Some thoughts about SPN 7x02
I've been debating whether or not to post my reaction to last night's ep all day. I may or may not regret this.
On the whole, Season 7 for me is starting with a huge bang. Episodes 6x20 through next week's episode are marking the span of only a few weeks at most, with the most time passage occurring during 7x01's montage of Castiel's spree as Godstiel before the Leviathans began to overcome him. The pacing is timed so much better just now, and the different portions of the story arc now feel far more cohesive than any of the other threads did last season.
There's a devotion to that story here, too, that is far better executed than last season, which lends creedence to my opinion that while Sera Gamble is a talented screenwriter (with a few notable black marks on her record like the pseudo-rape scene at the end of 6x11), she isn't yet ready to take full creative control of a series like Supernatural. You can feel both Kripke's and Edlund's hands far more firmly on the reins in these last few episodes, and it's a good feeling.
Notable moments from last night's ep for me:
1) Bobby and Dean's conversation in the kitchen. Thank you, Bobby, for taking the time to push Dean into acknowledging that he's taken so many emotional hits in the last few episodes that we're starting to lose count. Even S5 didn't batter Dean's heart this much.
2) Sheriff Mills going above and beyond post-surgically. She's only been used a few times, but each time, she impresses me. Show does a good job of portraying her as calm, competant, intelligent and brave: in short, possessing all of the qualities you want to see in law enforcement. She's the kind of LEO that hunters in this universe need on their side, and I hope we see more of her without Show defaulting to pattern and killing her off. Women and LEOs that know about the supernatural tend to get offed by Show with a predictability almost as alarming as the female officer death count on NCIS, and I'd like to see Jodie survive the series.
3) Leviathan!Edgar and Leviathan!Annie/Dr. Gaines. Both are intensely creepy, mostly because their personalities aren't played over the top. They're subtle, and sociopathic, and it's viscerally effective. Plus, Show gets bonus points for the mild allegory to BtVS episode 2x20 (Go Fish).
Exceptional moments from last night's ep for me:
1) Lucifer. If he was heart-stopping at the end of the premiere, he was devastating in this episode. No other character or device could have the same insidious effect on Sam, and Mark Pellegrino is still as flawless as the Morningstar as he was in S5. I have my doubts that he's a pure illusion of Sam's mind; in fact, I'd venture to say that after the possession and the Cage, Lucifer has somehow formed a tether between his mind and Sam's, and is using that link to communicate with Sam now.
Fun fact, BTW: based on Dean's description of the passage of time in Hell as opposed to on Earth, and barring any additional time slip differential within the Cage itself, Sam's soul was in Hell with Lucifer, Michael and Adam for 182 years, 8 months, 2 weeks, 6 days and approximately 14 hours. Dean's tenure in Hell was only 46 years and 4 months.
2) The conversation between Dean and Sam in the parking garage. FINALLY, Dean is reaching out to Sam the way I've been dying for him to for at least two seasons now. They made a lot of noise during the ramp up for last season about getting back to the relationship between the brothers that Show was built on. Last night, they finally started to come through on that promise. Special bonus points included for Dean referencing his own time in Hell, telling Sam to use him as his foundation, and for Dean not forcibly disarming Sam but instead talking him down.
Triple bonus points for the use of pain to interrupt the manifestation of Lucifer and its influence on Sam. Whether it's a pure hallucination or a link between man and archangel, pain is one of the few sources of neural static that could counteract what's currently happening in Sam's mind. And Show used it perfectly.
3) Dean's voicemail for Bobby after finding the house burned. There was an interesting role reversal in 6x02: when the boys are asked what the baby shifter's name is in the supermarket, Sam was the one that replied "John" while Dean replied "Bobby". And when Dean clarified for the confused woman asking, he put Bobby's name first. Dean was portrayed as idolizing their father so much, especially in the early seasons, that it wouldn't have seemed out of place at all for Dean to have called the child by their father's name. The fact that he chose Bobby essentially demonstrated that Bobby has supplanted John as a father figure Dean can rely on and trust. That sentiment is further cemented in this moment.
And it's interesting to note that Dean's voicemails to their absent father were always tentative, deferential and even slightly pleading, whereas his voicemail to the suddenly MIA Bobby is demanding and angry in that "I'm terrified for you and I don't want to show it so I'm going to be furious with you instead" kind of way. It speaks to a kind of relationship between Dean and Bobby that never had the opportunity to develop between Dean and John: one of love between a father and son, but also of respect between both as adults, not just as parent and child.
4) The dissemination of the Leviathans.
This part might get me in trouble with some people on my f-list, but I have to be blunt here. I see no evidence in that episode that Castiel is dead, disintegrated, discorporated or any other such thing. There were multiple Leviathans within Castiel: potentially hundreds or even thousands. Of course they were straining the capacity of the angelic vessel they inhabited. Even if you posit that Castiel's vessel is no longer purely human after two rebuilds by God, that's way too much power to be properly contained in that finite a space. Personally, I'd've called bullshit if multiple Leviathans could be contained within one vessel of any kind for very long.
Also: we did NOT see Castiel die, dissolve or be otherwise destroyed. What we saw was his vessel disappear under the water, which is the natural habitat for Leviathans (everybody check your Bible or Good Omens, whichever you have a copy of), and the Leviathans disseminating through the water supply.
Gazillion million bonus points for the way Dean reacted in that scene when he found the trench coat in the water, the way he touched and handled the coat and the fact that he brought it with him when they left. It was a Dean/Castiel moment for the ages.
The fact that a Leviathan wearing Castiel didn't immediately rise from the water and come after the three hunters on the shore is immaterial. The fact that Castiel's trench coat floated to the surface where Dean found it tells us nothing beyond that it was cast off at some point after Castiel disappeared under the water. Even the vortex doesn't signify Castiel's death or destruction, since vorteces are often caused by magick use and the release of a multitude of Leviathans into the water would be a prime example thereof.
And then you have "the Boss". There is an Alpha Leviathan that spoke to Dean through Castiel in the last scene of 7x01/first scene of this episode. That Leviathan singled Dean out, saying they would be back to deal with him later. Later, in the confrontation at the salvage yard, Leviathan!Edgar said that the Winchesters were "important enough to be annihilated". Why? Yes, the Winchesters are special. They're archangelic vessels, and are therefore made to withstand more than your average human. Yes, they're exceptionally talented hunters that have survived hunts and killed bad things that would have eaten ordinary hunters alive (possibly literally). But it doesn't necessarily follow that they'd be tough enough to take out thousands of Leviathans.
(Keep in mind that last is a Show-character standpoint. They'll be tough enough to survive destroying every Leviathan on the planet and then some if the series gets renewed for Season 8 and the show runners decide to go ahead with it.)
It's entirely optional, though I personally do, but also take into account the unsourced quote from Ben Edlund: "This season, it's Dean's turn to save Castiel." How can Dean save Castiel if he's already been destroyed before Dean even has the chance?
Also, look at the purely human vessels currently possessed by Leviathans. They have no angelic healing power or other mojo to keep them knitted together the way Castiel did. It would logically follow then that a purely human vessel would be burned through and disintegrate within hours, since it took days for Castiel's body to start having trouble containing them. And yet this is very obviously not the case. The clear conclusion from this point seems to be that it's one Leviathan per vessel, and now that the others have been released to find vessels of their own, it's entirely possible that the Alpha Leviathan would be able to stabilize Castiel's physical form.
All this piles up to one single conclusion, IMHO: the Alpha Leviathan could very well still be using Castiel's vessel as his own, with Castiel trapped within. And somehow, some way, Dean will be able to rescue Castiel when they banish the Leviathans back to Purgatory.
Overall, I'm excited as Hell for the coming season and the panels at TorontoCon are going to be insane. And on one very particular point, I'm advising all of my fellow SPN watchers to remember a piece of excellent advice from Frank Herbert's Dune:
"Do not count a man dead until you've seen his body. And even then you can make a mistake."