Supernatural Ep6.20-6.22 Spoilers
EP6.20 - The Man Who Would Be King
It's going to be a hard week for that good-looking bastard. ~ Ben Edlund
It seems unnecessary to include this as spoiler merely hours before the episode goes on air, but i think it will be interesting to jot down my thoughts before I watch it for retrospective comparison. Anyway, here's the link to an article on Zap2It where Ben Edlund talked about the episode he wrote and (debut) directed. In particular, he teased Castiel's betrayal is going to hurt Dean deeply, and the revelation will be grueling for our intrepid hero. Edlund shrewdly pointed out that familial betrayal is Dean's kryptonite. And I couldn't help reflecting on how two of Dean's most trusted "team mates" (for lack of better words) did essentially the same thing -- betrayed him by secretly collaborating with a Demon.
I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised by Castiel's stumbling walk along the shady side. Truth be told, I've been rather bored with the character in the first half of this season up to "Like a Virgin." In my previously unpublished episode review of 6.12 (because it never got pass bullet points stage), I even went as far as saying I found Castiel tedious (see my review post for reasoning). But when 6.17 "My Heart Will Go On" came along, I started to realize there might just be a reason for my annoyance with the character. All of a sudden, Castiel became interesting to me again. If my suspicion proves true - I'll explain what it is later - I can really get behind the narrative structure of season 6. Character wise, I easily buy into the naïve Castiel fell victim to the scheming Crowley's manipulation, and I like how that adds tension to his growing relationship with Dean.
Edlund hit the nail in the head by saying Dean has this "thing" about being betrayed by those he considers family. A glaring example is his attitude towards grandpa Campbell. Granted Dean never had a chance to develop a trust with Samuel. However, Dean knows the guy is the father to his beloved mother Mary, therefore a blood relation. Yet when Dean found out Campbell was in cohort with Crowley, he didn't even flinch before casting the guy outside his circle of family and threatened grandpa to hunt him down. His hatred towards Samuel never lessened till Samuel's death.
On the other hand, Dean reacted very differently towards Sam's betrayal. From my point of view, Dean forgave Sam all too easily. But that's not surprising either given how protective Dean has always been where Sam is concerned.
Now I'm very much looking forward to seeing how Dean is going to react to Castiel when he learns what his guardian angel has been up to. I hazard to guess the magnitude of Dean's wrath will depend on how much a threat (and harm) Castiel's unholy alliance poses to Sam. I reasoned Dean's hardball stance toward grandpa Campbell resulted from how close Sam, not Dean himself, came near harm's way because of the choice Samuel made. Thus I'm anxious to learn the exact nature of Castiel's folly. Meanwhile, I have my suspicions.
EP6.21 - Let It Bleed and EP6.22 - The Man Who Knew Too Much
Prepare to gasp, possibly cry and write angry forum entries. ~ TVGuide
There are two distinct episodes in this two-hour fire-and-brimstone buffet event. For the appetizer, "Let It Bleed," Dean faces his worst nightmare when Lisa and Ben are unexpectedly abducted. In the main course finale, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," the war in Heaven comes to a head. Castiel faces off with Raphael and the walls holding back Sam's memories of Hell crumble. Someone (human? angel? demon?) will die and someone will be transformed. Prepare to gasp, possibly cry and write angry forum entries. Oh, and sorry, John Winchester won't show his face for the finale.
Source: http://www.tvguide.com/special/finale-preview/photogallery/watch-finales-scoop-1032259#1032291
The first of the 2 part finale is billed as Dean centric. That's always exciting. Because six seasons of Supernatural, Dean-centric episodes never failed to deliver in quality. But based on the description here, I'm also a little apprehensive this time. Before I elaborate, let me repeat that I really like Lisa. I see her as a well balanced young lady who has a strong constitution and is doing an admirable job of raising a child on her own. Not only that, she also has the capacity to provide shelter to our wayward hero when he was all but lost his way. Moreover, Lisa is smart and observant as well because she doesn't loose her head over a charming guy with a handsome face. Therefore I was happy for Lisa when she parted her way from Dean awhile back to raise her son in stability. In other words, as much as I love Lisa, I feel she's a character who doesn't belong to this show. Knowing her and Ben safely tucked away in suburbia is the best scenario I could hope for. Thus I'm not thrilled to see her and her son get dragged back into Dean's world. And I'm afraid she won't survive before the hour is over. What does that leave Ben then? It would be very unusual to kill a child on network television, so I think Ben would be safe. But I confess I have a greater fear about this episode than Lisa's possible demise: I'm very much afraid Ben would be revealed as Dean's son here. Please, I pray, don't let this come to pass. Too soap opera for my taste.
The main part of the season finale is going to be Sam centric as I understand. In fact I heard, accurate or not I can't judge, that Dean has little to do during this episode. Unlike Dean centric episodes, Sam centric ones haven't always captured my attention in the past. I feel like a broken record when I say I have little interest in seeing Sam being vulnerable, which judging by the description, there's going to be a hurt!Sam galore in this episode. Not really inspired for me there. On the other hand, I am now partially curious about what the crumbling "Wall" is going to reveal. The episode is titled "The Man Who Knew Too Much." But who is that man? Is it Sam? My instinct says it is. Here comes the suspicion I referred to earlier: I'm going to go out on a limb and venture to guess that unlike what we assumed, Sam's soul has not been locked up with Lucifer and Michael at the bottom of the pit all this time. Wouldn't it be a great twist if Sam's soul was a prisoner of Heaven's war machine?!? No really, I think it would be inspired story telling if that proves to be true. That certainly explains Castiel's reluctance in encouraging Dean to retrieve Sam's soul. But more importantly, no more "Sam's Hell is greater than Dean's" comparison because their experiences would be much different in essence yet similar at core. And the revelation would bring great angst to Team Free Will. For that prospect alone, I'm interested in seeing how this season's final hour is going to play out.
Another milder curiosity on my mind is who's going to be transformed here? Knowing Kripke penned the finale, I would guess the one person who wouldn't be: Dean Winchester. It is my opinion that Kripke steadfastly wants to keep Dean human. In fact, I was very surprised Dean got temporarily turned into a vampire early in the season. But I attributed it as a leeway the writers got after Kripke stepped down as the head boss. Personally I applaud Kripke's decision to hold on to Dean's humanity. But that still leaves the question to who gets transformed? Truth be told, I don't really care who it is so long as it is not Sam. I'm so over with Sam being a potential supernatural being. Let's leave that to fanfiction, shall we?
I'm not particularly concerned with who dies in the finale. A departure from Sam and Dean's world has long ceased to have a deep emotional impact on me. After all, when death is not exactly permanent, it's hard to mourn loss.
Of course the downside of having too strong expectations of the finale is when it fails to meet my expectation in the end. Yeah, this has happened before, e.g. BSG's grand finale and SPN's "Swan Song." But the anticipation before the final hour arrives is still fun. Honestly, not many shows these days are capable of making me anxious. In fact, Supernatural is the only one that remains at the moment.
It's going to be a hard week for that good-looking bastard. ~ Ben Edlund
It seems unnecessary to include this as spoiler merely hours before the episode goes on air, but i think it will be interesting to jot down my thoughts before I watch it for retrospective comparison. Anyway, here's the link to an article on Zap2It where Ben Edlund talked about the episode he wrote and (debut) directed. In particular, he teased Castiel's betrayal is going to hurt Dean deeply, and the revelation will be grueling for our intrepid hero. Edlund shrewdly pointed out that familial betrayal is Dean's kryptonite. And I couldn't help reflecting on how two of Dean's most trusted "team mates" (for lack of better words) did essentially the same thing -- betrayed him by secretly collaborating with a Demon.
I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised by Castiel's stumbling walk along the shady side. Truth be told, I've been rather bored with the character in the first half of this season up to "Like a Virgin." In my previously unpublished episode review of 6.12 (because it never got pass bullet points stage), I even went as far as saying I found Castiel tedious (see my review post for reasoning). But when 6.17 "My Heart Will Go On" came along, I started to realize there might just be a reason for my annoyance with the character. All of a sudden, Castiel became interesting to me again. If my suspicion proves true - I'll explain what it is later - I can really get behind the narrative structure of season 6. Character wise, I easily buy into the naïve Castiel fell victim to the scheming Crowley's manipulation, and I like how that adds tension to his growing relationship with Dean.
Edlund hit the nail in the head by saying Dean has this "thing" about being betrayed by those he considers family. A glaring example is his attitude towards grandpa Campbell. Granted Dean never had a chance to develop a trust with Samuel. However, Dean knows the guy is the father to his beloved mother Mary, therefore a blood relation. Yet when Dean found out Campbell was in cohort with Crowley, he didn't even flinch before casting the guy outside his circle of family and threatened grandpa to hunt him down. His hatred towards Samuel never lessened till Samuel's death.
On the other hand, Dean reacted very differently towards Sam's betrayal. From my point of view, Dean forgave Sam all too easily. But that's not surprising either given how protective Dean has always been where Sam is concerned.
Now I'm very much looking forward to seeing how Dean is going to react to Castiel when he learns what his guardian angel has been up to. I hazard to guess the magnitude of Dean's wrath will depend on how much a threat (and harm) Castiel's unholy alliance poses to Sam. I reasoned Dean's hardball stance toward grandpa Campbell resulted from how close Sam, not Dean himself, came near harm's way because of the choice Samuel made. Thus I'm anxious to learn the exact nature of Castiel's folly. Meanwhile, I have my suspicions.
EP6.21 - Let It Bleed and EP6.22 - The Man Who Knew Too Much
Prepare to gasp, possibly cry and write angry forum entries. ~ TVGuide
There are two distinct episodes in this two-hour fire-and-brimstone buffet event. For the appetizer, "Let It Bleed," Dean faces his worst nightmare when Lisa and Ben are unexpectedly abducted. In the main course finale, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," the war in Heaven comes to a head. Castiel faces off with Raphael and the walls holding back Sam's memories of Hell crumble. Someone (human? angel? demon?) will die and someone will be transformed. Prepare to gasp, possibly cry and write angry forum entries. Oh, and sorry, John Winchester won't show his face for the finale.
Source: http://www.tvguide.com/special/finale-preview/photogallery/watch-finales-scoop-1032259#1032291
The first of the 2 part finale is billed as Dean centric. That's always exciting. Because six seasons of Supernatural, Dean-centric episodes never failed to deliver in quality. But based on the description here, I'm also a little apprehensive this time. Before I elaborate, let me repeat that I really like Lisa. I see her as a well balanced young lady who has a strong constitution and is doing an admirable job of raising a child on her own. Not only that, she also has the capacity to provide shelter to our wayward hero when he was all but lost his way. Moreover, Lisa is smart and observant as well because she doesn't loose her head over a charming guy with a handsome face. Therefore I was happy for Lisa when she parted her way from Dean awhile back to raise her son in stability. In other words, as much as I love Lisa, I feel she's a character who doesn't belong to this show. Knowing her and Ben safely tucked away in suburbia is the best scenario I could hope for. Thus I'm not thrilled to see her and her son get dragged back into Dean's world. And I'm afraid she won't survive before the hour is over. What does that leave Ben then? It would be very unusual to kill a child on network television, so I think Ben would be safe. But I confess I have a greater fear about this episode than Lisa's possible demise: I'm very much afraid Ben would be revealed as Dean's son here. Please, I pray, don't let this come to pass. Too soap opera for my taste.
The main part of the season finale is going to be Sam centric as I understand. In fact I heard, accurate or not I can't judge, that Dean has little to do during this episode. Unlike Dean centric episodes, Sam centric ones haven't always captured my attention in the past. I feel like a broken record when I say I have little interest in seeing Sam being vulnerable, which judging by the description, there's going to be a hurt!Sam galore in this episode. Not really inspired for me there. On the other hand, I am now partially curious about what the crumbling "Wall" is going to reveal. The episode is titled "The Man Who Knew Too Much." But who is that man? Is it Sam? My instinct says it is. Here comes the suspicion I referred to earlier: I'm going to go out on a limb and venture to guess that unlike what we assumed, Sam's soul has not been locked up with Lucifer and Michael at the bottom of the pit all this time. Wouldn't it be a great twist if Sam's soul was a prisoner of Heaven's war machine?!? No really, I think it would be inspired story telling if that proves to be true. That certainly explains Castiel's reluctance in encouraging Dean to retrieve Sam's soul. But more importantly, no more "Sam's Hell is greater than Dean's" comparison because their experiences would be much different in essence yet similar at core. And the revelation would bring great angst to Team Free Will. For that prospect alone, I'm interested in seeing how this season's final hour is going to play out.
Another milder curiosity on my mind is who's going to be transformed here? Knowing Kripke penned the finale, I would guess the one person who wouldn't be: Dean Winchester. It is my opinion that Kripke steadfastly wants to keep Dean human. In fact, I was very surprised Dean got temporarily turned into a vampire early in the season. But I attributed it as a leeway the writers got after Kripke stepped down as the head boss. Personally I applaud Kripke's decision to hold on to Dean's humanity. But that still leaves the question to who gets transformed? Truth be told, I don't really care who it is so long as it is not Sam. I'm so over with Sam being a potential supernatural being. Let's leave that to fanfiction, shall we?
I'm not particularly concerned with who dies in the finale. A departure from Sam and Dean's world has long ceased to have a deep emotional impact on me. After all, when death is not exactly permanent, it's hard to mourn loss.
Of course the downside of having too strong expectations of the finale is when it fails to meet my expectation in the end. Yeah, this has happened before, e.g. BSG's grand finale and SPN's "Swan Song." But the anticipation before the final hour arrives is still fun. Honestly, not many shows these days are capable of making me anxious. In fact, Supernatural is the only one that remains at the moment.