Supernatural 5.22 Episode Discussion [spoilers!]
. . . I am so completely overwhelmed by this finale that I'm tempted to stray from my normal review structure and descend into dizzying depths of character introspection. Thankfully, I stopped myself. Barely.
Summary: They saved the world, a lot. Oh, and we've been seeing God all season. The Impala is more awesome than we thought. Cas is a total pyro. Dean has balls of platinum . . . and Sammy manages Pantene Hair throughout the entire Apocalypse.
First: The fact that the Impala had such a central role to everything - that it was used as the narrative thread holding the entire plot together was really well played. In fandom, the Impala has long since become a type of fetish - an object regarded with awe as having magical potency. In this case, that magical potency made it a home. A bit of a nontraditional home, but a home inhabited by a loving family nonetheless.
Second: Family. This entire set of events can find its roots in family. In absentee fathers, and brothers that loved too much . . . or not enough.
Third: Dean, loved Sam too much. All that he wanted was to keep Sam close and in doing so he ended up driving his brother away when they were younger. Even now, though it seems that Dean has allowed Sam to make his own decision . . . he is still keeping his brother as close to him as he can, going so far as to live out the happy, "apple pie" life that his brother always wanted. That is honestly what struck me the most by his actions at the end of the episode. In going to go live with Lisa and Ben, I felt that he was living the life that Sam always wanted . . . that he was acquiescing to a normality he'd always despised . . . out of guilt and not because he actually wanted that for himself.
Okay. I'm not sure if that made much sense. What I'm trying to say is that Dean is living out Sam's fantasy as a stand in, hmmmm, an avatar for his brother. Sam can't live out his dream, so as penance for the self conceived sin of not being able to save his brother, Dean will instead sacrifice his own happiness and give himself up to Sam's idea of Heaven instead. Have you ever tried to live out another's idea of happiness? Yeah. It's a pretty fucking miserable experience.
All of that said, in the end, Dean's action's really did save the world. The Prophecy was fulfilled, the Righteous Man killed Lucifer.
Fourth: Speaking of Lucifer, I found myself really emphasizing with the character in this episode. For what it's worth God really did want Lucifer to be as he was. Evil is a necessary component of Good. One cannot exist without the other. Literally, good cannot be defined without evil. Lucifer is exactly what he was created to be and he recognized that and was willing to try and . . . walk off the checker board, to change his destiny. Michael, on the other hand, is a creature who is so rooted in his destiny that he cannot see his way out of it. I think that in this, they failed God's test. Had they both shrugged their destiny and left the game together then they might have indeed understood the lesson meant to be imparted: free will.
Fifth: Free will was really the lesson that each set of brothers was meant to learn. Dean and Sam learned it. Dean learned that he had to give his brother the right to make his own decisions. Sam learned that he had to use this power to actually make the right decision. Their reward was that they succeeded in their mission. Castiel himself is another example of how the exercise of free will was the right path to walk. In choosing to . . . choose, Cas was doubly rewarded. First he was resurrected to help the Winchesters, and then ultimately he was resurrected as an archangel.
Lucifer and Michael totally failed to get the point, in the most epic of ways. Though, I really think that Lucifer is far closer to catching the clue bus than Michael. Lucifer at least had the ability to understand that there was a choice they could make, whilst Michael was still chained by his idea of destiny. A few years locked together in the Pit is probably going to do them a lot of good. If you think about it, that's the cosmic equivalent of locking them in a closet together until they get the point.
Ummmm. And if you guys don't start writing Michael/Lucifer fic ASAP after their scene together I will make many a frowny face. Like so --> :( Come on guys, Luci's psycho possessiveness of his brother is just hot.
Sixth: I know a bunch of you are getting ready to argue with me on the archangel comment. But think about it. Even when he was an angel at 100% power he did not have the ability to heal, but here he had no problem not just healing but bringing Bobby back from the dead. I think God made him the new Michael. And I absolutely cannot freaking WAIT too see how much of an UBER!BAMF Archangel!Castiel is going to be next season. My panties are wet just thinking of the fanfic possibilities. Top!Cas FOR THE WIN!! Though, can we end a season without Cas getting exploded and then magicked together again? I think he's trying to outdo Dean on the death counts.
Seventh: You know who else exhibited free will . . .Gabriel. PLEASE COME BACK GABE, WE MISS YOU.
Eighth: Sam. Well. Okay, I think Samsifer was amazing. The same mannerisms that Nick!Luci had were clear and present in Sam!Luci. I loved the snark and anyone that can work a Star Wars reference into the Apocalypse is made of win. The very last scene of this episode with him just opened a bucket full of questions which lead us nicely into season 6.
Ninth: Speaking of season 6. . . Assuming, arguendo, that the person standing under the flickering street lamp was Sam then perhaps we can posit that his consciousness is stuck in some type of limbo? I can see a plot where Cas figures it out, tells Dean and they're off to save Sam. Though, there are some pretty heavy implications in the fact that the lamp flickered. Think about it, where have we seen that before? Hmmm. Just about every time any type of supernatural anything manifests. Cas' signature "Honey, I'm hooooooome!" is to make the lights flicker and spark. Which leaves us with the question, was that really Sam and if it was . . . what is Sam now?
Finally: Chuck is God. WHY DIDN'T WE ALL SEE THIS COMING?! Headdesk x 100,000,000,000. D'oh! It makes so much sense!! Now I have to go and rewatch the whole damned season because I'm sure there were a bajillionty clues.
P.S. Dean, officially, has the biggest set of balls on the planet. He stared down Lucifer without flinching, and didn't even think twice about getting between two archangels about to fight out the fate of the world. How does he fit them in his pants?!
Summary: They saved the world, a lot. Oh, and we've been seeing God all season. The Impala is more awesome than we thought. Cas is a total pyro. Dean has balls of platinum . . . and Sammy manages Pantene Hair throughout the entire Apocalypse.
First: The fact that the Impala had such a central role to everything - that it was used as the narrative thread holding the entire plot together was really well played. In fandom, the Impala has long since become a type of fetish - an object regarded with awe as having magical potency. In this case, that magical potency made it a home. A bit of a nontraditional home, but a home inhabited by a loving family nonetheless.
Second: Family. This entire set of events can find its roots in family. In absentee fathers, and brothers that loved too much . . . or not enough.
Third: Dean, loved Sam too much. All that he wanted was to keep Sam close and in doing so he ended up driving his brother away when they were younger. Even now, though it seems that Dean has allowed Sam to make his own decision . . . he is still keeping his brother as close to him as he can, going so far as to live out the happy, "apple pie" life that his brother always wanted. That is honestly what struck me the most by his actions at the end of the episode. In going to go live with Lisa and Ben, I felt that he was living the life that Sam always wanted . . . that he was acquiescing to a normality he'd always despised . . . out of guilt and not because he actually wanted that for himself.
Okay. I'm not sure if that made much sense. What I'm trying to say is that Dean is living out Sam's fantasy as a stand in, hmmmm, an avatar for his brother. Sam can't live out his dream, so as penance for the self conceived sin of not being able to save his brother, Dean will instead sacrifice his own happiness and give himself up to Sam's idea of Heaven instead. Have you ever tried to live out another's idea of happiness? Yeah. It's a pretty fucking miserable experience.
All of that said, in the end, Dean's action's really did save the world. The Prophecy was fulfilled, the Righteous Man killed Lucifer.
Fourth: Speaking of Lucifer, I found myself really emphasizing with the character in this episode. For what it's worth God really did want Lucifer to be as he was. Evil is a necessary component of Good. One cannot exist without the other. Literally, good cannot be defined without evil. Lucifer is exactly what he was created to be and he recognized that and was willing to try and . . . walk off the checker board, to change his destiny. Michael, on the other hand, is a creature who is so rooted in his destiny that he cannot see his way out of it. I think that in this, they failed God's test. Had they both shrugged their destiny and left the game together then they might have indeed understood the lesson meant to be imparted: free will.
Fifth: Free will was really the lesson that each set of brothers was meant to learn. Dean and Sam learned it. Dean learned that he had to give his brother the right to make his own decisions. Sam learned that he had to use this power to actually make the right decision. Their reward was that they succeeded in their mission. Castiel himself is another example of how the exercise of free will was the right path to walk. In choosing to . . . choose, Cas was doubly rewarded. First he was resurrected to help the Winchesters, and then ultimately he was resurrected as an archangel.
Lucifer and Michael totally failed to get the point, in the most epic of ways. Though, I really think that Lucifer is far closer to catching the clue bus than Michael. Lucifer at least had the ability to understand that there was a choice they could make, whilst Michael was still chained by his idea of destiny. A few years locked together in the Pit is probably going to do them a lot of good. If you think about it, that's the cosmic equivalent of locking them in a closet together until they get the point.
Ummmm. And if you guys don't start writing Michael/Lucifer fic ASAP after their scene together I will make many a frowny face. Like so --> :( Come on guys, Luci's psycho possessiveness of his brother is just hot.
Sixth: I know a bunch of you are getting ready to argue with me on the archangel comment. But think about it. Even when he was an angel at 100% power he did not have the ability to heal, but here he had no problem not just healing but bringing Bobby back from the dead. I think God made him the new Michael. And I absolutely cannot freaking WAIT too see how much of an UBER!BAMF Archangel!Castiel is going to be next season. My panties are wet just thinking of the fanfic possibilities. Top!Cas FOR THE WIN!! Though, can we end a season without Cas getting exploded and then magicked together again? I think he's trying to outdo Dean on the death counts.
Seventh: You know who else exhibited free will . . .Gabriel. PLEASE COME BACK GABE, WE MISS YOU.
Eighth: Sam. Well. Okay, I think Samsifer was amazing. The same mannerisms that Nick!Luci had were clear and present in Sam!Luci. I loved the snark and anyone that can work a Star Wars reference into the Apocalypse is made of win. The very last scene of this episode with him just opened a bucket full of questions which lead us nicely into season 6.
Ninth: Speaking of season 6. . . Assuming, arguendo, that the person standing under the flickering street lamp was Sam then perhaps we can posit that his consciousness is stuck in some type of limbo? I can see a plot where Cas figures it out, tells Dean and they're off to save Sam. Though, there are some pretty heavy implications in the fact that the lamp flickered. Think about it, where have we seen that before? Hmmm. Just about every time any type of supernatural anything manifests. Cas' signature "Honey, I'm hooooooome!" is to make the lights flicker and spark. Which leaves us with the question, was that really Sam and if it was . . . what is Sam now?
Finally: Chuck is God. WHY DIDN'T WE ALL SEE THIS COMING?! Headdesk x 100,000,000,000. D'oh! It makes so much sense!! Now I have to go and rewatch the whole damned season because I'm sure there were a bajillionty clues.
P.S. Dean, officially, has the biggest set of balls on the planet. He stared down Lucifer without flinching, and didn't even think twice about getting between two archangels about to fight out the fate of the world. How does he fit them in his pants?!