Mark Watches ‘Supernatural’: S04E15 – Death Takes a Holiday

In the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of Supernatural, Sam and Dean find a town where no one can die, and THIS TURNS OUT A MILLION TIMES WORSE THAN HUMANLY POSSIBLE. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.

FUCK.

FUCK.

This is a tremendous episode for a lot of reasons – the return of Tessa and Pamela Barnes, Cole’s entire story, another seal, Christopher Heyerdahl as Alistair – and it was a pleasure to watch except when it wasn’t because THIS IS SO DEEPLY, DEEPLY UPSETTING. Oh god, let me try to write about this.

Reapers

Y’all, I completely forgot there was already an episode featuring reapers at the beginning of season two. I DID, HONESTLY. And it wasn’t until after Tessa showed up and reminded Dean (and me, LET’S NOT KID OURSELVES, SHE REMINDED ME, TOO) of who she was that I was able to appreciate her return. Now that I’m aware of the fact that Tessa is based on Death from the Sandman series, I was also able to dig how true that is. Look, I think it’s pretty damn cool that having seen Dead Like Me and read The Sandman, I still find this show’s take on reapers to be entertaining.

Seals and Feels

OH SHIT, AN ACTUAL SEAL BEING BROKEN IN AN EPISODE. I think it’s strange of the show not to feature many of the seals being broken on the screen, but it’s a neat threat. I love te idea of this, so once I knew that “Death Takes a Holiday” wasn’t really about reapers but the demons’ quest to break a seal, I was all-in. I don’t know how many of them are left, but I imagine with just seven episodes left this season (HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE), there can’t be all that many left. I also assume that this specific seal – the death of two reapers at once – had to be a difficult one, since Alistair was the one to show up to execute it. (Get it? Execute? I’ll shut up now.) And gods, y’all, THIS VERSION OF ALISTAIR IS SO GOOD. How does Heyerdahl do that? He sounds just like the first Alistair I met earlier this season!!!

Anyway, the use of the serialized plot adds an extra layer to an already heartbreaking story. The absence of reapers in this town is frustrating to Dean in particular because he knows that once they “solve” the case, people will start dying again. This fear is rooted in a couple of issues we’ve seen this season that are brought up in devastating detail. First, I think that Dean really wants to believe there’s a miracle at the heart of this, that the reason the angels pulled him out of Hell is because there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s all tangled up with his desire to be normal, though, which complicates matters. Honestly, this is a complex character study for Dean because some of these pieces contradict one another. He wants Greybull, Wyoming to be an exception to the rule, but balks at the notion that he is an exception to the rule. He’s told by Castiel that he’s “different,” but then Tessa warns him that the angels aren’t going to provide him with a miracle, that he wasn’t pulled out of Hell to be a part of one. So which is it? Or is it all of it at once? Obviously, the writers are still holding back on us, and I don’t quite understand the endgame of… well, anyone. Castiel admits that Sam and Dean were recruited for a special reason, but why won’t they tell Sam the problem with his powers? I assume they know what’s wrong with them, but they’ve always been deliberately evasive as to why. They act similar with Dean, too, I should admit, and it further creates an impression of detachment from humanity. They don’t seem to care about the people involved beyond their mission.

AND THEN HOW ABOUT PAMELA’S FINAL MESSAGE TO SAM? WHAT THE FUCK, Y’ALL. Oh god, there is no reason why she’d lie to him, so that must mean that his powers can’t truly be used for good. WAIT, LET’S TALK ABOUT PAMELA.

Pamela

Look, I am extremely upset. I dug that Pamela acted as a foil to the Winchesters, and this episode is justifiably brutal in the way that it forces the Winchesters to face their complicity in her death. With her dying words, she curses Dean, Sam, and then Bobby for even introducing her to these guys. But it’s the truth. Sam and Dean relied on Pamela for her powers twice before this, and look what her involvement did to her. It’s sad, it’s uncomfortable, and I kind of hate it? I really liked her character, so I’m just going to sit here and be bitter as hell about it. WHY DOES THIS SHOW KILL OFF SO MANY PEOPLE WHO SHOW SO MUCH POTENTIAL? Cruel. THIS IS CRUEL.

Cole

I admit that Cole’s story here is not exactly revolutionary. There are plenty of stories about people being unable to move on after death, and it’s the basis of most ghost stories. But I loved the way he played such an integral part in “Death Takes a Holiday” for multiple characters, including himself. He withholds the location of the demons because he knows it will mean he has to leave his mother behind. This episode provides us with another example of the importance of family ties and how some people cling to them, no matter how much it may actually hurt them. Oh… oh god. Wait. IS THAT A COMMENTARY ON SAM AND DEAN. IT PROBABLY FUCKING IS, OH HELL, GODDAMN THIS SHOW FOREVER.

Anyway, Cole is so important to this episode because he’s actually the most powerful spirit, and he has to teach Dean and Sam in less than a day how to utilize their awesome spirit abilities, and I WOULD HAVE BEEN 100% OKAY WITH A FIVE HOUR ASSORTMENT OF SCENES OF COLE ACTING SMUG WHILE TWO GROWN MEN STRUGGLE TO DO ANYTHING HE CAN. I was so into this dynamic, especially since it’s literally the only time in “Death Takes a Holiday” that he’s happy. WHOMP WHOMP SORRY TO POINT THIS OUT. But it’s true! And after having died so tragically young and discovering that his presence is making his mother worse, I just wanted him to have some happiness before he moved on. That scene where Tessa took him on… nope, so many emotions.

I think that this could have been extremely messy, given how many plots and themes were jammed into it, but I really enjoyed this episode. Well, I appreciated it, but I am not okay with everything that I’m feeling. I’ll continue being enraged by Pamela’s death and never healing and being bitter forever, thank you very much. THIS IS MY RIGHT.

The video for “Death Takes a Holiday” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
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