In the twenty-second and penultimate episode of the eighth season of Supernatural, OH, NOW I GET THE EPISODE TITLE. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.Â
Trigger Warning: For gore/blood.
Well, this just feels more fucked up than usual. Good god.
Castiel/Metatron
I don’t know how this show is going to possibly cram in Sam’s last trial AND two more trials  for Castiel into the final episode, unless what we saw here was just an introduction to something for season nine. Admittedly, it’s kind of strange to give us something this huge right at the end of a season, but I’m into it. After Dean summarily rejects Castiel (such sadness!), he finds a new purpose in Metatron, who has one hell of an idea: bring order to Heaven by closing it through the three trials.
It makes sense that the writers would give Castiel a new direction in the wake of Dean’s refusal to accept Castiel’s apology. Which is a fair thing for Dean to do, by the way; after how many times Castiel has disappointed Dean, it’s clear that Dean needs more than just an apology. So part of me wonders if Castiel is pursuing this avenue with Metatron as a way to do just that. Does he believe that Dean might appreciate him more if he shuts all the angels in Heaven? That’s just speculation at this point, of course, and my hope is that Castiel isn’t being manipulated. That’s a possibility with Metatron, but I also can’t see to what end. Perhaps this is as simple as it seems: Metatron, in his conversations with Kevin, realized just how horrible things had gotten on earth. Possessing the knowledge of the trials to close Heaven, he feels obligated to finally get involved in matters concerning the angels.
Of course, like the trials to close the Gates of Hell, the angel tablet trials are SUPER DIFFICULT and at odds with the apparently morality of the place that is to be closed. Closing Hell involves acts of moral “goodness,†like saving an innocent soul from Hell or curing a demon. Closing Heaven, so far, involves MURDERING THE ONLY SURVIVING NEPHILIM. It’s seems particularly heinous, you know? Angels view nephilim as abominations, but we’re given no other justification for why the nephilim here must die. So it just feels random and cruel, and there’s a high chance that, once again, Castiel is doing something he believes is right but is utterly not.
I’m scared to find out what the other two trials are.
The Third Trial
So, curing a demon is akin to an exorcism… sort of? I’m still struggling a bit to understand this, but I am thankful that the show is keeping the Men of Letters bunker around. It’s been a fun and refreshing addition to the show, which means that since I like a thing, that thing is probably going to be taken away from me soon. SUPERNATURAL DOES NOT LET ME HAVE NICE THINGS. But with the “growth†of this space, the potential for future storylines also grows. While I’m sure we’ll get lots of jokes about the Winchester dungeon (you smut writers better have incorporated that into your fic I AM COUNTING ON Y’ALL), it also means that a story like this is now possible. They’ve got a place to have prisoners. Will that be an asset??? Who knows???
Which brings me to a nitpicking complaint that still bothers me. WHY DIDN’T THEY TAKE ABADDON’S BODY TO THE GIANT DEVIL’S TRAP DUNGEON IN ORDER TO PUT HER BACK TOGETHER??? You literally just discovered it. It’s got protections against demons, it’s pretty much inescapable, none of the Winchesters’ enemies know it exists… and it’s not some random warehouse. Look, this is just weird writing. These men are fools; they know how to deal with demons. Leaving Abaddon by herself for any length of time was just a bad idea; no, it was an AMATEUR MISTAKE. How could they make a mistake like that? Why couldn’t Dean take the phone call while Sam stayed behind to watch? This honestly felt like the writers needed some way for Abaddon to escape and nothing more, and it’s sloppy as hell. The whole scene was distracting because even under extreme pressure, the Winchesters almost never make mistakes like this.
Anyway, despite how overwhelming this episode felt at times (given the number of plots unfolding simultaneously), I think the writers intended for us to feel like “Clip Show†was overflowing. The Winchesters are down to the wire, the stakes are ridiculous, and everyone is desperate to get what they want. Therefore, it was the perfect time for Crowley to do something that was so awful, that even Sam and Dean would reconsider their attempt to close Hell. And good fucking god, going back and systematically killing people that the Winchesters once saved is really, really awful. Unsurprisingly, I couldn’t figure out how the events of this episode were related to the death of the character in the cold open, one we hadn’t seen since THE SECOND EPISODE EVER. It made no sense to me!
The more I think about what Crowley has done – and what he might do in the future – the more fucked up this episode becomes. He’s preying on one of the only things that gives Sam and Dean comfort. As messed up as their lives are, as unhappy as they can be, they still know that they’re saving people who don’t deserve to suffer. So what happens when Crowley starts to take that away from them? Does it change how they feel about closing the gates of Hell? We’re not given a concrete answer from Sam at the end of “Clip Show, though I’m guessing he really will go through with the final trial. (Using the exorcism, though? I DON’T KNOW. That’s not clear either.)
And what of Metatron and Castiel? I could see this show closing Hell; they’ve done a lot with demons and they could try something else for season nine. But closing Heaven? That would be a bold choice for the writers to close BOTH Heaven and Hell in the next episode. What happens to Sam after the third trial? Is he “purified� Was that even a clue? WILL I EVER GET MY QUESTIONS ANSWERED???
The video for “Clip Show†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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