Ok, Supernatural,
is good at angst, emotion and seriously messed up relationships with lots and
lots and lots of drama. But this episode turned that to 11. So. Much. Deeply.
Unhealthy. Emotion.
So, Dean is still
planning to lock himself in a magical metal coffin and have himself dumped in
the Pacific ocean. He is conflicted about this because he has terrible
nightmares about it. He is clearly really really not happy with his suicidal
decision.
Sam hears this and
tries to offer comfort to Dean - but Dean obviously pretends nothing is wrong
because he’s Dean. To which Sam assures him it’s ok to be traumatised since
he’s planning a fate that is utterly worse than death. Just like, so terrible.
Sam is probably quite good at comforting - but then he isn’t trying to be
comforting. He’s dumping as much awful on Dean as he can to make him
reconsider.
Dean is resisting -
he insists Sam not to try and distract him; that’s why he never told Castiel or
Jack - he is doing this and doesn’t want anyone to shake his resolve
Of course Sam has
already told Castiel - and they’ve done everything they can to find an
alternative to seal in Michael, even calling in Rowena. They’ve come up with
nothing
They begin their road
trip to Dean’s horrible fate, Dean begins to talk about their childhood and how
he regrets supporting their dad so much when he and Sam were at odds and how
his dad, when annoyed at Dean, used to send him away. And as a long term 14
season Supernatural fan, can I say how much this moment mattered - because here
we had Dean, Dean of all people, acknowledging that John Winchester was a less
than perfect parent (yes I have always been in camp: John Winchester was an
abusive father and Bobby was their real dad).
But Sam is not being
dragged down painful memory lane, angrily and emotionally shuts Dean down. If
he’s going to put Dean in a metal box in the ocean he is not having an
emotional recap with him, absolutely not.
While they’re on with
that there’s another case building up - a man is killing people in ritual ways
and carving into their flesh. Carving enochian into their flesh while making
biblical-ish quotes
Sam naturally seizes
on this and encourages Dean to go on one last case and it doesn’t take too much
of a sell to convince him to come with. They contact Castiel to question who is
running around knowing Enochian, suspecting that it may be an angel. Castiel
quickly drops that he knows about Dean’s suicide plan (because he’s not great at
secrets) and promptly gets on with telling Dean what a terribad awful idea this
is.
Dean still won’t be
shifted. And no they will never ever give up on talking him out of it.
So onto the case
where they interview the twin of one of the victims who talks a lot about just
how much his brother meant to him. Uh-huh this is not subtle. Not subtle at
all, these pot shots at their feels.
They get a name for
the suspect and run it by Castiel to check that angel connection - and find
that he’s due to be the next prophet. Which is odd because he shouldn’t be
tapped yet since Donatello is still alive - albeit in a coma.
They do track down
the guy, neutralise him and manage to convince him his religious mania,
god-is-telling-me-to-murder-people that he’s actually just a murderer in like…
3 minutes. That was shockingly easy and quick and not in any way a plot
contrivance. Duly devastated, he shoots himself which is messy.
But the Winchesters
and Castiel have a consult and realise that maybe the new prophet has kind of
kicked in - but not fully since Donatello is sort of half way between life and
death. Which means the next prophet is going to be tapped and be equally
frazzled and confused with broken messages from god. So they could have a chain
of biblical serial killers
This is not a good
thing. And they decide to make the extremely hard decision how to stop it -
Donatello needs to not be on the threshold of life and death. He needs to die.
They plan to turn off his life support machines.
But when they get
there they see there are recordings of him trying to speak enochian. He’s
struggling to put his brain back together and Castiel makes a desperate plea to
heal him (Castiel feels no small amount of guilt because he’s the reason
Donatello is in this state) - if there’s even the slightest chance to save him
they have to take it
Yeah we’re back to
the not-subtle here.
Castiel heals
Donatello - and it works, he is awake, fully functioning prophet again. Oh he
still doesn’t have a soul, but he’s not dead and no new prophets should be
tapped.
They celebrate the
win and Dean and Sam drink… and have it out. Because we’ve just had a whole
not-subtle episode about not giving up on someone! Sam angrily and emotionally
that Dean is giving up on them all, that they’re the ones who save the world,
don’t check out of it. He talks about what Dean means to him and how Dean is
giving up - and he hits him.
Dean still insists
that it’s the only chance they have, the only solution in Billie’s books but Sam’s
not buying that. It’s not like they haven’t challenged fate before and Dean is
giving in before they’ve even properly looked for an alternative - he’s jumping
to their last resort without even checking if there’s an alternative first
Between the punch,
the emotion and the fact Sam is right - sure Dean is struggling holding Michael
but he’s not desperate yet, they have time - Dean agrees to stop his plan.
Until they have no choice - but at that point he insists Sam let him do it.
I think this was powerfully
emotional and basically summed up what the Winchesters have always been -
always willing to fight to the last, always willing to battle impossible odds,
but, ultimately, they’re martyrs who are only saved from martyrdom by their
rather unhealthy codependent relationship. Dean was never going to do this for
himself, he was always going to walk to his death no matter how reluctantly -
but Sam would never allow it. We saw this in their pained interaction after
Dean was sent to Purgatory - Dean was willing to sacrifice himself but shocked
and hurt that Sam didn’t burn all the bridges looking for him.
So what is the
answer? Well my bet is on the B plot
Nick is in a hospital
and in custody, telling everyone Satan made him kill people and how Lucifer changed
him. The guard isn’t buying that and isn’t a fan - but is still too trusting
and Nick manages to escape with a lot of really overkill violence.
He goes to his old
home where his wife and child dies and finds it freezing gold with lots of
spookiness. And actual vengeful spirit. Ok, I admit to having a moment of glee
- I really liked old School Supernatural when half the problems were these
raging spirits which now all seem just beneath the Winchester’s notice as they
face endless demons and super monsters. Vengeful spirits and urban legends were
the core of this show.
The spirit is his
wife - and Nick protests that he avenged her. But vengeance isn’t her
unfinished business: she was killed so Nick could be a vessel for Lucifer. And
he’s still looking for him, still wants him. He didn’t come to the house
because this is where his wife and child died - he came because this is where
Lucifer possessed him. He even greeted his wife by calling her Lucifer -
because it’s Lucifer he’s looking for
For her to move on,
he has to renounce Lucifer…
And he won’t.
And while originally
I was a little irritated, I mean I like Mark Pellegrino but this storyline is
DEAD ALREADY, let it go Supernatural. But then, who would be the perfect
host for them to dump Michael in before dropping him in a metal coffin and in
the ocean? Why Lucifer’s old host seems ideal.
