In the twenty-second episode of the second season of Supernatural, Dean makes a drastic choice to save Sam. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
Holy shit. Holy shit.
There’s a lot to like here, and I admit that there are some writing choices that are perfectly suited to my tastes. I like to think that I do an okay job of explaining how some things come down to taste. I’m looking back on my review of the pilot of this show, and that sort of established that I’ve been a longtime horror fan. I like the supernatural. I love stories that have an all-encompassing scope, that try to tell me about the world I live in through fantasy or science fiction. I love friendship. And I love season-long mysteries in television shows. I AM A SUCKER FOR SERIALIZATION. While season two of Supernatural was more serialized than the first one, we still got a few stories unconnected to the main narrative. However, this has all been leading to this point, and goddamn, I did not guess what the yellow-eyed demon was up to. AT ALL.
But there’s a lot that happens here in the second half of “All Hell Breaks Loose” and I just need to take a quick moment to place my head on the desk because WHAT THE FUCK, THE TITLE OF THE EPISODE ACTUALLY SPOILED WHAT WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. Okay, now that I’ve got that out of my system, it’s clear that, at least at the time, the writers were going for critical mass in terms of Dean’s endless emotional pain. This is easily the worst we’ve ever seen him up to this point, and UNDERSTANDABLY SO. As much as Dean liked to portray himself as the assertive, confident, and unemotional Winchester sibling, it’s clear that it’s mostly been a mask of sorts. That’s not at all what’s going on under the surface, and I’m pleased that the show has been willing to peel away the layers of his characterization over the course of these two situations. And look, it’s really uncomfortable to watch! I acknowledge that! I felt numb during the first fifteen minutes of this episode because… fuck, y’all, that’s Sam’s dead body over there. How? HOW THE FUCK HAVE WE COME TO THIS? Seriously, this really is Dean’s literal worst nightmare, and it’s so hard to watch because his protection over Sam defines his identity. I’d like to take this chance to once again claim that Winchester family angst has irrevocably fucked up these two men FOREVER AND EVER. Dean’s complex set of issues revolving around his self-esteem, his self-worth, and his own sense of purpose were forever corrupted and skewed by what his father instilled in him. I don’t think it’s all been negative or all positive, either. Dean’s sense of loyalty came from his father; his desire to crush evil came from him, too. But then you’ve got all this self-loathing. You’ve got identity crises. You’ve got his willingness to put Sam before any and all of his own needs, which… well, NOW WE SEE WHAT COMES OF THAT.
Watching Dean bury that box of trinkets at the crossroads was unbearable, but totally understandable. Dean wasn’t just following in his father’s footsteps; he was living up to the promise he made to Sam and to John. He was being loyal. And that’s an important part of who he is, you know? It’s why he’s convinced that he’s let down everyone in his life, even though he hasn’t. There’s something to be said for how this episode portrays perception, because Dean definitely doesn’t think he’s ever lived up to someone’s expectations, despite that the show up to this point is packed full of examples of Dean being a good, supportive person. But his lack of scope is intentional, since he’s willing to live on this earth for just one more year in order to give Sam his life back. He isn’t thinking longterm on purpose! He’d rather be damned to hell than live another second without Sam. LIKE THIS IS A HUGE DEAL AND IS REALLY UPSETTTING AND TOUCHING ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Holy shit, the immensity of that is so heavy, y’all. (I feel like I don’t need to explain that because Winchester manpain, right? We all get it. WE GET IT.)
However, it’s what the writers do with this decision that fascinates and excites me so much. There is an ungodly amount of dramatic tension built right into “All Hell Breaks Loose” because Dean has to now deal with the fact that he just resurrected his brother, who at least three other beings saw die. In this show’s world, there’s really only one way to come back from the dead, and Dean can’t keep this a secret for very long. It’s why I’m thankful that despite that I was tormented by all the looks Bobby gave Dean or what Jake said to Sam upon seeing him, the show didn’t drag this out beyond the season two finale. I think that would have felt really forced. But it needed to happen because BOBBY.
BOBBY.
BOBBY.
Y’all, I know I’ve said that I need Bobby Singer backstory before, but now I really fucking need it. There is no way you can convince me that what we see here is not the result of some untold trauma lurking in Bobby’s past. YOU CAN’T. I mean, I do need to praise Jim Beaver for his performance here because it’s unreal as HELL. There’s something there, and now I’m left with all these questions. What happened to Bobby that would make him so furious with Dean? See, I don’t think you can easily write this off as Bobby being angry with Dean for being a fool. This feels too personal. Who has Bobby lost? Oh god, I don’t even want to know.
Then there’s Ellen, WHO IS ALIVE THANK THE HEAVENS, and all I realized was that I wish that Bobby and Ellen permanently traveled with the Winchesters. I love the dynamic they bring to the group. They’ve got a lot of experience that the boys don’t, and they act to keep Dean in check when that needs to happen. I get that this show is supposed to be about the Winchesters themselves, but a boy can dream, can’t he?
Anyway, I really had a blast watching the finale unfold and pull together clues from all over the show’s history up to this point. I loved that the Colt was a literal key, that there was a massive devil’s trap used to keep something closed, and that we finally learn why the yellow-eyed demon never really needed a whole group of special children. He just needed one that he could manipulate over two decades, one that he could convince to cross the lines of the devil’s trap planted by Samuel Colt, all so that the Devil’s Gate could be opened. I think it’s a little strange that the yellow-eyed demon spent so much time imbuing these kids with weird powers because… well, why couldn’t he just get any ol’ person to walk across that line? Why not just trick someone to go put the Colt in the crypt? I get the sense that I still don’t actually know what’s going on, and that while the story of the yellow-eyed demon has come to an end, that doesn’t mean what he’s started is over, either. God, I adore that this finale so easily sets up a third season, you know? Hundreds of demons escaped from the Devil’s Gate when Jake opened it, and I imagine we’ll spend a great deal of season three dealing with the fallout from that.
But it’s in Sam Winchester that I see the most potential. There’s a truly terrifying moment after he shoots Jake dead where his face just looks… cold. Like stone. And it reminded me of moments over the course of this show where we’ve seen a similar cold, determined look on the face of Dean Winchester. I’ll save some of this for my prediction post next week, but I really think we’re about to see a huge role reversal for these two characters. I don’t think the Crossroads Demon messed with Sam when she brought Sam back; I think Sam is finally realizing what stakes are at hand and what it’s going to require from him in the coming war. In this case, the killing of Jake was part of that. It’s unnerving because we’ve never seen him behave like that, but I’m guessing it’s not the last time. Sam’s got to protect his older brother this time, and it’ll be interesting to see how far Sam is willing to go in order to do so. Plus, how the fuck is he going to get Dean out of the deal???
Of course, then there’s the surprise appearance of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, which was probably not a surprise to anyone who read the opening credits. I MISS THEM SOMETIMES! Things are happening! I think that his return here could have been a bit too hokey if it wasn’t entirely in line with what I perceived as his characterization. He didn’t just show up as some cheesy deus ex machina. He fucking CLIMBED OUT OF HELL. He climbed out of hell to pull the yellow-eyed demon’s spirit out of his body, which is just about the coolest shit I’ve ever seen. In doing so, he gives Dean a chance to kill the demon that ruined his family’s life, and he’s given the chance to pass on. To where? I don’t know, but I’m guessing the flash of bright light symbolized something positive. It’s a nice way to close the book on John Winchester, at least for the time being. It needed to happen, and I love what it means for these boys. Granted, we still don’t have all the answers, because… WHY DID MARY WINCHESTER RECOGNIZE THE YELLOW-EYED DEMON??? Why is this all part of the apocalypse? Why am I still unprepared?
Seriously, y’all. I am having so much fun watching this show. And by “fun,” I actually mean “way too much emotional devastation than I was prepared to deal with.” This was supposed to be a show of nonsense and bullshit and I DID NOT PREPARE MYSELF FOR WHAT WOULD HAPPEN.
The video commission for “All Hell Breaks Loose: Part 2” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
