doesn’t work that way. He reports the news, he doesn’t
write it - and they can imprison him forever but he can’t change what Lily’s
own choices have decided for her
Which means they let
him go and Lily cannot get her guaranteed pass to heaven. She prepares to leave
since they have nothing to offer her… but Dean shames her in an awesome
confrontation asking why she’d want others to lose a child like she did.
She agrees to help and prepare the spell
Meanwhile heaven is
under attack. Castiel goes to find Jack and finds Duma and Naomi - both being
overwhelmed by a horrible black slime - it’s his
Goopiness. The entity that guards the empty realm where angels go when they die.
And he’s attacking Heaven because he thinks Jack doesn’t belong there - as a
half angel Jack belongs to the Empty. Naomi thinks to protect Heaven they need
to hand Jack over. No Castiel isn’t supporting that. Heaven can’t defend itself
because there’s only like 7 angels left. Maybe less now
And he may be right
since Jack has left his own personal Heaven to go exploring. Naomi suggests
it’s because his angelness knows what Heaven is. He’s gone looking for Kelly
his mother so they can have a reunion. Where Castiel joins them and there’s
more happy happy reunioness
Thankfully the Empty
arrives then to avoid the fluffiness. The Empty wants Jack and won’t take no
for an answer - and also cannot be defeated. In desperation Castiel offers
himself instead
Which the Empty -
possessing Duma and being the creepiest creepiest thing this show has ever
managed in fourteen seasons - agrees to. But he wants Castiel to suffer because
he’s super bitter about Castiel escaping. So he’s going to wait, dramatically,
until Castiel feels happy and secure and peaceful again. Then the Empty will
come for him
So presumably if they
need a plot hook in season… 17? 17 maybe?
Anyway Jack is
resurrected. Naomi is super grateful that heaven isn’t destroyed so tells
Castiel where Michael is… which the angels already knew. Which makes sense.
What doesn’t make sense is that no-one bothered to ask...
Oh and Lilly dies
casting the spell to resurrect Jack… and this selfless sacrifice gets her
promoted from good to bad and heading the heaven. Happily ever after all round!
And we're all reminded that Supernatural has a whole lot of spare characters and randomness in its 14 season history to bring up randomly. Keep that wiki link in your favourites, folks
